How I was introduced to Bellydance

One name...Shakira. It's funny, me being raised heavily in religious and RnB music, somehow Shakira's newfound fame in the US attracted me to belly dance. I'm sure most have saw the video, "Whenever, Wherever", but what really made me want to know what belly dancing was about was a video of a performance she did at her album release party. Here it is:


I began watching other videos of what I thought were professional belly dancers and, too be honest, desired the ability to perform like them. It wasn't until years later that I was able to take an actual class in belly dance (Shoutout to the BellyRoom and Lady M! ) It has been six months since I took my first class (I believe I made the half- year mark) and now I'm looking even more into the styles and costumes of the dance. I saw many videos of Lebanese belly dance with the cane (I believe it's the Saidi dance) and the performance by Lotus Niraja was quite impressive. Here is a link to the dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlL-qRb0mgU

I'm getting the hang of this...

I have been belly dancing for 6 months now and I'm excited. After years of just thinking about doing this style of dance, after being in my first performance, I feel like I'm earning the stripes of being able to be called a "belly dancer"! I will be honest, this new interest of mine is really starting to make my eyes wonder around for jewelry, coin belts, and costumes.

There is this online store http://bellydancestore.biz with "beaucoup" costumes.
I plan to buy my first costume in red, as soon as make enough money to do so. I am going to school for journalism so my pocket are a little empty.

Bellies of Dreams

You know you haven't been to a website in a while when it takes you 30 minutes to log in. I truly do not know where to start in this post since my life has took a bit of a 180 turn since. I've learned self-expression. Oh, how I love self-expression.
I've always fancied the art of belly dancing. It's very unique and gets the stomach moving. The only barrier that was keeping me away from practicing it was that were no classes that I could find locally, or at least I thought. One day, my web page lead me to a belly dancing class close to home. There happens to be a woman teaching the art of belly dance right next to the university I attend! I felt so disappointed in myself, knowing that I could having found out about this earlier, but the opportunity came on time. She just moved, and I found out in time for the summer. I feel this art will benefit me eventually. I'm already getting attached to it....