Thread: Alias?

I'm considering using an alias for bellydancing. I've never really liked the idea of them before, for one thing because I like my name, and for another because bellydancing is something I'm proud of not ashamed of. However, I'm considering a career teaching and as much as all of us dancers are trying to change the perception of "bellydancing", it still seems to be frowned upon in much of the proffessional world :(

Any teachers/bellydancers out there with any feedback on this? Do you choose to keep the bellydancing quiet or is your school/students/parent community fine with it?

My given name is "Letitia" which I really like because its unusual and therefore works as a bellydance name :) I'm considering going with my childhood nickname "Tisha" as my alias because I will still recognize it as me :) but it is spelled differently enough that I think it may give me the annonymity I'm looking for.

Would rather not change if it comes right down to it though...do most of you dance under you given names or aliases? Honestly curious. Thanks!

Using a stage name is a personal choice, I don't know of anyone who frowns on using your real name. There are plenty of pro dancers using their real name. Sadie, Suhaila, Karen Barbee, etc.

If you want to use your name then do it ..g.:

Maybe you could conjure up a different spelling of your real name? (I love the name Letitia, by the way!)

For example, one of my earlier teachers went from Carisa to Careesah. A small adjustment, but enough to still feel like and function as a stage name!

If I could make my real name (Lisa) sound exotic, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'm kinda getting sick of having a long, drawn out stage name ,r:;

With a name like Letitia, why would you want to use an alias? I would stay with it and not use a stage name, although like Ruya said, if using a stage name makes you feel more "dancerish" then do that instead.

Since you like your name, maybe come up with alternate spelling or give yourself an different "last name". That's what I did. I decided against using my real name to due to personal and professional reasons, not to mention my real name is pretty boring.

I have a very buttoned down day job where not everyone would be okay with my dance career, so only a handful of trustworthy colleagues know about my secret dance life. Also, I have a very conservative extended family who definitely would not be okay with my dancing, considering most of them consider any kind of dancing a sin, let alone belly dancing. I'm just very selective about who I tell about it. It actually makes me feel like a super hero or like Gem from Gem and Holograms. I have this secret, glamorous identity that only a select few know about.

I think you have to gauge your community. If they're open-minded, liberal and you don't think you would have to worry about about parents and coworkers getting upset about your dancing, then you can easily go by your own name and be very open about it. If your community is a bit more conservative, you might want to be more careful with your dance name and persona. One of dance partner's first belly dance teachers was also a school teacher and was very open about her dancing. Word made it's way to some very conservative parents who felt what she was doing was akin to stripping and it became a bit of a scandal. She was told to choose between performing and her job as a school teacher. She stopped performing.

Are there any other belly dancing school teachers in your area, anyone in your classes? If there are you might chat with them.

Originally Posted by mathkitty

I have a very buttoned down day job where not everyone would be okay with my dance career, so only a handful of trustworthy colleagues know about my secret dance life.

I'm beginning to think I have the same problem. People who are supposed to be my friends keep kiddingly calling me a pole dancer even though I have repeatedly told them I didn't find this funny. I don't know what it takes to make people realize that we are serious dancers ..cr.:

Having to chose between dancing or your job? OUCH! That is exactly the kind of situation I'm trying to avoid! I'm worried that in this day and age, my potential employer is going to google my name and come across my website, or youtube videos and decide not to take the risk in hiring me and having an issue come up. I also don't want to stop advertising myself as a dancer on-line etc because I make a fair amount of income that way and need to advertise.

Thanks to those of you who think "Letitia" makes a good bellydance name, :) maybe I should just legaly change my given name lol!

I think maybe use a different spelling, then it would be difficult for anyone googling your real spelling to find you.
Leteesha, Latitia etc or if you are comfortable with your nickname use that.

Whatever you decide regarding your name - all the best with getting your new job.

I also have a pretty buttoned down day job. I work with all male engineers and scientists. My friends at work know I dance and are aware that it's not stripping, but I don't want any new people that I'm trying to network with (perhaps for a job, or a grant, etc.) to judge me based on my dancing. So, I use a stage name. I also want to keep a little anonymity in my dance for safety reasons... not like I think anyone is going to be obsessed with me and stalk me or anything, still, it happens to people, so the name helps keep me safe. I also thought for a long time about my stage name and picked something very special to me.

Originally Posted by Letitia

Having to chose between dancing or your job? OUCH! That is exactly the kind of situation I'm trying to avoid! I'm worried that in this day and age, my potential employer is going to google my name and come across my website, or youtube videos and decide not to take the risk in hiring me and having an issue come up. I also don't want to stop advertising myself as a dancer on-line etc because I make a fair amount of income that way and need to advertise.

The choice between dancing and a job is the absolute worst case scenario. And as you point out, it's becoming more and more common for potential and current employers to google you and to check-up on your facebook pages, etc. Which was another reason I chose not to use my real name, so if coworkers, clients or potential employers are out there checking up on me for whatever reason, they're most likely to find the professional me, and not the belly dancer. Not that I really think that's happening, but you never know...there was an employee who vented about something that happened on the job and about some company policies on facebook, and it found it's way back to HR very quickly, and the employee was reprimanded and told they'd be fired if it happened again.

