If there is anything Gainesville needs more of – it is belly dancing.

Luckily for locals, Lightin’ Salvage Enterprises is here to fill the belly-dance void with Satchel’s Shakedown [today] from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. behind Satchel’s Pizza, located 1800 NE 23rd Ave.

Satchel’s Shakedown, hosted by the Shambling Shimmies Dance Company, brings belly-dancing entertainment to the popular pizza spot.

The event will feature performances by the Shambling Shimmies, the Swamp Daises and additional guest dancers.  Open stage time is also available for guests who dare to show off their dancing skill.

Danny Lore, event coordinator for Satchel’s, said a former employee who brought her dance class to perform at Satchel’s introduced the restaurant to belly dancing several years ago.

“After it went down I asked her if she would just want to come back and do it once a month,” he said.

The Shakedown continues to occur on the last Tuesday of every month, just like it did when it began.

According to Lore the two girls who run the event now, Heather Fullen and Jules White, were students of the employee who started the Shakedown.

Fullen and White are the founders of the Shambling Shimmies Dance Company.  They began their business in 2011 with the aim of providing tribal and fusion belly dance classes and performance opportunities in the Gainesville area.

The Shambling Shimmies perform about once a month, Fullen said.

“The show that we do every month is a student showcase,” she said, “so it’s the student’s regular opportunity to perform whatever they’ve been working on.”

Instructors normally dance along side the students as well.

Fullen said at [today’s] Shakedown the Shimmies will present an Egyptian style belly dancer, tribal dance students and a cabaret style student giving her first performance.

In addition to the Shimmies’ showcase, anyone bold enough can sign up for a guest spot and dance for five or 10 minutes.

Lore said Satchel’s Shakedown, on top of being a popular event, has been a good way for new dance students to be familiarized with performing.

Satchel’s Pizza is right there too, of course, with pizza and beer.  Another reason to check out the Shakedown.

Anyone interested in more information about Satchel’s Shakedown and the Shambling Shimmies, or looking to participate in the dancing can visit the event’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/events/205829532889750/.

Patrick Kelly, 1/28/2013