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（英会話リスニングスクリプト）
Every Friday, soon after sunset, exotic
music can be heard behind the doors of an old house in the
heart of Tokyo.
Dozens of young women, who look like typical
office employees, disappear behind the doors and change
into Middle-Eastern clothes which consist of long, colourful
skirts with matching bikini top and a veil.
Then their belly dancing class begins.
Karima, their teacher, is the 37-year-old
daughter of a banker in Yamagata, and first started dancing
as a hobby when she was a student in New York.
After dancing in a belly dancing revue in
New York, she went to Egypt where she studied seriously
with a professional group of folk dancers.
There she learned the meaning behind the
movements and stories which various dances told.
"Belly dancing is still far from popular,"
she says,
"but compared to when I started teaching
two years ago, there are definitely more people who know
about it."
One of her students, Takako Fukiura, a 24-year-old
bank employee, said, "I work indoors all day long and
often feel a strong urge to get some exercise.
I've been coming here after work for the
past year or so.
I find that a belly dancing session helps
me to get rid of stress before I go back home.
Also it's nice to be able to do something
a little different from others.
I feel that I'm spending my time more usefully
than my female colleagues who usually go to a bar for a
few hours at the end of the working week."
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