“Snake Hips” by Anne Thomas Soffee
A Book Review by Nizana
I was on vacation and brought this book along, and what an enjoyable read
and an excellent addition to my collection. It is Anne’s story, part of which
happens to be comments about her involvement in the belly dance world. I have
to wonder if there’s a sequel, because I want to know what’s happened since she
published the book in 2002! It’s a hardback book, and the cover has her bio, an
intro to the book, and a cool picture of a dancer from the hips down. I found
her very entertaining, witty and realistic. She mentions, she may have ruffled some feathers as she
names “names”, but as a dancer, especially those with some recent history of
the dance, you can appreciate and relate to a lot of what she talks about. At
least I know I did!
The subtitle of Soffee’s memoir is “Belly Dancing and How I Found True
Love.” I really like her writing style, and her sense of humor is sharp, with
colorful analogies. I cracked up out loud more than once. She keeps it real and
calls it like she sees it. Each of the fourteen chapters, along with the intro
and the epilogue, has a title and a subtitle. Soffee also has an
acknowledgement section, and a section at the end called “Other Hip Shimmy
Stuff” which includes a glossary. She references cultural aspects of her
“half-Lebanese” heritage throughout, and shares her joys and challenges of her
life. I guess I enjoyed this even more because I could relate to her as an
individual. She and I both have Master’s degrees, we both have been educational
instructors and worked with youth, and we both started belly dancing around the
same age. I have had some similar experiences in the belly dance community like
she has and I know others would express that they, too, know exactly what she’s
talking about.
An example of a depiction of her feelings at a dance event and whether
she’s “doomed to the sidelines forever more,” Soffee writes “When a
bespectacled, fortyish woman comes out holding two candles and proceeds to
stand stock-still as she circles the candles in front of her, I think I can do
that. When a meticulously painted Cosmo blonde essentially spends four minutes
shaking her ta-tas at the crowd without regard to timing or rhythm, I think I
sure as hell can do that. When a dozen dancers crowd into the tiny spotlight to
do a Middle Eastern rendition of the Macarena, I think well, technically, I
could do that, but I’ll be damned if I want to.” Ok, tell me you can’t
relate to that!
What’s also cool is she basically has a documented historical perspective
of a big part of the belly dance community, but it’s still pretty current, too.
There are many dancers she references who are still dancing today. Knowing of
some of who she’s speaking of and being part of that general belly dance community
makes the story all the more personal and interesting. Hearing her colorful
descriptions about her family, friends, “love interests” and associates was
fascinating, too.
I really want to know, did she end up dancing with the Women of Selket?
Is she still belly dancing? Is her true love still her true love? Does she have
a daughter now who she’s teaching to dance? Could this be turned in to a movie?
I am going to have to find time to re-read this book, as I recommend it to
others.
