The members of the Ponoka-based Read My Hips Dance Troupe are pleased to host the Ponoka Dance Gala fundraiser on October 5th.

The event will take place in Moose Hall. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Dinner begins at 6:15 p.m., followed by the show. Tickets are available at www.eventbrite.ca and there will also be a silent auction.

Read My Hips is an all-female dance troupe specializing in belly dancing. The group was founded in 2012, said Andrea Ramage, founder and director of the troupe.

“In 2013 we held our first charity gala. We thought it would be a way to showcase women’s dance as an art form and at the same time do something good for the community. For us it’s an opportunity to put on this great show – it’s a really fun night and we get to give something back!”

In the first year, the beneficiary was the Lois Hole Hospital for Women. Over the years, funds have also been used to build the playground at Ponoka Elementary School and to install a kitchen at the former Parent Link Centre.

“We have also created and funded the Ponoka Arts and Cultural Bursary program. It provides funds for children and youth to participate in programs that focus on leadership skills or are artistic or cultural in nature,” she said, adding that the funds are available through Ponoka Family and Community Support Services.

This year the gala supports the parent-child programs in Ponoka offered by the Neighbourhood Place program.

Ramage’s passion for dance, especially belly dancing, was awakened rather unexpectedly.

“I wasn’t a dancer as a child – I took a few dance lessons as a teenager, but I didn’t grow up dancing,” she explained.

“Around my 30th birthday, I started taking a belly dancing class. To be honest, I didn’t think my friend would take me to a belly dancing class – I thought it was a surprise party for my birthday,” she said, laughing.

At first she wasn’t entirely enthusiastic. But after watching the dancing for a while, something clicked for her.

“I thought, I’m here – I’ll give it a try! And I just liked it.”

A few months later, Ramage was encouraged to take an advanced course.

“Six months later, I was teaching with her. A few years later, she moved away and I opened my own class. I also had lessons with all kinds of amazing belly dance teachers. Belly dance is very interesting because it combines movement styles from all over the world,” she said.

“My class is now fusion style,” she said, adding that in addition to the belly dance style, a bit of poetry and salsa are also mixed into the mix.

“It’s open to women of all ages and sizes. It’s so inclusive. It’s a type of dance that’s really for ‘every body.’ You have a body, then you can dance,” she said.

“It’s about moving the body for no other reason than to be comfortable in your own body,” she said. “It’s an expressive art form.”

Belly dancing has a very rich and long history.

Where it originated depends on who you ask, Ramage added.

“Nobody really knows how old it is. And if you ask someone from Egypt about its origins, it started in Egypt. If you ask someone from Lebanon, it originated there. If you ask someone from Turkey, it originated there. It’s older than history.”

For Ramage, belly dancing is a way to create a circle of women that is non-judgmental and welcoming. “There is no competition – there just isn’t (in belly dancing).”

It’s also a great form of exercise. “I’m half the size I was when I started belly dancing. It’s very physical, but it’s not strenuous because it’s all gentle.”

“Sometimes people think they don’t have rhythm. But they don’t realize that rhythm keeps them alive. We are ’embodied’ rhythm. Once we recognize our rhythm, anything is possible.”

She noted that people at the show would see people of all sizes, ages and dance styles.

“The dancers are all beautiful, they all live their lives to the fullest and they bring this expressive art form to the audience.”

For more information about the Ponoka Dance Gala or the Read My Hips Dance Trip, visit the Read my Hips Ponoka Facebook page.