Lara Adrienne

I have a love/hate relationship with this video taken this August in Turkey.

I love the costume, but I hate the way the wind is blowing up the skirt, threatening to compromise my modesty.

I love the song, but I hate the way the person is taping it is telling all my business in the background: “Bu kiz ogretmen, biliyormusun?” (“This girl is a school teacher, you know.”) “Yirmi dokuz yasinda.” (“She’s 29 years old.”)

And the arms! I was so focused on ...

I was working with an agency, doing from 1-3 belly dance gigs a night in Bodrum, Turkey this summer, mostly in hotels, but occasionally at a wedding, nightclub, or circumcision feast. However, I still wanted more gigs, more money, and more excitement, so when a “friend” (not really a friend)–an artists’ manager and event organizer who we’ll call “Nur” breezed into Bodrum from Istanbul and asked me if I’d be interested in picking up some extra gigs, I was all for it.

Nur, who I still ...

For the past two weeks, I've been trying my hand at selling my gently used costumes. It's tough going. I've recently posted about 4 costumes for sale, and none of you dancers out there in cyberspace are exactly wrestling each other to be the first buyer in line. (I don't know why not. Good costumes! Great prices!)

I took two costumes that I wanted to sell to the dance studio tonight, and a friend tried on one of them. She has a performance coming up and the custom costume she's ...

I've had hooks on my costume pop open on stage twice. (You'd think I would have learned the first time.) The story below is not about a wardrobe malfunction, but about a different kind of wardrobe emergency I had this summer dancing in Bodrum, Turkey.

After acquiring not one, two, or even three, but FOUR brand-new costumes in one week, I was excited to the point of being overwhelmed. Which costume should get the spotlight first? I wondered.

I decided on the black ...

Since I returned to Turkey in January 2011, I've been lucky enough to have my performances televised and/or perform on TV four times.

All four times have involved at least some level of stress or confusion!

The first time, I was performing in a Turkish Romany concert. It was before I felt prepared to perform Turkish Romany dance, and it was my first gig after moving to Istanbul.

The second time, I appeared on Mehmet Ali Erbil's show, and I almost missed ...