I've never had a negative response to it here in San Francisco, but I am also in a creative field, albeit very client-facing. In fact, people LOVE it, ask all about it. Mind you, I don't stick it on my resume, but if it comes up as an interview question, its always the first thing I mention. It also sets the stage for those times when I need to leave work a little early for a gig! :-)

Hmm...good question. I am not super vocal about it, but if I mention a performance I'm doing and people ask what I do, I tell them "I'm a bellydancer". There are a few people (men) at my work who have made some snide comments, and in those cases I have told them to their faces that they sound ignorant and are making themselves look like idiots. But I work in a very casual, progressive, and creative environment; this is a network that broadcasts from Burning Man, so they're used to folks having what many folks would consider "odd" interests.

I do know some women who use the term "middle eastern dance" which I think is fair. But all in all I've gotten very good reactions to my dancing...either that or maybe most people just know to keep their mouths shut.

I do not include it at all in any job interview. I see none of this info as anyone's business unless its a personal discussion. If they ask if I do anything but work...LOL...I tell them I workout and take classes in my evenings.
If anyone I work with asks about my off time I tell them proudly what I do, I'll invite women to check out the studio and great classes my instructors offer, I'll tell em of upcoming gigs....
and I work in Construction, surrounded by men. Some may not think my job is for most women (I'd agree that most women wouldn't like what I do near as much as I do!) but I'm 5'10", 200#, very outspoken and very confident....the last thing they'll do is give me crap about performing! LOL. I think most of 'em are actually a little afraid to show up at our performances...too funny... bc/ then they'll have to see me outside the little box they'd rather put me in.

At my most recent job interview, the interviewer asked why I was going to be out of town for a few days. I told him I was going to California to bellydance. I told him that I was passionate about bellydancing and I saw it as an art form. I always mention something like, "Many people has misconceptions about the dance, and equate it with stripping or erotic dance, but its a dance for women by women." I feel that showing an employer you have dedication and passion are good things.

My theory is, if someone I work for is not comfortable with my dancing, then I don't really want to work for them. Also, I feel like if I act ashamed of my bellydancing it indicates that I feel there is something to be ashamed of, and I don't feel that way. I have found most people are really intruiged by it.

By the way, that interviewer, later in the interview, told me I was the most interesting candidate he had interviewed, and I got a second interview :)

I am an elementary school teacher. I didn't tell anyone until after I got hired. The superintendent asked the new hires to write down an interesting fact about ourselves. I wrote down on my paper that I was a belly dancer. There were 20 of us that were hired in the district. He announced us in front of the entire district at the beginning of the year. This is a very large school district. He announced each one of us and told everyone are interesting fact. When he told everyone that I was a belly dancer there was a silence over the entire gymnasium. He then proceeded to say, "By the way, she did not tell us this during the interview". Everyone laughed. Now, it's no big deal. They just treat me like I'm some free spirited , tatooed hippy. The entire staff in my building know that belly dancing is important to me. :)

I admit that I don't come out and say I bellydance, because it's a crap shoot. You don't know what someone else's preconceived ideas about it are. I'd rather get the job on other merits and let them get to know me as a reliable employee before sharing that part of my life, if I ever do. I have said during interviews (when asked about hobbies) that I dance and do yoga and no one has ever pressed further.

ive just been through 2 hiring processes and never mentioned bellydance on my resume or applications....
if i were asked i would just say i "dance" as a hobby, and if asked further i would probably just say that i've done different kinds like hiphop, indian styles and bellydance. i wouldnt want to really single out bellydance right away.
other than that, i will tell people that i am part of a dance performance group, and if they ask what style i'll specifically say tribal style bellydance.
i figure when i get to know the people i work with, if it ever comes up, i'll be more than happy to share the info :)
i am definitely proud of the fact that i dance, and it is a big part of my life, but i dont feel it's something i need to flaunt, especially if it could affect me adversely.
but the type of people/environment you work with is definitely a big factor in how much to tell or not tell...

When I was hired for my current job I just told them that I took dance classes as a hobby. Normally I wouldn't have been so vague but I was being hired by nuns and didn't want to rock the boat right off the bat. Once I was settled into the job I asked for time off to go to Tribal Fest and then told them that it was for bellydance. They had lots of wonderful things to say and wanted to see photos and video. Turns out one of the psychologists I work with, her mom used to bellydance at a club in SF in the '70's. Now they know when I've got local performances and my boss was fine with me having synthetic dreads for several months. I think she enjoyed telling people that I was a bellydancer and went to Burning Man. lol

Part of the reason I got my current job (working for an academic department at a university) was that one of the two people I had to interview with (the assistant dean of our department)had seen the Youtube videos of a show I performed in and helped coordinate. She asked me about past leadership or organizational experience, so among other things I mentioned this show, and she was like "Oh, I saw that online!" I'm certainly not what you would call famous, not even in my local area, so this was something of a shock. It turned out that she's a feminist who studies Orientalism, among many other things, and she loves bellydance.
The funny thing is, I don't usually mention the bellydance thing unless there's an appropriate context. I just couldn't think of a better answer to her question, and we had just done the show, and I figured "well, they'll probably find out eventually if they hire me, so what the hell."
If nothing else, it's certainly a way to make yourself stand out in a sea of applicants.

