Although its true origins have long since been lost, Raqs Sharqi – or belly dancing as it is called – is internationally popular. The number of belly dancing enthusiasts is growing as it is embraced for its health benefits.

An Arabic phrase meaning “dance of the Orient,” some of the threads of Raqs Sharqi’s history weave a story of a dance form from ancient Egypt, Turkey or India.

These dances were performed to express emotions or even to honor gods and deities through fluid movements of the female form. It is even thought that it may have evolved from birthing rooms where women came together to aid one of their own in the agony of pelvic contractions. The rotations of hips with breathing techniques may have been combined to ease the woman’s body and mind as the child was born. Common belief is it is a blend of all those sources. Like a rich exotic blend of aromatic spices, Raqs Sharqi has been seasoned through the ages.

In the mid-1800s, forms of belly dancing were introduced to the United States, most notably by a dancer known as “Little Egypt.” There were at least three women who, from the late 1800s through the 1920s, used that stage name.

The first woman to use the stage name was Fahreda Mazar Spyropoulos from Syria who brought to America something never before witnessed. It is said that when Mark Twain first attended a performance by Little Egypt, he nearly fainted.

Although we might be likely to think of belly dancing as an erotic versus exotic dance form, it has become a mainstream form of exercise offered in venues as diverse as children’s dance studios to councils on aging. And there are just as many forms of belly dancing as there are people enjoying the freedom of movement it offers.

Hiding in plain sight in Mattapoisett is a dancer of extraordinary talent who practices Raqs Sharqi, or belly dancing, every single day.

Ellie Mae Higgins was first introduced to belly dancing about 12 years ago as she pursued training in various dance forms. She is a certified group fitness instructor and, as such, has incorporated various types of dance forms into a program she calls “Groovercise.” Higgins sees the benefits of belly dancing – which she prefers to call Egyptian Dance – because it allows the joints to move smoothly and gently.

“It is so good for posture, confidence and improved body image,” said Higgins.

Higgins loves to teach and educated me recently about Egyptian dance, noting that it is referred to as the ‘happiness dance’ because it is danced to celebrate happy occasions. It is a dance that was created by and for women.

“It makes you feel amazing and it is very empowering for women,” she said with a delight that she could hardly contain. “Women of all shapes and sizes can dance this way because the moves come naturally to a woman’s body,” she pointed out.

And more than just dance and physical exercise, Higgins says that Egyptian dancing allows a woman to feel like a goddess. She pointed out that when a woman is dancing, she is standing tall, moving elegantly to music that’s either smooth and slow or upbeat and percussive, and which elevates the mind in a true body/mind experience that is good for the soul. The costumes worn by some practitioners are gorgeous creations of silks, lace, sequins, and tassels in every color and combination imaginable. “… A woman feels beautiful…” and that is important to Higgins.

For Higgins, it is now simply part of her world.

“I dance first thing in the morning,” she once declared to her class of devoted fitness students. There is rarely a class she teaches where she is not wearing one of her signature jingly hip scarves while slipping in a few Egyptian dance hip bumps or snake arm moves.

Yet, for all the beauty of the movements, Higgins understands that dancing offers health benefits. According to Higgins, belly dancing can gently increase the body’s range of motion, is beneficial to the lymphatic system, builds core strength, and helps relieve stress.She emphasizes it’s good for those just beginning a fitness program and with no previous dance experience.

From an early age, Higgins was exposed to music of all types with musical instruments in her childhood home and a father who taught her to play the piano.

“He was not formally trained, but he could play,” she wistfully remembered. She plays the guitar, percussion, piano, and is a singer as well. She was once part of several different duets and trios and partnered with her husband, Bill Reidy (a professional musician), for many years before becoming a fitness instructor. Higgins still does gigs with Bill from time to time. But her day job is teaching others how to move and use their bodies to strengthen their core muscles, achieve good balance, and improve their brain fitness. She understands the importance of staying strong as we age. One of her regular students said, “Ellie keeps me alive.”

            Higgins teaches weekly Groovercise group fitness classes at the councils on aging in Mattapoisett, Marion, Acushnet and Rochester. She also teaches basic belly dancing for fun and fitness on Thursdays at 11:30 am at Mattapoisett’s COA. For a full schedule, contact the COA for days and times.

