Belly dancing lessons?

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

My wife is looking for local belly dancing classes. We saw a good demonstration at an International festival, and she said "I'd love to learn that..." I said "OHHHH YEEEAAAHHH!!! I'd love that TOO!!!"
Anyways... for you out there who have taken the classes...
Would you recommend it?
For the husbands of wives who took them... Would YOU recommend them???
Has anyone had any good or bad experiences?
Its exercise and it gets you in shape... and of course theres OTHER reasons that we wont discuss here... I cant see any negative side to this other than the expensive costs of the outfits.
Is there a solution to THAT? Even on ebay the decent costumes are going way up there.
I know its a true art; how they move like that. How long does it take to become skilled at the dance?

 

[ilovepcot]

We threw a big party one New Years Eve and had belly dancers for entertainment. DH and I both loved the movements, the music, the glitz of the costumes...everything! I immediately signed up for classes. They were fun but I quickly found out it wasn't as easy as it looked. Took *lots* of practice before the moves came naturally. The hardest part for me was learning to "lift" my ribcage. To learn to do anything more than stand and shimmy, it can take years to become a skilled dancer. Certainly there are exceptions to this, but for most dancers I'm familiar with, they're been studying for years and continue to do so. But hey, your wife doesn't have to be a skilled dancer to make this all worthwhile! Know what I mean??? Attitude, sexy costume and the right music...hey!!!!

As far as costumes go, I wasn't able to find any locally and was afraid to order because of being difficult to fit. I found a local seamstress and had her custom make what I wanted. DH even helped select the colors and had a hand in designing what he wanted to see me wear. He loved that! And no, having someone make these for you *does not* bring down the price at all! Still very expensive! But, it was fun and we both enjoyed it. Ah...great memories I hadn't thought of in so long.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

My Mom took lessons with her friends and they loved it.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I loved my belly dancing classes, but quickly learned it would take YEARS of practice before I could perfect anything. I moved on to Hip Hop!!! It is a great workout, but takes a lot of dedication.

 

[mickeyboat]

I have a freind who took them, and she loved it. She said it was a great workout, too.

Denae

 

[sha_lyn]

costuming can be very pricey , or not too bad depending on what type of costume it is, where you live etc.
Tribal stuff is pretty easy to make yourself. Most dancers I know buy a good fitting bra and they cover and decorate it themselves. The more Egyptians styling with lots of embroidery and sequins is hard to do yourself. Harems, skirts etc can be made for next to nothing.
Also I've found that most instructors will have accounts with the suppliers. My teacher does a bulk order 3-4 times a yr, usually around our Haflas (recitals).

I have to run now. I'll post more later

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I think she will love this. She was a fashion model when we first met. She did the runway shows in fashion dresses. She also was in modern dance at high school and was VERY good at that. Two children later, she isnt the same size, but hey, shes had 2 kids!!! I think she can still do it though.

I look forward to hearing more comments!

 

[MzDiz]

I started dancing in 1995, joined a performing troupe in 2001, opened my own business selling costumes in 2003 - and I still have a lot to learn.
Because of my neck problems, I haven't danced in a little while and I'm starting to feel my age because of it. I actually have lower back pain. I never knew what that was like. Oh, it sucks!

 

[MzDiz]

I see you live in North Carolina. Try this out - http://www.ncbellydance.org/carhome.html

 

[princess pooh]

I love to belly dance! I used to take classes at the Y and it was a fun way to workout.

My abs looked great back then

 

[Mono~rail]

There's a belly dancing place next to where I take on of my dd's to therapy. I don't know the first thing about it.

 

[monkeyboy]

Anything where the wear a costume is

 

[kimmikayb]

Sounds like fun! I wonder if it's a good workout?

 

[sha_lyn]

Sounds like fun! I wonder if it's a good workout?

It sure is... that is it is fun and it is a workout

 

[Ride Junkie]

I've been belly dancing for the last 15 years, and it's great fun! You don't really have to worry about buying an expensive costume unless you're planning to perform. If you're just doing it for the fun of it or for exercise, a fringed hip scarf or shawl will work for around the hips. You can also decorate a bra with sequins or beads and fringe for movement.

I wish I had some pics from my performing days to post here, but I don't have any on the computer!

Belly dancin' banana

 

[MzDiz]

Knowing how to sew saved me a ton of money. As far as practice goes, all you really need is something with a little weight and movement on it to let you know what your hips are doing. Skirts are fun too. Looooove skirts!

Don't tell, but I made a lot of mine out of old bed sheets from Goodwill. Top sheets though, because I'm not gross or anything.

This is me in the middle, don't laugh at my hair. It was like 100 that day and it crawled back into the 70's to die, or something. http://webpages.charter.net/mysterychicken/rompi.jpg

Here's another of us in our "almost completely homemade" outfits. http://webpages.charter.net/mysterychicken/group1b.jpg That's me in the middle again, in my bed sheet skirt.

 

[sha_lyn]

Here we are at halloween

I'm on the left, Oceana (wonder why she hasn't posted on here yet) is in the middle.


The pants we made ourselves, very easy to do.
Tops were a bulk order. Hip scarves we bought on our own. Mine and the one on the right came from Ebay for about $15 each.

in this pic you can see some of the veils we dyed ourselves. We buy the silk in bulk.

 

[sha_lyn]

OK I have no idea why my first pic is only a link but the second one shows up

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

Your not gonna believe this.... We lucked up and found an "incorrectly listed" belly dancing outfit on ebay. It has LOTS of the very intriquite beads, tassles, and such. its bright green. The seller said it was a belly dancer costume from a Las Vegas show!!! We got it for $4.25 plus shipping! Also, she had it listed as 4 sizes bigger than my wife was, and after she won it (we were gonna have my mother take it up) she emailed back appologising and said it was 4 sizes smaller, and that was EXACTLY what size my wife is. So we really did good, because they have been going for over $100 for ones this nice. We saw one with a $200 reserve that wasnt any nicer.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I've been taking classes for about 3 years, and perform with a troupe, so if she has any questions, just have her contact me!

I've never spent real money on costumes- we have an amazing crafty girl in our troupe who sews them, so we just pay for materials.

This is our most recent Tribal Fusion piece: