Do what you love.

Belly dancing isn’t one of the more “normal” options when it comes to selecting a dance style. So it often comes as a bit of a surprise to people when I say that I’m a belly dancer!

One of the next questions I’m commonly asked is “why do you belly dance?”

“Why not?” Is often the answer that first comes to mind. But in this post, I’d like to take you through my top 3 reasons I love belly dance.

It feels good

Moving your body generates feel good chemicals in the brain. Plus as you dance, you gain an awareness of it. It’s low impact and can be done by anyone at any age, shape or size.

I love the feeling of dancing. It allows me to feel every part of my body from the tips of my fingers to the hairs on my head. I know how they’re all connected and I also can “tune in” to if some part of my body isn’t feeling quite right. It could be that a muscle is feeling tight or tired, or a new bit of mobility that I’ve developed through the my dance practise.

You can get lost in the music

For many people, music is an escape from the every day. Belly dancing allows me to get completely lost in the music. This abandon feels so wonderful and is something I know I can come back to anytime I need it.

I love that there is so much music available too. From modern pop songs, right the way back to the classics, there is something for every mood. Many western songs have also been covered by Arabic artists too which makes for an extra treat for your audience if they’re not excited by belly dance music as you are!

It allows us to make connections

The beauty of belly dance is that it connects us to another culture. We get to experience their music, their way of life and their passions.

This is true regardless of if you are a hobbyist dancer or a pro. You also get to connect with other dancers who are in your classes or local dance community.

On the other side of things, if you don’t want to make a large group of friends, that’s ok too! Online classes exist and there is no obligations for you to need to socialise with others in your classes if you don’t want to.

I’ve met many dancers on my world wide travels to study belly dance. Some of them I consider as my sister-dancers and some I only connect with at events. It’s nice that I have the option to be able to chose when and who I connect with.

So there’s my big top 3 reasons that I love belly dance. Sure, there are many others – after all, who can turn down the opportunity to dress up in the elegant costumes and grace a stage infront of an adoring audience (or any audience for that matter!), but that’s a topic for another day.

If you’re interested to come and try out a class, check out the classes and workshops I run, or contact me about a private or semi private class or workshop!