By Marilou Newell

The Rochester Police Department is offering Tri-Town women the chance to learn valuable self-defense techniques that will build confidence and help them feel empowered to protect themselves.

The R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) System of Self Defense was designed to promote education and awareness through lecture, discussion, and physical instruction of self-defense techniques.

And, despite the seriousness of the topic of rape defense, the course taught by Sergeant Robert Small and Officer Alyson Rego can offer something a bit unexpected, says Sgt. Small– like a fun time, indeed.

Who should take this course, you might ask? According to Small, YOU should.

“Anyone who is essentially looking to keep yourself from being in a position of defenselessness,” said Small.

This particular course is open to women only, offering general safety tips and the opportunity to actually physically practice defensive tactics like punches, elbow strikes, and kicks against a real “perpetrator.” But don’t get too nervous, said Small, because the “bad guy” will be wearing a padded suit, and you will have the support and guidance of the instructors and the entire class as well.

“I love the course,” Small stated. “A lot of women really come in and don’t expect to do as well.” He said some students in the past had been timid or hesitant, but eventually emerged confident by the time the course was completed.

“Everybody has generally been really glad they did it,” said Small, adding that he has mostly received positive responses from students. “It’s really great to see…. And once they realize they can actually be effective, they get a lot of self-confidence from that.”

Officer Rego recently received her R.A.D. Instructor certification and will be instructing the course for the first time, while Small – a seasoned R.A.D. instructor – will be on-hand for assistance throughout the course.

“I love this class, I really do get fired up over it,” said Small. “It’s a lot of fun and they’re going to feel a lot better about themselves once they do it.”

If you are interested, act fast because space is limited and a number of women have already signed up. But do not fret, said Small, because if the community shows enough interest, the Rochester Police Department will organize another R.A.D. course to follow soon.

The classes are held at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School at 476 North Avenue in Rochester. The class runs Thursday, January 8 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm; Thursday, January 15 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm; and Saturday, January 17 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm and then reconvening from 1:00 – 4:00 pm.

Prospective students must commit to attending all three days. And get this – the class is given entirely for free, at no charge to students.

There are a few ways to register. You can contact Rochester Police Department Administrative Assistant Suzanne Maksy at 508-763-5112 (ext. 109) Monday through Thursday from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, or email Sergeant Robert Small or Officer Alyson Rego at rsmall@townofrochester.com or arego@townofrochester.com, respectively.

By Jean Perry

This past year was a memorable one for the Tri-Town region, as individuals and as a community in general. As we look back at the past 12 months that collectively make up the year 2014, some events that occurred float immediately to the surface, such as the ones that hit us on the emotional level, while a few of the other important stories that we at The Wanderer reported to our readers required a little more thought to dig up from our collective memory.

There was, of course, one story of significance that immediately came to mind, and that was the disappearance and passing of 21-year old Dana Dourdeville.

Word spread the night of December 31 – New Year’s Eve 2013 – that a young man went missing off the coast of Fairhaven while duck hunting with his kayak. It was not until the morning of January 1 the news broke that it was Old Rochester Regional High School graduate and Marion resident Dana Dourdeville, and from that morning until January 12 when his body was recovered off the coast of East Falmouth, all of Tri-Town held its collective breath and hoped for a miracle.

No one could forget the tireless efforts of a community brought together by tragedy during the ongoing search for Dourdeville during those first bitter cold days of 2014. ORR Sports Director Bill Tilden organized the community in its relentless search for Dourdeville, while neighboring towns united in the endeavor.

It was difficult news to receive and to report, and a tragic start to the New Year for a family and for a community. A year has now passed since this loss, and the recollection of those 12 days remains fresh in our memories.

Right around that time, Tri-Town was shaken up in a different sort of way, with the first of two significant rumblings early in the year. On the morning of January 9, at about 10:52 am, reports of a loud explosion and subsequent shaking started pouring into our office and Facebook page – and we all felt it, whether or not we realized that it was indeed an earthquake.

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when the earth started moving during those few fleeting seconds? Residents from Marion to Dartmouth experienced the earthquake that scored a 1.3 to 2.3 on the Richter scale; the epicenter was located about ten miles northwest of New Bedford, as reported by the Western Observatory.

What about on the evening of February 11 when again the earth grumbled at 5:45 pm to the degree of a 2.4 magnitude quake? The Marion Police Department received several calls about an explosion in the vicinity of Marion, and the epicenter was just south of New Bedford.

