The Spotlight on Alison Stratton

Gothic, Fusion, ATS.  What comes to mind when you read those things?  If you’re talking Augusta, GA then you are probably talking Alison Stratton (shown in picture (left) with Mari Edwards (right)).  I can’t remember exactly when I first met Alison, though it seems I’ve always known her, but I’m pretty sure it was at an event held by either Alchemy, Fierce Fusion or Zondra and it was downtown.  When I picture Alison, what comes to mind is an adorable woman with a bobbed hair-do, wearing a mini top hat, some sort of bustled skirt and a mischievous smile playing on her face.  Again, I knew I needed to get to know her better. 

For this interview, I’ve opted to forego the usual café environment and instead have our chat at her home.  This way, it’s easier for her to be more relaxed knowing V is in his own environment and can play as he’d like.  J  I’ve been a mom of two youngsters at one point, so I can relate.  As I pull up to her home, I’m not sure which one is hers until I see the license plate on the vehicle in the driveway.  The moment I see it, I know it’s the right house – “Lestat Lives”.  She greets me at the door and we make our way inside.  V is down for a nap so we settle in to take advantage of what I know to be all too short time for adults, “naptime”.  The atmosphere is cozy.   I open my laptop, start the recording on my phone, and we begin…

Let’s learn a little about “Alison”.  Where did you grow up?  All over.  I call myself a hospital brat.  My parents were both hospital administrators so through them getting promotions, we didn’t stay in the same place longer than 2 years until I got into high school and then we settled outside of Savannah.  I came here because I was in middle school in Aiken.  I met my husband through my best friend (who had been my best friend since middle school and is still today – 20 some years later) in Aiken then I came here.  That was in 2001 after I graduated from college.  I graduated from college in Savannah with a BA in English, which I have never put to use.   I had aspirations of getting my PhD and teaching college level.  I had a minor in Philosophy, a minor in Linguistics, and I almost had a minor in Latin, so I’m EXTREMELY well read.  I’m KILLER at Jeopardy! 

Tell me a bit about your family.  I have Vance, I’m recently divorced, and we’re still on good terms.  My parents are pretty nomadic.  My mom lives in Anderson, SC.  My dad lives outside of Atlanta.  They’re still married even though they were divorced for four years.  They’re married but have not lived in the same house for about the last 12 years because my dad has been doing interim work but they got a real good deal on my brother’s house.  They commute back and forth.  It’s an odd setup but it seems to work for everybody.  Vance will be 2 in about three weeks and into everything.  He’s so even-keeled; he’s such a good kid.  I don’t think I would have made it through the last year and a half if he had been a difficult kid.  He’s also cuter than he ought to be.

What do you do in the “muggle” world?  Well, I have my BA in English, which I do absolutely nothing with.  I am a Pharmacy Tech.  I work for Augusta Oncology so I used to mix Chemo, which I absolutely adore doing.  And I used to do that but kind of transitioned into insurance.  I’m the liaison between our doctors and the insurance companies because I have enough clinical knowledge to be able to go through the charts and help justify to the insurance company why we’re doing things.  Surprisingly, most of the time, I enjoy doing this.  It gives me a unique perspective understanding what is going on with the cancer patients.  It definitely puts a different spin on your everyday life.  Because, you know, your frustration at the grocery store isn’t much because someone just got horrible, devastating news like six hours ago.  It kind of makes me stop sometimes and makes me realize I’m very, very lucky.   There’s a certain amount of jadedness that comes with it but, you know, there’s the bad part of cancer and then there’s the really awesome part of cancer – the good, good stories where people survive it, get through and get to ring the bell at the end of their treatment.  There’s always a balance to find everywhere.  Even with the horrible, there’s got to be some good somewhere.  And there are days when it’s a lot to deal with, where I’m just like, I need to go do something, which is one of the reasons I enjoy dancing so much.   (Well, that’s a FANTASTIC segue into my next question.)

What first peaked your interest in Bellydancing and when?  Well, my very best friend since middle school worked in a dancewear store and I didn’t really want to be a Pharmacy Tech for the rest of my life so I bought the competition for her store and opened it up.  So all the sudden, I owned this dancewear store, and my best friend worked with me even though I have since bowed out of it.  I sold it to her completely in December.  It was just too stressful, too much of a money and time thing for me, and I wasn’t there enough to support the business like I needed to as an owner.  But I had figured, since I own a Dancewear store, I should probably dance.  So the first thing I did was try an adult ballet class because that’s what my friend, Samantha, really loved.  I am not a ballerina.  At ALL.  They’re all airy and graceful with lots of jumping and that’s just not, yeah, I’m not a jumper.  So I was looking around for other types of dance I could do as an adult and I stumbled upon Mari Edwards' class at Warren Road.  I swear, there’s a Bellydance Bug.  Either you get bit by it and you fall head over heels and it becomes your entire life, or you just don’t care for it – you go on.  You know, it’s like all or nothing.  So I was all in.  I also thought that bellydance was really cool in the fact that unlike the adult ballet and tap, most people approach bellydance as an adult.  If they’re lucky, they come into it as children, but that doesn’t happen very often.  It’s an adult-based dance, it’s an adult world, and you can take it, as an adult, as far as you want to go.  You can come in with no experience and go semi-professional, professional, as far as you want to take it, because there’s that outlet.  Whereas, in an adult tap or ballet class, you really don’t perform.  You go to class and you go home.  In bellydance there really is that drive for creativity.  There’s that drive for that outlet in the bellydance world.   Which is a great selling point.  I mean there’s people that are like “Ooo, I’ll lose weight” or “I’ll learn to dance for my husband” (she used air quotes, big, HUGE ones) but, like Mari would say, you need to learn to dance for yourself first.

