Your first class,as a male, what was it like ?
- Thread starter khanjar
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Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
That it is - I just DON'T want to be the cause of embarrassment for any of my dance sisters, that's all.It's just skin, babe.
Caroline_afifi
New member
You would be surprised at how many women who dont know where to bury their head when a bra comes off!
Thanks for the advice Zorba.
Thanks for the advice Zorba.
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
That's probably true - but I'm certainly NOT going to sit there and gawk! I can go talk to one of my dance sisters on the other side of the room or something....Honey, any woman who whips off her bra knowing you are in the room is either a veteran of many many dressing rooms or gets a bit of oomph from her flash. You aren't going to embarass her.
ShiroiOji
New member
Mine was actually a VERY positive experience. Of course, I had some help.
See, I did a lot of research online before choosing a place. I even Googled male belly dancers and found Zorba that way, and emailed him to ask him for his advice, (thanks, mate!) and then looked through people on shira.net. I started by looking for proximity, and I lucked out, (I'm in Los Angeles, so it's pretty likely that I would!) by finding someone who has been teaching for two more years than I have been alive. I emailed Anisa and asked her about taking on male students, and she let me know that everyone was welcome, and told me to wear anything that I am comfortable working out in.
When I came to the studio a week later, I brought a friend with me, a young woman whom I am close with and whom has experience with taking Salsa lessons. Because I went to a daytime class, there were very few people there; Anisa, two older women, and the two of us.
Anisa's daytime class is a Beginner/Intermediate class, so I DID feel oafish at times, especially as she needed to entirely change my posture. Of course, Rachel also had her posture changed entirely, which helped me not feel so bad. I spent the hour working muscles I didn't know I HAD, and I hurt like a mofo the next morning, especially my lower back and lower abs!
I think what really helped though was that at the end of class, Anisa came over and asked us how long we had been dancing, me because of my arms and Rachel because of her ease of movement with her hips. It was nice to get any sort of compliment after working that hard!
Oh, and the next day, I did make sure to email Zorba and thank him for his help!
See, I did a lot of research online before choosing a place. I even Googled male belly dancers and found Zorba that way, and emailed him to ask him for his advice, (thanks, mate!) and then looked through people on shira.net. I started by looking for proximity, and I lucked out, (I'm in Los Angeles, so it's pretty likely that I would!) by finding someone who has been teaching for two more years than I have been alive. I emailed Anisa and asked her about taking on male students, and she let me know that everyone was welcome, and told me to wear anything that I am comfortable working out in.
When I came to the studio a week later, I brought a friend with me, a young woman whom I am close with and whom has experience with taking Salsa lessons. Because I went to a daytime class, there were very few people there; Anisa, two older women, and the two of us.
Anisa's daytime class is a Beginner/Intermediate class, so I DID feel oafish at times, especially as she needed to entirely change my posture. Of course, Rachel also had her posture changed entirely, which helped me not feel so bad. I spent the hour working muscles I didn't know I HAD, and I hurt like a mofo the next morning, especially my lower back and lower abs!
I think what really helped though was that at the end of class, Anisa came over and asked us how long we had been dancing, me because of my arms and Rachel because of her ease of movement with her hips. It was nice to get any sort of compliment after working that hard!
Oh, and the next day, I did make sure to email Zorba and thank him for his help!
Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
Watch out for lower back pain - make sure your pelvis is tucked, especially when doing side to side hip movements.
But yea, posture is everything, and I *STILL* have "issues". Belly Dance teachers do have that knack of finding some muscle you didn't know about, then S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G it farther than you ever thought possible!
ShiroiOji
New member
Oh yeah, it only happened the day after my first class. Anything after that has been perfectly fine; no pain whatsoever. I think it was mostly that I had never worked that area before. I have been working on posture more than anything else so far; keeping my ribcage tucked is the really hard part for me!
khanjar
New member
I don't have the lower back pain, as I am constantly doing other exercises to strengthen that area, but legs, they ache standing up and they ache lying down to the point I don't know what to do with them, they just ache ,for days at a time.
Especially knees, it is surprising that through learning this dance form, that my normal standing stance is locked knees, and again through the dance I am learning not to stand with locked knees, which is straining the underdeveloped muscles around the knees and contributing to the aching, but it is for the best and healthier too, correcting all these alignment problems.
Especially knees, it is surprising that through learning this dance form, that my normal standing stance is locked knees, and again through the dance I am learning not to stand with locked knees, which is straining the underdeveloped muscles around the knees and contributing to the aching, but it is for the best and healthier too, correcting all these alignment problems.
AngelaJP
New member
In my school, they don't allow male BD students unless they're very clearly gay. Most of the women feel uncomfortable having a man around, I guess, especially that many dress up in sexy outfits.
What are the advantages of being a male in BD, stronger leg muscles and better isolation? I'm so curious to see a male belly dancer perform!
What are the advantages of being a male in BD, stronger leg muscles and better isolation? I'm so curious to see a male belly dancer perform!
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khanjar
New member
Hmmm, your school will only allow men who appear to be gay, I wasn't aware a gay male has a certain look. There are also straight men who appear effeminate in their character and presentation, so much so they are often mistaken for a stereotype of a gay male.
I wonder what the qualifier is at your school for a male to learn the art of BD, do they have to declare their sexuality on joining, If so, do the female dancers have to declare their orientation too. A highly personal question I should think, if it were me asked my sexuality as a qualifier to learn something, my reply would be mind your own beeswax.
It is perhaps true some males see learning what maybe the majority of the general public consider to be a woman's dance as an opportunity to date or indulge in their perversions, but from what I hear, someone who are only there to leer, soon decides against it when the hard work of learning the dance starts, plus a teacher will notice and weed them out.
