Member-only story
Is Belly Dance Stripping?
In other words, do you belly dance to entice men?
I remember my first paid gig very well. I was 25 and my dance partner, Layla, was 28. We’d been hired to dance for a Christmas party at a meeting room in a local motel.
We had just started our new BellyGram business and were excited to make money doing what we loved.
I arrived first and went into the bathroom to check my make-up. As I stood at the sink, in front of the mirror, a woman came out of a stall and said, “You’re here!”
Her face was lit up with excitement and I was thrilled to be the source of her excitement until….
As she exited the room I heard her yell out, “The strippers are here!”
At first, I was mortified that she thought I was a stripper. Then I thought they were going to be disappointed if they were expecting strippers and got belly dancers.
I took a deep breath and tried to shake off my explosion of nerves and stepped out into the lobby where I met Layla coming in the front door carrying our boom box.
I told her about the woman and she just laughed and said, “They’re in for a surprise! And, they’re going to love us!”
Her confidence helped me feel better as we made our entrance. We each did a solo, then a duet and sure enough, they…