Dancing with Kathleen

I mentioned that I belly danced.  I know people imagine a sheer outfit with sequins and lots of veils dancing the way people think belly dancers dance.  They also think we should look like belly dancers should look like.  Wrong! 

I started belly dancing in April 2003.  The style that we dance is called American Tribal Bellydance or ATS®️.  Our style is group improvisation meaning we don’t choreograph.  It’s a very strong and empowering dance form. Anyone, no matter what your age, size, gender or ability can learn and dance our style. 

We learn dance steps and cues then basically follow the leader. We can dance the same song over and over and it will never be the same.  It’s organic and fun.  Full of surprises since you literally don’t know what’s going to happen next.  I’ve been teaching classes for 17 years and love it.

A lot of women have come and gone over the last 17 years.  Some of our students have been with us for as long as 14 years, others for 3 + years.  These are the dedicated ones, the ones that were hooked after their first class like I was.  

Our troupe Bennington Beledi Tribal Bellydance is special because our troupe is a sisterhood of dancers.  Dance sisters who have to trust each other since we are dancing improv.  Dance sisters to lift each other up.  Sisters that chose dance moves when they are in the lead spot that make everyone look good.  We Support each other outside of dance as well.  We are very lucky to have this sisterhood. 

We are a multi level troupe which means everyone is at a different stage and ability and it’s your job to remember who you are dancing with.  Everyone progresses at a different rate, so there’s a lot to keep in mind when you you are dancing.  How much do they know, what are they good at and what moves should you not do.  It’s a responsibility and no one leads until they are ready. Our dance form is difficult to learn and even harder to learn to lead with the right cues.  No egos are allowed in our dance studio.  People who have had them didn’t last long. 

Sounds like something fun to be a part of right??  What’s really special is that I have been dancing with my dance partner Kathleen for almost 18 years in August.  Our dance style is practiced world wide, so the amazing thing is we can dance with anyone in the world without rehearsing. 

Kathleen moved to Vermont from California and was pretty surprised to see that a little town like Bennington, VT had ATS®️ Dance.  She had been dancing and performing ATS ®️ for 8 years.  She studied with Fat Chance Belly Dance, where our style of dance originated and was created by a woman named Carolena Nericcio.  Kathleen attended a performance of ours and was able to start dancing with us the following week. 

Kathleen and I are part of the professional dance troupe called The Sahidi Sisters. At one time there were 7 of us. We had tons of gigs and loads of fun. We are the last two Sahidi Sisters standing. We’ve been dancing and performing together as a duet for the last 3 years. 

I get to dance with Kathleen on Monday mornings.  During covid we are keeping up our advanced skills and timing, but mostly we just want to dance our asses off. 

We teach classes on a weekly basis, but covid has changed that.  Our students still do get a chance to dance together via zoom.  I am not a zoom girl, but enjoy having FaceTime dance sessions with some of my students. 

Below is a video of the Sahidi Sisters from 2011. I wanted to share this performance so you can see the magic of 6 women dancing completely improvisational. This is one of my favorite performances.

I can’t even count the amount of gigs we have done over the years, places we have been, hours we’ve danced together, laughed and cried.  We have memories galore, stories to tell and have been through a lot together. 

As dance sisters we can read each other’s minds not only when we dance but when we teach as well. We teach classes together, each of us using our unique strengths to cover different dance moves. 

As people we are complete opposites. Our personalities are extreme opposites.  We both have very big personalities and are big hams when we are performing.  Our past performances are all on our YouTube channel, it’s great that we have them to look back on.  I like to see how much we have improved technique wise.

I can’t wait until Kathleen and I can hold our regular classes again. Without masks or standing 6 feet apart. We want to dance with our students and start rehearsing for things.  I miss all of my dance sisters and never imagined we ever go this long without dancing together.  Belly dance has been such a huge part of my life, I just want this stupid virus to go away already.