Dance Life

Feel free to describe your gender, wrong-ish answers only 😂

Learn this routine with me in six weeks in my online library, available worldwide. Comment UNTAMED to learn more!

Description- Arielle (he/him and she/her) performs "Black and Tan Fantasy" for Inappropriate Song Night.

Text reads- Being bi-gender means: double Ds and a double dose of deez 🥜. Body of a Renaissance painting, soul of a gas station hot dog. Doesn't p**p, obsessed with bholes anyway. Can't parallel park OR take a joke. Whole closet full of skincare products, using 3-in-1 shampoo on body, face and soul. Why pick just one, when I can double park in both?

Inspired by a dinner I made really awkward by saying this before the main course even came out 😂 I don't think self-talk is ever just about ourselves.

The beliefs I've held about my own body didn't magically stop at my skin, and I don't think they do for anyone else, either. When I believed my body was less healthy because of its size, I also believed larger bodies were less healthy. (You couldn't have waterboarded that out of me at the time, though.) Maybe the way we talk about ourselves is the safest place to notice the beliefs about bodies we don't usually say out loud.

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Join this class, and you can be one of these confident, joyous dancers learning this very routine. Comment UNTAMED to learn more, available on livestream and recorded on demand!

Description: Arielle (he/him and she/her) and three students perform the final routine to "Ta3al" by DYSTINCT. Those red pants you want are by a company that closed 😭

Text reads- unpopular opinion: your body talk is political. Our bodies are ground zero for our beliefs.
We're encouraged to judge our own bodies; this pressure is particularly hard on women and femmes.
The things we'd never say about someone else, we say them about ourselves without thinking twice, right?
If you want to know where you're holding on to the body hierarchy, listen to how you talk about yourself.

This is Christine.

Last month, Christine survived an attempt on her life. She spent time in the ICU, underwent multiple rounds of dialysis, and is now beginning the long road of recovery.

What hurts my heart most is that before any of this happened, she was carrying everything alone. She was on the brink of losing her job, facing overwhelming financial pressure, and felt like she had nowhere to turn. Like so many people who are used to surviving on their own, she didn’t know how to ask for help.

Now she’s letting us do something she’s rarely allowed herself to do: show up for her.

If you’d like to read Christine’s full story or help support her recovery, comment ROOTS below or send me a DM with the word ROOTS and I’ll send you the fundraiser.

And if giving isn’t possible right now, sharing her story or simply leaving her a message of encouragement would mean the world ❤️

I built a worldwide platform in the same body I spent years trying to "fix".

I've lost weight and regained it more than once.
If I could just be disciplined and consistent enough, my body would reflect my strong work ethic by being thin.

When that promise didn't deliver what I thought it would, I grieved.

Then I moved on. I stopped waiting for my body to become acceptable before I started living. I built a community that has changed lives around the world in THIS body, not the one I thought would draw the least amount of criticism.

Sometimes I wonder where I'd be now if I hadn't hid for so long.

So it makes me wonder, delightful person who has read this far:

What would become possible for you if you stopped waiting, too?

Learn this routine with me in five weeks! Maybe you’ll find you can see your body as a Now Body happening instead of a Before Body waiting, just like us ❤️

Comment UNTAMED to get a DM with more info!

Description: Arielle (he/him and she/her) perform for the other students to “Dom Dom”.
Text reads: your current body isn’t a before picture. Your current body deserves memories, to be seen, and to be celebrated. Wear the outfit. Dance anyway. Take up space now.

The dominant narrative is that we can’t be happy or lovable unless we’re actively striving for our most socially acceptable forms.

Meanwhile I’m much happier, and honestly have way better relationships, when I’m not spending 20 hrs a week on a "lifestyle change".

“You’re happy but you aren’t healthy” is a cliche response to videos like this.

But if love, joy, connection, community, and actually enjoying your life don’t count as health to you, I think you may be using "healthy" strictly as a synonym for "thin".

Step into my world and take a refreshing drink of body liberation, one dance class at a time. Try my six-week beginner series and learn the basic moves of Egyptian dance! Comment "DRILLS" to get a DM with more info.

Description: Arielle (he/him and she/her) performs at Inappropriate Song Night for an enthusiastic crowd. The song is "Baladi Nahuand" by Gaston Chaude, the costume is by Belly Goddess. Text reads "happy and loved in my biggest body."

I’m curious where people land on this!

Learn this routine with me beginning 5/12, Tuesdays at 6p CDT in person and on livestream, or catch it in my recorded library.

Don’t worry, the floorwork is optional. The standing version slaps just as hard for my crunchy knee dancers. Comment UNTAMED to get a DM with more info!

Description: Arielle (he/him and she/her) performs aggy floorwork to “Another One Bites The Dust” by Queen

Text reads: do you compliment weight loss automatically? If someone posts a thinner photo online, does part of your brain instantly see it as an improvement?
Would the reaction change if the weight loss came from grief, illness, anxiety or not eating?
If yes, maybe we aren’t actually praising health. Maybe we’re praising thinness.
Where do you land on this?

What does Zenne Vs Oryantal mean?

Zenne dancers have been around for centuries!

“Zenne” refers to male dancers in Turkey doing what we would now call “belly dance”. Dating all the way back to the sprawl of the Ottoman Empire, these were originally nomadic dancers who typically wore feminine attire and danced using feminine techniques.

“Oryantal” is the Turkish form of the dance we know as “belly dance”, often performed by highly conventionally attractive women.

While this commenter most certainly meant this as an insult, I couldn’t be more honored to be compared to this fantastic group of dancers, and I absolutely CANNOT wait to tell you more about them!

Join me in person or on livestream in my class on Mondays at 6pm CST, or catch it recorded on demand in my online library anytime. Comment UNTAMED for a DM with more info!

Description: Arielle (he/him and she/her) does his best kuchek to “Sen Trope” by Bulgarian Roma superstar Azis.

Text: ipekag says “is this a male body? You need a proper waist for belly dancing. This looks like and not an ”
I reply: Is this an unsolicited opinion? You need to a proper 4 inch taint for commenting, though 🥲 This looks like and not a .
👀 but also-
Dude, yes 😍
Bro saw he/him she/her in my caption and just wanted to be an ally 🥹🫶🏻
UNMISGENDERABLE MWAHHAHAH

That feeling of release when the stick falls out tho 😮‍💨👌🏻✨ top tier.

I talk about bhole in public so often. Like, if the word “bhole” was a song, I’d be in the top 1% of streamers. I think my students would back me up on this 🤣 I can’t help that it’s a really relevant or***ce!

Anyway, get in on the sphinctral action for $15/mo on Teachable! Keep me in your pocket any time, anywhere around the world. Comment UNTAMED to get a DM with more info.

Description: Arielle (he/him and she/her) dances to "Henna Flower" off a Yousry Sharif album, Wash Ya Wash.

Text:
Denise says- should not be doing this. Too big. I reply,- I get it, Denise. You're mad that I refused the deal you accepted, the deal that said joy is only found in idealized bodies. Here's the truth, Denise: you can refuse this deal at any point, just like I did. You may find when you do, that stick just naturally falls right out of your bhole 🤗 Hope this helps!