Any Belly Dancers?

I took a beginner's class for a while (Egyptian I think) and was surprised by how much it toned my legs.  It was a lot of fun, but I was too busy to fit in another class.  Love your avatar, btw.  So cute.

Amal al-Zahra' here 
I've been dancing and teaching for *cough* 16 years now. My roots are Egyptian cabaret (whose isn't?), Turkish cabaret and a variety of folkloric styles. Since I've been writing more and sold the book, I've been dancing less. But I plan to regain the balance this fall. I miss it.

I've always wanted to learn how to belly dance.  I have a friend who used to do it, and it looked so cool.

Erin Zarro said:

I've always wanted to learn how to belly dance. I have a friend who used to do it, and it looked so cool.

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Same here. My close friend does it here in Seattle. She attends classes at least once a week and does performances around western WA. She talks about how much fun it is and how the moves work. I think she's been doing it since early 2005, and concentrates on Tribal because she says it's more freeing and you can show more of your own expressions. Me, I just have a couple of hang-ups about doing it, so I have yet to do more than follow a few moves and tried on a rather heavy hip scarf.

Tris

To the youtubes! A lot of great dancers (and some not-so-great ones) are putting instruction snippets up on youtube. Videos are a mixed bag--some are great, some are atrocious. But even a novice can usually tell the difference (sloppy dancing looks sloppy, period) so don't be afraid to play around.

Also, parks and rec programs, community colleges and local Y's often have classes. So search!

Mahin's Daily Bellydance Quickies are fun--daily newsletter with videos of her own instructing or links to other dancers' videos, must-know music, etc. No relationship with the lady, just enjoy the newsletter. If you like or are wondering about tribal, go to youtube.com and search on "tribal fest." Be prepared to lose a few hours.

My girlfriend did Belly Dancing for years. She had a whole host of books and DVD's in her room on styles, shows and techniques. She used Youtube to find videos and basically study other dancers. It is not as easy as it looks, lol.

Not a belly dancer here but my kids and I watched the belly dancers show at the renaissance fair this spring and my five-year-old now tells me that's what she wants to be when she grows up. 

I know a lot of dancers who cross over into hula. I don't have that stamina!

Re: your 5 year-old...it's a good business if you're passionate and dedicated. Few have the skill, so the skilled are in demand.

I made it to class today for the first time in a month! Rewarding myself with some Beats Antique.

I love bellydancing, but I've only taken classes for fun, never been in a troop or performance. One of these days...