Jens' Belly Dance pages

Bellydance beginnings are different for all of us. Having no dance experience before bellydance classes. I never ever would have thought about performing to a live audience in a troupe or even solo performances. My first classes came 2 years after my first child. I was just getting my body back, and belly dance classes represented an excellent respite from the daily routine.
Why Bellydance? I recall going to see my friend Geoff and his band perform at the Cel Space in San Francisco. That is the first time I had ever witnessed Tribal Style bellydance in full form. The troupe Romani danced and I was floored so to speak by their performance. Later, I stood above the dance floor as the live music played and watched the audience. Many of them had the serpentine movements and energy of the dancers before, and I had come to an epiphany~I must learn this, this is what I want to do.
The beauty of the different styles and body types of the dancers had me enraptured! I wanted to dance, I felt aqward, out of place but I was happy to simply watch.
When I got home I looked up classes in my area. I signed up and absorbed everything I could from them. Things my mind thought impossible, my body convinced me it wasnt. I was learning and growing. I felt good and had a whole new confidence in myself.
It was as though I had embarked on the road to a spiritual journey. My socially induced repression was exposed and I was encouraged to let it go. So we continue on our journey, every beat we dance to, every dance we watch, and everytime we listen to our own heart.