Panama City Belly Dance has
morphed over the years in Panama City. The classes were started off in the
early 1990's by local dance instructors and experts. Over time, teachers
who wished to retire passed on the classes to selected students. Much like
a mother teaching her daughter to dance, who in turn taught it to her own
daughter, the classes have changed in name and style over the years, but not
in spirit. Some of the original teachers and students still remain in
Panama City and still occasionally attend events and even guest teach from
time to time.
When our former director,
Eru, decided to move with her family to Ohio, she asked me (Kira) to take
over the classes. After much discussion, I decided to take on classes, but
only with the assistance and guidance of Brittany and Jenny. The three of
us have tried to mold the classes into a comfortable, informal setting in
which dancing is fun, not intimidating. Although some of the former
directors did this as their sole source of income, the three of us already
had full time jobs. The class fees that are paid each week go towards our
large yearly event in May, a smaller student event later in the year and
other class incidentals. No part of the money goes to compensate any of
your directors. We are a 'not for profit' organization, with the three us
acting as your loyal volunteers!
As class directors, we do not
pretend to know everything there is to know about bellydance. There are
other instructors in town, and we encourage you to frequent their classes as
well. If you would like information on them, please let me know and I will
be happy to give the information. We attend as many workshops as possible
to further our knowledge, to hopefully, pass on to you! In addition, each
one of us have varying strengths, passions and styles that are unique to
ourselves. One week Jenny may teach veil work, another week Brittany may
demonstrate a more cabaret style of dance, another week we might even play
with some snake dancing with me!
If you ever have a specific
interest in something, please let us know. If we do not know about it, we
will try our best to help you learn more about it through an outside source!
