One is an activity that conjures up images of exotic beauties, swishing silks, aromatic teas and balmy starlit skies. The other involves nursery rhymes, nappy changes and nocturnal awakenings of the most unglamorous variety.
"Belly-dancing" and "motherhood" might at first sight seem as suitable a union as pneumatic drills and sleeping babies. Or so I thought, with wide-eyed bemusement, when I first heard that belly-dancing classes for mothers and their babies existed in Tokyo.
I soon learned, however, that the two activities are not quite as incompatible as they appear — for not only has belly dancing after giving birth been enjoyed by Eastern mothers for centuries, it apparently also burns fat, tones muscles and trims waistlines in the process.