Who was your first instructor/where?  Mari Edwards at Warren Road.  That was my first and she did mostly the Alchemy style improv.  I wasn’t really into improv but, you know, everyone goes through their phases where they’re really in love with one style or another and they have to find their niche, so I was really into the heavy tribal fusion – Rachel Brice, Ariellah – so I wasn’t really into the improve, then, as much as I am now.  Mari was teaching the tribal fusion improv and the basic bellydance which is kind of the foundation.  No matter what style you do, it’s all got the foundation. 

How long have you been dancing/bellydancing?  Since about 2005/6.  I really had a hard time pinpointing it because I’d stop and start.  I had knee surgery then start up again.  And this whole last year I just didn’t do anything until I started coming to your (Karen's) class and then Maria’s, before, I got pregnant for about a year, and then, you know, on and off I’d say for about the last 5 or 6 years.  I tried ballet one class.  Just the one class.

How did you feel during your first performance or when you were first able to make sense of the dance?  I actually was ok because through bellydance and also the Goth scene, I’ve just learned to let it all go, because it doesn’t matter.  My first performance was at Arts in the Heart with Mari and we did Wadi.  So, I just got up there and did it.  I really didn’t think about it, honestly.  I mean, you get the flutters, but I’m doing what I want to do so it really to a certain extent doesn’t matter what happens.   I’ve developed this weird Zen-like thing that whatever happens happens.  You know, you try your best but if you screw up, it’s not the end of the world.  I try not to do it in ATS because if you screw up leading, then everyone behind you does something funky.   I’m really nervous about my ATS performances because literally everyone is watching you from the front and everyone is watching you from the back.  You always get to the lead and you’re like, I have no idea what I’m doing.  (For getting the movements – the “A-HA” moment in dance...) For me, it came easy because I really meshed well with Mari’s style of teaching.  She’s very technical, as in, you move this muscle and this happens.  It’s almost visual in the say she did it.  You have your infinity symbols for your hips and your triangles and your squares and everything geometric when you’re doing your isolations.  I’m built loosely, I’m very flexible, so it’s been very easy for me to isolate one area of my body at a time so it was very interesting that I just immediately started doing it.  I mean, I struggle with it, like layering – my brain doesn’t get layering – but I’ve never had trouble with isolations.  There are moves I still have a hard time with, like a basic shimmy.  But when it all clicks and the muscle memory starts, it’s like, Ah, I’m doing it!!  It’s like puzzle-pieces coming together.

Where do you get your costumes?  Do you make any?  I would love to be able to sew.  I’ve been after Jana (Ashing) to teach me for a long time.  I know the basics.  I just don’t understand how the machine works.  I just play with it until it works right.  I’m such a technical person.  I’d like to know WHY it does that instead of just trying to fix it until it works, you know?  So I don’t make my own costumes.  If I can just cut something and a few stitches, then we’re ok, like for Rosehips or something.  But I think I’m single-handedly funding Maria’s (World Emporium Kiosk) house payment probably for as much stuff as I buy from her.  Because I sold a lot of my bellydance stuff after I had Vance because the way my marriage was going I really didn’t think I would dance again.  I just kind of gave up on everything.  So I’m just starting to get some of my costuming back now.   But I incorporate a lot of my bellydance costumes into my Goth stuff, because I used to do a lot with the Goth clubs here.  And I used to go over the top.  So I have this enormous costume collection now that’s, you know, this used to be a pirate’s dress and now it’s a bellydance costume.  So I just have all sorts of crazy stuff.  A lot of my halters and stuff like that are hand-me-downs from Mari.  So Maria & Mari have made my costumes possible.  Thank you, ladies.  (She also loves the Red Camel too.)

