Dance for union: From Aug 12 to 17, dancers from 60 countries will meet at Kerry Hotel for the largest belly dance festival in the world. Photo provided to Shanghai Star

Shimmying in Shanghai

Awaiting the great jig

Guo Wei is almost six feet tall and has an imposing frame. When he dances — with colorful costumes that always show off the waist and belly — you can’t help but wonder how a man could have such flexible hips.

He is one of the most respected belly dance coaches and choreographers in China. As a dancer he has won awards in Cairo, Egypt, the homeland of belly dance.

When he first posted his dancing videos on the internet, "I received bitter criticism: some called me pervert; some said I was evil and monstrous, that what I did was vulgar and nasty," Guo says, recalling the beginning of his career more than 10 years ago.

People used to see belly dance not as a decent art, but something to be seen in a seedy night club.

But he was glad to see there were supporters too. "People watching my video on the web were having verbal altercations," he said. He is glad to find that more people are supportive now.

In the past 10 years Guo has taught belly dance to more than 10,000 people, many of whom are coaches themselves.

"I am the first person to introduce belly dance to China's gyms," Guo says. He majored in Physical Education at college and, like most of his classmates, worked as an aerobic coach in the gym.

"Everybody was teaching the same kind of movements, and I wondered if I could have something different to offer," he recalls. He learned some waving movements from online videos and incorporated them into the regular aerobic class.

It was so popular that students asked for a pure belly dancing class.

Encouraged, he went to Egypt to study. It was 10 years ago, and nowhere in China could he find anyone to teach men to do belly dance.