About five years of that time, I was in a professional troupe but a little over a year ago we disbanded. We were all going in different directions and while we still love each other we went our separate ways. We started out with about fifteen dancers and one by one they filtered off until there were only six of us left. Of those six, we had two interested in Cabaret, two in Tribal and two in Goth. We all decided to continue with those types, at least for now. ;-)
Now, every Wednesday, I go to two dance classes, both from the same instructor. There are many, MANY types of Belly dancing, from Cabaret to Goth and below are just two...
...this is Jen, or 'Degenerate' as we like to call her ;-). She's a beautiful dancer no matter which type she does. This is called Fusion (you take every type of dance you know and mesh it all together into something unique and beautiful). This type is my first class on Wednesdays. Right now, we're learning three different choreographies.
...Amina (my Wednesday night instructor), Jen and Temis..this type is called ATS (American Tribal Style)(my second class tonight). A beautiful lady, Carolina with Fat Chance Bellydance,(look them up on youtube, you'll be amazed) created this and it's grown wild! It's completely improv, meaning one person leads while the others follow and the followers don't know what the leader is going to do until she does it. And they have to keep up. Watch it, it's wonderful!
Belly dancing is a great way to get exercise. It keeps you loose and limber (I had a bad knee when I started and it hasn't bothered me in years). It gives you confidence (try getting up on stage in those itty bitty costumes without it! and no, you don't have to wear those but they're fun and so beautiful!) and you make so many lovely friends, Belly Dancers are true sisters! However, belly dancing is a hobby..understand right now that if you're looking to make money at this, you never will. This is strictly for fun! You will never make enough money doing it to pay for your costumes, (I danced five years professionally and maybe earned $200). All belly dancers know this and we don't care. We don't do it for money, we do it for the love of dancing. Unless of course, you're a Bellydance Superstar! Then you're doing it for the love of dancing and for the money! ;-)
The first picture is mostly the Cabaret portion of the Superstars with the rest of the Tribal/Fusion portion in the second one. Sometimes they dance apart and others they dance together creating such beauty and showing the difference in the styles.
I encourage all women, and men too, to dance, whether its belly dancing or some other form...and keep smilin'!
Les
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