Let’s talk “Music”.  What music inspires you?  Lots and lots of different stuff.  My iPod is completely schizophrenic.  Really, it’s funny, because once you get bitten by said “Bellydance Bug”, you start to choreography to ANYTHING.  Archaic French music, we could totally do this.  A lot of it now, what I’m trying to listen to is a lot of the 4/4 beats, things for my ATS, because  I practice moves in my head.  So I listen to a lot of Balkan Beat Box right now.  It’s really cool stuff.  Also, the stuff for Fat Chance Bellydance.  A lot of slow stuff right now as well.  There just a lot of randomness.  The transitions are crazy. There will be Patsy Cline, then Marilyn Manson will come on, then Queen.  It’s crazy.  I have opera on there, classical, crazy 160 bpm club music.

For choreographies that you have created, where do you find your inspiration?  Mari & I just did one at the hafla in Columbia in October.  We’ve been working on a choreography for three years and we just were able to come together and finish it this past October.  But right now, I really enjoy watching Rustica from Prague I think, I don’t know, they’re European.  They do a lot of classic jazz stuff infused in their bellydance.  Their style of tribal is very unique and they’re not just a copy of Rachel Brice.  It’s very refreshing.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Rachel Brice, but there’s being inspired by a style and then there’s recycling their stuff.  Like you can tell when watching some people that they’ve been watching videos of Rachel Brice and just recycled it.  I also really like the big name tribal fusion.  But I also love throwing ATS moves in there, especially when I’m dancing with a partner, because it flows and I know the movements so I know what I’m actually doing, for once.

What do you absolutely HATE about the dance world?  Everyone answers drama, which is a big part, but I guess my thing about drama is, you know, the whole personality conflict is going to happen, that’s how the world works.  But I don’t like people picking apart somebody’s dance, like actually critiquing a person’s dance in a way that’s not helpful, because of a personality thing.  I don’t like you veiling your criticisms because you just don’t like somebody.  I mean, everybody does that, and I sometimes catch myself doing that.  Tempest recently put out an article about everybody’s “Dance Religion”, about how “I am super into ATS and you are not.” No one is right, it’s just a thing, it’s just the way we work.  And the people who are like, “ATS isn’t real bellydance” or “If you’re not doing Fat Chance format, it’s not really ATS”, I mean, you can’t nit-pick and things like that because we’re all in this community together and we’re the only ones doing it.  There is no test at the end of it. 

What do you absolutely LOVE about the dance world?  It is a community and it is 98% women and, like I said earlier, I love the fact that this is a dance you can come to as an adult and make it your own and you can really take it to whatever level you want.  If you just want to go to class and go home and never do anything outside of class then that is just fantastic.  And that just doesn’t mean you have to stop with just that one class either.  I take your (Karen’s) classes, and now I’m taking Maria’s class.  You find the teaching style that works for you, the dance style that works for you.  If you look at ATS, and actual Fat Chance style ATS, the reason people get so uptight about it is because if you change it and make it your own improv, if you get on stage and throw a cue no one else knows, you’re going to be the only one spinning around.  When it comes to that, they are nit-picky but that’s only because that is the nature of the beast.  That doesn’t mean it’s correct.  That doesn’t mean if you’re in your own ATS group and you can't say, hey  why don’t we make this combo and we’ll do it when we’re dancing together.  And even Carolena (Fat Chance Bellydance) has said that in the past few years.  You know, if you don’t like something, go somewhere else. 

Are you a soloist or do you dance with others/ a troupe?  I have really never done solo stuff, unless I screw up in ATS and do something else, an unintentional solo.  I normally don’t do solo stuff because I’m chicken and I like feedback.  I like to be able to say, “Hey, what do you think of this?” and it’s really hard to say “Hey, what do you think of this?” when you’re the only one doing it.  I really enjoy the collaborative effort.  Also, because I’ve never been able to do a full 3 or 4 minute choreography by myself.  Because you always reach that point where you’re like, “Wow, 3 minutes is a really long time.” And I thought I had all these moves and I’ve only used up 38 seconds.  Then you have the last minute and a half but then you have the whole middle section.  So it’s nice to have that person say, “I have the middle!”  So, I’ve never done a solo.  I’m not saying I’ll never do a solo but I just never have and I don’t get the opportunity to perform that often simply because of my fantastic schedule.  I will say it’s really sweet because the girls from Columbia (Kristen and Martha) come down and dance ATS downtown at First Friday and they invite me to dance with them, which is really nice.  Up until about three weeks ago, I was the only person doing ATS in Augusta, which makes it really difficult to practice, a group dance. 