Do you know, there are many straight men who learn, perform and teach BD, but are perfect Gentlemen, it is often the male, perhaps the only male in a class who defers to the majority, plus Gentlemen believe ladies first and will do anything to make a lady feel comfortable, even if it is the male is the minority.
Not all men are pigs.
Sexuality in BD is irrelevant and at the end of the day, we are all just people with the same interest.
You wish to see male BD performers dance, well, there are many on Youtube and this site, for example, check out Tarik Sultan, both here and youtube. There is Zorba and Mark Balahdia, also Tito, all professional and acclaimed male dancers. There are many more I have yet to come across, perhaps on this site.
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Tarik Sultan
New member
.....So I had this friend years ago who got drafted to go to Vietnam. He figured he knew how to get out of it. He got all dolled up, went to the recruitment center and declared to the sergeant that he was gay. The sergeant looked at him, said okay, come with me. He took him to an office, unzipped his pants and ordered my friend to start sucking! .......... Obviously my friend made it back from Vietnam in one piece thank god!:lol:
Yasmine Bint Al Nubia
Moderator
LMAO!!!:lol::lol:
Serves him right!!!!
Yasmine
Thanks for the laugh tarik, it made my day!
khanjar
New member
LMAO!!!:lol::lol:
Serves him right!!!!
Yasmine
Thanks for the laugh tarik, it made my day!
A good test for the dissenters, but what if he were Bi ?
ShiroiOji
New member
I have to ask if I am the only one who is highly offended by such a proposition? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a big, proud out fag and whatever, but your class only allows "very clearly gay men" join? I cannot help but wonder what the criteria is.
"Honey, can you swish your hips a little more when you walk, and lisp a little more? You'd be welcome in that case!"
ShiroiOji
New member
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha! That's freaking AWESOME! See what happens when people try to steal our bag?
AngelaJP
New member
:lol::lol:Hahahaha! Yes, serves him right for lying. You got me cracking up!
AngelaJP
New member
Oh I don't know, it's probably the way of thinking or the culture of some people here?
I think it's the older female students who aren't comfortable at all with men inside. I witnessed this once when a man went inside the class and starting dancing at the back. Many looked back at him and one student complained to the person in-charge. The man was requested to leave. As far as I know, the husbands or boyfriends are asked to wait outside the classroom although they could still see the dancing in the class from the glass door.
This rule was probably made because of the preference of most students in my class. I'm sure that if it's okay with all the students, a male would be allowed inside. I have tried only one gay BD instructor teach us in a belly dance festival and I liked it! Other BD classes in my city might allow men inside.
Let me show you a couple of the pictures of my class, taken during water break before cool down and the other during cool down.
Angela
P.S. Oh my god, Tarik Sultan, you dance awesome!:clap: It will take me forever to learn those moves! Khanjar, thank you for the info. I am really ignorant and curious about male BD.
I think it's the older female students who aren't comfortable at all with men inside. I witnessed this once when a man went inside the class and starting dancing at the back. Many looked back at him and one student complained to the person in-charge. The man was requested to leave. As far as I know, the husbands or boyfriends are asked to wait outside the classroom although they could still see the dancing in the class from the glass door.
This rule was probably made because of the preference of most students in my class. I'm sure that if it's okay with all the students, a male would be allowed inside. I have tried only one gay BD instructor teach us in a belly dance festival and I liked it! Other BD classes in my city might allow men inside.
Let me show you a couple of the pictures of my class, taken during water break before cool down and the other during cool down.
Angela
P.S. Oh my god, Tarik Sultan, you dance awesome!:clap: It will take me forever to learn those moves! Khanjar, thank you for the info. I am really ignorant and curious about male BD.
Pirika Repun
New member
sexuality
I'm wondering , if female students are gay, then how many teachers accept the students?
I understand that BD is female dominated field, so if male dancers try to learn then automatically think about their sexuality as gay or something. However, why they don't care about female sexuality. I don't care about anybody's sexuality because it is not my business and I'm ok with anybody in the class. I mean if some lady is obviously homosexual, how other ladies react? Do they ask her to leave the class? Also, some lesbian ladies are not look like men, but more feminine than regular female, and maybe you can't tell her sexuality, but when you find out,they gonna kick her out?
I'm sure some ladies feel uncomfortable with lesbian people. I'm not sure why only male sexuality is big deal, and not female sexuality? Actually one of my friends felt her teacher was lesbian, and she felt the teacher was attracted her, so she didn't feel comfortable to take class, so she stop taking class. She didn't know her sexuality, but that she felt. Again, I'm ok with any people. Actually I had both gay and lesbian teachers in Jazz classes, so I have no problem with it. Sexuality is nothing related with dance talent.
I'm wondering , if female students are gay, then how many teachers accept the students?
I understand that BD is female dominated field, so if male dancers try to learn then automatically think about their sexuality as gay or something. However, why they don't care about female sexuality. I don't care about anybody's sexuality because it is not my business and I'm ok with anybody in the class. I mean if some lady is obviously homosexual, how other ladies react? Do they ask her to leave the class? Also, some lesbian ladies are not look like men, but more feminine than regular female, and maybe you can't tell her sexuality, but when you find out,they gonna kick her out?
I'm sure some ladies feel uncomfortable with lesbian people. I'm not sure why only male sexuality is big deal, and not female sexuality? Actually one of my friends felt her teacher was lesbian, and she felt the teacher was attracted her, so she didn't feel comfortable to take class, so she stop taking class. She didn't know her sexuality, but that she felt. Again, I'm ok with any people. Actually I had both gay and lesbian teachers in Jazz classes, so I have no problem with it. Sexuality is nothing related with dance talent.