I sense, both with regret and anticipation, that my eight month hiatus from work is coming to an end. I'm rushing to get my costumes worked out for the bellydance school recital on September 17th. Here I am in the Khaleegy dress (oh my - what to wear underneath, probably harem pants and a choli). As illustrated, it is a matter of delicateness grace and skill to dance with these dresses to full advantage, swishing and tsking, sweeping hair and arms, and enticing mothers with sons to notice your full hips, glowing skin and sweet (ahem) smiles, without tripping, ripping or getting lost in it (as illustrated). I'm in two other dances, one where you have to wear a peasant skirt, tight tank (for full display of beginner undulations and belly pops) with a coin scarf and all the bling you can manage. The third dance is the most challenging. It's from the beginner 2 class, has the most complicated choreography for me (involving dropping to bent knees a couple of times and undulating back up), all while wearing a modern Egyptian cabaret get-up. Now, belly-exposer I'm not. Sort of a contradiction in terms I guess to call myself a "belly" dancer. Don't worry, the belly is undulating and moving under the sweat shirt at all times.... just nobody can see it. But now it's time to put it out there. I went in search of materials to sew my costume, and several hundred dollars later I have enough for 10 costumes! Plenty of space to make mistakes in design and execution, but limited time to get it right. The idea is a fully-beaded red/black cabaret bra, meshing for the belly, and a tight narrow lycra skirt. Ta-da, modern egyptian cabaret dancer. What did I get myself into? Usually I don't put much preparation into anything. I just jump and go. As I've gotten older, i've observed that my nerves get jangled much more when I'm rushed, whether it's a dinner party, interview with an employee, or travelling. Everything is so much more enjoyable when I've carved out the space to enjoy it, and eliminate pesky details like "WHAT TO WEAR!!!?!?!??!?"