Back to wiggling hips.

I’m getting back into belly dancing.  I hadn’t been to classes since about August last year, having been too busy with work-related stuff, etc etc.  It’s good to be back into it.   I’d put on weight over that time and I’m hoping I’ll lose a bit again.  It’s quite a workout if you’re moving for the whole hour of class, but the dance teacher has been getting us to do solos in front of each other.  On my first night back last week after all those months of not having done it, she asked me to go first!  Talk about being thrown in the deep end.  Later they did a choreographed dance and I just stood at the back and tried to follow them. 

Last night we did the same and one of the better dancers there (I should say the best – she’s vastly superior to the others) said I looked really good and couldn’t believe I hadn’t done any belly dancing in all those months.  That was nice to hear.  I think my solo performance at our annual dance dinner in the restaurant early last year gave me confidence to really put some feeling into it rather than being self-conscious and limiting my movements. 

One of the dancers last week couldn’t take constructive criticism from the teacher and didn’t turn up last night.  She got all huffy and defensive and basically stormed out of the class at the end.  Silly woman.  It’s not as if she’s an expert and therefore feel she’s above criticism.  I always appreciate comments from the teacher so I know what to improve.   The teacher is actually our regular teacher’s mother, who was taking the class for her daughter for the past two weeks as her daughter’s ill.  She is, therefore, more of an expert than our regular teacher as she taught her daughters and learned from dancers in the Middle East.

Anyway, it was good to be back and a couple of dancers admired my new hip scarf that my daughter had bought for me in Singapore.