Everyone has to start somewhere. That’s part of Laura Chan’s mantra as owner and main instructor at the Hip and Heart Movement Studio.

It was on a friend’s recommendation post-graduation and in the midst of switching jobs that she discovered belly dance. With her studio introducing a new Monday night beginner tribal belly dance class, Chan clearly remembers the moves that gave her the most trouble when she first began.

“For this step called shimmy the emphasis is on your hips shaking while you’re walking,” describes Chan, “and my hand would shimmy, too. With isolations, you’re not supposed to do that, but I was so nervous that it had to come out somewhere, so it came out of my hand. But, you have to start somewhere, and it’s never too late to start.”

After many years of practice and diligence as a student, Chan became dance partners with the previous studio owner of Hip and Heart, joined the performing troupe, and taught a few classes of her own. When the owner suddenly moved to Alaska, Chan took over the operation and dedicated herself to belly dance in her brand new roles.

“I’m the owner, main instructor, and director of these troupes and it’s interesting because 10 years ago I never would have thought I’d be doing this,” says Chan. “It just happened to be a right time, right place, right people moment.”

Dance was always incorporated as a part of Chan’s life, whether it was a tap, jazz, or ballet class. While earning her degrees in political science and English at Florida State University, she became interested in social dance but finds serendipity in sharing this interest with her mother, who was a belly dancer and majorette.

Chan’s dance group travels throughout Tallahassee and north Florida, performing everywhere from conventions to birthdays to retirement parties. The style in which Chan specializes is called “tribal,” however she explains that it is not connected to any specific ethnic group.

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