Bellydance has given me my confidence and self esteem back. When I am dancing, I'm in another realm.....calming, spiritual, fun. I get something I don't get with other things I like to do. It's the camaraderie, the music, the creativity. I don't know where I would be or what I'd be doing without dancing. As long as I can wiggle, I'll be dancing.

Frank has said most of my reasons, but I'd like to add that I dance because
1. I absolutely love the connectedness the dance creates between myself and other classmates, as well as between myself and my body.
2. I feel it really grounds me like no other form of movement has.
3. Also, when I'm dancing with others (ATS), I really enjoy the electric energy that buzzes about the room when everything is clicking, the music is fast, the zils are contributing to the propulsion of rhythmic energy. - Dance = Joy for me.

bellydance looks reeeeeeeeeeaaaallly good on you Megan! You are a natural and I'm thrilled that you are one of my students!

Bellydance has to be the most natural thing I have ever done. Second only to having babies.
I can express myself so intimately through dance.
....not to mention, I finally found a practical use for my hard-to-fit long torso!

here here, belinda. let's start a bellydance revolution!

A reason to live.

Shortley before I found bellydance I was lost. I had played life right: went to collage, had friends, a good job... but i still felt empty inside. I had been a swimmer as a child but never really felt connected with it. In an off chance effort to save myself before I finally ended it all I took a bellydance course through my collage. Then I saw Mardi Love and Michelle Campbell perform and the rest is history.

Tribal Bellydance has given me a reason to live because it has given me a renewed passion for life. I feel connected to myself, my dance mates, our students, the community. Bless it all I say. Even when the Drama Llama follows me home from dance I still have to feel blessed and truely thankful for dance entering my life.

At first it gave me a nice alternative to exercise without hating every minute of it....

...then it became a whole new way of being creative since my last occupation with visual art was drawing to a dead end....

.... and now its a part of my life, my income and my career...

...though lately I don't feel its bellydancing specifically but "dance" as a whole since I'm going down many roads at once...

freedom to be truley myself

I totally agree with you ... I was trying to do cabaret for almost 2 years - can't say I was doing because I never really felt that I "have it" - and then I saw a video of Rachel in youtube and found a troupe and started Tribal ... and it all snapped in its place :-) Now I'm home. :-) It's the way my body wants to move.

wow!

seriously...you all are such huge inspirations!

You know, I was just watching the old ballet move the Red Shoes again and there is a part in it with the guy who runs the dance company and the main character, Vicky Paige. She is not in his company yet. He asks her, "why do you want to dance?" Her response: she stares him dead in the eye and asks him, "Why do you want to live?" He says " I don't know, I just do." She says, "It's the same for me." Those quotes may not be line by line, but it's close to the conversation.

I am a long ways from being a skilled dancer, I have no formal training. But I am one of those people if there is a beat or music. I must dance.

O.k. tribal bellydance changed my life! Self esteem issues from years of sexual, emotion & physical abuse made me so self conscious of my body and I literally wanted to disappear. Wore baggy clothes, didn't want to bring attention to my breasts much less anything that hinted that I was even a woman! And it also made me feel graceful! Something I never thought I was! Always the tomboy... To be able to look at other women and not be shameful of that....literally....I always thought I couldn't look much less appreciate other women! It made me a lesbian, not that that's a bad thing but it really confused the hell outta me.....women are great, beautiful, sexy, amazing,.... I can appreciate them all without fear....all because of tribal bellydance....I can bare my belly because of the dance....I can bear my shoulders...show skin....wear sexy clothing like Melo's....Can you imagine never being able to express the hurt and anger until you're well into your 30's....sh*t! Every time I perform it's cathartic, my revenge to those who hurt me, I am soooo glad I found this dance and am able to have a second chance to be....a woman!!!! And I want to inspire other woman who, like me, live in fear, in shame.... Kami Liddle once said to me after correcting my stooped posture why I always did that, and I said to not draw attention to myself and she said, "well, it draws more attention to yourself if you ask me!" And ,by george ,she was right. I'll never forget that...

Wow, Vianey...that is a very moving story you have. Keep up the good work, sister

Brave and eloquent women have posted here and I have to say my reasons are
pretty much 'all of the above'.
When I finally got to a bellydance class I was agoraphobic, hadn't been able to
use my arms for years (baaaad R.S.I.), scared I was loosing my relationship....
and surviving rather than living life, feeling it was downhill all the way from
here (I was 2 months off 40)...

