How I became a belly dancer...

April 21, 2014

How I became a belly dancer...

Everyone has a story of how they became a belly dancer. I love these stories! So feel free to share.

I wouldn't be a belly dancer if it wasn't for a tenacious coworker.

I'm a dancer by nature. I have embarrassed my parents many times from dancing in the grocery store when I was a child. Oh hell, I still dance in the grocery store. Maybe when my daughter is old enough, I'll embarrass her as well. I took ballet and jazz as a child. In high school, I was in the color guard and danced in high school musicals. College for some reason, I didn't dance much. I did once at a party. I guess I was trying to leave behind my childhood treasures and become an adult. I am happy I failed.

So one day my coworker (now dear friend), Deb Weddle, invited me to take a belly dance class with her. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Sure, why not?"

It was an Egyptian Cabaret class. Of course, I did not know that at the time. I thought it was just bellydance. Just like everyone else, I had no idea about the plethora of styles waiting to be discovered. It was kind of fun, and we did a student performance at a spring festival. But once that was done, I was done. I saw it through to the end, but I was not interested in continuing. That's a lot more than what most apathetic students would do. I loved the way the body moves in belly dancing. I just didn't appreciate the dancer persona and the attitude. I'm not a girly girl, and I am awkward at flirting. It's true, ask my husband.

Deb didn't give up on me. She brought a stack of DVDs and instructed me to watch them, literally.

I confess. I didn't watch all of them. I watched a couple all the way through. One of which was a Bellydance Superstars DVD. I'm about to fall asleep (I know! I'm sorry! That's just how I was as a baby belly dancer. It's not who I am as a seasoned dancer.) until I hear some modern fusiony type of music. Through foggy eyes I watched these dancers creep onto the stage wearing dreads and tattoos and folkloric textiles. I perked up immediately. I was entranced by the radiating self-confidence and the deliberate muscle control. For the first time in my life, I experienced love at first sight. I immediately called Deb and practically yelled, "What is that? What is that?!"

She said, "Of course you would love tribal. I should have known."

By the next time I saw Deb she told me that she scouted the nearest Tribal belly dance workshop in Springfield, Missouri. Read My Hips was teaching a series of workshops over a weekend. I wasn't for sure if I wanted to travel, then dance, then travel back home. That sounded like a lot of work for something I just discovered. (Of course this is no big deal now since it's something I do every year.) I think Deb suspected my hesitation, so she gave me another homework assignment. Watch this video...