Thirty-five belly dancers have signed up as part of World Belly Dancing Day on May 10, and between 12.30pm and 1.30pm will perform a choreographed routine in three different locations: Centrepoint Shopping Centre, Ray Walsh House and Bicentennial Park.

Led by Tamworth woman Rita Fisher of Bellylicious Belly Dance, local dancers will be joined by women from Taree, Muswellbrook, Kempsey, Coffs Harbour and Murrurundi.

Tamworth, in fact, is one of only a handful of places in Australia and among 165 cities around the world to have signed up to shimmy, with more than 2000 belly dancers participating globally. 

It certainly sounds like a lot of fun, but there’s a serious side, too – all the shimmy mob participants are raising sponsorship dollars that will go to  local women’s refuges.

The Tamworth belly dancers are also holding several functions in the next month to help the Tamworth Women’s Refuge, including a trivia night at the end of next month and a hafla on the night of May 10.

The hafla is a belly dancing celebration, which will start at the Black Forest Cafe at Tamworth City Bowling Club at 6pm.

For a $10 entry fee there’ll be stalls, henna tattoos, massages and readings and, of course, plenty of dancing.

The dancers are also holding a trivia night fundraiser on May 31 at the bowling club.

Go to shimmy mob.com for more information on how to sponsor the local dancers or ring Ms Fisher on  0488 530 725 to sponsor or register for the trivia night.