The Inspiration of Paola Blanton

Paola Blanton stands in front of the room every inch of her what you'd imagine a dancer to be: lean, toned limbs and torso, exemplary posture, neatly gathered pony tail. She gazes towards the corner of the room and gracefully unfurls her arm straight out--to the finger tips. “Dance with your intent, from your solar plexus. I'm an Isadora Duncan dancer.”

Paola's passion for dance took her from being a high school humanities teacher, to an international dance guru. She has danced on every populated continent, and her expressive style of Raqs Shaqi Orentale belly dance has kept her workshop choreographies in demand all over the world. Currently she runs a dance school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

At the invitation of Asmira, Paola is in Victoria to teach a series of workshops and exercise classes to local belly dancers. The first choreography I learn with her is called the Temple Priestess, and our movements remind me of the goddess poses I'd seen used by Wiccans to celebrate Solstice. The arms either gather energy toward the dancer or rise up in supplication. We learn the universal gesture: arms gather and cross near the feet, sweep up the body and uncross as they rise over the head. I immediately feel more powerful, focusing on opening my chest with this gesture. She describes the difference between a feminine elongated open hand and the masculine hand pinched together at the finger tips. “See, feel, then move towards what you want,” says Paola. She deftly spins in the direction she is reaching.

As she teaches, Paola continues to mention her studies of Isadora Duncan technique. Paola has studied several times with at the Isadora Duncan School of Dance in New York. Also an accomplished writer, she has published several articles including, What Isadora Duncan Can Give Belly Dance, in The Gilded Serpent.

In Duncan technique, we learn first to cast our sight, follow through with the plexus/heart center, and then deploy a motion or gesture. The limbs serve the intent and intelligence, not the other way around, especially when it comes to hands. Hands try to control everything we do....Whether we type at a computer, chop vegetables, mow the lawn, grade papers, or crochet sweaters....The tendency is to lead with the hand. Duncan tells us, lead with the sight, follow through with the plexus, and finish with the hand or arm or whatever body part we are deploying.

This technique reminds me of the creative process of writing a story. The best Middle Eastern dancers are the ones who describe the emotion of the music. With each choreography I learn from Paola, I learn a story, and a new dance vocabulary to speak through the music. Isadora Duncan believed in letting inner emotions propel movements and transcend technique and form.



Isadora Duncan (1878- 1927) rebelled against the Victorian society of her lifetime. She cast off her corset in favour of flowing tunics, and combed the ancient ruins of Greece and Rome for dance postures of worship. Isadora’s dance philosophy was personal expression and she is credited with first inventing modern dance. Her inspirations were Nature and Greek myth, so it’s no wonder Paola fell in love with Isadora’s philosophy on a trip to Delphi, Greece. Paola now performs with the idea of expressing dance subjectively; to share expression and emotion rather than only symbolical gesture. “She shook up my entire world,” said Paola.

On the last day of exercise classes, we gather in a circle with a candle in the middle of the room. Paola leads us in a swaying of our hips as we kneel facing each other. There is a warm quiet to the room as we carefully sway and stretch, our limbs weaving through each other. Paola writes that there is no one true history of belly dance, a dance that takes it’s form from each region, each dancer and her experiences. But there is something essential we all can share when we let go and just dance ourselves.