Nicole Peeler

Belly Dancing is BACK!

So, I’m back to belly dancing, and it’s awesome. I’m havingร‚ย  a great time in the classes, and I’m so happy to be dancing again. That said, the place I’m taking lessons here in Pittsburgh is very different from the place I studied in Louisiana.

The studio in Louisiana, Lotus Studios, is awesome, and it’s definitely got a distinct vibe. It’s all tribal dance, and yoga, and drum circles. You walk in and you want to paint yourself in mud and dedicate yourself to the Earth Mother.

When you walk into my new studio in Pittsburgh?ร‚ย  You’re greeted by stripper poles.

This studio specializes in pole dancing and “floor dancing,” something I conjectured was “sexy rolling,” but has been suggested to me is lap dancing. The walls are covered in boas and corsets, and there’s a massive display of perspex stripper heels when you walk in the door. It’s hilarious.

The teacher is great, and she has nothing to do with the stripper poles. We ignore them for our classes.

And yet they call to me.

I keep grabbing hold of the poles, and swinging around . . . I imagine myself, swinging again and again, before I suddenly bust out in a full on stripper routine. In my mind, it goes something like this…………

In reality, however, my dancing probably looks a little more like this . . .

But who cares, because I’m having more fun than should be allowed. I’m also doing a great job sticking to my 2011 goals. On Wednesdays, I’ve started doing Zumba with a colleague, and I love it! I’m also bringing my gym clothes to work and walking every Tuesday and Thursday, plus at my gym on Saturday. In a few weeks I hope to amp that walk up and redo the Couch to 5K. Finally, on Fridays I’m doing yoga at a studio here in Greensburg. Which means that Saturday and Sunday I complain bitterly and to all who will listen about how I fucking hate yoga, I’m now a walking sack of lactic acid, and I want to die.

I’ll know I’ve gotten fitter when I don’t think longingly of a bullet to the brain 45 minutes into yoga. For whatever reason, it kills me more than anything else.

But it’s good for me! And to cap off my current “good for me” thrust, I’ve also joined Lose It, which is a great web site (with iPhone app) that tracks calories, etc. You can find me under my name, Nicole Peeler, if you want to add me as a friend.

So February is off to an awesomely healthy start, especially if we ignore the lashings of foie gras that ushered in January.

When I do get back to fighting trim, who knows . . . I might just give one of those poles a real shot.

Probably breaking my neck. ๐Ÿ™‚

Posted by Nicole Peeler

Author, Professor, Lover, Fighter

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21 thoughts on “Belly Dancing is BACK!”

  1. You… crack… me…. UP! I have a good friend here in da'Burgh who pole dances. She's even been in a competition. She's hawt and sexy and runs marathons, too. Remember Jamie Lee Curtis' pole dance in True Lies? Yeah, more my style. Have fun chica!!

  7. @NicolePeeler My instructor would DIE if she saw that!! Her favorite rule "Belly dancers are NOT strippers!!"

  10. @NicolePeeler I don't blame you, I would have already taken a running leap at it, to see if I could spin like in the movies ๐Ÿ™‚

  18. Yay goals! I'm a bit timid on stripper poles being exercise…all I think about it all the fail videos of it on youtube…and I just know that's where I would end up! My goals this year are learn to knit/crochet, read more, and write more! Going good so far!

  20. Nikki: I am terrified of the polez!!! Terrified!

    Kate: I totally hear ya on the falling off thing! I picture all sorts of crashes. And those sound like fab goals!

    Mel: It took some practice, but eventually the heels became like a part of me. As did the pole. *flexes*

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