I began taking belly dance lessons in 2004, on the advice of a therapist. I was 54 years old and had no prior dance training. I had spent most of my adult life in academia, first earning a Ph.D. in philosophy at Claremont Graduate University and then working as a freelance copy editor for university presses for nearly 20 years. Whether despite these circumstances or because of them, belly dance captivated me instantly. I'd never known I could move like that. I'd never known I could make feminine art with my body.
My first belly dance teacher was Shahira (Shannon Griffiths), an accomplished performer who offered classes at a community center in my town of Claremont. Those initial lessons were in American cabaret style, as I realized eventually (who knew there were multiple forms of belly dance?). At the urging of some fellow students, I started to take classes in American Tribal Style® belly dance in January 2005. I quickly became obsessed with it. American Tribal Style is an artistic miracle. Its movement blends sensuality with elegant stateliness. Its costuming blends wild gypsy gorgeousness with modesty. For me, American Tribal Style belly dance is the ultimate expression of strong, dignified femininity. It was developed by an artistic genius named Carolena Nericcio, director of FatChanceBellyDance®, in San Francisco, California.
My first ATS® teacher was Kristin Ohman, whose classes I took for over 4 years. For the last two of those years I performed in her advanced/professional troupe, The Blue Stars of Tanit, at belly dance festivals as well as restaurants and other public venues. I then studied with Tribal Sooz (Susie Hall) and performed in her troupe Azuluna for a little over a year. Both of these beautiful ATS dancers are teacher certified by Ms. Nericcio and have FCBD® Sister Studio status. Next I took classes in Los Angeles with former FatChanceBellyDance troupe member Soy Pak from October 2009 until February 2011, when she moved back to the Bay Area. Since then, I've studied with ATS certified teacher Politti Ashcraft, owner of Oasis Dance Studio in Highland, where Carolena Nericcio offers her general skills and teacher training intensives each August.
In addition to regular classes with my teachers, I’ve seized every opportunity to study with Carolena Nericcio herself. I've taken most of the workshops she has given in Southern California since 2005; numerous classes at the FatChanceBellyDance studio in San Francisco; Tribal Pura in Santa Fe in 2006; Carolena's ATS General Skills certification courses in Highland in 2007, 2009, and 2010; her ATS Teacher Training certification courses in Highland in 2009 and San Francisco in 2010 (audit only); and her Teacher Training 2 intensive in San Francisco in 2010. Carolena granted me Sister Studio status in September 2009.
