They might hear the pulse of Salsa music or the shimmy of coins on belly dancers’ shawls at the center, whose motto is “Experience the rhythms of the world.” Mid-South World Dance Center, which opened its doors June 1, 2010, offers classes in modern dance, world dance, creative movement and Bollywood Indian dance for children.  Adult classes offered include belly dance, salsa, hula-hooping, modern dance and Bollywood.

Liz DiMaggio, center, owner of MidSouth World Dance Center, teaches a belly dancing class.     (Photos: Lance Murphey)

In addition, the center offers yoga, therapeutic massage and a tiny boutique offering locally made jewelry and belly dance clothing and accessories.

Proprietor Liz DiMaggio, 25, likes to refer to her facility as a world dance co-operative.

DiMaggio first fell in love with dance as a young child, taking jazz, tap and ballet classes at a studio in her small hometown of Lake Village, Ark. 
 

Participants take an intermediate salsa class at MidSouth World Dance Center

Jasmine Floyd, 5, left, and Maxine Caulkins, 4, take a Creative Movement Class with Tamara Parrish at MidSouth World Dance Center.

As a teenager, she enrolled in classical ballet classes in Hot Springs, Miss., but said she ended up developing serious hip problems that required physical therapy.

“I was born pigeon-toed, so turning my legs out was not something natural to me,” DiMaggio said. “And going from a laid-back dance teacher in my small hometown to this formal ballet, they’d crank that hip.”

She later moved to Memphis to study anthropology at the University of Memphis. It was there she discovered belly dancing after reading a flyer about a class being offered.

“I personally became really interested in all these alternative styles of dance because I didn’t fit in as a ballerina, tap didn’t come naturally to me, and I didn’t want to be a competitive dancer,” she said. “What I love about belly dance is that it’s created from natural movements of the body, only exaggerated – so there’s no body type that can’t belly dance.”

Belly dance came to her so naturally, in fact, that before long she was assisting her instructor in teaching other students.

After her teacher moved to the West Coast, DiMaggio took over leading the belly dance classes and created her own dance school called Memphis Raqs, pronounced “rocks,” which roughly translates as “dance” in Arabic.

She became so busy teaching, traveling and performing that belly dance “became a full-time job without me realizing it.”

DiMaggio, who owns several pet snakes, ultimately decided to leave her full-time day job as a reptile keeper at the Memphis Zoo.

At first, she rented space at First Congregational Church in Cooper Young, and later shared a small rented space in Bartlett with another belly dance group.

But she became frustrated with Memphis Raqs not having a home of its own.

Through performances and benefits, she regularly interacted with owners of other dance troupes and schools who also longed for a permanent rehearsal and performance space.

“They were all in the same boat all had same problems that I had – getting kicked out of their space or being given the least desirable time slots at studios,” she said. “I wanted to make a space where we could all have a home, with wood floors so we can dance barefoot, and a place where kids can play.”

DiMaggio found an affordable space in an office park at 3100 Walnut Grove.

Suite 204 originally contained cubicles. With the help of family and friends, she renovated the space, building two dance studios.

With mothers making up a huge percentage of her clientele, family-friendliness was a must for DiMaggio, who set up a kids’ room with counter space for doing homework, an indoor window with a view of the dance studio and a television with children’s DVDs.

“Originally, all of my students, as belly dancers, were adults, and I had a lot of women with children,” she said. “And the excuses for missing classes from time to time were because the kids didn’t have a sitter.”

DiMaggio continues to run Memphis Raqs as part of the center, which also includes Salsa Memphis and the Hooper Troopers, who teach hula-hoop dance, which combines aerobic fitness with circus-style tricks.

Mid-South World Dance Center is also now home to Bridging Souls Productions, a professional modern dance company.

Bridging Souls artistic director Tamara Prince-Parrish has danced with and choreographed for organizations including Memphis City Schools, Children’s Ballet School, Performance Art Network and Nu-World Contemporary Dance Theatre.

“Our goal is to bring quality professional dance, fusing ballet, jazz, African,” she said. We’re trying to make avenues for local dancers, choreographers, visual artists, musicians to come together on one stage.”

Prince-Parrish said that while the center is a great place to get involved in professional dance, it’s also an ideal venue for those who want to dance simply for fitness or enjoyment.

“I like the feel of the Mid-South World Dance Center because it is a non-competitive environment and all aspects of dance are there,” she said. “We all collaborate with each other and we’re all about unity. That’s what I love about it.”