I'm a Menopausal Belly Dancer!

Can't belive it's over week since I last blogged! But it's not surprising as we are only about 10 days until the BD Spectacular and there is still lots of stuff to do beforehand.
Last week I went to see a film a dancer/artist friend of mine had made about the menopause. it was done as part of her arts degreee so was very arty and  creative and used the medium of dance. There was very little spoken words but lots of symbolic movement and dance. The audience also had a short discussion afterwards which was very interesting. It was certainly thought provoking as I am in the middle of the menopause and it struck me that being a belly dancer and teacher brought up all sorts of interesting questons about femininity and fertility and how that affects peoples perception of you and how you feel about yourself as a sexual/sensual being. Belly Dancing is thought to have possibly been born out of Goddess worhsip and fertility rites and certainly there is a tradition in the arabic world of older women passing on the moves to younger women (and girls) as an aid to sex and childbirth. As a performer you get used to being admired  (and desired!) and that's a very nice feeling, so it's curious to contemplate how that might be for me as an older woman. I've heard older ladies and men say that they become invisible to society when they are old, and it's not a very nice experience. And whereas I don't expect all men to fancy me, I wonder how it might feel to no longer be worth a look? Or maybe it's all about your perception of yourself? My friend  (the director of the film) said that her experience made her want to withdraw from everything and other people. Many people see Belly Dance as the ultimate dance of sensuality - and indirectly- fertility, so I wonder how they would percieve me as an older woman, still doing this type of dance? In the Belly Dance world there are quite a few older dancers and generally speaking they are looked on with great respect as they have so much experience and skill, but would the general public agree? I must admit that I have taken inspiration from older women doing this type of dancing ( in fact any form of dance, actually!), so I hope that I can in turn continue to encourage younger women to see that life doesn't just stop when you hit 50!  Food for thought.