Thread: How long do you still take gigs when pregnant?

Hi there,

I have a little problem I think lots of other dancers had before me but for me it's the first time.

I just found out I'm pregnant, about 4-5th week. I do quite many gigs and have regular training and my doctor told me, as long as I feel physically comfortable I can go on with it.

But well, I feel I would be much longer comfortable with it than my audience. I have some gigs already fixed for May what will be about end of 3rd month. I may look a bit rounder but I think it will be still fine. But I'm also already booked for 07.07.07 and got a request last week for 16.07. what will be end of 5th month...

So what do you think, when should a pregnant dancer stopp doing payed gigs? I'm not talking about haflas or so but those where the customer expects a dancer that looks like a dream out of 1001 night - and I never heard those dreams look like pregnant.

Or would you just tell a customer "o.k. that gig will be about 5th month of pregnancy, if this doesn't matter to you, I'll be fine with it!" ?

Where are the mommies?

Congratulations!

I think you should leave that up to your clients. When they book you, just let them know that you are pregnant and ask them how they feel about it. Some clients don't care and others have stipulations about costuming like dresses instead of bras and belts.

You can also advertise for baby showers since expectant mommies would love to have another expectant mommy show them a fun new way of celebrating life.

It really depends on how much you will be showing as well. I had a friend that didn't start showing until her 6th month and danced paid gigs until her 8th month.

Congradulations!!!

I agree I would leave it up to your clients. Some clients won't mind. Personaly I worked a lot of Bridal and Baby Showers when I was pregnant so I didn't stop until my 6th month.

Stop when your ready but don't stop practicing. It'll help wth the delivery. I attribute my easy birthing experience to belly dance.

PEACE - Audie

Sha-ri! Congratulations!!

I performed at a restaurant gig for the last time when five months pregnant - someone who saw me in street clothes afterwards said, "Oh! You're pregnant! I couldn't tell if you were pregnant or just had a big belly when you were dancing!" That was stretching my comfort zone, though - not physically, but just because I didn't enjoy putting my belly on show any more for the general public. Accordingly, I changed my website to announce my pregnancy and said that I was only taking bookings for all female events - bridal and baby showers, lessons, etc.

Like Khaleela said, though, some women show much later than I did (by 7 months people kept asking me if I was due next week)...I think you're doing the right thing by giving potential clients the heads up about it, but don't necessarily limit your gig schedule.

Ahhhhhhh!!! Sha-ri congratulations!! What exciting news!

A few years ago I saw a pregnant bellydancer and thought she was so womanly and beautiful. I always felt that if pregnant women are comfortable enough with their bodies then by all means show off..

Echoing what the other dancers said, maybe let your party know in advance that you are pregnant but if this is your first baby you might not even show at all in May :) Some first time moms don't really show a tummy until later. I'm past twelve weeks now and still have to convince people that I'm pregnant..it just doesnt show much even when I wear a bikini at the beach.

Personally I havent taken any gigs lately because the first trimester was rotten, i was exhausted and sick to my stomach all the time. But now energy is coming back so if an opportunity came up heck yes I'd do it..and at this stage I wouldnt mention anything as they probably wouldnt know anyways.

How EXCITING am so happy for you..another belly mama :)

Jes, at 16 weeks my fat clothes still fit and I hadn't told anyone at work I was expecting. At home I was parading around in my maternity jeans just so I could feel *more* pregnant...ha! How soon that caught up with me.... :)

I have spoken with some bellydancers about this. One dancer (who is a professional and gets paid) stopped at 5 months. The other two stopped at 4 months.

I guess you have to do what you feel most comfortable with. Keep in mind that your skirts will become very tight as your stomach gets bigger (usually for many women they start to show around 4th month). Also, you may gain some weight with your pregnancy which will make your skirts and dresses feel tighter. Also, your breasts will start to enlarge a little and that may affect how well the bra fits you.

I know that Leila (in Egypt) stopped performing as soon as she started showing which was around the beginning of four months.

Also, keep in mind that you have severe morning sickness and nauseau and that may impact your desire and ability to perform even if you are not showing yet.

I know that Leilia is not performing right now since she is pregnant, but she is still teaching. I think I heard that she will be about 6 mos along when she arrives here to teach.

Thanks for the good wishes!

Well, I think I'll stop performing about July, when it's 5th month, tell the both organizers of the gigs I already accepted that I may look pregnant because of month xy and leave it to their decision.

But: Any tips how I can stop me from strolling over all those costume- and swap meet pages?
I still don't feel like pregnant and it is so hard to resist buying some of those pretty cossies out there.
But I know I won't keep my sizes for long any more and getting them back afterwards will probably be tough. I gain weight easily but losing it again is always hard work.

