Asata Iman, bellydance diva, promises to Unleash The Diva In You in classes offered in Albany and Richmond. See OPEN EXCHANGE's Dance & Movement category.

In February 2004 I turned 50. Wow! Or is it damn. Okay, so it's not that old. I don't qualify for a senior pass yet, but it's a major accomplishment. Everyone says you should celebrate in a big way but how? Hmmm. Do I take a cruise? Do I travel to a foreign country? Do I drive up to Calistoga and get a mud bath and massage? What about a night out on the town? An expensive lobster dinner? They all sound good to me but not quite it. I was stuck.

THE COMFORT ZONE
A lot goes into dealing with and becoming comfortable with yourself at this stage of your life. Things really do begin to change physically. What's important to me has changed. Some of the change is really superficial. For example, after years of growing dreadlocks one day I just cut them off. Snip. Snip. And, I stopped using color to cover the gray. There's too much of it anyway. Sometime I perform, "au natural" but I admit, I still wrestle with the image so I brought some fun wigs to perform in as I make this transition. One is blue fluorescent.

WHY NOT?
Along with my belly dance performances and teaching schedule I added ballet class. Ballet at 50? I studied ballet when I was about 12 for a year. Even got up on those silly pointe shoes. But, my parents couldn't afford the classes and there wasn't much encouragement for little black girls in the 50s to think about becoming ballerinas. And did you know most belly dance stars in those classical Egyptian movies from the 40's & 50's took ballet classes from Russian ballet instructors. So yes, ballet classes at 50 and I'm loving it! And check it out, my teacher's in her 60's!

SENIOR DANCE CIRCUIT
I hooked up with a traveling group of senior musicians and dancers who entertain at convalescent homes around the Bay. Now that's an audience more entertainers need to look at. You won't make much money but you can't dance for a more appreciative group. I have never felt my dancing was enjoyed as much. It's a wake-up call to get a first hand understanding of how we treat our elders and people recovering from serious illnesses. At one show an 80-year-old veteran Vegas-style dancer rocked the house on a pair of 6" stiletto heels, okay!

A NEW ATTITUDE
Getting older means you think about death and how much you'd like to do before you go. I've noticed a change in my approach to my dancing, my learning and my teaching. I'm more interested in understanding what it takes to execute a particular dance move and what line in space it creates, not just do it. I'm gravitating toward more introspective and emotionally moving music. I long to weave in the years of doing sound design for radio into my performances. I'm looking at the affect visuals leave on an audience. I can spin and spin and spin to a particularly moving piece of music and not feel dizzy. I've slowed down. I feel parts of my body I didn't feel before. I'm refining my own identity as a dancer.

I enjoy teaching smaller groups or even private sessions with younger students searching for ways to connect to their bodies and older women whose bodies are beginning to break down. I want my troupe to feel the music more and interact more with the audience to become more experimental. I'm enjoying the fruits of my labor!