Belly dancing class works the core and stimulates the senses - MiamiHerald.com

Should I have looked for hidden meaning when Britney Spears’ Womanizer played in the middle of a belly dancing class populated solely by women â€" and this one male columnist. There is, after all, a banner on the wall: Unleash the Goddess Within.

I’d already agreed to unleash the belly no longer within; what further indignities awaited?

None. The Belly2Abs class inside a storefront fitness studio of the same name in Coconut Grove is a treat.

From the welcoming smiles of instructor Adriana Echeverri and classmates like Diana Cuellar to the serious core and leg work designed into Echeverri’s Belly2Abs fitness class, any guy should feel like a champ for completing her challenging program.

OK, the Grove studio is geared for women, the signs on the wall tout female empowerment through exercise, the decor is “girly,” Echeverri acknowledges, and the beaded belts certainly looked better on the classmates than on this correspondent.

But a great workout knows no gender and Belly2Abs, which works the core, legs, glutes and arms through a series of piston-like leg movements, toe-raises, twists from the core, arm extensions, and the use of hand weights, is a great workout.

“It makes me sweat and I love the diversity of the exercise you get â€" dancing to weights to meditation,” said Cuellar, 39, a South Miami school teacher who finds the belly dancing workouts serve as a fine complement to the running and cycling she also does. “Relieves tension.”

Echeverri created her Belly2Abs fusion concept when she opened her first wellness studio in Curacao in 2003. She then opened a belly dancing studio in Ireland three years later, a challenge, she laughs. But the Irish took to the program, even some men, and she currently conducts the program from her Grove fitness studio and certifies other instructors across the country.

“Some have called it the Zumba of belly dance,” Echeverri says since the class also incorporates dance movements set to up-tempo music. “Women are dancing, getting fit and having fun.”

The 45-minute class begins with a hearty warm-up that introduces the leg work and hip movements common to the art of belly dance. Squats are incorporated, as well as the real test: a five-minute straight shimmy exercise to target the calves and develop the all-important core. Good stomach muscles protect the back.

The class concludes with a 5-minute yoga, stretching and meditation session incorporating breathing techniques for calming and stress-relief. Echeverri finalizes the experience by passing scented eucalyptus oil under our noses to free the sinuses.

“What we do is positive reinforcement for women,” she explains.

“It’s womanly,” concurs an enthusiastic Linda Belgrave, 61, a sociology teacher at the University of Miami who squeezes in a Belly2Abs workout before she heads to the classroom. “The movements are incredible cardio and every body type is accepted here.”

Lorena Gomez, 39, a Kendall mom of two, braved U.S. 1 traffic to try Belly2Abs for the first time on a recent Thursday morning. She loved the mixture of music and movement.

“I really sweated,” she said, “and I needed this time for myself today and I’m so glad I got that.”