Fitting fundraiser for belly dancers

The energy is positive in the studio of Eos Whole Fitness and Bellidance.

Yoga silks hang from the ceiling. Artifacts of the Far East crowd the mantel of the fireplace, and plants occupy all of the windowsills.

The studio is where Jennifer Neal, founder and director of the dance studio, inside Calvin Center in the Spring Common district of Youngstown, teaches daily (and evening) yoga classes of various types.

There is hot yoga, so named because the room is heated for warmer muscles and a detoxifying sweat. There is also chair yoga for older women who aren’t as mobile.

Then there is aerial yoga, which is where the hanging silks come in. The students dangle from the silks as they go through their paces in a scene out of Cirque du Soleil. The practice has been playfully dubbed “soccer mom circus,” because it just seems accurate.

But the studio is also the home base for Tribe of Eos, Neal’s belly dance troupe.

The troupe often can be seen performing at fundraisers and other events in the Youngstown area, transfixing audiences with the rhythmic and sultry dance of the Middle East.

In May, four members of the Tribe will travel to Sebastopol, Calif., for Tribal Fest 15, a week-long convention of belly dancers from around the globe. Attendees will learn, share and perform with their colleagues and with some of the world’s best at the art form.

To help pay for the trip, Tribe of Eos has put together a fundraiser this Saturday at Suzie’s Dogs and Drafts, 32 N. Phelps St., downtown Youngstown (admission is $5). There is also a fund drive underway at GoFundMe.com.

The full Tribe, which includes 12 dancers, will perform at Saturday’s event. As always, they will be clad in their traditional belly dance costumes.

Also performing at the fundraiser will be belly dancers Suzi and Poroshat from Cleveland; Joanna Abel and Third Street Belly Dance from Pittsburgh with expert Middle Eastern drummer William Crocker and his band, Ancien; and other friends, including Infini-Tribe, a local hula hoop and flow arts troupe. A few bands also will contribute to the night’s entertainment, which will be emceed by Youngstown-based pop artist Chris Yambar.

Neal started Eos in 2006 and has since made it her life. She is a full-time teacher and studio operator.

She danced when she was young, but then life — and a desk job — put an end to it. It wasn’t until Neal moved back to Ohio about a decade ago that she got back into dance.

“I found that I really missed it,” she said. Her introduction to belly dance came in the form of a warm-up exercise video. She loved it so much that it became her primary focus.

“I feel so much healthier now, not sitting at a desk,” she said. “It’s a struggle sometimes, but it’s worth it.”

Neal is also a certified yoga and pilates instructor, and is also schooled in ballet, jazz and modern dance. She is also a Reiki II practitioner.

She and three of her Tribe mates — Crystal Beiersdorfer, Samantha Grbinick and Tiffany Kostan — will soak up all the dance technique they can at the California convention and then incorporate it into their performances in Youngstown.

To learn more about Eos or to take a dance class (there is also Zumba), go to EosWholeFitness.com, or call 330-518-4402.