Sigh…
When I tell people I belly dance, that’s one of the “admiring” statements I hear.
And my brain says, “WHAAT?”
and my heart says, “sigh…”
I would love to write an inspiring post that would lift up the self esteem and belief systems of everyone who says that to me, so that they can see how belly dance is SO MUCH MORE than just dancing.
I would love to flick that switch in everyone who says, “I can’t do that”, to ” hmm, I want to see how I can do that”.
The most I can do is continue to share my love for this dance form, educate those interested in learning more, and flash a small smile to those who might be on the fence and encourage you to give it a try.
It’s okay if belly dance is not your thing. Maybe you are a runner, maybe yoga touches your heart, maybe walking is your happy place – and to all of this I say “YAY. you go!” And the best way to find “your thing” is to try out all of the potentials – when the right activity comes your way, you’ll feel it!
My approach to this dance form began with the phrase, “Belly Dancing For Fun” and I still use that to describe our performance group of rogue dancers, the nature of my classes and my general philosophy. If it’s not fun, why bother.
Belly dance can be fun – when one chooses to:
- accept that it’s a journey
- smile and laugh with classmates/troupe mates/audiences
- slow down { journey, remember}
- no really, slow down
- take that time to explore what CAN be done
- revel in those moments of achievement – you are learning!
- breathe
- go within and focus on what you are doing, ignoring the grocery list
- BE THERE – in class, in the performance, in the moment
- Slow down.
Belly dance saved me.
It brought me into a group of whacky women with whom I could not have found myself.
It brought me the courage to leave a deadend situation for a much better one { married to the AWeSOME @WTL since 1998!}
It allows me to play! Halyma has fun sparkly costumes, has fabulous long hair, a sense of feminine empowerment that permeates all of my life!
And while I never considered myself uncoordinated { except for those moments when I am taking a workshop with a master teacher and trying to figure out, What the heck?!? – then I slow down…} I never thought I would be dancing for an audience….
Ad it’s so cool now that I do it for a “job”!
As a teacher of the dance and of the craft of pottery-making I have heard the same utterances from students learning both of these art forms. And it makes me sigh too. I usually say something like, “Yes you’re creative, you just don’t know it yet!” to my potential pottery students. Life is an adventure and the more fun you have the more rich you become. Halyma, I think we have both won the lottery over and over again. I hope it rubs off on all of our students!
When students say it, I nod and smile; confiding that I used to utter those very same words..in fact, still do sometimes, when observing a pro demonstrate a particularly complicated combination movement…yowza! But I go on to tell them it’s a matter of learning the absolute basics, which they CAN do; then practicing and building from there. If I can get them excited during that first class, by creating an atmosphere where the outside world just has to do without them for an hour (not easy!); teaching a few isolations and dancing them through a whole song by the end of the class, new students can feel the reality of accomplishment, by recognizing and reconnecting with the potential that lies within their own bodies for creative expression. Their heads come up, chests expand out, shoulders go back, and their smiles…sigh..oh my…this is the best job…ever!!