Each month, we feature an interview with a Bright Star World Dance student, who shares with us their own unique experiences in dance.
June 2016 Student Spotlight: Christi R. – Belly Dance Student
Q: What do you study at Bright Star?
Portland Maine belly dance student Christi R
A. I study belly dancing with both Rosa Noreen and Heather Powers.
Q: What drew you to Bright Star?
A. My dear friend Jerusha fell in love with Bright Star and told me all about it.
I was apprehensive – fearing I could injure my back more – but after reading more about belly dance (a dance form I knew nothing about) and visiting the studio’s website, I made the leap and joined Rosa’s beginner class with several friends.
Q: What do you enjoy about your teacher’s class?
A. The classes are held in a positive and safe space. I don’t feel self-conscious and the teachers put me at ease. Classes are challenging and really focus on craft, understanding culture, and your own feeling of happiness as a dancer.
Q: How did dance come into your life?
A. My mom loved to dance and took classes into adulthood. When I was three years old, she took me to my first class and all throughout my childhood years I took ballet, tap, and jazz.
I’ve had a number of back injuries since, and re-starting dance was a very big deal for me. I’d seen back surgeons, PTs, doctors, and more; been told I’ll need extensive surgeries and could wind up not walking someday. I developed deep distrust with my own body, fearing any physical activity.
Portland Maine belly dance student Christi R
After working with an incredible PT at Wildwood Medicine, I’ve avoided all surgery and have started to regain trust. Dancing at Bright Star has allowed me to be more in-tune with my body and to rid myself of the fear of getting hurt through physical activity.
Q: From your experience, what would be helpful for a new dance student to know?
A. Belly dance is not at all what you expect. It’s taught me so many things about my body. It’s important to know that classes are intimate and made up of dancers from all walks of life. And new dancers should make that the leap – participate in the recitals! They’re so much fun!
Join Christi–check out Rosa & Heather’s classes at Bright Star World Dance. Visit our website at www.brightstarworlddance.com for all of the info!
Each month, we feature a Bright Star teacher and student pair, who share with us their own special experiences in dance.
Teacher Spotlight: Joanne Rawlings-Sekunda – American Tribal Style Belly Dance
Thursdays, 6:15-7:15 PM – Fall Classes start September 17, 2016
Q. What’s your movement background?
Portland Maine belly dancer Joanne Rawlings-Sekunda in performance
A. I started dancing in the ’90s as a way to cope with the heaviness of caring for my husband during a major episode of mental illness. In the dance studio, I had to be completely focused; it was a mini-vacation from the anxiety dominating my life. My first dance-love was hip hop; I studied with Missy Cloutier and Vick Perreault for 14 years.
I was first captivated by a belly dance performance about 10 years ago at the Maine Festival at Thomas Point Beach, but it took a couple years for classes to fit into my schedule. I’ve had the pleasure of studying with many of Maine’s most graceful dancers, with Jeanne Handy, Emma Holder, and Rosa Noreen as my primary teachers.
I stumbled onto my primary form of dance — American Tribal Style bellydance — through a workshop hosted by [local teacher] Emma [Holder]. Since ATS is group improv, Emma suggested forming a practice group. Eventually Jan Hanseth studied enough independently to start teaching our practice group and others. I studied with Jan until she moved to San Francisco in 2011 to study with FatChanceBellyDance (she’s now a FCBD studio teacher). That fall, I joined the newly formed Sisters of the Sun tribal belly dance troupe, and I’ve been living the dream ever since.
ATS wasn’t love-at-first-dance for me — I struggled for a long time with the precision needed to keep my movements synchronized with other dancers. It was when I knew enough to be able to really dance with the music that I fell in love. But from the beginning, I was hooked on the camaraderie — dancers being dependent on each other to get the job done creates a special bond. That’s why I’m addicted to ATS now, and want to do whatever I can to see it continue in Maine.
Q. How does dance complement your life?
A. A couple thoughts:
Portland Maine American Tribal Style belly dance teacher Joanne Rawlings-Sekunda
1 – When I was younger, I prized my intellect and pretty much ignored my body. Dance has taught me about integrating the two. I no longer believe that the body houses the soul — the body IS the soul just as much as thoughts and emotions are. It’s all one – indivisible. This may be a no-brainer to some, but it took me a long time to discover.
2 – Music has always been a big part of my life. While singing uses my lungs and throat and brain, dancing gets the whole body involved — arms and legs and hands and hips. Embodying music through dance can be an ecstatic experience, and I can always use more ecstasy in my life. Add the ability to share that experience with other dancers, and on occasion being able to see people smile and clap along as they watch us perform — that’s euphoria.
Q. What’s your favorite kind of student?
A. Perseverant. ATS has a steep learning curve, and it’s easy to get intimidated or frustrated as you’re learning. You need stick-to-it-ness to get to the place where you can really have fun with it.