Damn, I was just in the process of ordering 2 from Amira. *sniff*

Yes, that is correct: Leila stopped dancing around 4 months since she started to show, but she is still teaching. Nour just put together some classes in Moscow and she is at least 7 months pregnant (maybe Nuringa can confirm this, but I am pretty sure I'm right, I think she mentioned this on her web site). Shari: you can still teach for as long as you can physically stand it.

Regarding ordering costumes while you are pregnant: I would advise that if you want to order costumes while you are pregnant, order them based on your pre-pregnancy size with the idea in mind that you will loose the weight after you give birth. I wouldn't recommend order costumes according to your new body since its so short-term. But you can ask Shaynaz about this as I believe she has experience regarding ordering costumes while pregnant. Perhaps if you order costumes according to your pre-pregnancy size that will be your incentive to loose all the weight after you give birth.

I danced paid solo gigs until about 4 months. My musicians kept saying "You look fine- not pregnant, just voluptous!" but I wasn't buying it, because my entire abdomen felt like a ball-bearing with every undulation. I did my last performance with a group (for a fundraiser) at about 6 months, but with tummy covered - I just felt better that way. (Of course all the dancers in the dressing room had to put their hands on me to feel the baby kick, etc...LOL!) I thought I was hiding the pregnancy pretty well at that show, but when I saw the video...oh, I looked pregnant all right!

Without repeating too much, I will add that even though you should go ahead and plan to return to your pre-baby size, I found it helpful to have a couple of "transitional" costumes for on the way down so that I didn't have to wait until I lost ALL the baby weight in order to dance again. My belly went down pretty fast, but it took about a year for my bra size to get anywhere near what it used to be (and you can expect this if you plan to breastfeed) and it took a little while for my hip size to drop back down. If you find you only need the transitional size costumes for a few short months, just put them up for sale when you no longer need them.

Congratulations!

: ) Lilla

Oh... congratulations to you too, Jesennia! : ) Lilla

thanks Lilla..

agree about the transitional costumes...I've added hooks on a few of mine so I can downsize (breastfeeding helps you lose the weight)

..just want to add after my first I didnt return to the same size..I suddenly had hips and booty, and hadn't previously..

question for pregnant dancers..did you stop performing because it was physically uncomfortable or were you shy about having the belly?

where's Katja did she have her baby yet?

my last gig was 7 mo preg. i always let the client know and they always didn't mind...taught up till 7 mo too and would have the whole way if we hadn't been moving. your body changes every day and the movements feel different every day...almost like learning to dance all over again, but what an experience! baby loves it too...terra has amazing sense of rhythm. i think that dancing had a part in that. congrats!!!

I stopped performing almost as soon as I found out that I'm pregnant...because I was terribly sick for the first 5 months of the pregnancy:( And at 6 I was already too bigggggg....
I was also so frustrated with my changing body, growing belly and weight gain that did not feel like performing at all. Although I did not show until the 4th month I felt "very pregnant" and did not want to show my belly at all...
--
Maria

I found it physically uncomfortable to do belly movements. I know that's not the case with everyone. My abdomen felt very tight, like an overstretched rubberband, and it dampened my interest in entertaining people...lol

I also struggled with the Super Sense of Smell that most pregnant women get in the first trimester. Mine lasted beyond that. Most dance gigs involve food, and the restaurants that I had been working at and had never noticed more than a subtle smell of meat on the grill suddenly had such an overwhelming grilled meat smell it nearly knocked me out. Every plate of food I danced past, the smell of the food was so strong it was nearly unbearable. After four months of this, I had had enough...

: ) Lilla

Hey - I magically got my identity back!

Originally posted by jesennia

thanks Lilla..

agree about the transitional costumes...I've added hooks on a few of mine so I can downsize (breastfeeding helps you lose the weight)

..just want to add after my first I didnt return to the same size..I suddenly had hips and booty, and hadn't previously..

question for pregnant dancers..did you stop performing because it was physically uncomfortable or were you shy about having the belly?

I'll second that--even after returning to pre-pregnancy weight it was a very different landscape! My hip bones and ribcage had widened (not to mention my feet which went permanently up a size and out a width with each child!)

~~Kimahri

Huh, I feel my hips and booty are already wide enough!
Fortunately I already have some costumes that were always a bit to wide on me (bust and hips) but which I loved too much to sell them. Seems now it was worth keeping them also I barely wore them ;-)

Congratulations!

I remember some of the most difficult things for me to do while pregnant were twisting hip movements (where one hip moves forward and the other back).

With my first pregnancy, my body didn't go completely back down to pre-pregnancy weight until I'd finished with breast feeding. It's great for tightening the abs back up and I've always heard it's supposed to help you lose weight, but for some reason it didn't quite work that way for me. I was okay with it, though, because although my waist was temporarily thicker, I finally had boobs!

I don't think the body's ever exactly the same again after having a baby. It seems to change a bit each time.

Congratulations Sha-ri!!

