There's heavy makeup and glitter to apply, and handmade bejeweled clothing with countless old coins and other doodads to carefully don. But the 37-year-old mother's attitude never changes.

She's 100 percent devoted to belly-dancing. So much so that she admits to choreographing dance routines while watching her 15-month-old son bounce up and down in his crib.

"I'm artsy no matter what," she added. "We really are one and the same, because of my full-time commitment."

Mrs. Dennison leads the Gypsy Fusion belly-dancing troupe that performs in the area, and teaches classes that offer all comers the chance to learn her blend of traditional and modern dance techniques. The music and cultural references are a virtual melting pot as well, drawing from countries like Egypt, Greece, Morocco, Lebanon, India and Turkey. There are also Spanish and Celtic influences.

Even her alter ego is a fusion of sorts. Despina, she said, comes from Greek and means "queen," while Bast is taken from the Egyptian goddess of cats.

"Belly-dancing is very unique," she said. "It's a very mysterious dance to most of the public. It's not easy to do, and to be able to perform it ... and teach it is an art form in and of itself."

Mrs. Dennison, who used to be a jewelry designer (a skill that definitely helps when it comes to costuming), first encountered belly-dancing as a child, but didn't really get into it intensively until about eight years ago. Up until then, she studied other forms of dance, like tap, jazz, ballet and hip-hop.

Her decision to branch out into belly-dancing had a lot to do with a desire to reconnect with her roots. Her Greek grandfather had a band, and when they performed, there were always belly dancers on hand, she said. "I did some soul searching," she explained, and delved into belly-dancing with a vigor that's never subsided.

"It's taken me to a different place in my life," she said. "It can be a meditative thing for me, even when I'm teaching classes to my group."

Shimmy and shake

Mrs. Dennison says she can tell as soon as she meets someone whether they have what it takes to be a good belly dancer. She watches how they move, she explained.

If they're not quite up to snuff, maybe they're not cut out for performing, but they can still enjoy her classes. Many of the students taking her current offering at Dance Works Dance Studio in Pasadena signed up simply for fun and exercise anyway. They hail from Arnold to Glen Burnie, as well as Baltimore and Queen Anne's counties.

Four of Mrs. Dennison's students have graduated from her classes to the dance troupe. Nikki Murphy, aka "Jezabella," is one of these.

A freight forwarder in real life, the 27-year-old Halethorpe resident has always liked dancing, and originally signed up for belly-dancing six months ago just for something new and enjoyable to do. She soon was smitten, and even got her husband to pitch in, sewing ornaments onto her top. Her costume was practically dripping with old coins, which she purchased off eBay and which jingled with every move.

"Some people don't like performing in front of people, but (I do)," she said. "At 27 I'm not going to be a ballerina."

Ms. Murphy said she's still trying to get better at "layering moves," which means doing more than one thing at a time.

Getting hip

Gypsy Fusion's membership has fluctuated in its three years of existence, but currently has eight members.

By far the youngest is Jaycie Young, a 9-year-old elementary-school ball of energy who went to a recent class even though she was still recovering from a tonsillectomy.

The Youngs live next door to Mrs. Dennison, and one day about three years ago, Jaycie wandered over and watched her neighbor practice. Almost immediately, Jaycie began dancing, too - and she's never really stopped.

"I don't know if it's the costumes or the uniqueness, but she absolutely loves it," siad her mother, Lisa. "She likes her hip-hop, but she would do this seven days a week if she could.

"A lot of people will say to me as a mom they can't believe I let my daughter do this. They get the wrong idea. It's not sexual and the costumes are more covered than (some) cheerleaders."

Jaycie, for her part, is more into the dancing than expounding on why she loves it so much.

"I don't know," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's fun (and) I'm good at it. I can't explain it."

Class dynamics

Mrs. Dennison started a recent session with stretching, then slowly tackled belly-dancing moves one by one.

Students worked on things like moving their heads side to side, twisting their arms and shaking their hips. Most of those who weren't in costume wore workout clothes with a scarf tied around their waist. The scarves have coins on them, so the students could make some noise and hear if they were moving correctly. If they're not in sync, the coins will sound a bit disjointed and not ring together, Mrs. Dennison said.

"Nice and slow," she told the class at one point. "Make believe those arms are a snake and they're not attached to your body."

Mrs. Dennison used half of the hourlong class to go over individual moves. The remaining time was spent on putting everything together in the form of dance routines. "I want them to learn something that's really entertaining and interesting," she said.

By the end, some of the students had worked up quite a sweat, but everyone was smiling.

"I wanted a new hobby," said Alex Berger of Pasadena, who has only been dancing for a few weeks. "It's harder than I thought, but it's really relaxing."

For more information about Gypsy Fusion, visit the Web site at www.gypsyfusion.com. The troupe's next performance is in April in Baltimore.