She Who Illuminates

Last night I was honored to join a large cast of wonderful dancers and choreographers of all ages as part of the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of 92Y's Harkness Dance Center (where I teach on Fridays). The show, called "From the Horse's Mouth" and directed by Tina Croll and Jamie Cunningham is based on one of my favorite things: storytelling. I so loved all the stories told, the dances performed and costumes worn. Huge thanks to Renata Celichowska, director of the Harkness Dance Center for showcasing bellydance in this and other performances at this venerable institution.

This is the story I told: 

My name is Blanca and I am not supposed to be here tonight. Growing up in Mexico I had one goal in life: to have a baby. It was my sister who had all the talent and interest in dance. She must have been only 13 when she started her own dance company, when with her friends she recreated her teen idols' choreographies, winning local and regional competitions. I was just a little child observing in amazement and cheering her from the stands. It wasn't that I didn't like dance... it just seemed something that only she could do. Plus, I was too busy feeding my doll and changing her diapers.

Once in college, my sister joined a modern dance company. They even choreographed a piece for her. It was called "La Que Ilumina" ("She Who Illuminates") — perhaps in honor of her beautiful golden hair.

It was around that time that something changed for me. My mom took me to Texas where she had to see a doctor. I was lying on the hotel room's bed channel surfing, waiting for my mom to get ready for her appointment. My mom takes forever to get ready so I was beyond bored, going from one TV channel to the next when something amazing appeared on the screen. It was a theater stage and on it a dancer was performing. I had never seen anything like it... her movement, her costume and the music were from a different world... and at the same time it was as if I recognized something so familiar, so mine that in an instant I got up and put myself as close to the TV screen as I could, trying to get inside of it or something.

"I have no idea what that is—I said to myself—but I'm going to do it"

And that was the first of a myriad of twists of fate that turned me into a bellydancer. I now find it funny how the roles have reversed: my sister is home with three beautiful kids and I'm here dancing for you tonight.

I have heard many stories like this. It's almost as if bellydance comes after us... What is YOUR story?

Comments

[Martina]

That was a lovely article .....yes i agree this dance when spoken to us does not go away until it materialises through our body....

I was about 9 when i saw it on television ...i had just caught the end of a show and there was a woman’s body moving so beautifully, her face was not shown. It was like a spell, despite doing my years in Ballet which i loved it was there in the background and i was lucky because when moving to Greece I found tsifteteli (Greek - Turkish bellydance) which was forbidden to me at the time. So my love was a secrete. But it was not until my thirties that I became a Bellydancer....It has been a long journey and so life-changing.

[Blanca]

Martina, I agree... once in love with bellydance, always in love with bellydance :)

[Barbara]

My journey to find the Belly Dancer in me, I truly think, began when I was 4 in my first Modern dance class.
Penny, the teacher, at the then Jean Erdman school of dance began our class with warm ups on the floor, which lead to my favorite part running and leaping across the floor. Then she gave all of us a piece of paper and pencil and said draw a design. Being freely expressive, even at that age ,I drew a very complicated design not knowing what came next. Then Penny said" Now pick your favorite animal and dance your design". I remember the panic and tears as I knew I could never dance that design.
Often during my long dance life I have thought that that design was my long dance/ life journey. After that first class, Ballet, the only dance available locally, became my obsession until college when I found Modern again
During my Modern dance years after I had my 3 children, I had a company named Tanagra Dance Theatre. I made Goddess story themed dances about rites of passage, perfect births, egyptian mysteries,moon rites, Greek Myths, pagans, cave women, nymphs etc, etc but I never knew anything about Oriental, Middle Eastern Belly Dance.
When I discovered the amazing ' World of Belly Dance " I was so confused about it .I didn't know how a college BFA dancer could have missed the vocabulary etc
8 yrs later I'd say it's been the least likely thing I expected to be doing, the most amazing dance/ life journey I could have imagined, and what I know about my two very different dance worlds is that they share one thing in common " To be really good, you have to work really hard"
Next weekend my beautiful friend Blanca ( one of the many wonderful people I have met along the Belly Dance trail) will be dancing/ teaching in my Tiverton, RI Dancing Spirit Studio studio with another amazing dancer Ayshe. If you are near by let me/ us know
Thanks Blanca for the blog
Love Barbara www.thedancingspirit.com