2 years on, and my arms just LOVE to dance, and I get praise for them. Dancing
makes me feel alive. I feel better about myself. I notice strength and beauty in me (well,
in some of the movements at least ;) ) and in other women. I'm starting to be
friends with my body. I'm even starting to be friends with me.

I finally found I'm creative - costumes and choreography. My love of the dance and the
atmosphere around it drives me to get fitter, more confident...I may still quake
at the thought of public places in everyday life, but I perform on stage!!
I don't like 'theatre' events, but you try and stop me seeing the BDSS when
they're in town, and I'm going all the way to Paris in June just to finally see RB
and Mardi perform.

Last night I danced non stop for 2 hours at a hot and crowded
'gypsy' night in a club in town. I might not have been the youngest or fittest
there, but I was grinning to myself all night that I WAS there and having
such fun.

I love to see others grow as they start this dance, and those who strive to
be the best they can. It's so heartwarming to see their efforts, their
successes and the groundswell of warm support from fellow dancers.
Thank you to you all for the invaluable inspiration.

So ARRBEE...

Why do you belly dance?

"It relieves the internal pressure and allows me to explode in controlled ways."

That is so true!!! I understand exactly where you're coming from.

it feels
soooo
good

Hmmm. Dance is something I started at age 4. I went to my sister's dance class to watch; when my mom picked us up, I'd joined the class. Dance in general is a form of expression that somehow encompasses more for me than any other form. The closest other form of artistic expression I personally have been deeply involved in was playing music and singing in a band on tour. But dance does something extra--there's a combination of control and letting go; I don't think I had that sense while fronting the band, and I like that aspect to it. Bellydance specifically, while still relatively new to me, is one of the most challenging artistic endeavors I've ever undertaken. It is also one of the most fulfilling. Being a perfectionist, though, I have to guard against frustration. But there are so many aspects of it that enliven me: the history; the diversity of styles; the support of the other women at the studio--some of whom are almost young enough to be my daughters--the sheer challenge of the muscular complexity and subtlety of movements--and then, of course, the joy of the costuming (I just finished making my first coin bra!). I'm a history buff--and I think the history and mystery of the art form entices me. It's is pure joy.

i love you and miss you here with what was us...

Because I am a woman and it is my birthright to dance this dance, as a mother of six, I earned the right to dance the dance of life, and also because it makes me happy and feel good.

These stories have inspired me a lot, I've never seen a dance where everyone seems to dance for their mind rather than things like: "I want to be the best."
Dancing as always soothed my mind, it's like an anti-depressive, when I dance weekly I'm happier over all.

And may I say, I think me talking about this post made a friend of mine want to pick up his salsa dancing, wich he used to love, but quit for the reason we all have sometimes: "No idea." You all have inspired non-bellydancers :D

I belly dance mostly because it's fan and it feels so good, but what's the point to it all, I don't know...
Maybe that's the point....not to have the point, or just to feel good, pretty and healthy...
And what has it given to me?
Lot's of new great friends and people that I meet all the time, cultural exchange and open mind.

And Rachel why is that you belly dance and what's to point to it to you?

Wow. Some great answers here!

Why do I dance? For years I'd been looking for a way to express myself. I tried acting and singing, neither were a good fit. Going into dance, I finally found my place. I never expected it to go as far as it did. And now, I do it because I love it.

I remeber the first time I saw that there was going to be a bellydance teacher teaching a class at the gym hwere I worked. As a "feminist" I was appaulled because at the time I thought of bellydance as a seductive dance for the pleasure of men. (I was naive to bellydance other that the perception of the bellydancer in movies). I balked at it being in a gym setting, afterall, how could this be exercise! Well did I ever bite my freaking tonge and my words. I was seduced by the graceful arms and a simple headslide! I looked through the glass like a young Catholic child at a candy store window during Lent! All of my being wanted so much to move with such grace and femininity. Everything I was doing at the time had a masculine energy to it: Boxing, kickboxing, weightlifting, etc. I had too much Yang & hardly any Ying. I finallt submitted to my secret desire and sinned: I took a class. I totally expecting to get it (since I was an athlete and had good body awareness). Again I ate my preconceived notions of what I could do. It took months to get the simplest moves because I thought I should be able to get it & couldn't surrender to the fact that this was foreign & that this was not going to be natural to me. I studied very hard. One class a week lead to two, 2went to three, three and four and five and 4-5 hours of practice. Now I dance daily.

