Every belly dancing instructor I've seen is overweight.

Options
1246

Replies

  • shimmygirl411
    shimmygirl411 Posts: 100 Member
    Options
    Sooo... where are you seeing all these overweight instructors? Are you taking classes? Workshops? Anything?

    In any event, I don't see that it matters. I have met very overweight dancers who can move like nobody's business, and I have seen extremely thin dancers who can't dance to a simple beat. I have also seen the reverse. Belly dance is for all shapes, sizes, races, ages, etc. None of these factors have any bearing on a dancer's skill, stage presence, or grace.

    Yes, you use a lot of different and deep muscles performing the various moves, but dancing alone is most likely not going to make you thin. Moreover, most of the instructors I have met have a day job as well and just teach in their off time.

    I think what you have said is a broad generalization and is simply inaccurate and pointless. Go take some classes and get back to me.

    THIS ^^
  • NoeHead
    NoeHead Posts: 516 Member
    Options
    I'm ok with a belly dancer that is overweight. They can still make the dance look sexy.

    :heart:

    I also saw women of all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, etc. doing *amazing* things and absolutely owning the stage. It's harder than it looks.

    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: I'm not any of these people that can make the dance look sexy or anything...but it's just a nice thing to read..and maybe give me hope LOL
  • VeganLexi
    VeganLexi Posts: 960 Member
    Options
    Let's see your belly dance OP.....
  • LilithNoor
    LilithNoor Posts: 42
    Options
    What a strange thing to say. Has the OP actually met any belly dance teachers, or are they extrapolating from a sample group extracted from somewhere the sun is not renowned for shining?

    My teacher Dawn is the fittest woman I know. She drills like a demon, and is a contortionist as well as a dancer. In fact, of all the teachers I've learnt from (Kajira Djoumanha, Lorna of Cairo, Alexis Southall, Raheesha, Akasha, Fulya, Shafeek, Ozgen, Sayuri, Gwen Booth, Hilde Cannoodt... I could go on) are incredibly fit and healthy people.
  • ThorneDust
    ThorneDust Posts: 189 Member
    Options
    Sooo... where are you seeing all these overweight instructors? Are you taking classes? Workshops? Anything?

    In any event, I don't see that it matters. I have met very overweight dancers who can move like nobody's business, and I have seen extremely thin dancers who can't dance to a simple beat. I have also seen the reverse. Belly dance is for all shapes, sizes, races, ages, etc. None of these factors have any bearing on a dancer's skill, stage presence, or grace.

    Yes, you use a lot of different and deep muscles performing the various moves, but dancing alone is most likely not going to make you thin. Moreover, most of the instructors I have met have a day job as well and just teach in their off time.

    I think what you have said is a broad generalization and is simply inaccurate and pointless. Go take some classes and get back to me.

    :heart: :heart: :heart:
    Also, if anything were said about anybody's body in front of one of my teachers, there would be a beatdown. There's a reason we call them the bellydance mafia. LOL
  • smiley245
    smiley245 Posts: 420 Member
    Options
    Sooo... where are you seeing all these overweight instructors? Are you taking classes? Workshops? Anything?

    In any event, I don't see that it matters. I have met very overweight dancers who can move like nobody's business, and I have seen extremely thin dancers who can't dance to a simple beat. I have also seen the reverse. Belly dance is for all shapes, sizes, races, ages, etc. None of these factors have any bearing on a dancer's skill, stage presence, or grace.

    Yes, you use a lot of different and deep muscles performing the various moves, but dancing alone is most likely not going to make you thin. Moreover, most of the instructors I have met have a day job as well and just teach in their off time.

    I think what you have said is a broad generalization and is simply inaccurate and pointless. Go take some classes and get back to me.

    ^^ This seriously.
  • NKF92879
    NKF92879 Posts: 601 Member
    Options
    Just an observation.

    Seriously, this seems to defy odds. If they were a sample of average population, at least 1/3 of them would be normal weight.
    And, it is an active job, and they work out all the time, yet, wow!

    Or have your experience been different?


    One of my best friends teaches belly dancing. She is by no means overweight.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Options
    Every belly dancer I've ever seen is ****in' HOT!

    April_-(111).jpg



    :noway: :sick: :noway:

    Now that's HAWT!

    Poor guy why didnt his surgeons use a laproscope when removing his gallbladder
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Options
    Sooo... where are you seeing all these overweight instructors? Are you taking classes? Workshops? Anything?

    I took ballet and jazz for many years and have taken a few belly dancing courses. Plus, there's a belly dancing school here and the instructors and students perform at pretty much every local event, so I do see all kinds of dancers a lot.

    Some are in great shape. Many are very overweight. Some of the very overweight ones are extremely talented dancers. I just don't understand how you can be moving that much and get to that size. It seems to defy the laws of physics.
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
    Options
    It may be true that there are more large women in belly dancing than a lot of other dance or fitness fields. It's because, as stated before, part of belly dancing is that every body is acceptable. it's a place where the larger women feel like it's okay to be where they are right now (no, not specifically encouraging them to stay there, just not shaming them for it). It's a safe place to learn something and be physically active.

