What should I wear for a belly dancing class?

PLEASE give me advice on my first hip hop dance class please?

• I am 13 my first dance class I have a little expierence expirementing with myself I taught myself a belly dancing and the basic dance moves moving hips your junk...and yeah stuff like that, But I have a lot of questions. What do I wear? I was thinking shorts,converse,and a tank....? What do I expect? Are the people there friendly or snobby? How should I wear my hair? Do you stretch before you dance or get right to dancing? My mom signed me up in the city things like such as if they are having swimming classes around the area camps dancing and all that. Tell me your expierences and please answer my curiousity. Im excited but nervous because I dont know if Im expierenced enough or anything. I mean I have a few tricks up my sleeve to dance but im definately not excellent. Please & thank you. :) Also do i have to wear make up? Or go all natural or just eyeliner?

• Answer:

  What you plan on wearing sounds fine, only I'd advise you not to use converse. Converse in general, especially high tops, can hurt your feet and mess up your knees. You want to just use some tennis shoes or comfortable shoes. Same with what other things you wear, they should be comfortable and loose, but not loose enough to get caught on anything. You should be able to move in your clothes. You should expect that you'll be with beginners and not have anything specifically difficult or hard. But, don't be surprised if there are a few elements that challenge you. The people hopefully are friendly, I know in my class they were, but it varies based on the people. Wear your hair up, I always put it in a ponytail, and because I have shorter hair, it works. I know some girls with really long hair put it in a bun. Though, I've also seen some girls dance with their hair down. I wouldn't recommend it, though. Once again, it depends on the class, but generally you do a little bit of stretching, some warm ups/warm up dances, or you start with really basic dancing. With ever class I've been in (In various styles), stretching came first. Make-up, I'd recommend nothing. Usually, when I go, I put on some Mascara and an oil-free moisturizer (Non-tinted). If you decide to put on any, keep it light, make sure it's water-proof, and that it's harder to take off than just a wipe of your hand. I wouldn't recommend it, though. I used to dance for about six years, Irish Dancing with a little bit of jazz and ballet (Not that much, though. I don't claim to know anything), and now I've started up again in Hip Hop. Make sure that when you dance it, you know that this isn't the only style there is. Because there's so many different things you can do within Hip Hop, there's Popping, Breaking, Tutting, Threading, Housing, Waving, Liquiding, and so many styles. Look at some different dancers and figure out what you're interested in. I, personally, like Popping a lot and Waving is something I think is so cool, so I try and learn it myself. Get involved, too, find a club around, or a dance crew and see if you can watch or participate, if you're lucky. One key tip, don't put off any arrogance. You want confidence when dancing so you come off as good, but you don't want arrogance. When getting people to help you, don't claim you're good, be humble. Remember, this is learning. As you get better, then you can start putting off some ego, but really, don't, be nice and humble, and chances are you'll get pretty good and make some good friends. Good Luck, ---Linzz.