Behind all the hooting, the hollering and the oscillating bellies, is a group of women sharing their inner light.
The Me'ira Belly Dance Troupe has been going strong for three years as the group of women from the southeast have continued to perform their take on the Mideast-inspired art. Me'ira is a Hebrew word meaning to share one's inner light, a sentiment Lindsay Dyer said is the hallmark of what she and the dancers do and why they do it.
"It's a grouping where we're there; we're a support system; we're totally a sisterhood," said Dyer.
"It's a happy place to go. We have music that makes us happy. We like dancing and quite honestly, we get to play dress-up. The sparkly costumes are fun. I'm not a girly-girl at all, and my mom can't even imagine I'm wearing dresses and sparkles and lacy things," she added with a sharp laugh.
Me'ira hosted their third annual dance show, with theme "Vintage Hollywood," at the Estevan Leisure Centre on April 20. The troupe has 10 local women, including Dyer and Paula Spearing who dances with women in Oxbow.
"It's really about self-expression," added Spearing. "(It's about) growing and pushing ourselves. It's one thing to dance in a group and follow somebody else's lead, and then to go out on your own and be your own leader and do your own thing. This gives them that opportunity to be that strong, independent woman who is expressing herself. This place is where you can go and do that."
Dyer said it's a very welcoming and supportive community that simply appreciates whatever a dancer brings to her performance.
"We have a lot of fun and everybody's a blast," said Dyer. "Everybody is so accepting and non-judgmental. You get in there and everybody gets that we're mommies and lawyers and this and that outside of it, but when we get together here it's like, let's dance and have fun."
The troupe belongs to the Regina Association of Middle Eastern Dancers, or RAMED. Me'ira will dance at shows in Regina with groups the women know there, and those Regina troupes will come to Estevan and the area when shows are held here. Zarifah is a Regina group that performed at the local show over the weekend.
They hardly had the longest commute, however, as the troupe brought in an acquaintance of Dyer's from Tucson, Ariz., Jolie Roberson.
Dyer said she is always looking into the dance community, and when she was down in Tucson, looked up Roberson and took some personal lessons with her.
"Because it's that kind of community, it doesn't matter if we know each other or not," she said, noting she was able to send Roberson an e-mail and meet up very easily.
While some other troupes have a very fixed style of dance, Spearing said Me'ira is more "fusion-based," giving them a more blended and diverse style.
Dyer has been belly dancing for about nine years, starting under the tutelage of Charlotte Roettger, following the birth of her son. Spearing has been dancing for eight.
Dyer said Roettger's refrain was "It's OK to have jiggle. Residual bounce is good."
Particularly because she began dancing following a pregnancy, she said it helped her become more comfortable with her changed body.
"I came from growing up being this teeny-tiny, little person, and then I had a baby. When I walked in there, I was self-conscious, but when I walked out of my first class I thought, 'I feel good about me. I'm OK with this.'"
Dyer noted only one of the troupe's dancers had a background in dance before beginning to belly dance as adults.
"I heard somebody was teaching classes in Estevan and I thought I just wanted to try that," said Spearing, who noted she started with two friends, but after a couple of sessions they didn't go back. "I've been going ever since. It was just something that clicked for me."
For Dyer and Spearing, belly dancing has become an activity that they do solely for themselves. It's an opportunity for them to take some time away from the rest of their busy lives.
"I love my husband, I love my children, but when I walk in there I'm not mommy, I'm not a wife, I'm not working. I'm just me," said Dyer.
The group was raising money at the show on the weekend as well. All proceeds are used by the group to donate to charities when they perform at various organizations' fundraisers.
