Hello all!

[Jini]

Hello everyone, I am Jini and am a few DVD lessons and YouTube videos short of being completely brand new to belly dancing. I have always wanted to be a dancer, but growing up, never had the time/money/patience to seriously devote myself to learning a form. Now at the age of twenty, I am embarking on a path that I am very excited about! Out of the many different kinds of dance, belly dancing has appealed to me the most for its history, beauty, and its celebration of the body and all it can do. I suppose other dances do the same, but like I said, there's just something about belly dancing!

Anyway, as I've been reading through some of the posts on this board, it's become very apparent to me that you ladies must all be very talented individuals. I look forward to learning from you and listening to whatever suggestions and thoughts you would care to share with a "newbie."

Right now I am in the process of signing up for my very first class, which should begin the first week of January. I am nervous as I've never taken any kind of dance class whatsoever (did I mention I'm also a bit of a clutz?). So wish me luck?

 

[Mosaic]

Jini, We all started somewhere and I know you will be fine once you start your classes, the love and joy is already there and I bet you won't give up now. I always got left and right mixed up and my hips, feet and arms never worked together to begin with, talk about uncoordinated!:lol: but it all comes together eventually, just keep at it. You're young so muscle memory will kick in quickly. I started dancing at 54, so it took awhile for muscle memory and coordination to realise it had been called back to duty. Six years later they will have to drag me kicking and screaming from the world of bellydance
~Mosaic

 

[Maria_Aya]

Welcome !
Enjoy the forum !!
And your new class !!

Maria Aya, Greece

 

[Prusilusken]

Welcome and good luck out there!

I hope you've found the perfect class and teacher already!
If not, don't despair - just keep searching till you find Your best teacher. He/she/they are almost certainly out there somewhere.

...and about being a clutz...well, you know, a LOT of great dancers are amazingly clumsy in their everyday lives! You'd be surprised!

At the bd school where I assist, we often have great laughs about that subject, hehe - one minute we're dancing, doing stuff with our bodies that demands a great meassure of motor control and most people "outside" find amaaaazing - The next, ***KACHUNK!*** we're stuck in the doorframe three gracious dancers at once on our way to the break room while a fourth gracious dancer is cursing loudly because she's walked straight into the corner of a table that has been standing in the exact same spot for the past five years and within 15 seconds the sound of the fifth gracious dancer dropping a mug of steaming hot coffee on the kitchen floor joins the "fun"...

As a bunch, we're a bit of a national security risk, really.
Every time we start dancing, we're making the world a safer place for everyone in it - we really shouldn't be allowed to leave the dancefloor at all. :lol:

So get shimmying before you hurt somebody!

 

[Isi]

Right now I am in the process of signing up for my very first class, which should begin the first week of January. I am nervous as I've never taken any kind of dance class whatsoever (did I mention I'm also a bit of a clutz?). So wish me luck?

I was in your shoes almost ten years ago! I started my first class with no friends attending, so I was really nervous!

I actually tried hip hop before belly dance and I thought I would never be able to dance in my life (you know the kind of student that disrupt the whole class because she can't follow the teacher's steps...that was me in hip hop!!!).

After my first session of Belly dance, I felt the music flowing through my body. It was the best experience ever! Trust me you will love it. I always tell my students that if I learned belly dance and now able to share it with other, anyone can learn it.

Happy success in your new beginning!

 

[Jini]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. It's so nice to hear about other people's experiences from when they first started because it definitely helps to ease my nerves! One of my biggest worries about dance classes has been not being able to keep up with everyone else/being one big messy, ungraceful heap of limbs...but I suppose there's no sense in worrying about it until I get out there and try. And that's something I'm getting more and more excited to do

In the meantime, I've been reading threads here and watching belly dance performances on YouTube and looking at pictures of costumes - basically immersing myself in anything I have access to. I'm also interested in reading about the history of belly dance/really anything else related to belly dance and am wondering if anyone has any book recommendations? I'm kind of a book junkie and can never add too many books to my "To-Be-Read" list.

Thanks again, ladies! You're all so great!

 

[Isi]

I'm also interested in reading about the history of belly dance/really anything else related to belly dance and am wondering if anyone has any book recommendations? I'm kind of a book junkie and can never add too many books to my "To-Be-Read" list.

Thanks again, ladies! You're all so great!

Same here. I will post a Thread with that question.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

...and about being a clutz...well, you know, a LOT of great dancers are amazingly clumsy in their everyday lives! You'd be surprised!

As a bunch, we're a bit of a national security risk, really.
Every time we start dancing, we're making the world a safer place for everyone in it - we really shouldn't be allowed to leave the dancefloor at all. :lol:

Yeah, TELL me about it! I was so happy because for the first time in two years, I actually had an accident-free year at work, where I didn't need to be carted off in an ambulance/to the doctor's office. Then FIRST THING at work on the floor today, I fell on my butt...

So, don't worry, Jini, you're in great company! :lol: Welcome!

 

[Sita]

from a fellow walks-into-lampost type clutz!!
I hope you enjoy being a part of this wonderful community
love Sita

 

[karena]

Hello and welcome