My First Bellydance Performance

I was very glad for the nice sunny weather that we had today.  Today was the first bellydance performance that I participated in and it was outside at an art festival.  I was pretty nervous but I have been meeting up with some of the girls in the class and we have been practicing all summer.  I am currently taking the intermediate bellydance class with Alanna Shultz.  She is a great teacher and very talented!

She began to instruct the performance class back in May.  We met for eight 1-hour lessons and learned an entire routine.  We were then able to practice over the summer for the performance that we had today.  It was a hot summer and while we tried to practice outstide to enjoy the weather we eventually had to practice in the basement because it was just too hot outside.  Over the summer a group of us got together and practiced twice a week and our kids would play together while the mommies were practicing.  By the end of summer we were all doing a nice job with the dance routine but I was still a bit nervous.  I had some trouble sleeping last night for whatever reason so at 4:00am I was praticing the dance routine, without the music, in my family room  I think that my Firefighter thought I was nuts at that point!

When all of the dancers arrived at the festival today we stayed together as a group while we waited for our turn to go on.  While we were not dancing we remained covered up with our veils since it is not proper to be walking around in costome without being covered up when you are not dancing.

Our performance class went on about 6th in the line-up.  The Troupe and Sister Troupe performed first and then we went on.  I didn't think that I was too nervous but when we were out there and I would try to swallow, my mouth and throat were completely dry.  I messed up close to the beginning but I recovered quickly and did not make any more mistakes after that one.  Of course I can come up with all kinds of criticisms about how I danced but looking back on it I think that I did well for my first performance.  I am a bit of a perfectionist but, for the first time performing, I think that we all did a great job!

Check back to see the video.  I will post it as soon as I figure out why I cannot download it correctly from the camera.

When the peformance was over we all came out and free-styled for one song.  I did not know that we were doing that and free-styling at this point is not my best dancing ability.  Nothing like trying to learn it in front of an audience!!

During the free-style dance members of the audience came out to join us.

All in all I think that everybody did a fantastic job!!  I am definately looking forward to trying out for the Sister Troupe and to doing the performance class again next year.  Right now I am continuing to work hard in the intermediate class.  We are now learning how to dance using veils.

If you are ever looking for some great exercise, and having fun while exercising, then you should think about giving bellydance a try!

Back to Bellydance

A number of years ago I was talking to a friend of mine about things that we would like to do someday.  She told me that she had always thought about taking a bellydance class.  We talked about it a bit but neither one of us ever did anything about it.  Over the years I would give it a thought or two but it always just remained in the back of my mind until last year.  I have been very unhappy with my body shape since I gave birth to my boys.  A lot of my problem is that I do not always make healthy choices and do not exercise.  At this point last year I was not exercising at all so it was no wonder that I was not losing any weight.  I thought about bellydancing again and decided that it was time to learn a bit more about it and give it a try.

Last Fall I went to the local library and checked out a number of bellydance instructional DVDs.  I really enjoyed the DVDs and ended up buying a few to help me practice.  My favorites were by Neena and Veena Bidasha.  I used Bellydance Fitness For Beginners - Arms, Abs, Hips, Buns & Thighs and Bellydance Fitness For Beginners - Basic Moves & Fat Burning for exercising.  As for instructional use I used Discover Bellydance which consists of the three DVDs Basic Dance, Beyond Basic Dance and Mystic Dance.  While I enjoyed the DVDs very much I felt that I wanted to learn more and felt that a class would be better than just using the DVDs.  I did an online search and found Alanna Schultz.  She taught in the area and also on the college level.  I quickly enrolled in one of her classes and have been taking them ever since.

Bellydance has proven to be a fantastic outlet for me.  I got to class for one or two hours once a week and I am able to just focus on myself.  I know that sounds selfish but as a full-time mother I have neglected my body and my health and have chosen to just focus on the needs of my kids and my husband.  I have since learned that unless I take some time for myself I am not able to be the wife and mother that I want to be.  Bellydance has been the first thing that I have done for myself that takes me out of the house since G was born.  It is one to two hours a week of time just for mommy.  Of course, with my Firefighter's shift schedule he works at least every third week when I have class so I then arrange for either the babysitter or my parents to watch the boys.  When I come home from my bellydance class I feel re-engergized and rejuvinated.  I feel better about myself as a wife and a mother.  Bellydance has helped me to build my self-confidence back up and to appreciate the mom body shape that I now have.  It is also encouraging me to improve my body and to get back in shape.

Over the summer I signed up for Alanna's performance class.  I went to class once a week for eight weeks and learned an entire routine which the class will be peforming at an art festival.  Once the eight weeks were over I continued to practice the dance with some friends that I had made in class.  We practiced twice a week over the remainder of the summer.  One of the ladies who practiced with us had kids so everyone met at my house and all of the kids played together and the moms practiced our dancing.

Tonight our regular bellydance classes started up again.  This time I registered for the intermediate class and it is kicking my butt!  Alanna is teaching us how to layer our basic bellydance moves and we will be learning how to dance using a veil.  I am determined to continue practicing my dance routine and the new layering techniques that we are now learning in class.  By the time I left class tonight my abs, glutes and calves were burning they were so tired but it was a good tired.  I am looking forward to continuing to take the classes and practicing at home.  The boys like to help me practice.  G likes to turn the CD player on for me and M likes to run around us while we are practicing.  Sometimes I listen to my CD of the bellydance music in the car while we are driving.  Even the boys will ask to listen to it.  So, in the end, bellydance seems to be good for the entire family!!