Student Spotlight - Carmen Bellotti

Name: Carmen Bellotti
Age: 23
Profession: Playing with puppies at Mud Bay
Hobbies: Dance really is my main hobby, but I also enjoy reading, sewing, and yoga in my spare time.
How long have you been studying bellydance: It will be six and a half years in July.

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions? 

I always admired belly dancing and felt it was a beautiful and ancient dance. I loved how the women seemed to have such control over their body and carried themselves so gracefully. Confidence is something I lacked, so I think their poise and grace was very alluring to me. I don't really think I was ever "exposed" to belly dance. The only time I recall seeing a belly dancer was at my grade school's auction where the theme was Arabian Nights and a belly dancer was performing around the event. At the time I was too young to really understand what I saw, and it didn't leave a huge impression on me.

Student Spotlight - Shannon!

Name: Shannon or "Shan"
Age: 25
Profession: CNA and student nurse (hopefully RN soon!)
Hobbies: This is the stuff I do when I'm not in class, studying, in clinical's, or working, right? Uh... generally sleep. When I can. Hopefully I get to do that again soon. Other than that, I'm trying to learn how to hula hoop -- it's... going. And I try to play with a heavy camera sometimes...

How long have you been studying bellydance: I started in May(ish) last year, and took a (2-3 session long?) hiatus while adjusting to school, but I am happily back in the mix!

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?

To be honest, I don't have a distinct moment where I remember seeing it; I had seen a couple of routines when I was little that were LOOSELY based on belly dance, to one degree or another, but nothing like ATS in the least. ATS arrived only after I googled "Bellydance classes Seattle" one evening (on a whim), but once I fell into that rabbit hole, the take away from the youtube videos was "They look like they're having a blast", and that totally sold me.

Student Spotlight - Megan Romano

Name: Megan Romano
Age: 32
Profession: Epidemiologist/PhD student (I study the determinants of disease)
Hobbies: Knitting, baking, reading, hiking, swing dancing
How long have you been studying bellydance? About 4 years total - 1 1/2 years of cabaret, about 6 months of Egyptian, and the rest ATS with Shay

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?
I remember being completely mesmerized by a woman doing bellydance during a talent show in college. At the time I wasn't able to identify it as bellydance specifically, but I was fascinated by the contrast of fluid and percussive movements she used in her performance. I distinctly remember the first time that I saw improv tribal style bellydance. I had been dancing for about a year with the Goddess Dancing in Boston and was participating in their student showcase with the rest of my cabaret class. I had never seen tribal bellydance before, so I watched Tassellations dress rehearsal and was in total awe of how powerful and graceful their movements were and how much fun they seemed to be having dancing together. I must have asked Zia about a million questions afterwards -- "You make it up? Seriously, every time it is different? You use cues to choreograph as you go? Does that really work?" It pretty well blew my mind, and I knew I'd have to try it for myself.

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class?
My roommate practically dragged me to my first class, and I've been hooked ever since.

Student Spotlight: Jonobie Ford

Please welcome Jonobie to the spotlight! A voracious student of dance and a courageously creative spirit, Jonobie has been dancing up a storm in 2012 and now on into 2013. Let's see what she has to say about her dance journey so far.
 
Name: Jonobie Ford 
Age: 36
Profession: Senior Program Manager at Microsoft. Program Managers design features for Microsoft products and lead teams of developers and testers to create those features.
Hobbies: Bellydance, obviously. Crafts in general; my obsession of the moment is brewing beer. I also love to travel.
How long have you been studying bellydance: Three years of lessons, with two of those years of lessons about 15 years ago.

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?
I think the first time I saw it, I didn't realize it was bellydance. I grew up watching the original Star Trek series and it had a couple of bellydancers in different episodes. (Anyone remember the green lady?)

The time I really discovered it was going to a Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) event -- I had been doing Italian Renaissance dance and on a whim went to a Middle Eastern class at a dance event. I was so captivated by how the teacher's hips seemed totally disconnected from the rest of her body! It was so amazing, fabulous, and different than the ballet and tap I'd done before. I was so used to dance being entirely arms and legs with a straight middle. I was just in awe of what she could do with her middle section.

