Ballet as a child, drill team and cheer as a teen aged. Burlesque in my twenties and thirties. I started belly dance at 40. Cabaret for three years now tribal.

Did music theatre from middle school onward, so I've had crash courses in everything from tap to jazz to ballroom. Wouldn't say I was a serious student of any particular form, just whatever it took to put on the show.

Started bellydance when I was 17, doing cabaret style and a little fusion. Stopped at 20. At 22, I'm starting up again, and have been back at it for about a month. I prepared for about 6 months before first performing, and I would definitely say it was at that point that I could call myself a bellydancer. I feel I'll have to go through at least that long again, or perform again, before I'll be able to take on the title once more. I guess for me, it's proving that I can do it, and do it well, in front of other people. Then I'm confident to say I am a dancer of that style.

I started belly dancing as a teen in the 70's. Danced for about 8 years or so and didn't dance again until now- 3 months ago after 25 years of NOT dancing, I am back. The moves I didn't forget in theory...but my older and heavier body does not do them so well right now. Flexibility will come in time I suppose. I am VERY serious about being a dancer again.

Not long enough to be even semi-pro but long enough to forget how long I've been dancing.

I have been dancing for close on two years now. I did my first performance about three months in but was far from being able to be called a bellydancer. This year has been the start of me being able to be called a bellydancer as I am now confident enough, and skilled enough - someone who has been teaching for about three years referred to me as an advanced dancer which made me stand back and take stock of how far I've actually come! I also recently choreographed my first duet which will be performed in our year-end-show in December. I am also starting assistant teaching next year which will be a challenge but a very welcome one.

I must admit though, I did start off in a cabaret-class and started tribal classes a few months after I started dancing and I discovered that that is the style that is my first love.

I took my first bellydance class 2 years ago==well my first dance class ever. I have not performed nor do I intend to anytime soon. Just not ready. I don't concider myself a bellydancer but I drill ALOT, dance in my room and go to classes and take workshops. I think about it constantly and love love love it. Best of luck to you!!

I didn't start dancing till my twenties. I was into sports (who says this isn't one, lol) when I was younger. I started taking Oriental 9 years ago and Ballet I started 4 years ago. This year I started learning ITS and Jazz. =) Next year I will learn how to teach Oriental in the studio I have been dancing at for the 9 years. Beginning to branch out and go to Haflas and Workshops to meet other dancers in my area. Very exciting and I love it!!! =)

As a child, I took ballet and jazz. Jazz didn't last long, I stuck with ballet until my later teens also doing lyrical/interpretive dance. Belly dancing began in my early 20's after a couple years of a break from any formal dance training. I started out with pure ATS style, made the switch to Egyptian and then to Tribal Fusion.

As far as "feeling" like a dancer? That's a personal mindset. When I was little, I thought myself belonging on the stage in the Nutcracker. As I matured, I knew that was a very ambitious child thinking that. There were many times where I didn't "feel" like a dancer in ballet. I felt clumsy, silly and not all together. Some days, everything clicked and I moved with the music. Then, I felt like a dancer whether I was at home or not.

When I first discovered belly dance, I did not feel like a dancer when I took ATS at all. I felt stiff and silly. The music wasn't there for me. The mindset wasn't there for me. When I moved over to Egyptian belly dance, I *felt* like a dancer. The mood was there, the vibe and the music was all there. From the first class, I felt like I could be a belly dancer. The same thing continued over into Tribal Fusion.

Again, feeling like a dancer is a mindset.

Greek/Turkish Orientale for 15 years (started in 94). Plus 11 years Balkan Folk dancing (started in 98), 8 years of Italian Folk dance (started in 2001) & 7 years of period Renaissance dance(started in 2002). Been using muscle technique for 3 years now. *Whew*

I didn't perform until 1998, so about four years after I started taking lessons every week. I devoted myself to dance hard core. By about the two year mark I really noticed that my body did what I told it to do without a lot of thought and effort.

~*Spoon*~

Gymnastics, jazz, ballet, modern, cheer, dance/drill team, and musical theater all throughout my life.
Bellydance, this is my 10th year. Started in American Cabaret/folkloric, and Egyptian/fusion, then took a self-directed path to pursue tribal bellydance through videos and occasional workshops. Then my teacher training mentorship with Paulette really got me on the road, and the rest is history! :)

I took off about 5 years when I was injured, then pregnant, then life got crazy, then I got pregnant again. I have about 12 years of belly dancing, dancing fairly seriously, every week. I was in the SCA, which is a great place to dance. It's very informal, and you share what you know with everyone. I never paid for a class until I had been dancing for about 10 years.

I danced in public the first time after about 6 months, but it was at an event, with a really supportive group. Outside of the SCA, I have only performed a few times, and I find I don't really fit in all that well, lol. My current teacher and I have very different tastes in costume, moves, and music. She's probably a great dancer, but I definitely struggle in the class, since even the "easy" stuff is different from what i do, lol (she does Egyptian shimmies, I do them from the hips, and I dance to the rhythm, she dances to the melody, for example).

Because of the close knit group of dancers and watchers (we would regularly dance around a campfire to live drummers), I pretty much felt I was a dancer from the beginning. Not a great dancer, perhaps, lol. But a true "Tribal" dancer in the sense that we were a village doing our local dances.

Once you find the right style and right group (even if it's just other local solo dancers), it will probably suddenly click. I'm not in the SCA where I live now, so I'm kind of rediscovering who I am and what I do, dancewise. Hopefully it will click for me again. :-)

Trina

I've only been dancing for a year, and have no prior dance experence. I decided to take ATS lessons from a friend (who's been belly dancing for about 14 years and teaching for 4) because I am naturally maladroit and thought it would help me put some grace into my life, which it has. And it's super fun to boot. I just had my first performance this weekend, actually, at our town's street fair. It was rainy and cold and muddy and we had to dance in tennis shoes to keep from slipping (see the picture in my photo album, it's classy!) but it was still fun, despite the fact I'm still sick from being out there. Haha...

thanks for all the stories and tips. I have been fire dancing much longer than belly dancing the fire seems to draw the attention to the flame more than to me which makes me a little more comfortable performing I think I am going to start sneaking bellydance in when I am fire dancing at events in the community until I can build up to dancing with out the fire.