I'm actually going to have a job when I return to Oz that I got because of my interests, instead of in spite of them and it's kind of a dream job for me.

It's in a shop called Wandering Wizard and they have all kinds of cool, hippie and dance style clothes and statuary and just lovely trinkets of all sorts. Plus they have a massage room and once I get there, a Tarot room, too...!!!

We met the couple that owns the store while I was there and they're just the coolest people...probably somewhere in their 50's and they opened up the new shop just about a week before I had to come back...but told me that when I returned, I'd have the job waiting for me.

They know I'm pagan...they know I dance...and of course, they know I do Tarot readings...so not only will I have a job for the first time in a long time, but it's one that I know I'll enjoy and since it's just up the street from our house, I can walk there every day.

I know this is a much different thing from working an office job or one with higher end clients, but for once, what I do has paid off for me...and I couldn't be happier about it.

If the shop does well, I'm even planning on asking them about maybe holding some dance events there in the future...I think it would bring in more business not only to the shop, but to the whole center.

The only bad thing I can see is that I'll be lucky to bring home a paycheck with all the beautiful stuff they have in there...I'm a sucker for pretty things.

I mentioned it when I interviewed for my current position. I interviewed with two people who seemed very enthused and had a positive reaction to my work, and sent me up to interview with the VP too. That conversation included things like "We're going to see if we can get you" and "Where are you going to live?" (i was coming from out of state). So by the time I said something like "well, I'd like to live somewhere with a lot of arts, performance, other bellydancers..." I was feeling pretty confident about getting the position.

The VP's reaction was to call down to my previous interviewers--"You didn't tell me she bellydances!"
"She bellydances? COOL!"
"Yeah, you guys didn't do a thorough enough interview!"

Its always been something they've been supportive of and respectful toward.
And this is the burbs of the south!

Maybe it's just because of where I live (Southern Indiana) but I've answered with bellydance to the "what are your interests" question and I got some pretty not good looks. You know, the look you get if you were to tell some snob that you strip. Yeah...Then I started saying Middle Eastern dance and I got the same weird looks like I was a terrorist or something. I sure as hell would love to meet these open minded people that you all have. I now talk about my cats when asked about interests.
I've never been ashamed about bellydance. I'm just afraid that one of these times I'm gonna tell someone I bellydance and their gonna give me that look, and I'm gonna kick them in the shins.

Direct questions about outside interests aren't really appropriate to ask in job interviews. If asked a question like that, I'd stick to things that directly related to the job, and the question itself would increase the chance that I'd say no to a job offer. It's one thing for it to just come up in conversation, but "tell me what you do outside work" is sketchy.

That said - my colleagues ask plenty of intrusive personal questions once you get to know them, and I like talking about dancing. Pretty much everyone I work with knows I dance, and it's treated as just a strange thing I do. One of my colleagues sings in a band for kids. One of them keeps bees. No one's really all that normal when you get down to it. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the majority of the team self-identify as liberal democrats - we're pretty open-minded.

I too am lucky in that I work with some *very* open minded people ... sometimes too open for most. I've never hidden or masked my bellydancing and actually have found that my work places enjoy that I'm well rounded and a bit exotic. And I enjoy being thought of as so.

As someone else mentioned, it's very useful to have this open relationship in case a dance gig, workshop or class conflicts with my work schedule. My boss knows that dance is very important to me and respects that. The same is true if something involving my children calls me away, my boss knows that my kids come first and doesn't have a problem with that.

It would be very hard for me to work someplace that couldn't deal with all of me. My jobs are components of the whole package, they certainly don't define me. In fact, I'm much more comfortable describing myself as a bellydancer than a retail manager, blah. Perhaps this is telling ... a job versus a career. Now if only I could make a decent wage by dancing.

To supplement my first post...

I agree with what others wrote about flaunting bellydancing... it would be weird for an employer to be like, "how are you today?" and you blurt out, "I'M A BELLYDANCER!" or something. I just try not to avoid it if and when it does. In my case, my boss asked, "why are you going to California?" and I told him I had a dance audition, and it went from there.

Arg, I hate it when people say inflammatory things on tribe, so I hope no one took my "I'm not ashamed of my bellydancing" to mean, "people who aren't open with their bellydancing are ashamed of it." In my case, the job I was applying for wasn't a position where I felt the employers were really conservative. I'm also not really invested in getting a particular job, but I'm sure if I was applying for a conservative school or whatnot I would probably feel a lot different. Luckily I live in a pretty liberal town!

I think a good rule of thumb is to be direct if it comes up, and just a bit more vague if you're in a super conservative environment. I've used the terms "ethnic dance" or "tribal dance" before, too, if I thought the person I was talking to was going to flip over "bellydance."