So Who Does Belly Dancing?
You might be wondering what kind of a person goes to a belly
dance class? Well the answer is anyone and everyone!
Women, men (yes men dance too!) and children of all ages do this dance
- although to come to one of my regular classes children must be aged
14 or over as my insurance doesn't cover anyone under the age of 14. I
do sometimes do taster sessions for Play Schemes, Youth Groups and Girls
Guides - which cover me on their insurance to teach under 14's.
I also welcome male participants. I was saddened to find out from the
Mosaic Arabic Dance Network's magazine, that this is not always the case
with teachers in Britain. If a student wants to learn then I want to teach
them, for me it's as simple as that.
The wonderful thing about this dance is that you don't need
to be of a certain height, weight or age to do it, it looks beautiful
and graceful on every size and shape and it can be done at any level of
fitness or health, as you can take the movements at any pace. If you want
it to be energetic and aerobic it can be. If you need something that doesn't
exhaust you too much then you can take it at your own pace, a lot of the
hand movements and upper body movements can be done sitting down.
I have had ME since I was twelve, when I started to learn to belly dance
I could rarely make it through a whole class, so I sat down and watched
quite a lot, and I learned even when I wasn't taking part. How many other
exercise classes would you actually want to sit and watch, and still feel
it was benefiting you? Within the first term I found that my energy levels
increased and that I could do far more than I could previously. I still
have the illness and hate the fact that I cannot do a much as I want to,
but my quality of life is so much better since finding this dance, I now
have a career (which is in my opinion the best job in the world), my body
is a lot stronger (and fitter than most people's who aren't ill), and
it really is the best antidepressant around!
See also:
What do I Wear?
What happens in A Belly Dance Class?