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class?
Pretty immediately after that SCA event, I found a dancer in Columbus (Shakira) to take lessons from. I'm so lucky because she was pretty much the only game in town at the time, but is a fantastic teacher and dancer.

What was your first class like?
I remember being surprised it was in someone's house (I'd only ever taken dance in studios before) and taught by someone who was older than 20 and heavier than 105 lbs. Having grown up thinking that Balanchine's dancers were the model of "real dancers", it was so amazing and eye opening to learn from someone who was a professional dancer that didn't fit that mold. The hard part was my body didn't easily do hip and rib movements because I'd spent so much time dancing and holding that section rigid while moving my arms and legs. It took a while to break out of that.

In what ways do you think you have changed or benefited as a result of taking bellydance classes?
I'm not far off from the "ballet body type", but am enough off to have always noticed the ways I don't measure up to a Balanchine dancer. (People are sometimes surprised that as a thin girl, I have body image issues. Trust me, we all do.) I love that it is a total nonissue what my shape is for bellydance. I love that I use muscles I don't use elsewhere, and that when I do bellydance, I feel incredibly grounded. Given how much of my work is in my head, I love doing something that's so body-focused during my time off. There's something about the moves that feel really good when I get it right.

What is your favorite move or concept you have learned so far and why?
I really like Arabic and body wave -- they just feel fun to do. I'm sure, though, that once I nail the 3/4 shimmy that will be my favorite move. I really want to get that one because it looks like absolute magic when someone does it.

Any advice for other students who are just starting out?

Two things: One, remember it takes 10,000 hours to attain mastery of something. That's MORE than a year if you did it every hour of every day! But it doesn't take mastery to feel like you're making progress -- if you really want to learn a move, just spend 5 minutes a day every day practicing it. You'll notice you shoot ahead in class.

Also, if you love the dance and want to get  better, consider taking classes from multiple teachers. Preferably with different styles. It's amazing to me how many options are available out here on the West coast. Sometimes you'll learn one thing really well from one person, and another thing from someone else. I still have the voices of different teachers in my head for different moves.

Any other thoughts to share?
I recently read The Little Book of Talent by Daniel Coyle. There are a lot of suggestions there that are suited perfectly to dance. If you're interested in getting better, I highly recommend it.

December Student Spotlight - Rebecca Slingwine!

Confession time! Rebecca actually submitted her details for the Student Spotlight back in April of last year. But it got lost in a batch of mails and I never saw it. One day I was talking to her and had assumed she had already been in the spotlight. She told me she had submitted but never was featured and always wondered why. Aw! I am a big old JERK!

Rebecca was a member of Nomaditude, the student troupe, and an assistant teacher at Deep Roots for a while. In the time since she wrote this, she graduated from the University of Washington, and she has gotten engaged and head off to Florida to attend graduate school--we miss her terribly! We are looking forward to seeing her when she visits at Christmastime, and in honor of her visit home I am putting her in the December Student Spotlight. Remember, her answers are a year and a half old now (I AM a big old jerk!), and Rebecca, feel free to write in the comments any changes since, or any observations as you look back and read about yourself from over a year ago. See? Now it's a FEATURE!

Name: Rebecca Slingwine
Age: 22
Profession: Research Assistant at the University of Washington (I do science)
Hobbies: Horseback riding, reading, video games, tabletop roleplaying, and of course bellydance!
How long have you been studying bellydance: Two years, with a break last summer for studying for my MCAT.

November Student Spotlight - Sara!

The Student Spotlight is back! It took a short hiatus this summer, but now it's time to revisit some stories from dancers just like you. Enjoy!

Name: Sara Thueringer
Profession: Content Project Manager at WildTangent Games
Hobbies: knitting, computer gaming, reading (I heart my Kindle!) , killin' it on the drums in Rock Band
How long have you been studying bellydance? about six years

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?
The first time I really remember seeing live belly dance was at a press release party for the computer game Guild Wars: Nightfall thrown by ArenaNet (a local game studio here in the Seattle/Bellevue area).  The game is set in an African inspired setting, and to add some "spice" to the party, they had three cabaret bellydancers.  They all had such grace and confidence, with radient smiles!

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class?
I had always been interested in dance, but never had a chance to actually explore it when I was younger.  After attending that party, I started talking with one of my friends who was taking classes with Aleli.  With her encouragement, I started taking the intro level classes with her.

