THERE was plenty of hip shaking on display as 110 belly dancers converged on an Oxford school.

The annual Oxford Belly Dance Bonanza took place at Oxford School in Glanville Road, East Oxford, on Saturday.

Organiser Nikki Livermore, 47, said the event aimed to bring people from the belly dancing community across Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties together.

She said: “It’s getting bigger every year as more and more people become interested in dancing, and the event itself has become more polished.”

The day offered the chance for people to try out a range of courses, with titles like Sensuous Veil and Contemporary Egyptian.

Ms Livermore, who has been teaching a belly dance class in Carterton for the past nine years, said: “There are lots of different styles of belly dancing.

“Dances from Egypt are completely different from dances in other parts of the Gulf.

“This day allows people from the belly dancing community in Oxfordshire to showcase all the different talents. We all had a taster session which went really well, and there was a club fusion workshop that combined belly dancing with club music which was really popular.”

Ms Livermore said more people were taking up the belly-dancing as a good way to exercise.

She said: “It’s really good fun and it’s great for keeping fit, and I think people like that.

“There is always a really good atmosphere at the event.”

Ms Livermore was quick to add that it was not just women who could shake their stuff.

She said: “We had two or three men down dancing with us. Saiidi, which is a traditional form of Egyptian stick dancing comes from an old type of Egyptian martial arts.

“The women also do a version of this dance which is a parody of the men’s dance, which is what I was teaching.”

Ms Livermore thanked belly dancer Josephine Wise for coming from London with her dance group, Elemental, to take part.

She said: “Josephine and her group are the top group in the UK, so it was fantastic to have them down with us taking part.”

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