This was also when I first started making my own costumes, above you see my very first.  There were no real venders then, at least not like we know it today.  I bought that fancy belt (made for a lot smaller person than me) and my first set of zills at an oriental rug store.  They were horrible.  I bought my second set at a "head shop" in San Francisco.  They weren't much better, so I only played zills when I had to.  These were also the days of learning where ever you could, like from books or watching other dancers at festivals or in nightclubs.  It was LPs when you could find them (they were anything but compact) and live music.   And if you could sew, you wound up making costumes for your fellow students too.  This is how I could afford more costumes.
    I also arranged my first show back then.  You see, I was a Reserve Police Officer with South San Francisco Police Department and they were throwing their annual ball.  So as part of the entertainment committee, I arranged for my teacher and her troupe to perform.  They were a major hit!  Half the women there signed up for lessons.  My date was not pleased about my dancing or my arranging of the show -- so I dumped him.
    I performed at parties, but never went after a real career in dance -- you couldn't really make a living at it.  And of course, I was working under Federal Grant as a cop and studying for a career in Law Enforcement.  Then I met this guy and the next thing I knew, I was working construction in Sonoma County with him.  Then I was managing a motel in Blytheville, Arkansas.  Then I was working in a casino in Reno.  This guy, Bill, and I were wondering around the country trying to find "our" place in the world.

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    Well that was 30 years ago ..... I found my "place" in the world, Reno, Nevada.  I'm still with Bill and we have been married for nearly that long.  I always danced, but mostly for myself and my family (my step sons understand Belly Dance), until one day about twelve years ago.  I was working as a Dealer (21, Roulette, and Baccarat) when I met Chris and we buddied up, because we were both Trekies, and Davine who just happened to Belly Dance in her off hours.  Bill and I went to see Davine dance and she pulled me up to dance with her.  I had a blast!!  10 compliments on my dancing from audience members later, I was off and running again.  Bill braced himself for what he knew would be an onslaught of beads, sequins, rhinestones, and fabric.  But he never wavered, he supported me all the way.  Ever since he bragged to a bunch of his fellow construction workers thirty years before, that he didn't have to stay to see the belly dancer they had hired, "he lived with one", he has been my biggest supporter.

    Now I have realized the dream I dismissed 30 years ago, I am making my living from Belly Dance.  I am a professional costumer and costume designer.  I am also an author of several books, with more on the way.  I teach workshops on costuming and business as it pertains to the dance world.  And I am one of the Two Old Bags that sponsor Wiggles of the West Contest.

 

 

I'm no spring chicken and I don't have the figure I used to have, but I couldn't be happier.  I have found my 'nitch'.  I have a fabulous husband, two step sons, one great daughter-in-law, and 3 grandchildren.  I have friends all over the world!!  And I am making a living doing what I love.  Life is good.