Genesis

Hey there! 

So, I wanted to start posting regularly in the attempt to keep in contact with everyone and let everyone know how things are going and what’s coming up in the future.  You can check my schedule page, of course, for upcoming shows, but this is on a more personal note. 

I wanted to write a little about where I came from, how I discovered belly dance and where it’s taken me…  Give you all a little background… The Genesis, if you will, of my life as a dancer…

When I began dancing, it was in the casual setting of a drum circle in the SCA.  Dancing at Ren Faires and in the SCA has a completely different vibe than on a stage with an audience.  It’s less intimidating, to start with.  You’re just hangin out, doin yer thang, surrounded by your friends and family.  More of a party atmosphere.  Yes, there are people in the periphery watching, but they’re also mixing and mingling with everyone around you and not just there to see you. Also, there are tons of other dancers out there with you, also just doin their thang, not worried about what technique you’re using, who you studied with or where you plan to perform next. 

For me, it was a party thing, but it was also a healing, rejuvenation and spiritual thing as well. 

I was not a born dancer… And I wasn’t put into ballet or tap classes as a child, so dance was very new to me…  I like to joke about being a floating head for years before I discovered the SCA and belly dance, completely detached from my body and physical self.  I’d sort of lost touch with myself on many levels, and my body was paying for it.  I was overweight and generally unconcerned about my health or appearance. 

But, after going to a Dead Can Dance concert and then discovering the SCA, everything changed… I could feel this fire in me… this ache in my heart… a need to express and emote…thru dance… Something I’d never known before…  And something clicked… and I began to see just how unhealthy I was, physically, mentally, spiritually. 

Once I had found my second home at that drum circle, I slowly began to get myself healthy again.  It wasn’t overnight, and honestly took the last handful of years to really get my shit together, but eventually, thru dance, eating right and exercising, I was finally in a good spot. 

The spiritual aspect came first, though.  Along with becoming reacquainted with my physical self, I also found a way to manifest a way of worship for me.  Dance became the way that I reach out to my God.  It is the most pure, visceral, and mystical form of relating and communicating with the universe…in my opinion. 

So, it grew into a completely healing source.

After about…I dunno…5 or 6 years?… I started thinking that maybe this could be more than just a hobby I get to play with a few events a Summer… I’d had a few people tell me I had a knack for the dance, and I admit I was feelin pretty good out there, so I decided to give it a shot. 

I didn’t know where to go to learn the actual techniques, though… So, it sat on the back-burner for a while.  Then, one night while I was working at the Vogue, my friend was hosting a variety show and gliding across the floor like an angel was Zanbaka.  She and her troupe were performing a mix of ATS and choreography and I LOVED IT!  They all looked so beautiful and graceful and I just HAD TO do that! 

I asked Zanbaka where to take classes, and she just happened to be teaching in a studio in Seattle.  Her classes were great!  She was mostly an ATS dancer, but she is also a flamenco dancer, so there was a lot of flamenco fusion included…  I went to a handful of classes and brought some girlfriends along and after a while, I decided to get a troupe together. 

My little sister, Kaiya, and our friends, Morgan & Farrell created Tribe Shakti and performed as a troupe at a few festivals, feasts and SCA gigs.  We did mostly choreography based on ATS movements, but also took quite a bit of artistic liscence, messing around and having fun with it… But, then the troupe slowly disbanded… Farrell moved farther away, Morgan had other things going on inher life that took precedence and my sister found that her passion was more for drumming… It was alright… Everything happens for a reason, but still I was sad and a little discouraged, and lost interest for a minute in all of it… I didn’t know where I fit as a solo dancer or where to go next. 

I took the time off to focus on other life stuff, but while i missed it terribly, I still wasn’t entirely inspired… I knew I wanted to do Tribal belly dance, but didn’t really dig the confines and limits of ATS… It was beautiful and I loved it, but it felt limited to me… I wanted something different… more serpentine, more creative, more interpretive… but also didn’t want to go quite as far as Gothic or Theatrical belly dance, either…

Then I discovered Rachel Brice.  (I wonder how many times that exact statement’s been made–the woman’s such a badass!) This gorgeous creature was doing EXACTLY what I had seen in my head…a hundred times better and more graceful, of course, but similar, nonetheless… And it hit me *BLAM* YOU CAN DO THAT! 

So, I made it my mission to learn from her.  I would eventually fly to Vegas in March of 07 to spend 3 days with her kickin my ass, but before that I would spend hours upon hours of groovin and shimmying in my livingroom first!

I was blessed with the opportunity to study with Kami Liddle, Jill Parker, Zoe Jakes and Darshan in the following months, and I am eternally grateful for their time, effort & inspiration which were all priceless to me… But again, this was more of an internal journey than a physical one…

Ya see, while they each inspired me to go for it, and taught me all kinds of cool moves, the biggest challenge for me has been finding MY groove… Not just to be serpentine like Rachel or funky like Zoe or progressive like the Ultra Gypsy girls, but to take a little of their works and blend it with my own interpretation and become who and what I am supposed to become…

I am still constantly struggling to be open to change and growth while refusing to lose my deeper integrity as an artist and dancer… I don’t want to just fit in to some niche, but be free to be expressive and unique…  Where do they end and I begin?  What do I do like them and what do I do differently?  And WHY?  What is my own interpretation?  Where do I use this or that, where do I change this bit into this?  It’s  been an interesting ride so far. 

I guess I’ll end this blog here.  This was more or less the genesis of where I came from and how my journey’s been so far.  Much more to say, but I’ll save it for next time…

   For now, keep dancin!