What was your first class like?
Intimidating!  All of these lovely ladies!  But also exhilerating.  After a year of folkloric and cabaret, I decided that tribal was the place for me, and found Shay's classes through the first Cues and Tattoos.  It was scary to show up to that first class not knowing anybody, but I felt like I finally found something that fit ME.

In what ways do you think you have changed or benefited as a result of taking bellydance classes?
So many ways!  I've developed some amazing friendships, grown in my self-confidence and self-esteem (I used to be much, much more shy), as well as physically improving my body.  Dancing has been the best therapy I've found for reducing my chronic back pain.

What is your favorite move or concept you have learned so far and why?
Anything slow, gooey and chewy.  Something you can really sink into: physically, mentally and musically.  It makes me feel powerful, strong, and yes, sexy!

Any advice for other students who are just starting out?
Show up to class every week!  Everyone feels awkward in something. 
Don't compare yourself to others in the class: what comes naturally to you will not be the same as them, and vice versa. 
Set goals for yourself, and do them! 
Smile!  Laugh!


Sara is a member of Deep Roots Dance advanced student troupe, Nomaditude, and has been dancing with us for many years. Thanks, Sara, for sharing your thoughts with us!

February Student Spotlight: Alexis!

Name:  Alexis Chase (Lexie for short)
Age:  30
Profession:  Senior Business Analyst
Hobbies:  Reading, writing, knitting, sewing, running, dancing, meditation, cooking
How long have you been studying bellydance:  4 months

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?  

This is a little embarrassing, but I used to watch “I Dream of Jeannie” on Nick at Nite with my dad and that was my first exposure to belly dancing. As a wee little kid, I thought it as just a fun way to shake all your parts and look pretty doing it.

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class?  

I’d been threatening to take classes with Shay for many years, but always claimed I was too busy. The truth was, I was not comfortable in my own skin and I let it hold me back (don’t do this, ladies!). Finally though, I decided pull the trigger and now I am wishing I hadn’t waited so long. One of my best decisions of 2011!

January Student Spotlight - Branda

Name: Branda
Age: 35
Profession:  Graphic Artist.  I do custom artwork and design for headstones and monuments.

Hobbies:

Dancing! Painting (other dancers), reading, discovering new (to me) restaurants in Seattle. Dating...well, I'm not getting paid for it so it must be a hobby.  Watching Netflix.  Listening to podcasts while I work...I currently love Stuff You Should Know. 

How long have you been studying bellydance?

I took my first class in 1999, and have been sporadically dancing ever since. I just started learning tribal bellydance with Sharon around May of 2011.  Before this my experience has been with Egyptian/cabaret bellydancing.  Tribal is quite different from Cabaret and I find myself starting completely from the beginning and re-learning everything I knew.  It's hard to be a beginner again but I love the challenge.  Regularly learning new things keeps me inspired. 

Deep Roots Dance Student Spotlight - Molly Price

Name: Molly Price
Age: 38
Profession: paralegal and yoga instructor
Hobbies: besides dancing, voracious reading, learning to sew, and yoga, yoga, yoga.
How long have you been studying bellydance: Almost 1 and 1/2 years.

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions? 
My earliest memory of bellydance was at about 4 years old when my mom signed up for classes.  I remember she kept her zils in a special box and I would sneak into it and bellydance in my own little kid way, erratically clanging the zils together.

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class? 
For years I had been curious about bellydance.  One day I saw a classified ad on my neighborhood blog, I had always wanted to try bellydance and the classes were starting up soon, so I registered.

What was your first class like?
My first class was like my first yoga class, it was a “YES!” moment, like coming home.  Even though a lot of the movements were almost the antithesis to my ballet movement vocabulary and I felt kind of awkward, I knew I was in love.  I’ve been hooked ever since!

In what ways do you think you have changed or benefited as a result of taking bellydance classes?
I've definitely become more appreciative of my body and what it is capable of, even if I don't get something right away it's always fun trying. 

What is your favorite move or concept you have learned so far and why? 
There are so many moves I love but I really enjoy  the Moroccan Hip Hop because it's sassy and so much fun to do.

Any advice for other students who are just starting out?
In the words of Lady Gaga “just dance!”  (Sorry, I had to say it!) But seriously, just dance and have fun, enjoy your path as a dancer. 