Do you teach?  If not, would you ever consider teaching?  I do not teach.  I’ve taught friends certain things.  I think because I am so technical, I break things down in a certain way.  Like when I’m in class, I’ll be like “Well, you could it this way.” Which probably get on the teachers nerves.  My goal, because you know I’m moving, is to come back to Augusta.  I’m moving in with my parents to get a degree, probably in nursing, a fast-track degree.  In three or four years, I'll be doing that, and while I’m doing that, I’ve already contacted Jackie Hawthorne from Jahara Phoenix.  She’s a sister-studio for Fat Chance Bellydance because I’d like to eventually get my General Skills and get my teachers certification from Fat Chance and I want to bring ATS back to Augusta.  That’s what I want to do and I want to have Augusta’s first sister-studio.  I mean, I had been bitching for years that there was no ATS in Augusta, and after the divorce I started to reevaluate things.  I figured since Mari is no longer teaching, I said, “Screw it” and I will put my money where my mouth is.  Maria is starting a Level 1 ATS certification in Columbia so I will drive over to Columbia once a week.  It’s like 76 miles.  It’s a long drive but it’s the closest and Maria is a fabulous teacher.  It is so worth it.  I get so excited.  It makes me so happy, but some nights I really wish Maria was closer.  I swear they move Columbia 3 feet every single time I drive it.  I am getting to know downtown Columbia very well, though.  I’ve been lost a few times.  I want to keep training and hopefully if I sell my house, for money and not a short-sale (everyone please keep your fingers crossed), then I’ll maybe use some of that money to get my General Skills, which isn’t cheap.  But I figure once I get certified, I can start teaching and earn some of that money back.  Plus, it’s just what I want to do.  I’m such a freakin’ nerd  for ATS.   I’ve been a nerd my whole life. 

 What types of movement are you drawn to and why?  I’m more of a big, sweeping movement type of person, as opposed to the very intricate “Suhaila”, interior, kind of “ticky-ticky” movements.  I’m just…I can’t do it!  I mean, my body doesn’t do little movements, which is probably why I have such a hard time with shimmies and even zaghareets.  I just can’t do those really fast, tiny motions.  We do big, sweeping, very bendy type of moves.  I’m very double jointed everywhere so it’s natural for me to do that kind of stuff.  It’s very expressive, with lots of arms.  Even when I’m dancing in the club, it’s arms.  It’s just what feels natural.  Even when I’m doing the ATS stuff, I love the big sweeping arm movements, the big turns.  Making use of the space.  I think that’s why Mari and I dance so well together, because when we choreograph something, we map out the stage.  Like, we’ll go here then over here and we find where the blank spots are and we try to fill up that space.  There’s nothing wrong with dancing in place.  Drum solos are usually in place, you don’t really go gallivanting across the stage in a drum solo, but it’s purposeful.  I do like to see a lot of motion and a lot of expressiveness. 

What “style” of bellydance do you most associate yourself with – Cabaret, Tribal, Folkloric, Fusion, Orientale, etc?  ATS, it’d be kind of weird if I said Cabaret.  LOL.  I  do like the tribal fusion, but with everything in life, you have a constant evolution.  When I first started out I was more tribal fusion.  My personal Goth-scene is pretty much not really there anymore.  When I was doing the Goth-scene more, a lot of the tribal fusion artists were very dark so it kind of wove in with the Goth-scene.  Steampunk, too, though I don’t do Steampunk like Jana.  I like Steampunk, I do Steampunk, but I’m more into the actual solid Goth-stuff.  But, I have a pink skirt, like, I have a PINK skirt! ATS has made me get more colorful.

Given the opportunity, if time, money, and distance were not an issue, who would be your “dream” instructor?  With whom would you LOVE to study bellydance?  Honestly, I would have LOVED to have studied with John Compton.  He was on my top 5 to meet.  Everyone who has ever met him just talks about the energy he exuded and I would have loved to have met him.  He was really there from the beginning of tribal.  I really enjoyed studying with Megha, I would love to study with her again.  I would love to study with Mimi from Manhattan Tribal.  But, actually, you know who I’d really love to study with again, though I’d need to work out a lot beforehand, is Unmata.  It just about killed me the last time I took that workshop.  Alicia from BellyCraft is awesome too! 

If you were suddenly unable to dance, would you continue in the dance world, somehow, or would you just walk away?  I’d continue somehow.  I mean, I’d even break down and do photography or something.  I mean, in the past year, this dance has just become such an integral part of who I identify myself with, not to say that you should ever identify yourself with just one thing, but it is what I do now.  And now I know that it will always be something that I do.  It has really, really helped me get through some really, really crappy times.  I don’t think I’d ever be able to totally leave it, because, even when I’m not dancing, I’m thinking about it.  I could write about it, I could learn to sew.  Something.

What is something fascinating about you that no one, or very few, knows?  (I’m going to preface this by noting from a previous line of questioning that she shared that she has a Shakespeare tattoo on her lower back, a “WS” which is Shakespeare’s signet ring and she’s had it for 12 years.)  I am learning to knit, I have an unhealthy obsession with PBS, I’m a nerd.  In my free time, when I am not dancing, I’m reading or playing World of Warcraft.  I’m freakishly double-jointed, grossing out Maria when I’m stretching.  What’s really funny, and it kind of drives Maria crazy, is I just cannot keep time.  And I think it’s funny, being so into dance, I can’t keep a 4/4 time for anything.  Also, one thing that I didn’t put on Facebook was I actually had a lumpectomy about three weeks ago.  It’s completely benign-the cell type, though, is very strange because it’s the cell type that's usually only found in men.  They have no idea why I had it, but they don’t really care, because it’s benign.  It’s really helpful working in Oncology, because I felt the lump and I went into my clinical director who’s a really close friend of mine and she says, “Well, what do you think?”  They got me into the Breast Health Center at University, did an ultrasound and found that it was the type most likely to be benign.  Also, I can read Chaucer out loud and sound Scandinavian.  And I’m great at Jeopardy.

