Interview with Asia

February 19, 2010 09:01 AM

Name: Asia

What is your role within the Sahara Dance community? Student

Childhood ambition: I wanted to be a NASA astrophysicist for the longest… I would also daydream about what would happen if I could one day find a way to intersect 3 dimensional objects with 4 dimensional objects. (I know, I know, a real dorkish thing but…) I also use to think I was going to invent a lot of stuff. You know what? I still think about it on occasion. I wanted to invent a new and improved ketchup packet…

First job: Zajacks’s Pharmacy at age 17. I really hated that job too because the manager was really creepy. I would have to take medication to this one guy in particular who lived above the pharmacy. He would snatch the package like a Gremlin or something from me and utter unintelligible words. It was like the heavens opened up when I was allowed to quit.

What’s playing on your iPod or CD player? I like a variety of music. The last song I listened to was one of Will Downing’s old jams… the remake to “Wishing on a Star”. Last week I was jamming to some old 80s music like “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. Right now I am on this love song kick…

Indulgence: Lately I have really been into taking piano lessons. I feel bad for my teacher though because I am only a level 2, but hey, I can dream of being great right? Sometimes he laughs at me… is he allowed to do that? My goal is to be able to play songs from the musical West Side Story. Also I love watching HGTV in the wee hours of the AM.

What’s your favorite belly dance moment or experience? I’ve had several… One of them was the first time someone came up to me and said “Hey girl! Where have you been?” after I missed a week. That was the first time I actually felt part of the Sahara Dance community… like it was some sort of secret society or something. My other favorite belly dance moment was learning how to 3/4 shimmy on the first try. I smiled the entire class… SERIOUSLY.

Current inspirations: I like to watch Sadie perform drum solos on You Tube (like some sort of cyber stalker). She has great facial expression and I love the way she isolates.

What is your dance background? In front of my mirror. As a child, all of us cousins would get together and make up a dance routine for no reason at all.

How did you get interested in belly dance? There was this woman a few years back on a project I was working on…she would always have these pretty hip scarves pinned up in her working area. So I asked her if she was from southwest or southeast Asia. She laughed at me and responded with a no but told me about belly dancing. I would sort of kind of stalk her throughout the week for a year and just ask her the same questions over and over again. She just kept encouraging me to take a class. So about 2 years later, I got up the nerve to sign up for a class. I have been hooked since… borderline junkie. When I switched to Sahara after about 6 months, I signed up for as many classes my schedule could handle.

Finally, what do you love most about Sahara Dance (other than Hip Talk, of course!)? It is a real treat to get to meet women from various walks of life who come together to share in this wonderful art form. Everyone who is there enjoys belly dancing and getting to appreciate her own body. It’s nice too because the only thing that matters is just being in the moment.

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