Lisa: How did you get started in dance?
Vanessa: I started in ballet when I was 4
years old. It happened after my parents
had a going away party in Alabama, and
someone gave them a pink and black
striped ballet costume with the tutu that
I would not take off.
When we moved back to Texas, we
didn’t have all the furniture for the entire
house and the den was pretty empty, so it
became my dance room. I got really upset
when they put furniture in there! I would
just dance around that room, and they
thought “we’ve got to put her in dance
class.” I was put into ballet first, and then
later jazz, musical theatre, and tap. As I got older, I became
interested in more different areas and styles of dance.
What happened after high school?
I auditioned for the Dance Dept of Ballet & Modern
Dance at Texas Christian University and was accepted.
My bachelor of fine arts degree is in ballet from TCU. I
worked really hard for that degree – out of 44 that started,
14 of us made it to graduation. (Vanessa graduated from
TCU in May 2000).
After graduating in May, I moved to
NYC in August. I had plans to get
involved with Musical Theatre. In
addition, I had also already started work
in belly dance.
How did you get started in oriental/
belly dance?
When I was 15, I went to Scarborough
Faire (Scarborough Renaissance Festival
in Waxahachie, Texas), and I just loved
it! There were two different groups then
– Miabella and Isis. And, I loved both!! I
went several times, and I just fell in love
with it all! I went back to Scarborough
Faire to see both of them and couldn’t
get enough. So, I got information on classes. I started to
study belly dance with Miabella when I was 16.
I studied with Miabella during Junior and Senior years in
high school, then went on to TCU. I studied intermittently
while in college. In 1998, I auditioned for Byblos and Al Amir
(restaurants) – so I was working various jobs, plus dancing at
restaurants while attending TCU full time. Also during this
time, I was attending seminars – Tambra (of Dallas) brought
in people like Mahmoud Reda, Karen Barbee – and Dalia
Carella of New York, whom I was
lucky enough to get to work with
years later when I moved there.
I would drive to Austin for
Shimmy in the Spring (where I
met Bahaia of Austin), then also
Shake and Bake in Albuquerque
with Amaya in 1996, where I
had the honor of meeting Harry
Saroyan, and was invited to
perform along with some other
dancers for his live show. That
was a great memory! Susu and
the Cairo Cats were playing
some of the shows too, and I was
so impressed to see such a young
and talented musician such as
Susu! We were reacquainted
nearly 20 years later at Yaa Halla
Y’all in 2015!
10
The Belly Dance Chronicles
July 2016