    It certainly is a lot better than a lot of women's athletic/dance fields that seem to encourage being underweight. I mean, we've all heard the stories of weigh-ins and public shaming in ballet and gymnastics, right? (Not that all coaches and trainers do, the majority don't, and the stories I've heard are at least a decade old, but it has happened).

    And I'm certainly not saying most bellydancers are overweight, let along most instructors. I've seen all sizes do some absolutely amazing things!
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    Options
    <pretend this is a kitteh gif>

    <pretends to die of cuteness overload>
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
    Options
    Sooo... where are you seeing all these overweight instructors? Are you taking classes? Workshops? Anything?

    I took ballet and jazz for many years and have taken a few belly dancing courses. Plus, there's a belly dancing school here and the instructors and students perform at pretty much every local event, so I do see all kinds of dancers a lot.

    Some are in great shape. Many are very overweight. Some of the very overweight ones are extremely talented dancers. I just don't understand how you can be moving that much and get to that size. It seems to defy the laws of physics.

    Remember, eat more than you burn, you gain weight. Doesn't matter how active you are.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Options
    Sooo... where are you seeing all these overweight instructors? Are you taking classes? Workshops? Anything?

    I took ballet and jazz for many years and have taken a few belly dancing courses. Plus, there's a belly dancing school here and the instructors and students perform at pretty much every local event, so I do see all kinds of dancers a lot.

    Some are in great shape. Many are very overweight. Some of the very overweight ones are extremely talented dancers. I just don't understand how you can be moving that much and get to that size. It seems to defy the laws of physics.

    Remember, eat more than you burn, you gain weight. Doesn't matter how active you are.
    I know. I do get that. It's just that that kind of activity burns a LOT of calories!
  • ThorneDust
    ThorneDust Posts: 189 Member
    Options
    Sooo... where are you seeing all these overweight instructors? Are you taking classes? Workshops? Anything?

    I took ballet and jazz for many years and have taken a few belly dancing courses. Plus, there's a belly dancing school here and the instructors and students perform at pretty much every local event, so I do see all kinds of dancers a lot.

    Some are in great shape. Many are very overweight. Some of the very overweight ones are extremely talented dancers. I just don't understand how you can be moving that much and get to that size. It seems to defy the laws of physics.

    Remember, eat more than you burn, you gain weight. Doesn't matter how active you are.
    I know. I do get that. It's just that that kind of activity burns a LOT of calories!

    I know a lot of people who do extremely active things and are still overweight. There are lots of explanations that do not defy the laws of physics.

    1) They just started their new fitness lifestyle and are in the process of changing (me).
    2) They have a medical condition or are taking medication that makes it extremely difficult to lose weight regardless of what they do so they change very slowly or not at all (also slightly me).
    3) They eat at a caloric level that maintains their body mass despite their energy expenditure and do not care to change that but still enjoy being active.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Options
    1) They just started their new fitness lifestyle and are in the process of changing (me).

    The level of dance ability these women are at is pretty much proof they did NOT just start dancing.

    I'm not criticizing. I just find it interesting.
  • Jennisin1
    Jennisin1 Posts: 574 Member
    Options
    According to my local instructor.. the women who traditionally belly danced were encouraged to be thick.. as in their societies poverty and hunger were a real thing and chub was attractive as it was a sign of health, vigor, and fertility (which is sexually pleasing).
  • SkinnyFatAlbert
    SkinnyFatAlbert Posts: 482 Member
    Options
    731127d1339148391-new-member-sharing-collection-extremely-affordable-watches-363-bruce-willis-cool-story-bro-image.png
  • ClementineGeorg
    ClementineGeorg Posts: 505 Member
    Options
    Belly dancing.
    Not 6 pack dancing.

    Arabic women who belly dance, traditionally, have a big belly because the point is to have something moving besides your hips. Not necessary obese/overweight. But with big hips and a little belly sticking out.
    Like most traditional environments, women with belly are considered more beautiful, as they, like Jennisin said, portrait fertility, health and wealth.

    Western countries mostly portrait belly dancers which are almost Victoria Secret models. Most times belly dancing is associated with sexuality and western people mostly don't see anything sexual appealing in overweight women.
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
    Options
    According to my local instructor.. the women who traditionally belly danced were encouraged to be thick.. as in their societies poverty and hunger were a real thing and chub was attractive as it was a sign of health, vigor, and fertility (which is sexually pleasing).

    Although that is true, "thick" back then is today's "fit". Having some softness there, enough to not show abs I'd expect. I think that that whole idea you write above encourages fatter ladies typically to try belly dancing and promote it with the "you are supposed to be chubby for this" idea. All the fatter ones I've seen are not really long time/full time belly dancers, they "got into it" somehow relatively recently as a hobby. Of course I've not taken a survey or anything, but I happen to know some ladies who lived where belly dancing is not exotic, but traditional, and they were also surprised about the size of the average belly dancers here when going to see a belly dancer show. The larger/more professional show though, those ladies are not fat, but not "cut" either.
  • SofaKingRad_II
    SofaKingRad_II Posts: 591
    Options
    Every girl on MFP is clueless about her period.

Categories