ABSTRACT
This chapter explores different degrees to which participants adopt the label of belly dancer and how a variety of indicators marks their level of dedication. The dancers who adopt a belly dance identity consider themselves to be advanced and semi-professional or professional dancers. Belly dance is an activity that people experience along a continuum. The chapter discusses one specific identifier - the use of stage names - that is relevant within some belly dance subcultures. It examines how the creation and adoption of stage names illustrates the processes of role-making and role-taking. Names act as symbols, represent people, and convey meanings about them. When a person self-selects a name, the identifier serves as a mini description by revealing information about a person that she or he wants to share with others. Identification with groups and the adoption of their idiocultures is a matter of degree. People have varying levels of commitment to the groups in which they participate.
