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A.: How did you start belly
dancing?
D.: I always danced, starting from womb-time. My family
would have me enrolled in some type of movement program:
ballet, jazz, martial arts, gymnastics. Early in 1991
I experienced some difficult times of the heart, on
the way to discovering my spiritual path... In a dream
of that time, I saw myself seated atop a great cliff,
under an old gnarly tree, playing a drum; the vision
was accompanied by a deep sense of peace. So pretty
soon I was enrolled in a drumming class series - the
first one was African - and began to find myself involved
in musical projects with people.
The first times I remember seeing bellydance in Portland,
Oregon, had been in the year or two prior to this creative
awakening, and by the time I had been drumming for a
half year, the seed had ripened and I found my first
teacher, Aurelia. As they say, when the student is ready,
the teacher will appear. Watching the movements of bellydance
and then practicing them in class, they felt so natural,
as though they were made for my body.
A: Your teachers?
D: My first teacher, Aurelia, was an excellent teacher
for me. She enjoyed the feeling of dance in the body,
and was in tune with her own body. She had studied with
Badawia, a prominent dancer in Portland's early bellydance
scene, from Jordan - and she had a nice jaunty feel
for the dance, plus her own easy sense of glamour and
down-to-earth presence.
After a year with Aurelia, practicing intensively with
my workout partner Joe, I began to perform in Portland
clubs, often late night weekends, with live Greek bands.
It was around that time that I was turned on to the
Gypsy Caravan and began studying tribal style with Paulette
Rees-Denis.
Paulette's mysterious vision for the dance and the allure
of the chemistry between the dancers and musicians of
the Caravan swept me up in the current of the world
of Gypsy Caravan. I began to perform with the troupe
after some time, and my solo work and the evolving tribal
style interwove and took turns at the center of my world.
While Aurelia's work taught me how to use what I have
available and dance with sincerity and precision, Paulette
helped me to find other sources from which to draw for
the mystique and power of the dance. She helped me discover
my fire.
My third main teacher has been Dalia Carella, whom I
discovered oh, about 7 years ago at workshops in Portland
and Mendocino. I found Dalia's passion, vision, and
staging quite compelling and began to study with her
whenever I got the chance. Finally she made the invitation
to come to New York and dance in her company off-Broadway
at the Duke Theatre, for In Search of a Goddess:
Inspirations of the Divine Enchantress Ruth St. Denis.
Working intensively with Dalia in production has proven
to be both sincerely challenging and truly rewarding.
I have learned (and continue to learn) from many others,
in class and workshop, in Raks Sharki, folklore, and
fusion: Artemis and Tayyar, Yousry Sharif, Elena Lentini,
Sahra, Suhaila, Amel Tafsout, Amaya, Alexandra King,
Laurel Victoria Gray, Jill Parker, Rachel Brice, Rossah,
Kajira, Khadija & Mustapha, Hassan Harfouche and Yasser
Darwish on Dabke; Carlota, Fali, Jose Molina and Victorio
in Flamenco, Mariecella Devine in hip hop; Lampreia,
Pedro Cruz, and Nicolo in Capoeira, Donna Oefinger and
Michelle in Samba and AfroBrazilian, Angel Burgos and
my dad in Salsa, Najmah for Kathak, Nada for sacred
circle dances, plus various instructors in aerial dance,
ritual trance, yoga, jazz, modern, ballet, martial arts,
and theatre. I continue to study and cross-train as
much as possible, and I usually take three to five classes
a week in various dances and yoga, plus I work out and
run at intervals.
A: How would you describe yourself as a dancer?
D: I am versatile and dynamic, strong, generous, genuine.
I am extremely musical and spiritual in my approach
to dance. I am theatrical and expressive. I try to be
very creative and bring new elements to the dance each
time I perform. I hope that my shows are exciting, beautiful,
deep, empowering, enriching. I believe in the power
of the connections between divine force, music, dancer,
and viewer, and in the uniqueness of each moment spent
in such connection.
