Transplanted... Part 2: Introducing Yourself to the Community
Continued from "Transplanted... Part 1: New Belly Dancer in Town"
Before you introduce yourself to the other dancers in the dance community, evaluate your goals...
It's extremely important to be honest with yourself and to the dancers you meet. The dancers you meet will also ask these questions, one way or another. Knowing your goals and your capabilities will help you root yourself in your new community. And using proper etiquette will help you avoid a lot of drama.
If you discover belly dance events being advertised during you preliminary investigation, you may want to attend them before introducing yourself to the troupe or soloist, especially if you intend to continue taking classes. You can also simply contact the troupe or soloist and inquire about future events before officially introducing yourself as a belly dancer. It's better to focus first on finding the instructor that teaches the style you want to learn or the artist(s) whose work inspires you to get involved. Once you do find the people you want to work with then introduce yourself to the other troupes or soloists.
As a fledgling dancer, introducing yourself may seem unnecessary, but it's good to know who's in your community and what they are doing. When everyone communicates together and show support for each other's projects, there is a strong creative community that will accomplish good deeds such as fundraising for charities. I will have a post about belly dance communities sometime in the near future. It's on my list of the many things I want to write about.
After investigating the dance community, you may have decided that you're going to do things on your own for whatever reason. It is a very admirable decision because starting from nothing by yourself is a lot of work. It can be a full time job. So, it's extremely important to build a network of people and integrate into the community. I will have a post about this really soon. It's called "Flying Solo."
What's great about belly dancers is that usually we are friendly people who love to meet others who also love belly dancing. Approaching people you never met before can be uncomfortable, but majority of the time it is a pleasant experience when belly dancers are involved. Although, I have only encountered pleasant people who are fun to work with. I have read in forums that there can be destructive divas with extremely loyal minions. For some reason they always have a "If you're not with us, you're against us" attitude. If it was me in that hypothetical situation, I would keep a watchful eye on these dancers and don't try anything they might view as competition until I have a strong network to support me.
In the end, you will never know the people in the dance community if you just stay at home every night with your dance DVDs and online videos. Get out there and meet your future friends!
To be continued on "Transplanted... Part 3: Integrating"
Before you introduce yourself to the other dancers in the dance community, evaluate your goals...
- Do you want to perform?
- Do you want to teach?
- Do you just want to find likeminded people and make new friends?
- Do you want to start your own troupe?
- Do you want to establish yourself as a soloist?
- Do want to learn a new style? And/or continue to grow in the style you're studying?
- Do you want to host haflas and other events?
- All of the above?
- What is my skill level?
- How much experience do I have?
- How committed am I to my goals as a dancer?
It's extremely important to be honest with yourself and to the dancers you meet. The dancers you meet will also ask these questions, one way or another. Knowing your goals and your capabilities will help you root yourself in your new community. And using proper etiquette will help you avoid a lot of drama.
If you discover belly dance events being advertised during you preliminary investigation, you may want to attend them before introducing yourself to the troupe or soloist, especially if you intend to continue taking classes. You can also simply contact the troupe or soloist and inquire about future events before officially introducing yourself as a belly dancer. It's better to focus first on finding the instructor that teaches the style you want to learn or the artist(s) whose work inspires you to get involved. Once you do find the people you want to work with then introduce yourself to the other troupes or soloists.
As a fledgling dancer, introducing yourself may seem unnecessary, but it's good to know who's in your community and what they are doing. When everyone communicates together and show support for each other's projects, there is a strong creative community that will accomplish good deeds such as fundraising for charities. I will have a post about belly dance communities sometime in the near future. It's on my list of the many things I want to write about.
After investigating the dance community, you may have decided that you're going to do things on your own for whatever reason. It is a very admirable decision because starting from nothing by yourself is a lot of work. It can be a full time job. So, it's extremely important to build a network of people and integrate into the community. I will have a post about this really soon. It's called "Flying Solo."
What's great about belly dancers is that usually we are friendly people who love to meet others who also love belly dancing. Approaching people you never met before can be uncomfortable, but majority of the time it is a pleasant experience when belly dancers are involved. Although, I have only encountered pleasant people who are fun to work with. I have read in forums that there can be destructive divas with extremely loyal minions. For some reason they always have a "If you're not with us, you're against us" attitude. If it was me in that hypothetical situation, I would keep a watchful eye on these dancers and don't try anything they might view as competition until I have a strong network to support me.
In the end, you will never know the people in the dance community if you just stay at home every night with your dance DVDs and online videos. Get out there and meet your future friends!
To be continued on "Transplanted... Part 3: Integrating"
Comments