by Tiffany H.
After a year away from belly dancing, I went on a quest to find a studio. Hip Expressions looked really promising, so I decided to stop in during their off-hours to talk to someone to make sure it was a good fit with me. Even though I have taken a bunch of classes before, I decided to start back at level 1 because I felt rusty. I have (in the last 2 weeks) tried all the instructors for level one, and went at different times of the day. It feels like the Monday night and Thursday early evening were busier than Sunday at noon. I get distracted when there are more people in a class, so I think I'll stick to Sundays and Thursday night (it was still less full than Monday night). Each one of them has a bit of a different style of teaching; some are more hands on than others and some of them have focus more on specific moves (Karen and Johanna both drilled figure 8s and amis until I thought my legs were going to fall out from under me!).There is no average age or shape here, so it's easy to feel comfortable, and the ladies working here always encourage a positive environment. Make sure you wear a fitted top and pants/capris because there's bending over with the warm-ups and no one wants to get flashed if you wear short shorts. Every now and then everyone will mess up on something or an interesting visual to help you figure out how to do a move will pop and you can't help but laugh. Classes range from belly dance (levels 1, 2, 3 and tribal), prop classes (fans, swords, etc.), choreography, hoop dance (levels 1 and 2), jazz, and drumming. There are also special ones that come up kind of as a "special" - this month features Polynesian dance on Sundays and there were single days in the past for things like costume construction. I would say it's pretty well-rounded. You can even schedule private lessons if you need a lot of help on specific things or if you're really shy.Group classes cost $15 for a drop in or you can buy a 4 class card for $50 or an 8 class card for $80. There's also an annual registration fee ($15 for new people, $10 if you're renewing) but it comes with a CD of music to practice with.If you're not sure if it's for you, they have a free intro type class on Fridays. Be sure to get there early because I heard the freebie one gets packed so they have to limit the number of attendees as per fire marshal regulations. Aaaand if you're looking for performances, a couple of the instructors perform just a bit before sunset with live music courtesy of the sunset hookah lounge band on Saturdays at Upham beach park in St. Pete Beach. It's free, but donations are encouraged. It also gives you the opportunity to talk to the ladies about signing up for classes.
