In Jura – surely it’s dance of a thousand hails

hebridean women enjoy the exotic art of belly dancing

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IT HAS crept in from the East to almost every big town in mainland Britain and now the country’s craze for belly dancing has shimmied its way out west, to the Hebrides.

The women of Islay and Jura are eagerly embracing the chance to learn the ancient and exotic art.

Dance teacher Paula Davidson imported her belly dancing skills to Islay when she moved to the island from Glasgow.

And now her classes are so popular that she is holding two a week.

Islay mother Isabel Coughlin, 52, from Bowmore, who is hooked on her new hobby, said: “I think it’s better than Highland dancing, that would be out of the question for me because my joints wouldn’t stand up to it. Belly dancing is great for people of a certain age, it’s flexible and it’s a good form of exercise.

“I go to both classes, to Bowmore on a Tuesday and Port Ellen on Fridays and I have lost inches off my waist.”

Dance teacher Mrs Davidson, 33, who lives in Portnahaven, Islay, said: “It is pretty popular, as well as my weekly classes in Port Ellen and Bowmore and I have been over to the isle of Jura teaching it there as well, I took a workshop of about 30 locals.

“A group of us are planning to go to Cairo to buy some costumes and music and take some lessons from the best in the world.”