Dilara has a great blog on "what an American looks like". I'd like to expand that further and talk about... what does a belly dancer look like?
I test drove some cars this past weekend while I debated taking my current vehicle off life support (it made it through the night and should live to see a few more thousand miles).
When I told the car salesman I worked for HipMix.net, he said, "Oh I sold a car to a belly dancer a few weeks ago. But she wasn't what I expected a belly dancer to look like."
Before you started belly dancing, what did you think a belly dancer should look like?
What is your opinion now?
About Me
- HipChristina
- TX
- A 20-something HipMix.net employee, afflicted with the grace of a drunken hippopotamus, tries out the world of belly dance. She attempts to tell her tale through a mixture of sarcasm and honesty.
for me it really comes down to a weight thing. Before I started dancing I assumed that all bellydancers were little Middle Eastern Barbies.....now I am happy to report that we have all sizes, ages and shapes of talent. Yay!
ReplyDeleteI think that I learned early on in my dancing that there was a diversity of ages, styles, shapes and sizes. But I do get tickled when prospective students tell me they don't look like a belly dancer so they are scared to take a class. The last one who called told me she was heavier than what a belly dancer normally would be...I laughed when she walked in the door and she was 3-4 sizes smaller than me! And, I think she was equally surprised and pleased when I told her that her body was perfect just the way it was for dancing.
ReplyDeleteI was the same way - I thought all belly dancers had tiny waists, and round hips (like Jasmine from Aladdin).
ReplyDeleteNajla - it seems a lot of people feel that way. As women, we're taught to be self-conscious and hide our bodies. We envy belly dancers because they seem free and confident, on display but womanly. And we don't seem to think we can be that way. I think my favorite belly dance stories are by people who are totally shy in normal life, but can find themselves through dance.
You know, when I first wanted to belly dance, a lot of my family made fun of me, asking if I was going to go into a strip club. But I KNEW that belly dancing was not stripperish or about exposing your body.
ReplyDeleteBut that also made me think about what a dancer is suppose to look like. If they are respective to strippers, they HAVE to be skinny and good looking right? I mean, who would want to see someone's rolls falling out of their costume?
I'm proud to tell you that I danced through pregnancy, up until seven months -even performed!- and danced with another that was a good 250-300 pounds of passion and grace! When my niece made fun of her weight (she was about eight that time), I scolded her right then and there. I was much larger than this woman when I was pregnant, and made a valid -and visual- point that anyone can dance, no matter how heavy, skinny, or uncoordinated they are. I think she gets it now. I hope!
-Xi'Balba
Ooh. Good question. I think when I first started I expected bellydancers to be very hourglass shaped. I hadn't though of bellydance until one of my friends from ballroom dance started showing me some of the moves she'd learned. She was on the thinner side, but also had a good shape. It wasn't until I saw a dance show for the first time that my idea of a bellydancer changed. One girl did a solo veil piece to an Imogen Heap song ("Have you got it in you?"). Although she was a fairly heavy girl, it was the most beautiful choreography I'd ever seen. She flowed so gracefully and had such emotion in her face that I was mesmerized.
ReplyDeleteA bellydancer to me now is much more about the attitude and the presence, much more than body shape.
I'm curious too. Did you ask the car dealer what he thought a bellydancer should look like? :)
Good question! Before starting belly dance, I have always pictured belly dancers as being curvy and exotically beautiful, but now I am happy that I know we come in all shapes and sizes- which is the beauty of the dance!
ReplyDelete