What is your biggest fear either in life or in dance? Or Both?  Of course, anything happening to Vance, but that almost goes without saying.  Otherwise, losing sight of what actually matters.  One thing that absolutely scares me is losing the ability to move forward with anything, whether it’s learning, whether it’s dancing, anything - losing that momentum.  I had issues with Anti-partum or Anti-natal depression.  Everyone always talks about Post-partum depression but no one talks about Anti-partum depression.  Everyone’s like, you should be all happy and la-dee-da-dee-da, but I was just laying on this couch and I couldn’t get off this couch for days.   I’d go to work, I’d come back, I’d lay on the couch.  I didn’t shower, I didn’t eat, I just laid there.  I knew something was wrong with myself – I’d always been self-aware enough to get help.  They put me on some medication and within 3 days, I bounced back and I was fine.  So I am always afraid of losing that will to keep moving forward.  Because it takes a lot of drive to move forward.  The drive to get up, get moving, practice more.   Just losing all of that and backsliding is probably my biggest fear.  I have a subscription to Datura online that Rachel Brice puts out and they have made videos of classes with all these incredible teachers doing tribal, ATS, cabaret, yoga, etc. so that helps.

What are your dreams for the future – where do you see yourself in the dance in 3, 5, 10, 20 years?  Within 3 years, I want to have my General Skills, by 5, I want my Teachers certificate, by 10, I want to be teaching in Augusta.

You are moving soon.  When and where?  Atlanta and probably the end of March.  I just need to go and get started on all that I want to do.  I don’t want to leave Augusta, but it wouldn’t be fair to Vance not to leave and do this for his future.

If you were to do something completely shocking or out of character with absolutely no consequences, what would it be?  Cabaret!  LOL.  Because I just don’t see myself as that airy and light, you know.  Otherwise, pack up and move somewhere.  I LOVE traveling.  I would have loved to have gone out to San Francisco to study with Carolena. 

If you were stranded on a desert island, whom would you like to be with and what one thing?    I'm assuming this island has all the amenities, otherwise Bear Grylls because he could catch us food.   What would I take?  The Library of Congress.  And Who?  I would probably take my mom because my mom ROCKS!  And mom makes everything ok.

What is in your dancers’ bag?  What has to be in there?  Really, nothing.  Because the way I arrive in class, my skirt is in one hand, my zills in another, stuff falling out, stuff going everywhere.  I really need to get a dancers’ bag together.  I used to have one.  There’s probably some old TribalCon passes and a knee pad in there.  I can’t find my other knee pad.  We were trying to floor work and it’s really tough to do floor work with a bolt in the front of your knee.  We were doing Berber walks and it was kind of like Berber walks with windmill arms, kind of falling over.  It loses the mystique.  If I had a dancers bag, it would always have an ATS skirt, because you don’t have to have an ATS skirt, but it looks so much better when you turn, always have my zills, even though I suck at zills.  Probably lots of Advil because I get really bad what’s called “Weight Lifter Headaches” so at the end of a TribalCon day, I’ll have a headache.  I have lower blood pressure so I get headaches when I dance a lot.  Also, knee pads.  I really need to get a better bag, a snazzy bag to put it all in. 

So as I wrap up this interview, Alison and I continue talking bellydance-the different styles, a bit about the background of ATS-and I am reminded of the passion she has for this dance and especially for ATS.  I know that she will continue with this dance and will come back to Augusta as a certified ATS instructor, ready to show the CSRA what she’s got.  She has promised to come back and visit, however, and I, for one, will be happy when she does.  Until then, while she’s gone, we will feel her absence and wish her the best in her training in Atlanta.

I pack up my laptop and head out to my van for the journey home.  One last hug for Alison and I make my exit.  I smile again as I look at the “Lestat Lives” license plate and back out of the driveway.  And The Spotlight goes out…

So, who will The Spotlight shine on next?  Are YOU game?

