Elder-Bellies

Tribal Belly Dance Malta

Tribal Belly Dance Malta

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Home Page, for my bellydance site here in Malta, Atlantis
 
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gisela

gisela

Super Moderator
Design-wise I think your poster is cool, but kinda looks like an ad for thriller or a horror movie. Maybe you could think through what you want to project and generally avoid the look of smeared blood. I know you didn't ask for advice but this struck me as quite "not-communicating-the right-message" and I could not NOT say something. Then again it's quite fun and might have been what you were going for. "Beware!!! The Elder-Bellies is back!" ;)

Edit: soo... the picture has changed so my post doesn't really apply anymore, just for your information.
 
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lizaj

lizaj

New member
Aniseteph said:
Just nobody EVER call me that...
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Me neither...nor will I ever ever discriminate on grounds of age.
STOP you old biddies can't come to my class, get thee hence to "elder-bellies"
And pointless anyway .I know seventy somethings who are fitter and better dancers than youngsters.
A society should contain all its' elements.
There is outcry on this forum if anyone suggests that folks are excluded on grounds of gender or sexuality or heaven forfend.... race but ageism..oh that's OK
Sorry it really angers me that because I am 60, I have to be catered for seperately .
If you are concerned about health issues then you discuss it with the individual.
Classes for older men and women can come about naturally by time of day, venue or demand but but a label like that is divisive and patronising:(

and I agree seperately withGisela's assessment
 
Tribal Belly Dance Malta

Tribal Belly Dance Malta

New member
I was asked to create this class, a group of ladies approached me, not the other way around. In fact I have noticed that these ladies find a freedom from a "mixed" age group to voice there wants in the class without feeling as if they are holding back the class. I have had nothing but positive feedback from these mature students. They have created there own little group and they have made friends and socialise as a group. The class is at a slower pace, but not due to age, but because they want to learn each more more completely before moving onto the next, as they say we are not in a hurry to learn everything, were here for the fun!
 
lizaj

lizaj

New member
Maltese perceptions may be different. If your ladies are happy with it , great but it probably wouldn't be attractive to us here in the Uk. We don't want to be singled out. My students are aged from teens to 70 and they are quite happy to be "all-in".
Anyone with health issues ( and that isn't always the older students: I have had a 30 year old and a 40 year old had to give up because they had a specific health issue) has to be catered for within the wider scheme and that's the beauty of belly dance- it isn't difficult.

I suppose we have to fight harder for repect these days in the UK and this is why we get touchy.
I also see so many not very pleasant attitudes to older dancers performing reported on these forum ( just what is the plural- forii?)
Interested to see you are tribal teacher. Unfortuntely too far for me to travel to you. But if you ever come to the UK, be good to meet..I belong to one of the few ATS based troupes in the our area.
 
Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
gisela said:
Design-wise I think your poster is cool, but kinda looks like an ad for thriller or a horror movie. Maybe you could think through what you want to project and generally avoid the look of smeared blood. I know you didn't ask for advice but this struck me as quite "not-communicating-the right-message" and I could not NOT say something. Then again it's quite fun and might have been what you were going for. "Beware!!! The Elder-Bellies is back!" ;)
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I didn't perceive the poster as an ad for a thriller or horror movie, but I do think the picture is a bit our of context; it's neither a belly dancer nor an elder lady. If you want to attrackt older women for class, you should have a picture of an older belly dancer I think. And also what is older? That is a very confusing term.
 
Tribal Belly Dance Malta

Tribal Belly Dance Malta

New member
well as to older or mature, its up to the ladies themselves, not all the mature ladies I teach attend this class and are with the "mixed" group, but the youngest is 41 and the oldest I would guess is mid 60's. my mixed group seem to be mostly 21 -25, don't know why its like this, its just how the classes are attended.
 
Caroline_afifi

Caroline_afifi

New member
Tribal Belly Dance Malta said:
well as to older or mature, its up to the ladies themselves, not all the mature ladies I teach attend this class and are with the "mixed" group, but the youngest is 41 and the oldest I would guess is mid 60's. my mixed group seem to be mostly 21 -25, don't know why its like this, its just how the classes are attended.
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Many young women would gravitate to a group with younger women ,but it is alarming that there is in nobody between the ages of 25-41 at all and the elder berries being 41- to death of old age seems strange too.

I can see why they may set themselves up in this way, but for you as a teacher, I would be concerned as to the message this is sending out to people.
You can see how people laugh at the ad!
If you are going to do this then why not use a fabulous picture of an older dancer? there are enough of them. There is a tongue in cheek message in that ad as it makes you laugh straight away.
Is this how the group want to be perceived?
 
Shanazel

Shanazel

Moderator
To each their own, said the old lady who kissed the cow. The term "Elder Bellies" brings to my mind a picture of wrinkled, seriously sagging tummies that have been left out in the sun too long.

I like the picture just as a picture, and assume you chose it as a bit of a joke referring to aging dancers who were born sometime during the silent film era. Where did you find it?
 
M

MAMAbellydancer

New member
Opinion : from A middle aged belly dance student

I am a middle aged woman and I attend Belly dancing lessons here in Malta . Our classes are divided not according to age - The classes are divided according to pace and level . Usually the young women 16- 30 take the classes which are at a faster pace - so to speak , I mean lessons which include more movements in one class. I am taking a class at a slower pace but I do have in class a few almost thirty year olds that want to take slower pace classes. It makes sense because in reality it is not age that makes us choose one class or another it is how much we want to take in one session.

My teacher is also very attentive to what she says , she always says : the important is that we feel young inside , her words keep us motivated . I do not want to be called elder or older lady!

Thanks for this forum. My friend from Belly dance lessons told me about it and I am loving these forums.
 
Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
I think the mixed ages groups are much more fun. When I was a student there were all sorts of ages in the class and I can remember that being really nice.
 
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