(no subject)

[listersgirl]

So, I've been very on-and-off with the bellydance over the last few years. I stopped for a while because I was starting to feel angry with myself for not getting any better and I wasn't enjoying it anymore. A good reason to stop, right? But then I missed it, and there is a studio not too far from my place with a teacher I enjoy, so I started again. Which was fun. Except that I couldn't move up to the next level, because of when the class was, and the teacher told me that frankly I'd be bored if I stayed in the level I was. So I did nothing for a long time. Eventually I signed up for another class, which was great, except I had to drop out halfway through because I couldn't make any of the last 4 classes.

And now I'm too embarrassed to go back. Because I know how irritating students like me are! And I never used to be that person. So I'm thinking about finding another studio somewhere, which is totally silly, but seriously, I kind of feel like an idiot.

There is no point to this story, really. Except that I read something about bellydance this morning and immediately felt the shame. :D

Comments

[bruiseblue.livejournal.com]

I quit bellydancing because I am not that coordinated, and because every group or class here makes you perform after the basic intro class, and I took that one twice and it got boring.

Plus I couldn't see investing in costumes etc, as I don't sew.

But it was great fun, while it lasted, and I still use what I learned.

I've taken intro classes at least 6 times in my life so far, but I have no desire to actually perform.

[listersgirl]

I enjoyed the performing as a class, but yeah, I have no interest in becoming a professional bellydancer or anything. I would like to manage to take more classes, though!

[sh1mm3r.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you could approach it like they were the ones who were in the wrong - like call and say "I was calling to see if you had any classes on the next level that worked for my scheduled YET." Hee hee.

[listersgirl]

Bwa! I sort of tried that the first time, and instead she tried to convince me to jump up two levels just because the class was on Sundays. I don't think so!

[anglaisepaon.livejournal.com]

I don't think finding another studio is a silly idea. If they didn't get you ready to advance, and couldn't find a spot for you, maybe another studio would do a better job? If nothing else, you could start at a level you're comfortable with and see how it goes - no pressure.

[listersgirl]

Mostly I feel silly about finding another studio because this one is so close! But yeah, maybe one where I have a fresh start isn't a bad idea. :)

[mystery-diva.livejournal.com]

I think most studios of any kind that teach grown ups (us?) understand that things get in the way. If you like it there, I don't think you need to feel like an idiot. Hey man...I'm about to go and possibly make a fool of myself playing basketball....go forth and be the idiot belly dancer :)

[listersgirl]

I'm so excited about your basketball!

Really, I should just take some sort of drop-in class that doesn't require me to be there every week. Except then I usually stop being there any week. :)

[tinkerer.livejournal.com]

Maybe climbing will fill the void left by the lack of belly-dancing... ;)

See you today, right?

[listersgirl]

Hee! I'll have to be careful not to make an idiot of myself there, too. :)

Definitely!

[eanja]

Hee. I am so completely like this. I would go to class, and then get busy and not show up for a month, and then go back. And then last summer I didn't go because the teacher consolidated classes in the next town over (not enough people for two classes w/ vacations, and our class was on the third floor w/ no AC), and I just never went back. I still want to, at some point, but who knows when that will be. I want to get back to yoga classes as well.

I think I'm lucky in having a teacher who's pretty flexible, and doesn't push anyone to perform who doesn't want to. Possibly it's because the classes are so small, out here in the suburbs, that if she wasn't flexible about who attends when, and people going at their own pace, she'd have no class at all. There's only a beginner and intermediate level anyway, and they get sort of jumbled based on people schedules. Plus she'd pretty much have to get everyone from both classes to show up to do any kind of group show, and that just wouldn't happen.

[listersgirl]

I should really just take the drop-in classes, but I'm much more likely to go if it's pre-reg. At this point, though, even going once in a while would be better than nothing!

[eanja]

Since round here it's just the one teacher, tacked onto a local yoga studio, she doesn't differentiate between regular and drop in the way the other classes do- it's cheaper if you pay for a batch of classes at once, but she justs ticks them off as and when you show up. It's convenient, but I agree that it's much easier to skip if you know you aren't losing a class by doing it.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Don't feel bad about having had to drop out. People have lives! Can you contact the teacher you like, and maybe ask when the classes are, now, and whether she has any suggestions? It sounds like you were making progress with her, and she obviously recognised that, from her comment about you getting bored in the class you were in.

I hope you can go back to classes somewhere. I envy you being able to do it - I'm rubbish. But I know how much bellydance (tribal, mostly) means to some of my friends here, and I hope that you can have that, too.

[listersgirl]

I will find a way to go back, I'm sure. I just need to get over myself. :D