How I fell in love with belly dancing

(part 1)

I remember it was 12 years ago when I watched the movie "Whatever Lola Wants" for the first time. That film was my answer to the increasingly frequent question, what do I want to do in the future.

Lola is a modest girl who works in the post office, but she has her secret love - oriental dance and she spends her free time learning this wonderful art. The only person who supports her in this is her close friend who helps her go to Cairo and make her dreams come true. To become an oriental dancer.

Costumes, music, choreography...all this gave me an even greater desire to try my hand at this art, thanks to Lola.

I have heard about this dance before, I watched the performances of various dancers on TV, and the first one who I knew that does bellydancing was Shakira, but let's not lie, she is not an oriental dancer, except that she does some movements during her performances. But belly dancing is much more than moving your hips. You only realize that when you dig deeper and study this art more.

Let's go back to the part when I decided I wanted to learn oriental dance. I found a belly dance school in the city, asked about the training, the price... That's all fine, but how do I tell my dad? I live in a country where this was a taboo topic, the costumes are inadequate and vulgar for our people and they look at the whole dance with different eyes. First, I told my mom what I wanted, and her answer was "Well, dad won't give it to you." Never mind, I said, I'll try. And so it was, when we asked my dad if I could go to belly dancing lessons, his answer was: "And what is she going to do with that, where is she going to dance THAT?" Mom told him to let me go to one training session, thinking that I wouldn't like it and wouldn't want to go anymore. However, quite the opposite happened.

Mom and I went to my first belly dance class, it was hard but beautiful. We are back home, but we have a problem. How do I tell my dad that I like it and want to learn more? Mom took it upon herself and said not to worry, she would take care of everything. Dad barely agreed, but he did, and I had the next mission. Prove to dad that this dance is not the same as swinging your hips at fairs, on tables, in other people's laps, etc.

photo source: pexels.com