Maria remembers her father as being more than a little dictatorial. Among other things, he refused to let his daughters wear makeup. Maria didn’t want to use makeup when she was older, so she never did.

She won’t ever die her hair, either, I bet. Her belly dancing group is changing that, at least temporarily, which tells me how much she loves the group.

In the first performances, she struggled with makeup. She was a little scary, a little like a raccoon. Belly Dancing is the oldest known dancing in the world. The class means a lot to her.

The group is nothing if not a close-knit community whose members pride themselves on supporting one another. Maia became her own when she took her first belly dancing class.

In most ways, that’s what belly dancing is about – the affirmation of strong women, proud of who they are and how they look.

Julz Irons, a businesswoman and dancer friend of ours and Maria’s Belly Dancing teacher offered to show Maria how to use face makeup for performing. Maria took this as a gentle hint.

The group has two performances scheduled for this summer.

One is at the North Bennington, Vt: library, the other at the Bennington Pride parade.

Julz is a sensitive and supportive teacher; she always makes her students feel good.

At Belly Dancing class last week, she sat down with Maria and showed her how to make herself up for a stage performance. Maria was more than grateful.

When she got home from class, she rushed upstairs and immediately took it off.

I’ll see her face made up again when I go to watch her dance in public. I’m not welcome in class.

I think there is nothing she wouldn’t do for her fellow belly dancers. It’s been nothing but a beautiful and positive experience for her. She dances with an amazing group of strong women who always look out for one another.