A: Do you prefer to choreograph or improvise?
D: I prefer the feeling of improvisation, creating the
dance in the moment from the elements therein; but I
do believe there is value in choreographing for stage
work and group dynamic. A nice compromise is the practice
of land marking and pre-staging a piece and leaving
the in-between up to chance (magic).
A: People sometimes refer to you as an American Cabaret
style dancer; do you agree with this description?
D: I'd say that was my initial order of the study of
bellydance. The kind that was being performed in the
clubs of this country as I was coming into existence,
that sprung mainly from Turkish, Arabic, and Greek roots,
and expressed with an American sensibility. But I like
to think I have more than one trick up my sleeve. I
have enjoyed working in tribal troupes, working on Egyptian
choreographies, developing Nouveau Tribal Fusion, and
working on ethnic contemporary dance theatre (especially
in the Dalia Collective). I really like to try to immerse
myself in different things.
A: Which props do you prefer?
D: Oh, I love the veil and the sword. Veil is like dancing
with the wind, the breath. With sword I like using combat
techniques as well as balancing. I have received coaching
in Kung Fu, Philippine stick fighting, and Ninja for
this, but I still have plenty of work to do. Lately
Dalia has been making me fall in love with the Spanish
fan too. Then there are my Moroccan qarqaba, more of
an instrument than prop, but have an interesting visual
impact as well. Dalia has asked me to play them for
her dances on a couple of occasions, and sometimes I
will incorporate them into my dances for an instant
trancey feel. They really take you somewhere.
A: What music do you prefer?
D: Oh my goodness. There is so much to choose from in
this vast genre. I really do like some of the modern
ethno techno music, with acoustic instruments played
and club dance beats mixed in - that's especially nice
for some of the tribal theatric. I do enjoy a good driving
rhythm; a fat Saiidi has a way of moving one. And some
of the Arabic classics, especially when they wind things
up and then drop back down into a munching Saiidi or
deep Beledi... ooooh yeah. Arabic music is just so moving.
Particularly when played by a nice big band.
I like dancing to Arabic pop now and again; people are
so comfortable listening to it. I love many types of
Trance music, notably the Gnawa, and percussions of
the world. I'm a percussion freak. I recently discovered
a band called Stereognosis that does a really nice fusion
of Spanish guitar styles, Arabic & Indian tabla, modern
beats/drum&bass, plus a twist of the jazzy. I've got
wide tastes, but I'm also finicky. Music is very important
to me.
A: What is your greatest source of inspiration?
D: The music is such an inspiration. So is the audience,
the watchers of the dance. That connection you feel
like an arc of electricity cycling through dancer, music(ians),
viewers, infused with energy. I am inspired by the beautiful
dancers around me and the beauty of the world's cultures
and lands. Nature has many gifts for the dancer: wind,
fire, water, trees, a bird, a snake... The breath, love,
loss, experience... Life is an inspiration to dance.
We have no choice but to dance.
A: What is the most fulfilling part of being a dancer?
D: When people approach you and thank you for your dance
or teaching, clearly moved or lifted by an experience
of it. Connecting with some of the really amazingly
dynamic and intelligent people who gravitate towards
the circle of these dances. Being able to travel and
share dance. Discovering ways that we can use our dance
in service to the world, and finding ourselves involved
in global collaboration.
A: Do you have another career, or is it 100% dance?
D: I am grateful for my career in the healing arts that
helps me support my passion for dance, and which helps
me stay in tune with my body. I have been a massage
therapist for 8 years, specializing in deep tissue and
the dancer's body. It's almost just another branch of
dance - it uses some of the same energy flow. I am often
working to expand my career further in complementary
ways. Just now I am finishing up the program to become
a personal trainer. I like helping people find the physical
element of their practice that will make them feel most
alive and best suit their lives. This study will help
me with that goal.
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