Any other thoughts to share?
Every day I'm thrilled to be involved in this passionate, fun, and diverse bellydance community that we have in Seattle.  I’m so happy to have found Shay's classes too, I really connect to her clear, concise, and often hilarious way of explaining movement and technique.

Aw thanks, Molly. I'm so glad you found our classes and am pleased to have you as a part of our dance family!

Want to be in the Student Spotlight?  With the spotlight, we really want to highlight the unique and incredible women who are drawn to ATS, and inspire other women to see that everyone is welcome to join in the joy of tribal bellydance!  So please, get in touch, hop in the spotlight, and spread the love.

Deep Roots Dance Student Spotlight - Meera Mittal

Name: Meera Mittal

Age: 23

Profession: Social worker

Hobbies: salsa dancing, painting, hiking, fishing, cooking, reading

How long have you been studying bellydance: about 3 years 

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?

I had not really seen bellydance before my first class.  Once I started classes, we would sometimes watch instructional and performance dvd’s of different groups.  My first impressions of it were that it was beautiful and strong, sometimes sensual and very grounded.  I was impressed by the confidence that exuded from the dancers. 

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class?

I wanted to try a new dance form and it was offered at my university.  It just sounded like fun!

Student Spotlight - Brandy Foltz

Name:  Brandy Foltz
Age: 33
Profession: Bank Teller, mom, wife & rockstar
Hobbies: singing/songwriting, spending time with friends, dancing, and crafting
How long have you been studying bellydance? 3 months

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?

I don't remember the first time I saw bellydance but I remember that I loved watching it from that first moment and so badly wanted to dance with them.

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class?

I've wanted to learn for years but I don't like trying new things by myself. A friend of mine mentioned that she was taking a bellydance class and out of curiosity I asked about it and she told me that I should come dance with her. She's been to one class and I'm still dancing...

Student Spotlight - Arya Pretlow

Name:  Arya Pretlow
Age: 35
Profession: Yoga Instructor, Doula, and midwifery student
Hobbies: knitting, sewing, cooking, reading, dancing, blogging
How long have you been studying bellydance? since Fall of 2009

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?

I first saw American Tribal Style bellydance when a friend invited me to a local hafla, maybe five years ago. I was enamored with the costuming, the camaraderie (both on-stage and in the audience), the pageantry and the talent that I saw. As a feminist I was particularly interested in the art form as an apparently “uniquely female” demonstration of strength, grace, and embodiment.

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class?

A couple of years ago I realized that I really missed dancing. I'd danced in one form or another my whole life until my late twenties. I filled my time with other activities, but I felt a sense of loss that I connected to the lack of dancing in my life. In spired by the hafla I remembered, and wanting to connect with other women, I started researching local classes. I feel it was serendipity that I chose classes with Shay to get me reconnected with dance.

DTBD Student Spotlight - Jenna

Name:  Jenna (Brenna Glenna*)
Age: 32
Profession:  Speech-Language Pathologist
Hobbies:  tribal bellydance addict, singer, musical theater aficionado, amateur foodie, coffee fiend, snowboarder, shoe-hunter, and rabid roller derby fan
How long have you been studying bellydance: First class and first attempted shimmy: January 2010

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?

To be honest, I had never been particularly interested in bellydance, it conjured images of slinky veiled olive-skinned beauties in
outrageously bespangled bedlah sets. As much as I enjoy ridiculous amounts of sparkle (and I do), my previous notions of bellydance were,
while impressive, not for me. Then a friend encouraged me to study ATS. That first YouTube video of Nomaditude completely changed my mind
about bellydance, as well as my thoughts about my potential to participate. It was interesting and beautiful and extraordinary and also approachable!

Student Spotlight - Jeni Bonano

Name:  Jeni Bonanno
Age: 45
Profession:  Legal Assistant/Paralegal
Hobbies:  Movies, tattoos, art, music, fashion, traveling, shopping, and bellydancing

When did you first see bellydance? What were your first impressions?

I first saw it on TV and thought it was beautiful and sensual.

What motivated you to finally take your first bellydance class?

I saw a listing on My Ballard blog for a bellydance class and thought that it would be a fun and challenging thing to try…. and it certainly is challenging!