Why Do I Bellydance?
Yesterday, in her post Why do you bellydance? . . . Really?, Naima posted three questions she’d asked in her stage presence class, and posted her students’ answers. She pointed out how interesting and surprising it was that most of the responses were variations of the same answers.
The three questions were:
1. Why do you Bellydance?
2. What is your Bellydance goal(s)?
3. What is your biggest stage fear?
I don’t know how different my answers will be from the others, but they will be a bit wordier.
1. Why do you Bellydance?
For me it’s about connecting emotionally with the music in a skilled way. Music just makes me want to dance, and I love the passion and femininity that can be expressed in bellydance. I get carried away by the music, but I’m tired of resorting to air guitar. ;) When I watch other bellydancers, I want to get up and dance, and I want to dance as beautifully as they do. So I guess it’s about expressing myself musically, in a way, but becoming part of the music instead of playing an instrument.
2. What is your Bellydance goal(s)?
To learn the moves and make them natural, to put them correctly into my muscle memory so that I can perform with feeling and focus on expression instead of just not messing up.
3. What is your biggest stage fear?
Right now, I don’t think I have any stage fears because I don’t expect to see a stage for awhile. But my biggest dance-related fear is that I don’t have the necessary coordination to turn the moves into dancing, that I’ve got some faulty programming or something that makes me rhythmless and unable to do footwork. That sort of thing.
It’s hard being a beginner. On Wednesday at my troupe meeting, I needed special attention to get a certain step right that involved simple hip slides and moving of the feet. I can do one or the other, but both is really tough for me. The girls were patient with me, but I know I never really got it. I’ve been practicing at home since then, and I think I’ve figured it out and can practice it correctly now, but it’s embarassing being the least skilled in your troupe. Of course, I’ve only met with them twice so I suppose I shouldn’t be so hard on myself.
I asked my friend (and sort-of teacher) “I will get more coordinated, right?”
She said, “Oh, definitely, yes!” We talked about how many years she and the other girls had been dancing, and I felt reassured.
I dunno. I’m one of those people who likes getting things right from the start. I realize that’s unrealistic, though.