The study of bellydance has made me whole: balanced. A long time ago I had turned my back on "feminine" because I thought if it as weak. Now I know the power of "feminine. I know that I can be strong and have grace. My whole perception of movement is now colored by bellydance. When I teach exercise now, I teach it from an opening up and growing perspective, but still retaining groundedness.

My whole perception of fashion is colored by bellydance! I wear colors that I would never have entertained before. I wear things that are funky, chunky, fringy, colorful and exotic. I have met the most beautiful and eclectic group of woman through this dance (Bricey, remember Connie from Costa Rica, the 72-yr-old firecracker! She's one of my buddies. I went to CR with 3 of my dance buddies). My lfe has been enriched by knowing them, sharing this dance and being strong and creative women.

When I dance now (I would have never guessed this would happen when I started), I feel as though this dance has always been in me, like a repressed memory. No matter what the music, no matter what tempo, I feel the circles, the graceful mands, the slinky eights, the sharp ups and downs emerge from within me.

Beacause of bellydance I have become more artistic again. I draw, make things from yarn, even though I don't knit, make belts, make costumes, started sewing (and making patterns of things I like), buying fabrics that can become a masterpiece of my bellydance fashion desire and listen to music that I may have never encountered before.

I dance now because I would die without it. This dance has infused itself into every aspect of my lfe, like a fine blood vessels, breeding its way into the way I do everything. (How many of you stretch awake with wrist circles or shimmy while you wait for the bus, or practice bellyrolls under your coat?) It is life, it is how I define myself. When someone asks, what do you do, I say "I am a dancer, a bellydancer." then I describe all the other things that I do to earn my living, so that I can still dance!

Shimmies,
Tasnim

Cause it makes me smile
and feel full of goodness

I've held back from posting to this thread because finding the right words to describe the reason is somewhat difficult, and I don't want to bore anyone with a lengthy post as I'm inclined to. So many reasons, but I guess for the most part when I dance I feel like I am releasing something held captive within me.

This was asked once before and an another persons answer rang true with me: 'If I could put it into words, I wouldn't have to dance...'

And on a more personal note, dancing put me in touch with an inner stregth I didn't know I had. Its a light in my dark times. I wilt like a flower without sun when I'm kept away from it.

bellydance has fullfilled something in me that i couldn't find in ballet. i love the freedome of movement, the friendships formed in class with fellow dancers, the music i have come to appreciate and adore.

and, well,.....the costuming is a bit addictive...lets face it ladies and getleman....you see a two finger ring, or some bitchen beaded turkomon tassles....well...

that has to be one of the best answers I've read yet! Go Girl!!!!

oh Katie thank you so much for for lifting my heart.

Been thinking about my answer since the question was first posted and I still don't have it framed right. Needs drilling yet I guess.

This question has been on my mind since it was posted, and I even printed out all 48 pages worth of this thread yesterday to read the responses, hoping somewhere in there I might find my answer...but I still really don't have one.

In reading all of our responses though, I remembered that this dance, the community of it, touches me on a deep level, I was nearly crying on the bus...It has been a while since I felt so intense about this, I used to be practically bawling everytime I would talk about bellydance, thinking about how it affects soooo many people, and how beautiful this thing we all do is.

Somehow...more than other dances it seems to be...this thing is healing. It nurtures us in a way most of us havn't been nurtured before, we come to love our bodies, [or at least accept them for what they are], we make family, friends, we are creative and spiritual, and we share this thing with our hearts, and [in my experience, here I get some of the greatest joy] sharing it with other people...people who need this dance, or we want to share it with, because we know what it could do for them...what it is has done for us and so many.

Perhaps if any reason I dance, it is because it helps to create the life I have. [as I was talking with my friend/adoptive dance mother last night...I don't NEED anything to exist, as a solid happy human...but I cannot live, cannot have a life, I cannot be anything more than just a human existing if I do not have these things, such as dance, because they are what create the life I have, they are what give me movement and love, and the ability to expand into something more than just someone who exists.] I don't know if that makes sense, but it sounded beautiful to me the first time I said it...