Yeah that's right I'm from Illinios! I've been searching for a belly dancing forum for quite some time. It's really hard to find one which is really sad. >_< However, now that I found this one I can expand my knowledge and what not! I'm 18 years old and I started dancing in the late summer of last year in 2008. What got me started was the Shimmy series from Direct Tv on the channel of Fit Tv. I love watching the episodes. I've never danced before and somehow belly dancing has got me started dancing. Not sure what else there is to say so....hi everyone!