Name: Alissa
What is your role within the Sahara Dance community? SA, Student
Childhood ambition: To always be a little girl and have fun, and I feel most like a little girl when I dance.
First job: Shredding papers at my mother’s job, but my first real job with a W-2 was being a handy woman for a local boys and girls club. A couple of my class mates, shop teacher and I converted an old auto shop classroom to a club for kids to hang out after school.
What’s playing on your iPod or CD player? Well currently it is old and new performance songs, as well as music for the party I am hosting. I also have an audio book and work music which mimics the mood I am in (currently a lot of hard rock).
Indulgence: I love my sweets. Marshmallow, chocolate, candy and nugget. Then to balance it all out I also like to dance everywhere (even at the privacy of my desk at my job).
What’s your favorite belly dance moment or experience? When I am freely dancing and transition fluidly from one dance move into another. I don’t even think about the next move my body just goes with the flow and I feel such a thrill.
Current inspirations: Specific a shows or choreographic or moments in dancing that get me inspired. Here are some of my Sahara dance moments:
- Elysa telling us to feel our butts to make sure they are loose while we shimmy in B1
- Pam and her prop performances at Casablanca, graceful and dangerous
- Coleen in her white top and flowing white skirt, especially when I saw her give her all on stage and then let it all out afterward in the wings
- Monica’s all-that-jazz choreography: it was fun and something I wanted to do (I love musicals).
- Eshta dancing to Grunge
- Jen and her idea of free movement in belly dancing
- Ebony’s unique choreographies and attention to detail
- Leila very helpful reminding me of posture and arms
- Laura F, teaching us the caho (an open legged maya) and hearing her Tahitian umies ;)
- Melissa’s translation/ transition of salsa to belly dancing and belly dance to salsa. She reinforces the idea of taking what you know and converting to belly dance, while at the same time using your non-belly dance steps as extra seasoning
- Chiaki’s fire goddess performance. I could see her express her subtle sensuality, power and gracefulness
- Rachel dancing in class. She makes the moves look effortless, defined , graceful and fun
What is your dance background? Wanting to learn how to dance I took ballet, tap and jazz in 4th grade and preformed at a recital. Later I sang and tapped danced in 3 musicals during my high school years. I have also taken 1 free belly dance class in college, 3 free swing dancing classes since 2000, and a year’s worth of salsa dancing, which I can still do today.
Being at Sahara Dance since 2007, I have learned more than just belly dancing and have enjoyed new experiences in all my classes — Laura F’s hula belly dance class, Coleen’s theatrical expressive workshop and Ebony’s freeing urban classes.
How did you get interested in belly dance? I have always enjoyed moving my hips and realized that there are a couple of dance genres that focus on it: salsa, hula and belly dancing. Finally realizing this in 2000 I made it a casual goal to learn how to dance sexy with my hips, but without over doing it.
Growing up in DE, I was only introduced to belly dancing through the one Moroccan restaurant, where I saw the dancers and was inspired to dance (but I was too shy). The memory lingered, and when I mentioned my 3 hip moving dance genres, a former coworker/ current Sahara Dance dancer suggested that I take classes. She said Sahara Dance classes are “more than just a booty shaking class,” and with her holding my hand I signed up for classes.
Finally, what do you love most about Sahara Dance (other than Hip Talk, of course!)? The things I have learned and the great people I have met. It will be impossible to replace and find anything we have here at Sahara Dance. ^_^
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