Spotlight on Michelle Guthrie:                                                                                  

As I prepare for this interview, I am reminded of my first time meeting Michelle.  I was subbing Shai’s bellydance class at the Marshall Family Y, when Shai was expecting Aalyric, and she was one of my students.  I want to say that it was her first class there as well.  I’m pretty sure she had said that she had taken some classes with Donna at the other Y previously but this was her first time at the Marshall Y and her first with me.  How fortuitous, I had thought at the time.  J

So now I sit in Panera Bread, another cup of tea in hand, green tea this time, waiting on my next interesting conversation.  I look forward to it.  So, I look up and I see Michelle, looking uber-chic in a brown beret, long sleeved grey tunic and tribal-style pants, walk past me scanning the restaurant looking for me.  She doesn’t see me camped out near the window.  I chuckle as I get up to let her know where I am.  I sit back down and see she choose green tea too.  After a bit of small talk, we get down to business…

Let’s learn a little about “Michelle”.  Where did you grow up?  Where were you and your family stationed before coming here to Augusta?   Let’s see, Ohio, Chicago, Arizona, and New Mexico – my father is in the ministry so I grew up with lots of traveling.  Before coming to Augusta, we were at DLI in Monterey, CA.  We were there for about 2 years, including the time I stayed there while Brian was in Texas.  But I consider my home to be New Mexico.

Tell me a bit about your family.   I’ve been married to Brian 11 years, our daughter is named Sierra and she is 6.  We gave her a western name to remind us of the West. 
 

What do you do in the “muggle” world?    I’m a stay-at-home mom, however, I used to be a teacher but that took so much of my time, I didn’t feel I could do as much at home.  I had taught 5^th & 7^th grade at a private school but usually ended up teaching about 10 subjects.

What first peaked your interest in Bellydancing and when?  You know all those things you always meant to do but you never got around to doing.  Either too busy, didn’t have the money, or the time, etc.  I’d been interested for at least 5 years, but I never thought I would perform, just wanted it for exercise, for my health.  When Sierra finally got old enough to be in the day care, I got a membership at the Y.   I needed to get out, get some exercise, etc.  So I went through and circled all the classes that I wanted to take.  Took my first Middle Eastern Dance class with Donna and never went to the others, except yoga.  From then on, I was there every class, and that wasn’t enough.  So I checked out the Marshall Y & that’s where you (Karen) were subbing.  That was about 2 years ago.

Who was your first instructor/where?   Donna at the Wilson Y was my first and you (Karen) were my second. 

How long have you been dancing/bellydancing?    About 2 years.  Dancing has been something I wanted to do my whole life.  But I always thought it was for someone else.  I just thought you were either born with it or you weren’t and I just never thought I was born with it.  I never asked my parents for classes or tried anything.  I was a sensitive child so I didn’t think I could have handled the constructive criticism then like I could now.   I think I came into it at the right time. 

Now that’s you’ve had a taste of Bellydancing, how did you feel during your first performance or when you were first able to make sense of the dance?  I was nervous, of course, but my overwhelming thought was that I was wanted to do it right.  Really if there are any videos of my first few performances I’m smiling but I think it’s probably really obvious how much concentration I was putting into it because I figured if I was going to do it, I was going to do it to the best of my ability.  Now that became a challenge and it still is a challenge for me, because I have to find the balance between doing it right and expressing myself.  For a while, when I started out, I didn’t feel like I was really expressing myself.   I was so worried about doing it right.  Which I guess is probably pretty normal. (As for making sense of the dance) I’m really hyper-critical so I think it took a while before I started feeling like I was getting the movements. Probably really more recently before I really started feeling like that. Just playing around -  like when I put on some music at home and I’m just playing around in front of the mirror and you realize Hey I can have fun with this and it still looks like the real thing.  That’s been more recent for me.

Where do you get your costumes?  Do you make any?  I adapt a lot.  As much as I love to do it, my sewing skill isn’t very high yet.  So I will pull pieces from thrift stores or my closet, I will adapt things and make them as necessary.  But when there’s no way to make or adapt things then I will buy them.  (As for where I buy things)  My 25 yard skirt came from DragonCon! 

Let’s talk “Music”, since it drives our dance.  What music inspires you?  Honestly, it’s not the usual.  I mean, when I hear a piece and I would love to choreograph something to it, it’s usually show tunes or something Vintage.  I didn’t even know the genre of Vintage Bellydance existed until recently.  When I found out about it, I thought that, given enough time, that might be my style.  In fact, that Vaudeville piece we did recently was probably the piece I’ve enjoyed the most.  And then my daughter and I decided when we visited family at Christmas, we would dance as a gift for everyone.  She does ballet so she taught me a few moves, and I taught her some bellydance moves, then we YouTubed for some Vaudeville, and we put it all together into an improv.  The Vaudeville-inspired moves were so much fun.   I've always loved old variety shows as well so deep down, that's probably it. 

