I guess I've been fascinated by belly buttons all my life. Firstly because they represent a necessary scar we all share from birth, and subsequently, much like fingerprints, no two scars are alike. Then there's the notion that in that little hole in the middle of our stomach we can see a direct link to our mother, via a chord which was once severed but for most of us remains intact as long as she is alive, and for some of us even long after that. In numerous Middle-Eastern cultures spirals represented 'the cycle of life', and there is no greater example in the human form than our belly with its central pivoting spiral - the bellybutton.

In some Arabic cultures, (where belly dancing is said to have originated), a calculated pelvic movement is meant to enhance the release or flow of energy from the centre of its primary source - the stomach. Arguably then, the dance revolves around a drawing of energy from within, which during its course, spirals out of the body to meet the external physical world.