Bellydancing class ages?

Question:I've been looking for a place to take bellydancing lessons in the San Jose, CA area, and have found quite a few. The only problem is, all the places I've seen seemed to be made up of older women (I'm a teenager). Does anyone know of a place around where all ages are welcome, or perhaps there is a place that offers inexpensive private lessons? Thanks!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I've been looking for a place to take bellydancing lessons in the San Jose, CA area, and have found quite a few. The only problem is, all the places I've seen seemed to be made up of older women (I'm a teenager). Does anyone know of a place around where all ages are welcome, or perhaps there is a place that offers inexpensive private lessons? Thanks!

The wide array of ages in bellydance students is one of the great things about this dance. Unlike ballet a dancer does not hit a peak age for performance. It's a dance that appeals and benefits women of all ages, sizes, and shapes. Embrace this part of bellydance. If the problem is you feel like you don't have anyone to relate to try getting a friend to do classes with you. It's often difficult to find teen only bellydance classes but almost every teacher allows teens in their class. I would worry more about whether you like the teacher and if it is a convienient location for you. You happen to be pretty lucky in your ability to be able to choose from quite a selection of classes and teachers. I was 15 when I started doing bellydance and I was usually the only teen in the class but that never really bothered me. Besides you get the benefit of everyone else marveling at your skills because your able to pick it up quicker. The closest teen classes that I know of specifically are offered by Hanna Romanza in Berkeley (http://www.hannahdance.com/classes.htm). Being as I'm not in CA though I have only a limited knowledge of class offerings.

Check out the Belly Dancing Twins DVD's. You can start taking your own classes at homw. You might even check your local library to see what kind of DVD or videotapes they might have and then teach yourself.

I'm not in San Jose, but the belly dancing classes here are also mostly mom-age women--but they'd welcome a young student. If what you want is to learn to belly dance, take a class at any place that's convenient for you without worrying about who the other students are. Or see if a friend would also like to take a class, and go together, maybe splitting up transportation by ride-sharing.

That's good, I think you should check your local telephone phone book for studios near you. :)
Then check out their websites. :)

Even if the women there are older, do it! You'll enjoy bellydancing, and people are there for the same reason: to learn to dance. If you are looking for a place to socialize, obviously that won't be it, but if you want to learn to dance, older women won't bite. Go for it!