When did you take your first bellydance class?

And did you like it??

 I will be honest - I did NOT!

 My first belly dance class was in 2002, after I graduated college. In fact, my 10 year belly-versary is coming up in November! It was a beginner class at a very famous studio in Manhattan. But the class was working on a not-so-beginner veil choreography, and it was very hard to follow. Add that to my background in Western dance including ballet and hip hop, and I found myself rigidly spazzing my way through the class, a stark contrast to the grace and fluidity of the teachers and the "regular" students.

 I didn't go back for months! In fact, I only reluctantly went back to accompany the friend of a friend who was interested in trying a bellydance class. When I did go back, the class was - thankfully! - working on a much more basic routine which I was able to follow. And they were preparing for a student show! Having been performing on stage since the ripe old age of 2, I jumped on the chance to add "bellydance performance" to list of accomplishments in dance.

I got hooked, of course. And the rest is history!

 With a new season of dance classes about to begin, I am curious to hear of your experiences - how did YOU get your start in belly dance?

Career Stability/Longevity

I posted this on bhuz.com a few days ago, but I'd like to get feedback here as well....

First, a little backstory to explain what got me thinking about all this - A few months ago I found out I had a basal cell carcinoma on the tip of my nose...long story short, I had Mohs surgery to remove it three weeks ago, and it turned out to be a lot worse than anyone thought. They actually had to remove some of the cartilage in the tip of my nose because it went down that far (on the surface, it only looked like a teeny tiny little red spot that wouldn't go away). Anyway, the plastic surgeon did a skin graft from another part of my nose to cover the hole, and the healing process is now shaping up to be longer than I had originally anticipated.

Obviously, while this is all going on, i can't gig. No one wants a bellydancer with a bandaged, oozing nose. I'm not even sure how long I'll be out of commission - I had originally budgeted for no gigs the month of May, but that is when I thought I'd only have a few stitches. I figure I am looking at about two months of gigs lost when all is said and done.

So, in the meantime, I've been teaching. Thank GOD I have a day job, because if I had this sort of injury and BD was my only source of income, I'd be in serious doo-doo right now.

Which leads me to my question/thought of the day....we can't always gig. We can't always be the sexy, pretty, mysterious bellydancer that our clients want/expect us to be. Whether it is because we get older, or we get injured, or become pregnant or something else that affects our appearance.... I think that the amount of time in our lives where we can go out there and be the pro bellydance performer is so short compared to the times we cannot.

In my experience, in the times where I can't get out there and perform, I can still get out there and teach. Because you don't need to "look the part" to teach - you just need to know what you are doing. And that doesn't change despite of what you look like. So, if you really want to be a dancer, make a living off of it (or a substantial part of your income, anyway), do you need to be a teacher as well? I have friends who are amazing dancers, but who just don't like teaching, or don't think they are very good at it so they don't do it. Are they destined for a short dance career?

Is teaching the only way we as dancers can insure that we will be around for the long hall? Those who can't do, teach, right?

What do you think? And don't forget to wear sunscreen!!