Dangers, Dilemnas, Distractions and Advantages, Inspiration, Oceans and Venues

By Jamaica Sinclair | Leader of Troupe Diva

10. People think you are scantily clad, but it takes you over an hour to get dressed. (And people come up to you, in restaurants, banks on the street—anywhere—and say, “Oh my God, is that you Jamaica? I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on!”)

9. Praying to the safety-pin (and twist-tie) goddess before every performance.

8. Fear of falling off the Lovers Point pier at PG’s Feast of Lanterns.

7. Shopping for perfectly good clothes, only to cut them up to make costumes.

6. Absent-mindedly shimmying in “normal” places, like banks and grocery stores.

5. Being stopped by security guards trying to confiscate our swords.

4. Small children (and the occasional big one) who want to touch the “Belly-dance Barbie.”

3. Wardrobe shopping in the Christmas ornament clearance section.

2. Thinking that wearing really garish body glitter all the time is normal.

2a. Glitter transfer. (Somehow during the night all the glitter jumps off of me and gets stuck in my husband’s five o’clock shadow—a look he does not like to explain at 7am on the job site.)

1. People always asking, “Are those real?” (Our swords, silly. What did you think we meant?)