(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)
I was at Atlanta’s annual Dragon*Con in 2011, waiting in a very long line with about two thousand fans to see a viewing of the latest Doctor Who episode, which had not yet been shown in the U.S. Dragon*Con has an estimated 40-50 thousand people who attend for the Labor Day weekend. For about an hour we waited as fans came walking past, dressed in various Science Fiction and Fantasy-based costumes. Some of these costumes are very elaborate, and always in good fun.
I befriended the people I was standing next to; there were a few Amy Ponds, a Princess Leia, various incarnations of The Doctor, and a pretty woman in a belly dancer outfit. The belly dancer turned out the be a real belly dance teacher, named Lisa, with a very interesting and memorable story of how she started dancing and teaching. The line finally went in and we all went our separate ways inside the theater.
Poster of Lisa, the Belly Dancer
Two days later, we were visiting Asheville, NC, and walking through the charming downtown area. In the window of a store, I saw a poster for belly dance lessons. The teacher? The same woman I had met in line in Atlanta, 160 miles away, in a crowd of thousands.
[EDITOR: Pssh, wearing your work uniform as a costume is SO cheating. Reminds me of the time I auditioned for the role of a Blockbuster (remember those?) employee for an episode of Entourage. When I arrived it turned out to be what we call a cattle call (TONS of actors for one role), and several of them arrived in their ACTUAL Blockbuster uniforms. But the joke was on them in the end. – Jarrett]
