At the time the belly dancing exhibition began, I didn't know that I'd have the chance to talk with them, dance on stage with them, and pose for group photos. For that reason, I took some candid shots of them waiting to go on stage, as well as shots of them performing.
All of them were kind enough to pose at my request. I'm including those photos in this group. The photo of all of us posing together, seen in an earlier post, was taken by one of their assistants.
Back to part one: "Taiwanese Belly Dancers" (link)
Back to part two: "I Take a Belly Dancing Lesson (link)
As I mentioned in the previous post, the belly dancers asked the audience if anyone would like to try belly dancing. I was the only taker.
This is a step in the direction of new tourism, as opposed to mass tourism (old tourism). In old tourism, you go somewhere, see something, take pictures, buy souvenirs, and go home. In new tourism, you actually get involved with the people, the culture, and whatever else is the object of your visit. I don't know if you could call my impromptu belly dancing lesson actual involvement, but it was at least participation. It involved stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something more involved than just watching and taking pictures.
Below are the photos:
Back to part one: "Taiwanese Belly Dancers" (link)
Forward to part three: "Taiwanese Belly Dancers: Random Photos" (link)
During the fall of 2011, while biking to Danshui, I saw a belly dancing exhibition. I came, I saw, I photographed and made video recordings. Toward the end of their performance, their leader, Lucy Chen (above left), asked if anyone in the audience wanted a free belly dancing lesson, or words to that effect. I was the only taker.
The ladies were very helpful and friendly. They even had someone used my camera to take pictures of my belly dancing lesson. At the end of the performance, we all posed for a group photo.
Check out the video below:
To watch it on YouTube, click here: (video) 
For further information on their troupe, you may want to check out Lucy's Belly Dance Blog, at http://lucybd.xxking.com To read it, you can select English or Chinese.
In part two of this series of articles, I take a belly dancing lesson. (link)
Part three of the series features candid photos of the dancers waiting to go on, and posed photos. (link)
