D – “ I found American Tribal style Bellydance about 12 years ago in Wollongong with my teacher Jacqueline. I fell in love with it and studied it intensively. I danced with them (Tribal Jewels) for about several years and they’re still going in Wollongong. I then moved to Sydney to dance with Urban Qabila and then collaborated with a Deb. We were called Musa and from there I moved to Melbourne where I did a little dancing. I decided to move to Lismore in 2010 to do Primary teaching and to teach dance. I started classes in South Lismore and in Byron as well. I was also teaching from my lounge room and taught from there for years. One day I received an email from someone very keen to do classes and that was Sasha. Sasha started in about 2011 and she fell in love with it. She did privates for nearly a year. We became really good friends and she did all the graphic design and promotion for the troupe as well so was a lot more involved that way in running the business.”
S – “I was searching the internet for gypsy dancing and I found Danielle was 5 minutes from where I lived so I messaged her immediately. We still have those first texts, we were all very polite (laughs). The style is what I wanted to learn and I connected straight away with Dan. I knew it was something I wanted to be involved in, not just classes and performing but I wanted to grow the business. I got to the point where I started teaching kids classes and our space was too small for what we wanted to do including events. So we decided to try and find a studio together.”
D – “I was doing family day care as well which Sasha’s daughter came to and I did a lot of bellydancing at day care as well with the kids. Sasha’s daughter has been dancing for 4 years now and she’s only 6. We found a space that we loved in the middle of town but someone else got it and we were devastated. Sasha found this place and we checked it out, I was flying out to America to do some training with some master teachers there the next day. We loved this space. It was just carpet originally. We took the space and a team of dancers and friends painted it. Sasha’s partner made all the cutouts above the windows. It’s been a family, friend and
community effort.”
S – “We run nine classes here and we hold events, dinner, shows and performances. It’s set up all the time ready to go. One of our dancer’s husband payed for the wood on the stage.”
D – “My parents contributed to the main timber flooring. Our partners and Laura provided all the labour.”
S – “It’s become a nice little hub for the parents and dancers alike.”
D – “We have another Art, Wine and Bellydance night on the 20th August starting at 7pm and we have Serena Joy the Flamenco dancer performing as well. We perform and pose for people to draw, paint or photograph. Similar to Dr Sketchies.”