Some Christian members of the community made some noise of their own after the Joint School Committees on March 27 voted in favor of eliminating Good Friday from the list of days off, making it a full day of school in an attempt to reduce the number of interrupted weeks of learning throughout the year.

Backlash was swift, with a petition launched by Rochester resident Margaret McGee demanding the committee rescind its vote, or else prepare to see a significant amount of students and teachers taking the day off in 2015 anyway.

A former School Committee member from Marion, Joe Napoli, claimed that when he was on the committee back in the 1980s the district eliminated Good Friday from the days off list and it was a disaster, saying the community was “up in arms” over the move.

The Joint School Committees met again in June, and the vote was upheld to nix Good Friday as a day off, although there was some more debate, more involvement from members of the community, and roughly 700 signatures on McGee’s petition at that point.

Opinions differed, with some residents calling the move “an attack on religion,” while some School Committee members defended the district’s secular decision to make the religious day a regular school day. Other School Committee members simply did not appreciate making the decision without first gathering input from the community in order to avoid excessive absences by staff and students from school on Good Friday 2015.

There were motions to rescind the vote, but in the end it never left the ground and did not lead to a re-vote on the matter.

Around that same time, ORR administrators were being called out by Tri-Town selectmen and members of the three finance committees when a rumor started circulating that an ORR school bank account was cyber-hacked in 2011 and $600,000 stolen from the district.

Mattapoisett Selectman Paul Sylvia was the first to bring up the topic, asking Town Administrator Michael Gagne to either confirm or dispel the rumor of the alleged $600,000 theft, which was immediately addressed by ORR Superintendent of Schools Doug White.

White acknowledged that three years prior, a cyber-hacking resulted in a loss of $134,000 from one of the accounts – not $600,000 as was first alleged – and the FBI and Attorney General’s Office were both called to investigate. White told selectmen during an April 10 joint meeting of the Tri-Town Boards of Selectmen that all but $34,000 of the money was recovered.

Selectmen from all three towns vocally expressed resentment that they were never informed of the theft and that the school district did not disclose the matter when it happened.

Rochester Selectman Richard Nunes accused White and the school administration and committees of being secretive, which former Joint School Committee Co-Chairman Dr. Peter Bangs denied.

“There was no attempt to hide anything,” said Bangs to selectmen during a somewhat contentious meeting.

Selectmen and town administrators alike asked the School Committee to investigate whether the remaining money could be recovered. White later reported that it could not.

There were other stories in the three communities that caused a stir in 2014. In Mattapoisett, the suspension of the Fire Lieutenant Patrick Saltmarsh for the alleged theft of $1,435.76 from the Firefighter’s Association, and the six subsequent charges of larceny against him, led to a lengthy paid leave for Saltmarsh and his eventual resignation after the charges were dropped.

Saltmarsh’s attorney Philip Beauregard maintained that Saltmarsh was innocent and was being falsely accused, stating during a phone interview that Fire Chief Andrew Murray “obviously felt threatened” by Saltmarsh’s qualifications and achievements, and that Murray “misled” investigators of the suspicious transactions while Saltmarsh was treasurer of the Firefighter’s Association.

Mattapoisett Police Chief Mary Lyons asserted on one occasion, “We wouldn’t have pursued charges if we didn’t feel that he was guilty.”

Finally, on July 23, while charges were dropped against him, Saltmarsh resigned after almost seven months of paid administrative leave and was ordered to repay the money in question.

Also making an impact on 2014, Rochester experienced a transition year after the retirement on July 1 of former Town Administrator Richard LaCamera and the hiring of the Town’s new TA, Michael McCue.

The Rochester Crossroads project off Cranberry Highway also made headlines several times as it moved forward in its development.

Marion was buzzing this year about Sprague’s Cove, and of course, the latest showdown with developers at Mark Investments, who want to build a CVS on the corner of Route 6 and Front Street, will surely see us through 2015, and possibly into 2016.

And I wonder if Facebook user Lynne Ames ever found the owner of that gold wedding ring she supposedly found on the beach in Mattapoisett back in April (probably not). Perhaps we will never know.

As we leave behind 2014 and look toward 2015, The Wanderer wishes all our readers a very Happy New Year! Keep reading The Wanderer in 2015 – you might be in it.

By Jean Perry