At 7 p.m., May 19th, Maria’s belly dancing group and a number of other groups will host a dance concert to benefit Meals On Wheels of Bennington County.

The dance will be held at the Masonic Hall, 504 Main Street, Bennington. Admission is $10, tickets can be purchased at the Bennington Cafe, 124 Pleasant Street (802 442-8012).

Maria and I attended last year’s dance benefit, and we were both blown away by the belly dancing we saw, and the beautiful, defiant and mystical attitude of the dancers.

Dance as the narration of a magical story, wrote Shah Asad Rizvi, “that recites on lips, illuminates imaginations and embraces the most sacred depths of souls.”

Maria will not be dancing this year, but she is helping put the set and backdrop together, I will be taking some photos.

I was surprised by the depth and attitude of belly dancing, it is surely not about entertaining me, it is very much about strong women telling the world they are proud of what they are what they do, how they look.

I know most of the people reading this live far from here or nearby Bennington, but for those of you who do live here, think about coming. Belly dancing can change the way you look at dance and women. These dancings are a celebration of the feminine divine.

Maria, who is, to say the least, not a joiner, loves this group and the feeling of the dances.