Here are some fre­quent­ly asked ques­tions about bel­ly danc­ing:

What can I wear for bel­ly­dance class?

Start out sim­ple. You need to wear some­thing so that your in­struc­tor can see how your body is mov­ing, so they can cor­rect your form. Try some yo­ga pants or leg­gings topped with a T-shirt that isn't too bag­gy. You will be in­tro­duced to that most ad­dic­tive dance class ac­ces­so­ry, the span­g­ly hip scarf.

Watch out, many of us start com­pul­sive­ly col­lect­ing them. We want you to be com­fort­able, which means you wear some­thing that you can eas­i­ly move in.

Yo­ga or work­out pants, sports bra, fit­ted tank top, or fit­ted T-shirt are best.

Bare feet, dance shoes such as jazz shoes, bal­let slip­pers, foot undies, or socks are all ac­cept­able foot at­tire. No street shoes re­quired for bel­ly dance class­es.

Is every­body else in­class go­ing to be slim?

It's high­ly un­like­ly. Bel­ly dance stu­dents come in all sizes, ages, colours, and back­grounds. You might be in a class with a 60-year-old for­mer bal­le­ri­na on one side and a 22-year-old two-left-feet-nev­er-danced-ever on the oth­er. In a class with a good teacher, no­body should be judg­ing you.

Do I have to show my tum­my?

Not if you don't want to. Many stu­dents like to show their tum­my be­cause it makes them "feel like a bel­ly dancer".

Some like to be­cause the ex­er­cis­es in class of­ten iso­late the up­per body from the low­er and hav­ing no "con­nect­ing" cloth­ing helps them sep­a­rate the two.

How do I deal with all those mir­rors?

Your dance stu­dio might or might not have big mir­rors on the walls. If you aren't com­fort­able star­ing at your­self in form-fit­ting cloth­ing, don't wor­ry...you are not alone. Don't think about them to be­gin with and just keep your eyes on your in­struc­tor.

Your in­struc­tor will be us­ing the mir­ror to keep eyes on all her stu­dents so she can help every­body.

Lat­er, you can try us­ing the mir­rors to see whether you are danc­ing the way your teacher is. They are there as a tool, not as a way for stu­dents to judge each oth­er.

Can I get in­jured in bel­ly dance class?

Any­one could be in­jured in any type of phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty class.

So yes, it is pos­si­ble. Bel­ly dance us­es mus­cles that you might not nor­mal­ly use and some of the move­ments may feel rather odd at first...but when you try them, they shouldn't hurt. If you're feel­ing pain in class, let your in­struc­tor know right away and stop what you're do­ing.

They might cor­rect your form or help you mod­i­fy the move­ment. Don't force any­thing and you should be fine.

If you're com­ing in­to class with a pre-ex­ist­ing con­di­tion, though, like bad knees or a back prob­lem, be sure to tell your in­struc­tor be­fore class starts.

What if I'm re­al­ly bad at this?

No­body walks in­to their first class and poof!...be­comes a per­fect bel­ly dancer. Like any dance form, you have to put in the time and ef­fort to im­prove. You might be in a class with stu­dents who have been danc­ing for a few years but who have con­tin­ued to take the be­gin­ner's class. Don't be in­tim­i­dat­ed if "every­body else" seems to know what they are do­ing al­ready! Watch your in­struc­tor and ask ques­tions if you're con­fused. Start out with the goal of en­joy­ing your­self, and re­lax.

By Sabi­ta Sookdeo