She quickly picks up the beat of the recorded Middle Eastern music that's playing, clanging the zils, or tiny cymbals, on her fingers to the delight of restaurant patrons, who clap and cheer.
She takes turns dancing with customers, including Teresa Alanis of Selma. After trying to mimic Federico's swaying hips, Alanis smiles and sits back down as her family applauds. Alanis brought her family to the Mediterranean to celebrate her son's 19th birthday and "show him a different culture from the Hispanic culture."
Federico is among several dozen women in the central San Joaquin Valley who have mastered belly dancing and are introducing others to the centuries-old movements that originated in the Middle East and North Africa.
With movement from feet to hands, head to hip and, of course, the abdomen, belly dancing is a celebration of woman. Traditionally, belly dancing was done by women only in front of other women.
"Belly dancing gives a woman the possibility to discover, learn about and understand herself," writes Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi in "Grandmother's Secrets" (Interlink Books, $25). "More than words or thoughts, it reveals her attitudes and feelings toward herself and her sexuality, toward men, children and other women.
"It gives her the possibility to communicate with the eternal woman in herself, to accept herself and to learn to love. Through the movements of belly dancing, a woman expresses her courage to love and to live."
Belly dance has served many purposes for women.
For example, "Belly rolls are Turkish, from the harems for the birthing process," says Cory Zamora, 52, who coaches, performs and makes instructional belly-dancing videos in Fresno. "The women would dance around the birthing woman and roll their bellies to show her how to give birth."
In the late 1800s, belly dancing made its way west to the United States. By the 1920s, interest grew, inspiring several films, writes Al-Rawi.
Today, people don't have to go to the movies for belly dancing. They can take a class, use the movements to exercise or watch it live at restaurants, festivals or shows such as the Central Valley Belly Dancing Showcase on Saturday, where many dance styles will be presented to what promoters say are the "best love songs from North Africa and the Middle East."
Dance fascination
One recent weekday evening, seven women in tank tops and loose-fitting pants practice belly dancing moves in Federico's class at Studio 65 Dancesport Center in Fresno.
Everyone sits cross-legged on the floor while their fingers snap the zils together to Arabic music. The students slowly raise their arms above their heads before bringing them down in an "L" motion from left to right.
"Sit nice and tall, please!" yells Federico, who's taught belly dancing less than two years.
For more than 25 years, 42-year-old Diane Gustafson says she's wanted to learn how to belly dance, but never seemed to have the time.
"My kids are grown, my career is established and now I can do something for myself," says the first-grade teacher from Clovis. "It just seemed like something fun to do."
She's been taking belly dancing for a little over a year.
Heather Berg tried belly dancing as another form of exercise. After taking several classes, the 31-year-old Fresno resident says she's sticking with it. "It's invigorating," says Berg, a research technician at California State University, Fresno. "It gives you a sense of your own sensuality. You feel free. And, it's a good workout."
Another plus, says Berg, "All body types are accepted and appreciated."
Some women claim other physical benefits from belly dancing. During a trip to Turkey, Sue "Zara" Beevers of Kerman, who has scoliosis (curvature of the spine), became interested in belly dancing after watching a performance. She thought it might help strengthen her spine.
"You do a lot of upper-body work and hold zils, which are light weights, so it does strengthen your back," says Beevers, who is 55.
Bay'la Washburne, 57, has severe rheumatoid arthritis. She's "positive that I would not be able to walk if I could not dance. . . . Dance has so many advantages for the maturing body, and it keeps it limber and young."
Besides being a belly dancer and actress, Washburne teaches belly dance to seniors and disabled students.
Male belly dancers
Although belly dancing is usually done by women, a few men have learned it, too, including Wesley Gomes.
After injuring a knee, Gomes looked for something that would keep him in shape but not hurt his knee. When a friend suggested belly dancing, he immediately resisted. "After all, boys don't belly-dance," says Gomes, 21, who grew up in Fresno but moved to Seattle two years ago.
"She made me promise to go to one class and she would never speak of it again. Six years later, here I am."
Male belly dancers dress and dance differently from female dancers, he says.
"Male dancers tend to use a lot fewer hand and arm movements," says Gomes. "They use a lot of foot work. Men also tend to dance more flat-footed."
Gomes adds, "The whole point of male belly dancing is not to be a man dancing in a feminine manner, but to be a man dancing in a masculine manner."
For costumes, he says, "men wear a loose shirt with baggy sleeves in addition to a mirrored vest and harem or Turkish pants. Some sort of headwear is usually worn. . . . Last, but not least, a sash and/or coin belt or tassel belt is worn.
"You'll notice the stomach is not exposed. In fact, the hands, feet and face are the only parts exposed."
When Gomes tells people he's a belly dancer, they usually want a demonstration. "Sometimes I comply, other times I'll invite them to a show," he says. "I try to get out and dance everywhere I can so that people can see there are indeed male dancers."
Belly dancing truths
The notion that belly dancing is exclusively for women is one of many misconceptions.
Says Zamora, people think "that it's all about sex. [That] it's done only for men. [That] it's only done by women. That it's easy. That it's just shaking."
They're wrong, says Zamora, who has been belly dancing since 1971. "You find a lot about yourself. You have to learn about isolation, to move one part and keep one part still. It takes about one year for someone to be proficient."
"I have heard everything from exotic dancer to lap dancer to stripper," Federico says about others' definitions of belly dancing. "But I can't help it if some guy was in a club once and saw a stripper who happened to be wearing an 'I Dream of Jeannie' costume.
"What some people fail to realize is that Middle Eastern or belly dancing is folk dancing. . . . There's nothing lewd about it."
Belly dancer Laura Sutherland of Dinuba agrees.
"Dancers who try to look sexy wind up looking ridiculous," says Sutherland, 34.
"A good dancer is a good dancer. Everybody will love to watch her no matter who the audience is, what the dancer looks like or how old she is."
Back at the Mediterranean restaurant, customers talk, eat their dinners and watch Federico shake her hips and chest, roll her shoulders and belly and move her head like a snake. She occasionally bends over backwards or drapes her veil around customers as she dances next to them.
The teapot is atop her head during one stretch of dancing. She dances to the floor and pours tea into cups before placing the teapot back on her head and finishing.
A few of the customers tip her when she dances by their tables, slipping a few dollars in the back of her top.
"I love Middle Eastern dance, particularly the cabaret style," says Federico, who studied ballet for more than 10 years before trying belly dancing.
Belly dancers must be skilled to perform cabaret style, the most difficult style because it involves numerous steps and handling props, says Zamora.
"I love the challenge of it, the drama of it, the music, its ancientness and its folklore," adds Federico. "But most of all, I love how I feel when I dance."
The reporter can be reached at nzong@fresnobee.com or 441-6467.
