This Side of Fabulous

On duty, Patricia-Anne Swartz-Goliath shows 15 police trainees how to leopard crawl with gun in hand past the window of a building as she gives tactical training. Off duty, this robust Cape Town police captain and hostage negotiator dons a sequined Egyptian bra and skirt, shimmies her hips and teaches belly dancing. Footage of the exuberant Swartz-Goliath is a highlight of “This Side of Fabulous”, which explores why women of all ages and sometimes wobbly shapes relish recreational belly dancing. As one senior government official explains, during her weekly belly dancing class she loses herself celebrating the “goddess within”.  The finale focuses on some of the 200 dancers at the World Belly Dance Day in Cape Town, gleefully gyrating their hips as they celebrate this ancient, empowering art form.