Anonymous wrote:Thank you. That looks promising.

You're welcome! I highly recommended beginner's classes with Rachel. She was a really good teacher.

If you get a chance, take the Dabke workshop with Karim Nagi. I just checked the schedule and he's doing an April weekend workshop. I had soooo much fun doing it a couple of years back. It's a traditional line dance and is often done at Arabic weddings. It's also quite a workout!

I took belly dance at JOM for a year, and it was fine. But I really loved the Sahara Dance classes--I took them at MYB in Silver Spring. The Sahara classes were more focused on proper technique and the actual steps and rhythms; I learned routines at JOM, but didn't really feel like I could improvise or do anything beyond the routine the way I could with Sahara. I did classes at Sahara for three years.

I will say that I had a lot of fun and felt "successful" at both places. I'm a person who's taken 9 years of ballet and 4 years of jazz, and never felt like a dancer. Belly Dance was AWESOME. It wasnt easy, but it felt natural.

Thank you. That looks promising.

I love Sahara dance in Tenley. The beginners classes are great and are a mixture of ages and the more intermediate and advanced classes are quite challenging and fun. They also do really awesome weekend workshops.

I've been thinking about taking belly dancing classes as an addition to my fitness routine and because it seems like it would be a lot of fun. I've never taken any dance classes. I'm in my early 40s, reasonably fit. I found introductory classes at Joy of Motion. Do any of you have experience with those classes, or can suggest other places that offer such classes that would be a good fit for someone like me.