Joanne teaches American Tribal Style Belly Dance at Bright Star World Dance on Thursdays at 6:15 PM. Visit our website at http://brightstarworlddance.com/ to learn more! Student Spotlight: Joan Lawton – Belly Dance
Q. What do you study at Bright Star?
A. I’m currently practicing American Tribal Style Belly Dance and have studied this and cabaret style belly dance since Bright Star World Dance Studio was established.
Q. What drew you to Bright Star?
Portland Maine belly dance student Joan L.
A. The staff at Bright Star offers top notch instruction, and opportunities to perform at what ever level you are comfortable with. In addition, it’s an exciting place with plenty of events and workshops to keep you energized and involved!
Q. How did dance come into your life?
A. I would suggest that it is important to remember we all started out beginners at one time, and we all learn at a different pace. So be gentle with yourself, follow your heart and you will succeed.
Q. From your experience, what would you want a new dance student to know?
A. In high school I was involved in sports, as well as movement and dance that involved some degree of technique like ballet. Since then I have continued this practice, incorporating my love of music and movement to it.
Belly dancer Joie Grandbois with drummer Stephen Carpenter. Photo by Jon Reece.
I have always had a love of movement and as many young girls did I studied tap, jazz and ballet until I early teens. While I loved each of these forms of dance and continued to study various types dance as an adult it was not until I was in my early thirties that I discovered belly dance.
I often say I came to the world of belly dance through the side door of raqs gothique, or gothic belly dance. I had seen belly dance performances many times before and enjoyed them, but it was not until I saw a performance by the woman who would become my first teacher, Aepril Schaile, that I truly fell in love with it. It was the theatricality and dramatic style of the performance that spoke to me and my inner storyteller.
I immersed myself in raqs gothique for several years and began also to study other styles of the dance including cabaret, Turkish and fusion through classes and countless numbers of workshops. Today I blend these styles with a variety of theatrical improvisational techniques and the skills I have learned as a street performer to create theatrical belly dance performance.
Q. How does dance complement your life?
Portland Maine belly dance teacher Joie Grandbois with her students
A: I call myself many things – writer, musician, artist, dancer…but the one word than encompasses all of these is storyteller. Whatever medium I am using I seek to bring to life the character that I feel is present in a particular creative work. Some of these characters express themselves in words, others in rhythm, some in paint but there are many who have a voice that can only be expressed through movement. Whether the character’s story is my own, inspired by a piece of music or an interpretation of a long told myth, dance is the channel through which they are brought to life.
Dance is also a very personal form of expression for me. We’ve all had those moments when, in a time of pain, we play a sad song knowing that it will make us cry; we want to let it all out but we seem unable to do it on our own. There have been times in my life that dance has been that sad song and it was the only way that I could express a great grief, or joy, or sadness. Whether in the privacy of my own living room or sharing a performance on the stage, dance enables me to be present, raw, vulnerable, and strong all at once.
Q. What’s your favorite kind of student?
A: Theatrical dance is about stage performance but it is just as much, if not more so, about connecting with your own dance voice. Finding and connecting with that voice requires a willingness to take risks, to explore, and to make mistakes. It also requires a safe space in which to do this exploration.
And so while I could say that my favorite kind of student is one who is willing take risks, explore and make mistakes, I think it is much more important that I create a space in which in which my students feel safe in embarking on this exploration.
Joie Grandbois teaches Theatrical Belly Dance at Bright Star World Dance on Thursdays at 7:30 PM. Her classes will resume in February 2016, when she returns from a Semester at Sea!
She is also the director of vaudeville group Dark Follies, which just won the Phoenix Best Of Portland awards!
Student Spotlight: Michelle L. – Theatrical Belly Dance & ATS
Q. What do you study at Bright Star?
Portland Maine belly dance student Michelle L.
A. I have been studying ATS steady for approximately three years with various ATS trained teachers. ATS provides structure, endurance and sense of belonging in my dance. Most recently I have joined Theatrical Belly Dance with Joie Grandbois to learn the dramatics of the dance. Joie is very talented at foreseeing the needs and the cultivation of her students. Joie also provides an opportunity along with Steven Carpenter, to learn and apply the rhythms of Middle Eastern music to your dance, which is a huge benefit to understanding the mechanics of belly dance.
Q. What drew you to Bright Star?
Familiar faces and the desire to be a part of and support my local belly dance community. My need and love of dance is my soul motivator!!
Q. How did dance come into your life?
My love of dance was inherited from my dear mother. Due to a tight budget growing up, I was never formally trained in dance. I learned the art of free style dancing from watching Soul Train and American Band Stand.
Q. From your experience, what would you want a new dance student to know?
Never give up trying to find your place in dance. I have struggled a lot finding myself and the style of dance that fits my needs and personality. At one time or another, I have studied with most teachers in the Portland dance community. I have learned something from each of them that I carry with me today. Each teacher has helped to develop my own eclectic style of dance that fits my skills, ability and personality. And for that, I thank each of you!
Bright Star World Dance 