Teenager Who Loves Belly Dancing!

[TeenTahini]

hello everyone my names Chloe, im from Australia.

Ive always loved belly dancing and could do the nifty little roll belly dancers could do for as long as I could remember.

Im 17 and started lessons this year, I gotta say im pretty good!

Im so excited to meet inspirational belly dancers out there to give me tips because im starting beginners classes soon (teaching them) for my dance teachers school, and im so excited about that!

I have my very first sword solo in a few weeks its coming a long quite nicely!

I hope I get to meet some great people on here!

I love suhaila!

You Tube

[Nat242]

Welcome to Bhuz!!



What city in Australia do you live in? Sounds like you're really passionate about belly dancing, and you've come to the right place to meet people of all ages and skill levels who share your passion. There are so many treasure troves of wisdom here!

[TeenTahini]

hello thank you so much! im from canberra, i love it. i was so pleasantly surprised to find thatthere were even a few TEENAGER classes which makes it really fun!

hello and welcome TeenTahini
I like your confidence, teen belly dancers are definitley on the rise not like when I first started out.

[ssipes]

Hi TeenTahini:

Am I understanding correctly: you started taking classes this year and you are about to start teaching a beginning belly dance class?

If so, I guess my best tip would be --- don't do it. You've been taking lessons less than a year. I believe you when you say you're pretty good -- younger people tend to learn faster than older, and you probably have good natural ability.

But, with less than a year of formal study, you don't even know what you don't know yet. There is so much more to this dance form than being able to execute the individual steps. There are so many "teachers" that launch out with insufficient training. There is even a name for them -- "10-week wonders". Search the archives here and you'll learn about the whole phenomenon.

Most experienced, pro dancers look back at their development and acknowledge that they honestly weren't ready to teach until they had at least 5 years of serious training under their belts. And this comes from a pool of people who probably have higher than average aptitude for dance to begin with.

My advice is just enjoy being a young, beautiful dancer. Focus on practicing, taking as many classes and workshops as you can, learning from different teachers, learning all you can about Middle Eastern music, working on your performing skills, costuming yourself, and then go out and perform, perform, perform!

Teaching can come later.

Sedonia

[Lucinia]

Ditto what Sedonia said......

[resullivan]

Welcome. I wish I had started at your age. There are several teens in my current class, and they do seem to pick things up faster. GOod luck.

[ruta21030]

teen tahini, welcome! and enjoy!

please take what these ladies say to heart in waiting to teach......they're not trying to stand in your way at all, in fact, they're trying to help to pave the way for you to be a GREAT teacher in the near future....they're correct, study hard, find excellent supportive teachers, take workshops.....and learn learn learn.....too many '10 week wonders' find out quickly how little they have to offer students in a very short time, so you need to allow yourself alot of time and study to develop a strong varied 'vocabulary' to continue to teach AND CHALLENGE your students as they progress, not to mention avoiding physically harming potential students, which can occur if one's understanding of the dance is not complete.....it's not easy to keep students interested and challenged, ask me how i know :p......also, if you get in good with an established teacher, ask them advice, seek their knowledge, in time, you may even be asked to teach FOR them under their tutelage, which is a good way to go.....AND, it can't hurt to take classes in kinesiology and other body-oriented courses to understand the muscular and skeletal structure to further help you teach in a safe, effective manner..........

i too wish i started when i was your age, i was 19 but i also was in a forced 8 year sabbatical so i'm still playing catch up.....even when you DO start teaching in a few years, continue to study, take workshops etc.....this is a never ending learning experience, which is wonderful!

so again, welcome to the dark side :p (we have cookies and glitter), take your time, have a blast and keep on!

[latriamou]

cookies? there are cookies? lol

[annwyn]

I have to agree with what sedonia and ruta said.......It is better to be a GREAT teacher in your 20s than an ok teacher now......

[lizajuk]

I waited until a GOOD teacher said I was ready.
But I agree a youngster will learn so much more quickly and so much more. Whatever you do never stop learning. There are too many teachers who think they no longer need to.I have seen so many even in a small area who teach but are going nowhere with their dance and hear folks constantly say it. I also know another who started to teach after 8 weeks or so and her reputation as a dancer leaves much to be desired.
Keep it up and the world is yours.

[Shirin.]

Hi Tinytahini and welcome to bhuz.
I'm going to have to agree with the other women on the board. Please don't think anybody is ganging up on you because your young. As you've probably read already, everybody seems optimistic about your future in bellydance.
I started lessons when I was 12, and I'm still not a teacher. WHY? Because I don't feel I can really communicate the language of the dance. I don't feel confident that if somebody asks me to break down a difficult move, I can do so in a language they can understand. I'm 26 now, so yeah, I could teach now if I wanted to. But I can't, its not that simple. Body mechanics and steps are two totally different veils.
IMO and others, I'm a wonderful performer. But just because I'm a great performer does not make me qualified to teach.
Only talking about myself here. I don't know you personally so I cannot comment on your abilities. But please, at the very least, think about some of the advice the women here have written.

[angelique2]

to Bhuz!!

[TeenTahini]

hey everyone thanks for the replies!
i totally understand where your coming from and your advice really is so welcomed!
but my dance teacher has already got it organised, ill be teaching about 5 students on a tuesday at 4.30!! im very excited but now im starting to get a bit worried about the things youve said! I love belly dancing so much and i have very good technique, all i'll be doing is teaching my teachers beginner choreography to the five teenagers!?

i dont know if everyone thought i was starting up my own school or something lol?

i cant realy help it ive got it locked in eddy, and ive just got my first aid certificate and stuff.

please tell me what you think!

thanks everyone i hope your weekend was good!

[shimmycelia]

Hi Teentahini-
Do I understand that your teachers is setting up a short course for you teach basic moves and will then take over? Cos that might work - enthusiasm is great for inspiring people but please please listen to what everyone else has said - this is a huge subject and being just a couple of steps ahead of your students isn't enough.
I have a very talented 16 year old student who was headhunted for a VERY high profile Bellydance Show, (tho being so young has been asked to keep in touch and return when she is 18).
She does help out some of her friends in the class, but is aware that she is nowhere near ready to teach - and is concentrating on her own dance education.
She has no knowledge of body mechanics, and largely dances instinctively,
as I suspect you do - having taken to it so easily- teachers need analytical skills to notice where and why things are not quite right order hone up their teaching methods.
You might even find you don't like teaching - it's very different from performance.
Don't let all this pour cold water on your enthusiasm, just keep going to workshops, learn as much as you can - & you're gonna be awesome-
Love and shimmies Celia

[TeenTahini]

i actually joined one of my teachers beginners classes, so i could see how the class worked, and how she taught the dances. there is choreography all ready for me to teach, and i must teach them technique and choreography. i seem to be doing really well!

i enjoy teaching!
i jsut ened more people in my class!
any tips?

[BellyDanceGirl]

Hi Tahini! Panta Rei lives in Canberra. I have had great online conversations iwth her. Panta Rei. She teaches classes. Her link is also on my blog, and you can search my site for the entries I've written about her. She also manages a yahoo group and web ring.

Welcome to a great community and new life. I just started myself!