For choreographies that you have created, where do you find your inspiration?  The two that were really mine, either the idea came from me or I choreographed most of it, one was the one I did for the Star Trek pageant at DragonCon.  The inspiration was the character.  The style wound up being more popping & locking and dub step, but the inspiration was the vintage character.  She was Queen Arachnia, so I wanted to make it as spider-like as possible.  I get really into it.  So I found myself trying to think and act like that character.  And then the Vaudeville one, the inspiration came from the music.  We were really looking for Steampunk, but the music I found fit more with Vaudeville.  It started with the music.  It was The Dancing Sandwich by March Corps.  They're a band that does marching band style things and I think maybe that excited me because back in high school I was in flag corps.  It brought back good memories for me.

What do you absolutely HATE about the dance world?  Hmm. Well, I read Zondra's & I second the drama, but for me, it's more personal.  It's not what's going on outside, but what's going on inside.  I value any kind of feedback or criticism I get but inside I'm still that sensitive child so it takes me a while to deal with it - to come around and work with it.  The hardest thing for me is internal and recognizing that I need to hear it and I need to get over it and I need to incorporate it.  I push myself a lot so it's hard for me, any signs that I perceive of lapse.

Well, on the opposite of that, what do you absolutely LOVE about the dance world?  There's a lot.  It fills so many needs that I have as a woman.  Needs that, a lot of times, Stay-At-Home Moms have trouble filling.  The social aspect, the times you get together with other women and talk about an interest that doesn't have to do with our kids.  I love my daughter, I love talking about her, but I need my time too.  So the social aspect is HUGE.  Then the creativity in choosing the music, choosing the routine, but also in the costumes, pulling it together.  I'm a very creative person but sometimes you have to have that spark, that reason to do it and dance is all the reason you need.  Then we started having sewing parties so we're mixing them together - having social time and creative time together.  And, I'm not the type of person to get on a treadmill, if it's repetitive and boring, I won't do it.  So dancing is something I can really enjoy.  I love the variety.  When we get together at a hafla, I have no idea what I'm going to see.  Everyone brings something new every time.  They're always trying something new.  I love that.

Are you a soloist or do you dance with others or a troupe?  And which troupes have you danced with previously?  I prefer dancing with a troupe.  The only solos I've performed so far have been for the Star Trek pageant because I didn't have any other choice.  If I had a choice, I'd have had my girls with me.  I dance with Saharan Silhouettes, which came out of Donna's class.  We needed more practice for Arts in the Heart 2 years ago so we started practicing and it grew out of that.  And then there's Dancing Through the Skirt with Vany.  I was so thrilled when she asked me to be a part of it because at the very first hafla I went to, I still remember a lot of the performances, but the one I went home thinking 'I want to learn how to do that' was Vany's.  The reason why, was because she pulled in so many different influences and it struck me as a very world-inspired performance.  It was something I related to.  I loved her costume, I loved what she was doing, I loved her music.  And I thought, I'd love to learn that, but I didn't really think I'd get the chance to.  So when she asked me to, I said, "Yes!"  Now I don't think that will be MY style, because I don't have the history to bring to it that she does but I love getting to work with it. 

I know you don't teach now, but would you ever consider it?  Yes.  If I'm not able to find a class when I go to Germany, I will probably try to start one.  But that is not my first choice because I still see myself as a student.  I'd still rather spend more time learning before I devote to teaching.  Teaching is good, because it can stretch you and help you to relearn the basics and everything but all you are bringing into it is what you already have inside you and I still want to be learning from other people.

Other than bellydancing, what types of dance do you like?  There's a lot I like.  We used to watch "So You Think You Can Dance".  I loved the character pieces they did.  They did that with so many different styles.  I enjoy a lot so I can't pick. 

What “style” of bellydance do you most associate yourself with – Cabaret, Tribal, Folkloric, Fusion, Orientale, etc?  Fusion, Tribal-Fusion.  Although, I try to make sure I pick up ATS workshops when I can, because I think that's important to have.  I see myself experimenting with different styles of fusion but I'm mainly Tribal-Fusion.

Given the opportunity, if time, money, and distance were not an issue, who would be your “dream” instructor?  With whom would you LOVE to study bellydance?  I don't know, I'm not that familiar with that many yet.  I only know those I've taken workshops with so of those I would say Silvia Salamanca. I loved her workshop what she brought to the floor was outstanding.  (What about her style of dance or her style of teaching drew you to her?)  It's a combination, I mean, in the workshop, she was very comfortable to work with.  I didn't feel like I was under a critical eye.  I felt like she was really enjoying herself and working with us.  But then, when she danced on her own, the professionalism she brought to the floor, you could tell that she had extremely high standards for herself.  So I really liked that about her.  The fact that she could make us feel comfortable in the class and then also bring the professionalism to the stage later.

We are always faced with challenges in life.  If you were suddenly unable to dance, would you continue in the dance world, somehow, or would you just walk away?  It's hard to know.  If I had the opportunity I could see myself helping out with beginners with their costuming.  I would still try to be a part of it.  Unfortunately, I don't have a sense of rhythm or I'd try to drum!

