Daughter of a Dancer
By: Daphne Papageorgiou



So here I sit, reflecting on my 26 years. To tell you the truth, I feel so blessed. Blessed by the greatest gift I have. She is my life, my soul, and my heart. She is “the wind beneath my wings”, as I like to call her. She is my Mother.

Life wasn’t what the average person would call “normal”, having a mother who could be called one of the greatest belly dancers. Beautiful, Exotic, Fascinating were just some of the words used to describe my mother. The typical PTA mom? Not!! Not my mother. Clink, Clink, Clink hearing her cymbals creating melodic sounds as I drifted in and out of my sleep watching her dance. I was five years old and didn’t want her to see me doze as she performed. I had begged her to take me to work. For me, this was the greatest privilege she could bestow. I was at my happiest watching her perform, higher than life, the dance she turned into an art. I can only hope she felt the adoration in my heart as I observed her.

On career day, she danced for my elementary school. Her love for the dance created an aura of magic that touched each and every person watching. Reveling in my classmates’ awe, I held my head high. Was that my mom? Yes it was! With each shimmy of the hips and each sashay of the veil, the excitement rose and audible gasps could be heard throughout the crowd.

As I grew older, I added a new feeling to those I already felt, respect. To see my mother doing what she loved and the elation she felt doing it left me with such a sense of admiration. She taught me about life through her art, about self-respect, pride, never giving up and striving to be the best I can at whatever I attempt.

I can only hope someday that I become half the woman she is. She is my life, my soul and my heart. She is my mother and a belly dancer, perfect in both. She is "the wind beneath my wings".


Daphne's Photos