BELLY DANCING ADAPTS, THRIVES

Monday, Aug. 6, 2007 | 7:10 a.m.

Belly dancing is no longer a mystery from the Middle East.

It's gotten plenty of exposure in the West, thanks to MTV and aerobic exercise and modern dance.

Hundreds of belly dancers from around the world gathered last week at the South Point, demonstrating their talents, competing for prize money and teaching their art to eager students of all ages.

"This is the first time it has been held in Las Vegas," said Dolores Wadsworth, one of the International Belly Dancing Convention founders. "It is the largest in the world, but there are thousands of little conventions everywhere."

One of the coordinators of the convention is 37-year-old Aradia (her stage name), who has been belly dancing since the age of 7.

"When I was 16 we lied about my age so I could get a job dancing at the Marrakesh restaurant," Aradia said. She's danced there five nights a week for 20 years. "I paid my way through college belly dancing."

However, after getting degrees in biology and English, she decided she would prefer to dance and continues to do so, at the Marrakesh, at various casinos, at the Fremont Street Experience and in dance classes across the country.

"There has been an increase in the interest lately," the Las Vegas native said . "It was huge in the '70s, when I started, then it bottomed out in the '80s and then it came back in the mid-'90s, thanks to MTV."

Many pop singers, including Shakira, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Rhianna and Christina Aguilera, have incorporated belly dancing into their choreography and music videos.

At the belly dancing convention, the traditional rhythm of finger cymbals and doumbeks was joined by rap, disco, Latin and other musical styles and a variety of ethnic and national dances.

"We, as artists, have to grow," Aradia said.