Their arms float up, down and around their body in a fluid-like motion. At the same time, their hips move from side to side with grace and power, making it look like each hip has a mind of its own.

At 7 p.m. every Wednesday and Thursday, students meet in the HUB Auditorium to learn one of the oldest dances in the world: Raks Sharki, or belly dancing.

"It's a big workout," Rachel Kagan (senior-management) said.

"It feels liberating to be able to move your body in ways you don't on a normal basis," she added.

Music from the Middle East filled the room as instructor Tammie Rea showed students how to move their arms, hips and legs in ways they never have.

Rea, who has been dancing for over 20 years, tells the students to pretend they are pushing water as they move their hands.

This resistance is what makes the motions look fluid and graceful, she said.

"This is where you interpret the dance," she said to the class. "You can still be creative; if you want to do something a little different, go ahead."

Rissa Rosmawati (senior-criminal justice) said she likes that she can add her own style.

"There's more room to be creative with movements with your hands," she said. "Your hands express your own moves and add your own personality."

While the mechanics of the dance resemble the stretching and coordination of yoga, the grace of ballet and the rhythm of dance, Rea said belly dancing is unlike anything else.

"Unlike ballet and jazz, which strive for an organized format, belly dancing does not," she said. "That's what keeps it unique and special."

The dances vary from slow and sensual to sharp and precise depending on the movement.

By the end of the lesson, students were able to do a choreographed dance that combined all the smaller movements that they learned earlier in the class.

"It's very sensual; it feels kind of spiritual," Jaynae Williams (senior-computer science) said. "It's relaxing and calm, but you still feel like you're doing some type of exercise."

Many students agree the term belly dancing is misleading since Rea tells them to focus on the motion coming from underneath their hip in their "glutes," or butt muscles.

"You don't really use your belly muscles ever," said Jill Rakowicz, employee at Center for Arts and Crafts, which is located in the HUB-Robeson Center.

"You use your leg muscles, hips and knees," she said.

"It works joints and muscles that you don't usually work," Rakowicz added.

Kristine Gabuten (sophomore-microbiology) said she agreed with Rea that the term belly dancing is misleading because of its derogatory meaning.

"There's that stereotype of telling people you're in belly dance, and they get the wrong idea," she said. "I would tell them to come out and keep an open mind. It's not belly dance -- it's Oriental dance."

The irony of belly dancing stereotypes is that when the dance originated in Egypt, it was speculated that it was a fertility dance done only for women -- not men.

"Once you learn that, it makes you feel a lot more comfortable," Rakowicz said.

Rakowicz, who is in the second-level intermediate class, said the class has helped her feel more confident with her body.

"It totally allows you to let go of all your insecurities," she said. "There are women of all different body types, and you're all trying the same things. If you're an insecure person you don't have to worry about looking silly in this class, because everyone is looking silly. In the end you're learning this great dance."