Party with dance and music

It takes Anna Maria Cancelli about two hours to complete the transformation.

She abandons her day-job outfit, the uniform of a college English instructor, in favor of fishnet and fringe and feathers.

Next come the "jangly things" - coin belts, necklaces, large rings and earbobs.

Called kuchi, these embellishments are crucial. Shiny things that make noise will be integral to her performance.

Next hair goes black, and the makeup goes on.

"I love my false eyelashes," she coos.

There's lots of makeup - about an hour's worth. And then one last evaluation to make sure everything works and looks right.

A few minor adjustments, one deep breath - and Sophia the belly dancer is born.

Cancelli's love affair with the Middle Eastern tribal dance began nearly 15 years ago, when she studied the movements so she could mimic them for her part in a play.

"I got serious about it maybe five years ago," she said. "It took the place of physical therapy for my arthritis."

On Saturday night, Cancelli and some of her fellow dancers performed at a "hafla," a Middle Eastern celebration whose name means "party with dance and music." The hafla was held at Trent River Coffee Company in downtown New Bern.

"We want people to see for themselves how truly lovely this art form is," she said. "There are more organized groups of belly dancers in Raleigh and Asheville, but there really is very little exposure to it in Eastern North Carolina."

Kim Montero, whose stage name is Tara, said people have misconceptions about what belly dancing really is, assigning it more of a sexual connotation than it actually has.

"The undulations use the muscles that a woman uses in childbirth, and this is a dance that mothers in other countries teach their daughters," she said. "It's like the YMCA dance in our country."

All of the performers said they were drawn to the dance because they found it liberating.

Kaitlyn Lewis is classically trained in ballet and tap, among other types of dance.

But it is when belly dancing that she feels the most comfortable and in control.

"It's beautiful, it's exotic, it's completely celebratory of women," she said. "It teaches us to embrace other cultures and to embrace ourselves."