I realize that posting negative comments about your company is different is quite different than stumbling across pictures of you belly dancing on facebook, but we just don't have the privacy that we might think we do out in cyberspace. And depending on your profession/professional environment, you may need to take some extra caution. Since no matter how hard we try, there are some people who will never get beyond the stripper thing.

Originally Posted by Letitia

I'm considering using an alias for bellydancing. I've never really liked the idea of them before, for one thing because I like my name, and for another because bellydancing is something I'm proud of not ashamed of. However, I'm considering a career teaching and as much as all of us dancers are trying to change the perception of "bellydancing", it still seems to be frowned upon in much of the proffessional world :(

Any teachers/bellydancers out there with any feedback on this? Do you choose to keep the bellydancing quiet or is your school/students/parent community fine with it?

My given name is "Letitia" which I really like because its unusual and therefore works as a bellydance name :) I'm considering going with my childhood nickname "Tisha" as my alias because I will still recognize it as me :) but it is spelled differently enough that I think it may give me the annonymity I'm looking for.

Would rather not change if it comes right down to it though...do most of you dance under you given names or aliases? Honestly curious. Thanks!

Leticia is a great name for life or the stage. I'm not fond of "Tisha" for a dance name, though. Just my opinion.

If you have a day job and you think your dancing might cause you discomfort or worse at your day job and you want to keep your day job (may not apply to you), or if you want to be able to get other day jobs in the future, then I think, as others have said, that it's best to have a stage name that is different from your real legal name.

"Tisha" would work only if you don't use that at your place of employment. One Arabic name I can suggest is "Atesh" pronounced "A - tesh" - accent on the "A". It means "thirsty" in Arabic and is used often in the sense of "thirsty for knowledge, experience, spiritual development, etc., as well as for water". Another name is "Latifa", pronounced "la-TEE-fa" which means "gentle, delicate, pleasant".

Thanks Leylalanty, I really like those suggestions! :)

Honestly, I think Letitia is a beautiful name, but I do agree that if it may compromise your day job then ,f::. A well-meaning Arabic name may be a good idea as a stage name for belly dancing then.

Leylalanty has some great suggestions/ideas!

I work at a counselor in a high school and I use a stage name. I have never had a parent complain, but I don't flaunt the fact I am a dancer either. I have performed at community events, usually to good reaction. My main reason for using a stage name is so that if a parent or student or central office employee googles me, nothing dance related comes up. I don't know if there would be repercussions, but don't want to find out. It's worked well so far - I even have graduates in my classes. Until you are certain it won't come back to haunt you, I would suggest using an alias.

It does make you feel like a superhero - my dancer name self is a different side of my personality people don't see at work.

If nothing else for safety reasons I suggest using a stage name. Unfortunately this world is full of crazy poeple.

Originally Posted by Viveca

If nothing else for safety reasons I suggest using a stage name. Unfortunately this world is full of crazy poeple.

Good point!

I did the stage name thing for a while and then ditched it. It just wasn't clicking with me and if someone really wanted to know anyone's real name, it's not that hard to find. I dance now under my first name (Mary) and so far it's worked wonderfully and I couldn't be happier. My only issue is when people think the second part of my website is part of my dance name (maryraks.com, so they write Mary Raks)! Most people still don't know my "real" name since they don't know my last name, but if they do find out, I still won't show up on google, too many people share my name.

I'm just going through the name picking process now.

Originally I wanted to stick with my name as it actually works pretty well as a stage name. After further thought I realized that my given name is VERY distinctive and I'm an intensely private person (with a forensic psych degree, so I am professionally aware of how full of crazy people this world is) so I decided to err on the side of safety.

If you're struggling to come up with a name on your own, I'd ask your teacher or a friend well-versed in Arabic or Turkish.

Well as i know you ... i"ll weigh in .. when i first started dancing professionally i had a stage name ( Jamilla )which i ditched because no one new who it was . I dance under my given name Domini ,which is unusual, and don't use my last name .Mind you i am able to use my maiden name for dance and live the rest of my life with my married name . I think that going with an unusual spelling for your name is the best compromise.

Domini!!!!! :D I didn't know you went with a stage name at first. Ya, a stage name just feels wierd, maybe I can spell my name like everyone thinks its spelled anyway for bellydance: "Latisha"?

Excellent then you cover your bases . People can find you Professionally and Personally you retain some privacy and mystery. Miss you and I finally have some stuff to send you ...facebook you later

I used my real first name and just never attached my last name to anything publicly. That was enough anonymity for me, and I was publisher of a family magazine at the time that was distributed through the schools!

I was surprised at how open people really were. I didn't meet up with the reaction I feared, ever.

Originally Posted by dominidances

Excellent then you cover your bases . People can find you Professionally and Personally you retain some privacy and mystery. Miss you and I finally have some stuff to send you ...facebook you later

Oooooo......!!!..g.:
I Miss you too!

I took on my stage name, Samira, when I started dancing at the age of 17. I've now been Samira for 19 years, so I'm as comfortable with my dance name as I ever have been with my given name. LOL. It has come in handy to keep things separate, so I can appreciate your reasons for wanting a stage name. I liked Leyla's suggestions.