Khalida

congratulations to all the mommies to be. :)

my experience: with my first child, I planned to perform my regular gigs until I started to show. unfortunately, I was so bone tired the first three months I couldn't make it through a full set without wanting to die. by the time I got my energy back at 4 months, I felt like I was showing too much. with my second, I had more energy, and I performed my restaurant shows until about 4 months. I remember at the time I felt like I was huge and obviously pregnant to everybody. but then I look at a photo of me at my last gig and to somebody who didn't know me, I didn't look pregnant at all. but I was very conscious of how I looked to the people who saw me often - the owners and regular patrons. I looked more like I'd just put on a couple of pounds. no big deal for the random private party, but where I live, there is a lot of pressure for the restaurant and club dancers to have a really trim body.

so. I stopped restaurant gigs at 4 months, but I kept on performing for dance audiences. I competed at 5 months, participated in a parade in front of thousands of people at 5 months, performed at a big festival at 6 months, and had a few more gigs up until 8 months (in my 'divine mother' costume ). I did a couple private parties where I taught a dance lesson instead of performed. I let them know that I was obviously pregnant and asked if they were ok with that, and it was fine.

costumes: with each pgcy, I had one costume that I kept moving the hooks on that I used as my 'maternity' costume. some bedlahs may fit better with a big belly - you don't have to worry about them riding up or shifting around. :) as for ordering a new one while pregnant, I'd go for it! if you're an active dancer, your body will bounce back to your normal size pretty quickly. and most costumes have several inches of give, where you can move the hooks looser or tighter. order your normal size, and consider ordering one at around 5 or 6 months so you'll have a new on on the way soon after you give birth. it will give you something scrumptious to look forward to fitting back into. my son just turned 5 months today, and I got my first new costume last week. wish i would have had one months ago!
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hey, where did my identity go? :( the post above was from me.

elisa gamal
seattle

Congrats!

congrats! i worked up into my 3rd month with this pregnancy, i was lucky that i just started showing then. i did my last private right before my 3rd month though. i stopped booking myself after that but i didn't tell my clients i was pregnant (only the regulars at my restaurant knew).
i started booking myself now for shows in july and up since i am due in may. with my daughter (2 years old now) i got my body back in about 2 months, and the way things are looking i think it will be the same this time around. just trust your instincts.

i did however take an artsy gig when i was 4 months pregnant one time, and i looked pregos! the people running it actually liked the idea since they were presenting female visual artists and saw the whole art show as a birth (they were a bit strange, but i didn't care). again, i wouldn't dare do a regular type of gig looking really pregnant but this was an exception.

i will tell you that it is very hard to stop dancing though- i got very depressed when my last days were coming. it was hard to see my friday nights without the glitter and running from gig to gig. but after a while i got over it. now i am anxious in my 8th month to dance again!!!
good luck!

Originally posted by sha-ri

Hi there,

I have a little problem I think lots of other dancers had before me but for me it's the first time.

I just found out I'm pregnant, about 4-5th week. I do quite many gigs and have regular training and my doctor told me, as long as I feel physically comfortable I can go on with it.

But well, I feel I would be much longer comfortable with it than my audience. I have some gigs already fixed for May what will be about end of 3rd month. I may look a bit rounder but I think it will be still fine. But I'm also already booked for 07.07.07 and got a request last week for 16.07. what will be end of 5th month...

So what do you think, when should a pregnant dancer stopp doing payed gigs? I'm not talking about haflas or so but those where the customer expects a dancer that looks like a dream out of 1001 night - and I never heard those dreams look like pregnant.

Or would you just tell a customer "o.k. that gig will be about 5th month of pregnancy, if this doesn't matter to you, I'll be fine with it!" ?

that is not always true! with my first daughter i practiced every day and had the most unpleasant labor. everyone's body and pregancy is different. so many people assured me that my dancing would practically slide the baby out and it was the total opposite, i was in labor for 13 hours and the doctor had to literally pound on my stomach 3 times to push the baby out of me (i almost had a c-section but he didn't wanna do that and we also didn't want forcepts). it felt like i was getting beat up by a gang.

Originally posted by

Congradulations!!!

I agree I would leave it up to your clients. Some clients won't mind. Personaly I worked a lot of Bridal and Baby Showers when I was pregnant so I didn't stop until my 6th month.

Stop when your ready but don't stop practicing. It'll help wth the delivery. I attribute my easy birthing experience to belly dance.

PEACE - Audie

be careful when ordering the bra parts!! if you plan on nursing, your boobs will stay big for a while and change sizes during the day and night. for the first 6 months after giving birth, all of my costumes were very tight on top and i'd leak all over them from the pressure. i have one costume that is a bit big on me for this reason.

Originally posted by sha-ri

Huh, I feel my hips and booty are already wide enough!
Fortunately I already have some costumes that were always a bit to wide on me (bust and hips) but which I loved too much to sell them. Seems now it was worth keeping them also I barely wore them ;-)

..g.: we need bras that have removable nursing pads
Jes due 9-21