in order to execute a move,” Silvia noted. “That kind of
dance does the exact opposite of having us be in touch
with our own bodies! So I have to say that belly dance
scores number one in dance modalities [when it comes to]
working organically, without pain.”
F inding strength
Part of finding your own self lies in finding your own strength.
For many fans, when they think of Silvia Salamanca, the
first thing they think of is her skill in dancing with swords.
For Silvia, discovering sword balancing opened a door to
discovering the strength and the power within herself.
“What drew me to sword balancing was the fascination
that I experienced when I saw tribal dancers balancing
swords and balancing pots. The sword piece from [ Jamila
Salimpour’s troupe] Bal Anat is legendary. The moment I
got my hands on [a sword] I felt regal, somehow.
“The truth is that, as a dancer, one of the qualities that
comes out of me more naturally is strength, no matter the
modality of dance that I practice. So balancing a sword was
a very, very easy way to integrate that strength into my belly
dancing as I was evolving,” she said. “I had already developed
the delicate and soft quality of belly dance, and the moment
I began sword balancing, the strength came to complete the
picture. It became a central part of my dancing, and it still is.”
Make no mistake, Silvia does not see the sword as a
weapon. She is, in fact, an adamant pacifist, who was first
drawn to the sword only as a dance prop, and she has never
seen it as a weapon.
“I will actually rejoice the day that all swords on earth
can be transformed into dancing props or tools for working
the earth,” Silvia said. “I said that I immediately felt that
balancing a sword connected me with my strength. But
here’s the interesting thing: Who said that strength is not
a feminine quality? Since when is being strong the opposite
of feminine energy?
“Last time I checked, women are forces of nature on a
daily basis. So yes, using a sword and mastering balancing it,
for me, depicts how women handle the qualities of strength
and resilience and not giving up.”
The strength the sword added to her dancing served her
well in her personal life, too, Silvia said. “When a tragedy
hit my family [as I started dancing with the sword], I was
Photo by The Dancer’s Eye/
Carrie Meyer