What is something fascinating about you that no one, or very few, knows?  I guess, people who know me here, in my present incarnation, may not know that in my high school & college years, I did a lot of world traveling and mission trips.  Actually, at one point I thought I was going to end up working in a orphanage somewhere.  That's why I went into teaching so I could have a trade I could use there.  Then I graduated, and student loans brought me back to reality.  We channeled that and we are sponsoring three girls overseas right now.  One is in Uganda, which is where I had traveled, and one is in Nepal, and we have one in Lebanon.  We just finished sponsoring another from Nepal.  I've been going through my pictures and have seen all that I've done.  Like, I've stood on the Aztec pyramid in Mexico City, I've seen the source of the Nile, I've helped build schools in Guinea, West Africa, I spent one night in Morocco but did not get to see much and I spent 9 hours in London.  I've been in the oldest apartment in the US in the southwest and been in Westminster Abbey.  I guess that's why I'm so excited about going to Germany.  I want to see the world.  It's on to the next adventure!  

What is your biggest fear either in life or in dance? Or Both?  What is something that holds you back?  Biggest fear in life?  I'm a mom, so you can take a wild guess - anything happening to my daughter.  As long as your children are with you, your will to live is as strong as it can possibly be.  She's not just my will to live, physically, she's my will to live in other ways.  I didn't mention this before but part of the reason I started dance was that I knew that if I wanted her to achieve her own dreams, she had to see me achieving mine.  In dance, one of my biggest fears? My biggest fear is getting up there and looking like I have no idea what I'm doing.  You hear people talking about just because you put on the costume, doesn't mean you're a dancer, and I'm always afraid that's me.  I'm always afraid I'm going to be the one dressed up but not really doing the real thing.  What holds me back?  I have ADHD.  I have a lot of great ideas and a lot of enthusiasm, but seeing it through beginning to end is difficult for me.  And also my fear of failure.

What are your dreams for the future – where do you see yourself in dance in 3, 5, 10, 20 years?  I don't care as long as I'm still dancing.  And it doesn't even have to be bellydance.  As long as I am still dancing at that point, to me, that is a goal achieved.  My goal is 10 years from now to say I've been dancing the whole time.

If you were to do something completely shocking or out of character with absolutely no consequences, what would it be?  No idea.  I'm not a person with a whole lot of secrets.  If it's something I really want to do and I have the means of doing it, I'll do it.  (Well, let's do this then.  If you could do something you had previously feared, and you suddenly had no fear of it, what would you do?)  Oh my gosh!  OK, well, there are actually some things I'm afraid of like skydiving or scuba diving.  I'm afraid of deep ocean.  I love to be on the beach but the water scares me.  I have this feeling like we don't belong out there, like out there, we're just food.  So if I wasn't afraid of it, then there are some adventures that I would take. 

If you were stranded on a desert island, whom would you like to be with and what one thing?    My family, and I think being a military family, you end up being more of a unit, because they are the only constant you have.  And then, I'm one of those fortunate people who married my best friend and I'm growing another best friend.  The one thing?  That's easy, Sunblock.  (Well, say there's a bunch of shade?)  So, if shade is not an issue?  Well, I guess I'm going to have to go practical, again, and say a pocket knife so I can make what I need.

What is in your dancers’ bag?  What has to be in there?  I just had to clean it out to visit family, but normally, a coin scarf & knee pads - a necessity.  And there's my makeup bag, the eyeliner for the tribal stuff, and the false lashes - something I never thought I'd own and never knew how to use before dancing.  All my bindis need to be found or are in need of repair so, unfortunately, they're not in there right now.  Also, it depends on where I'm heading to.  Also, it doesn't fit in my bag, but thrown over my arm is my big skirt, my 25 yard skirt.  A lot of what I do uses that.  My hair pieces are stored separately.  That's another thing I'd never thought I'd have is a hair bin.  Bins full of hair and hair pieces, wigs and stuff.  I love having it but if you would have asked me 5 years ago....  LOL.


(Our discussion then turns to Cosplay.  My, how the tangents grow.  It's fantastic!  My favorite quote, "I want to be a Geek Bellydancer.")

  

So, as I draw my time with Michelle to a close, I am amazed at how this interview process is unfolding.  It is going even better than I could have hoped.  I am learning so much about her that I would never have guessed!  At her young age, Michelle has done, and seen, so much – much more than most people twice her age.   Each person has their own story; a series of events that led us to where we are today, pathways and choices that shaped our being.  I look forward to finding out more!

As I put my laptop away, I notice that the server who has been hanging around us during the entire interview, wiping off the same table over and over again, who I’m sure was also eavesdropping on our conversation (why does this happen with every interview?), has finally left us. Lol.  I smile.  Michelle and I speak briefly about the upcoming Farewell Hafla in her honor, which we are both looking forward to attending.  We say our goodbyes and I grab a soup-to-go. 

So, who will The Spotlight shine on next?   Are YOU game?