Thread: Belly Dance Identity Crisis?

Have you ever had the feeling like you are having a belly dance identity crisis? It's kind of like a mid-life crisis- you know- you've been dancing for a number of years, and you find yourself suddenly confused about what you want out of belly dance, where you belong and what you should do next. Anyone have any advice on how to work through these questions?

I guess, if I followed the mid-life crisis way of handling these questions, I'd have to go out and buy a brand spanking-new designer costume, right? ..l;,

Thanks! ..g.:

More information please. Are you feeling frustrated and discontented with your dance? Like you're not improving and/or you've been doing the same thing for too long?

My answer to your question: yes, certainly I've experienced identity crisis - especially after the club/restaurant scene in SF Bay Area dwindled and the format I enjoyed so much with live music, company of other dancers on my "night" has all but disappeared. And I didn't like dancing at pizza parlors or delis, preferred live music and was getting to the point where these kinds of gigs just weren't worth it to me. I think because I wasn't dependant on the income I had lots of choices, so yes, that can get confusing.
What I did was stop the gigs I was no longer enjoying and decided to take workshops and dance classes for a while until I found an environment that would best suit my needs for solo performing in my own costuming at fun events. Festival performances weren't enough, I missed the camaraderie of other dancers, so although I am primarily a solo-improvisational performer, I found that the right troupe can make all the difference. The troupe costuming is always a hassle, but in the end the benefits outweighed the downside. I also found that about every 3 to 4 years, I would need to reassess what I was doing and think about whether I needed to change venue; sometimes because of travel time, other times because troupe goals/dynamics no longer meshed anywhere near comfortably with mine.
I think these "identity crises" are actually a good thing in an uncomfortable disguise, it means you are growing whether you wanted to or not, and need to be open to change, whether you wanted it or not.
Good luck and embrace the confusion; it's okay to not know exactly where you are going or fit in - try different classes/workshops.
One thing I knew for sure I did not want to do is teach regularly - I did for about 6 months but found it was too much with my full-time job and still have energy left over to practice my own solo stuff. Rats, it really sucks that I need more than four hours of sleep a night...............or I would do it all!

Good luck and try to "embrace the crisis" and you might have some fun along the way!

Hugs,

Nisima

Yeah, I guess so, but mine were more like 'aha!' moments, as in "I can't believe I've been dancing in THIS style for so long because THAT style is absolutely my cup of tea. Oh the wasted years, oh ! Also moments of "why the h3ll am I doing this, I'm getting old, broke and no work out of it, I'm never going to be as good as <insert name here> so why bother bleughhhhh".

I think though as someone else wrote "embrace the crisis", there is a good book called "the artists way" which could maybe help you out of it...

I have been feeling that way lately. I am feeling so down and discouraged with my dancing. I never had a problem before, but I think now I am reading too much into things. I cant even come up with choreographies. I feel like my dancing is lacking dimension and texture. I really want those good feelings to come back. I love to dance and when I am like this it makes me so depressed. I hope that my passion comes back soon. There are some upcoming workshops that I hope will help me. Good luck to you too !

The Bellydance Blahs thread has everything I have to say on the subject - but I think it's safe to say you are not alone.

I'm going through the exact same thing! Identity crisis as a dancer is a great way to put it! I think the root of my problem is that I compare myself to other dancers, or I compare myself to my own standard of what I think a dancer should be. I have found it so hard to give myself permission to say that I'm a dancer, (and everything else that goes along with that title in my life - buying dancer stuff, doing dancer things, etc.) because I don't think I perform enough, practice enough, look good enough, etc. I hate feeling this way. I think I've hit rock bottom, though, and I'll be digging myself out of this pit of despair cuz there is no where else to go! I think a lot of us dancers do the comparing thing and we gotta stop it!!! It's great to want to work hard and improve, but when we start abusing ourselves, or becoming depressed over it, then it's no longer a healthy and positive thing.

Your post doesn't sound like you've been negative or anything, I'm just expressing how I've been, btw. But it has amounted to the same thing, an identity crisis! I've had other reasons for feeling this way, too. All of my BD buddies are no longer as interested in the dance anymore, everyone's gone their different directions, and that has been hard for me to face, too.