Now, a group of women who felt sidelined due to their disability have learned to love to dance.

"One time I was dancing and somebody told me ‘You look like you're going to jump out of your wheelchair!’" said participant Angela D'Arezzo. "And I was like, ‘Really? I didn't even know I was moving that much!’"

Classes are run through the hospital's Initiative for Women with Disabilities Center.

Judith Goldberg, the center's director, says belly dancing helps the women to take better care of themselves and be in touch with their bodies.

"All too often, women with disabilities, because we're always touched medically and by therapists, physicians, different medical personnel, we lose a sense of our bodies," said Goldberg. Women with disabilities, we're thought of as asexual. Doing some kind of exercise, especially belly dancing, helps us to get back into our bodies and to be more sensual.

Belly dancing is improving balance, stability, heart health and upper body strength for these women. But they say the message of improved self-esteem and sensuality can't be reiterated enough.

"This dance makes me feel very sexy," said participant Iris Jimenez. "It's a very sexy dance which I love. I guess it's a part of being a woman. It brings it out of me."

"When they walk into the room, they have make-up on, their hair is done. They have these nice put-together clothing so they can match their hip scarves," said instructor Suann Polverari. "It's really that bright, cheerful confidence that they have when they enter the room that is unbelievable."

The women in the class have dubbed themselves "The Belly Dancing Divas," and they say it's a feeling they are able to carry far beyond class.

"I use a walker, but I used to walk maybe a little less than a block, and now I can walk two and three blocks," said participant Robin Taylor. "And I have so much fun in the class that I actually tell everyone. I let them know that I take belly dancing and I love the reaction, because they look at me with the walker and go ‘Belly dance?’ And I go, ‘Yes.’"

To find out more about more about classes offered by the Initiative for Women with Disabilities, call 1-212-598-6429 or visit www.IWDwellness.org.http://www.ny1.com/Default.aspx?ArID=84878