That's what happened Friday night as the Silver Dunes Middle Eastern Dance Troupe kept a crowd of around 200 people mesmerized with their muscle control and undulating midriffs. As one spectator said, the performance was not "R" rated."This is not what people think belly dancing is," said Joe Esquero, who attended with his wife Ramona. "This is good family entertainment. On a scale of 1 through 10, I'd give it a nine or a 10."It's all about muscle control. More people should come out and enjoy them when they perform in Alamogordo," he said.

The seven troupe members who danced at Legends Desert Garden Grill on St. Patrick's day ranged from 17-year-old high school seniors to those in their 40s and 50s.The entertainment started with Mark Claxton's band, Claxton Rocks. Lead singer Bob Gill made a unique "Wearin' o' the Green" fashion statement dressed in high clodhopper boots a la River Dance, a long green-and-white striped tunic and a large green "Happy St. Patrick's Day" topper.

Bob's wife, Vangie, was the catalyst for the combination of rock and Middle Eastern Dancing. A registered nurse, she works at the Women's Health Center. So does Melanie Anaya, the office manager, who also teaches belly dancing at Premier Fitness. Discussions about the entertainment value of belly dancing arose. "I said if you ever want us to dance for you, let me know," Anaya said. "We kept batting it back and forth since last fall, and finally decided to get it together," Bob Gill said. "We had to adapt our equipment to play their CDs." The audience watched as each of the women took a turn performing a dance she choreographed herself. Some of the music prompted the spectators to clap along, and slap their tables in time with the music.

"I think they're great," said Brandon Stewart, a construction worker, Alamogordo High class of '96, who watched from a table.

"They look like they are having a good time. I like the large ladies, they look better." Realtor Beth Crabbe, owner of ReMax, said she brought a table of 30 people. "We're trying to promote entertainment in our town," she said. "There are a lot of good opportunities, but people don't realize it."

Claudia Powell, 51, of High Rolls, troupe director. She danced in white -- and high heeled sandals. "This was something I needed to do," she said between sets. "For me, it's a combination of fitness and spiritual renewal. The body language expresses the way you feel unconsciously, and the dance expresses what you feel consciously. "It's something you do for yourself, not for men."

"You don't have to be tiny or young, but it helps," said Betzi Torres, 34, of Alamogordo. "Belly dancing has been around for at least 2,000 years. Belly dancing is not restricted by age or size. Older women don't have the same hang-ups, and make better belly dancers." The women got into belly dancing in various ways. Anaya took belly dancing lessons at Premier Fitness a few years ago. She attended workshops in El Paso. "The more I got into it, the more I enjoyed it," she said. "You learn different things from different instructors. Workshops are continuing education." She has more than 30 students at Premier in two classes.

Some of the dancers took lessons through Powell, whose studio, Shuvani, is located behind Hart's Furniture in the Granada Shopping Center.When the band took a break, the belly dancers took the floor.

Angela Holmes, 27, of Alamogordo is a professional dance instructor, with a studio in the Granada Shopping Center. She looks all muscle and sinew when she belly dances. "I've been dancing my whole life, and I wanted a new thing to teach my students," she said. She took belly dancing lessons from Powell. "It was dancing from a different culture, and I was hooked."

Bethany Price and Kim Cadwallader are both 17-year-old seniors at Alamogordo High School. "I was interested in Egyptian culture, and found belly dancing classes at Shuvani Studio," Price said. "I think it's great. It gets me in touch with my feminine side. It opens people's eyes to the culture and lets them experience it."

"I've always liked dancing. This is good exercise, and a way to make friends, and it's fun," Cadwallader said. She said she found belly dancing by working at the pet store near Shuvani. Dancer Sharon Stephens, 24, of Alamogordo, said "I'm a mom. I have a daughter, Ryeanne, 7. and sons Austin, 4 and Kody, 2. Friends introduced me to it, Betzi and Claudia and Wanda (Waukenin), and Jeannie Magee. She's in Iraq now with the Air Force, or she'd be here."

How did belly dancing start? Even the experts can't say specifically. Andrea Deagon, Ph.D., writing "In Search of the Origins of Dance," says that "the movements of this dance are done all over the Middle East, North Africa, Southern Europe and India, and this has apparently been the case for a very long time.

"Belly dancing -- an expressive dance which emphasizes complex movements of the torso -- is quite simply a folk dance of this area. It is a way of moving, and a way of understanding what dance is, that ranges far and wide. People of both sexes do it; it appears at many different kinds of functions in many different forms. The basic technique of our dance, and the spirit of self-expression in which it is done, are spread so broadly throughout the area and throughout history that pinpointing any specific origin for it is an impossible task."

Mark Claxton's band and the Silver Dunes Middle Eastern Dance Troupe will be sharing the same venue again April 29 at Earth Day, which will be held at the Alameda Park Zoo.

WANT TO LEARN BELLY DANCING?

Melanie Anaya teaches two classes a week for Premier Fitness members. For information, call 434-2730. Powell and Torres teach two days a week at Shuvani. Call Powell at 682-4663. Classes are $5. "We want people to know they are affordable," Powell said. Reams of information on belly dancing -- videos, articles, costumes and more -- are available on-line by Googling on "belly dancing." Many of the dancers get their costumes and accessories on Ebay.

Bev Eckman-Onyskow is an Alamogordo-based free-lance writer.