I thought it'd be nice for each of us to share a story about Carolena, for with all this talk going around, some folks (maybe even the Big C herself) feel that we've forgotten that she deserves our honor and respect, for she is the teacher to whom all our lineages reach.
This idea occured to me after I wrote to Heather and shared with her the story of my first meeting with Carolena; here's the story I told:
> I first met Carolena in 2002 in TX where I
> attended a workshop, which, naturally,
> culminated in a show, which, naturally,
> culminated in an afterparty. When we walked in--
> I can't remember if Meg came to the afterparty
> or not....maybe she went back to the room to
> freshen up first?--I saw Carolena and Jesse
> sitting at a table all by themselves, so I asked
> if we could join them. They graciously said yes.
> We had drinks, and Carolena lit up a cigarette,
> which I was tickled to see. Lots of dancers came
> by the table, which in my memory was in the
> center of the room and lit from above, such that
> it seemed to be the center of the universe.
>
> Lots of dancers came by to bow at the feet of
> their guru--and lest anyone take that the wrong
> way, let me be clear: I believe in bowing at the
> feet of one's gurus in honor of them and their
> wisdom. Many offered praise for the show FC had
> put on and for the knowledge they'd shared at
> the workshop. After about 20 or so people, I
> asked Carolena how it felt to be put on so high
> a pedestal. What she said next, I'll never
> forget. She said,--and I'm quoting from memory,
> so--She said, What people say about me, the
> show, or the workshop, ultimately isn't about
> me. It's about the experience that the dance has
> given them. If I tell them that the show didn't
> go as planned or that I'm not everything they
> think, I detract from their experience. I steal
> their experience from them.
>
> She gave me cold chills. It was then and there
> that I knew that Carolena was in fact worthy of
> whatever pedestal I'd put her on, that she was a
> role model worth looking up to, and that she was
> a Teacher with a capital T.
I'd love to hear others Big C stories, too.
love.
ali
This idea occured to me after I wrote to Heather and shared with her the story of my first meeting with Carolena; here's the story I told:
> I first met Carolena in 2002 in TX where I
> attended a workshop, which, naturally,
> culminated in a show, which, naturally,
> culminated in an afterparty. When we walked in--
> I can't remember if Meg came to the afterparty
> or not....maybe she went back to the room to
> freshen up first?--I saw Carolena and Jesse
> sitting at a table all by themselves, so I asked
> if we could join them. They graciously said yes.
> We had drinks, and Carolena lit up a cigarette,
> which I was tickled to see. Lots of dancers came
> by the table, which in my memory was in the
> center of the room and lit from above, such that
> it seemed to be the center of the universe.
>
> Lots of dancers came by to bow at the feet of
> their guru--and lest anyone take that the wrong
> way, let me be clear: I believe in bowing at the
> feet of one's gurus in honor of them and their
> wisdom. Many offered praise for the show FC had
> put on and for the knowledge they'd shared at
> the workshop. After about 20 or so people, I
> asked Carolena how it felt to be put on so high
> a pedestal. What she said next, I'll never
> forget. She said,--and I'm quoting from memory,
> so--She said, What people say about me, the
> show, or the workshop, ultimately isn't about
> me. It's about the experience that the dance has
> given them. If I tell them that the show didn't
> go as planned or that I'm not everything they
> think, I detract from their experience. I steal
> their experience from them.
>
> She gave me cold chills. It was then and there
> that I knew that Carolena was in fact worthy of
> whatever pedestal I'd put her on, that she was a
> role model worth looking up to, and that she was
> a Teacher with a capital T.
I'd love to hear others Big C stories, too.
love.
ali
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New Orleans
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Re: The Big C
Tue, August 7, 2007 - 11:25 PMWOW!!!! What a great story Ali! Thanks for sharing.....she is such a class act! I need to gather my wits after that and hopefully I'll have a story to share too......
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Re: The Big C
Wed, August 8, 2007 - 4:47 AMThe first time I saw Carolena was the Tribal Pura in Birmingham right after the hurricane. She gave her advanced floorwork workshop on Sunday. That's probably THE most advanced workshop I've ever taken. I heard she wasn't feeling well that day, but she threw out five turkish drops in a row, sometimes holding the positions for a long time while she was instructing. Hardcore, man, hardcore. Wendy A. started applauding after about the fifth one.
That story, and that video from youtube of her solo from ten years ago are huge motivators in my troupe.
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Re: The Big C
Wed, August 8, 2007 - 6:05 AMAll of this kerfuffle kind of reminds me of the rhetoric after the start of the Iraq war. It was implied that if you were against the war, you were against the troupes and unpatriotic. No, it just meant that you didn't like the war. Just because people have reservations about what Carolena is doing at the moment doesn't mean that they are hostile towards her. I haven't heard anyone slamming her at all, in spite of how some of her devotees might perceive it.
I've never met Carolena personally, but I know she must be a very strong and creative woman to have invented and popularized her own dance style. I imagine meeting her would be very intimidating, rather like meeting Morocco or someone else who had dedicated their lives to their art and took it very seriously! -
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Re: The Big C
Wed, August 8, 2007 - 7:33 AMHere is my Carolena story.
Several years ago, she came to B'ham for a Tribal Pura workshop and performance. The workshops were fantastic - needless to say. I was performing with Gypsy Red Tribe back then, and Ali, I believe N.O. Madic was in town as well. I was a nervous wreck about performing partly because of the GREAT dancers with whom I was to share the stage! And partly because I was nervous. At one point, I walked into the dressing room there stood Carolena. Oh I fumbled and said something stupid...about what an honor it was to meet her, see her dance, etc...That I was a real fan, blah blah, blah. Her face softened, her eyes lit up, and she smiled so genuinely at me. Oh, and then she took a miniature of Jack Daniels out of nowhere, took a swig, and offered it to me. :)
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Re: The Big C
Fri, August 10, 2007 - 9:42 AMCarolena was one of my judges at Belly Dancer of the Universe. All the time I spent preparing for the competition and molding my dance... I would think about her watching me dance, and I wanted to do so well. I've admired her so long, just dancing for her was an honor. When it came time for me to actually step on stage and do the thing... I could see her looking right at me, and the best part was... she didn't have a look on her face of "entertain me". She was calm, unjudgemental, and completely relaxed.
After the competition... I was talking with Sooz, and I turned to her and said "I'll kick myself in the ass, if I don't walk over to Carolena and tell her what she has meant to me". Sooz smiled and said something like "well meet you outside". So, with flowers in my hair and a shyness to my walk... I march right up to her, determinded to give her a complement I had been rehersing for months (just incase. I wanted to be prepared to tell her how I felt).
"May I have a moment of your time"? I asked... she smiled that same warm, unsupposing smile... I said roughly this "you've never met me, but I've been a student of yours for a very long time. I don't have the right words to tell you how much your dancing means to me. I'm am indebt to all your hard work... your dancing has shaped me into the dancer I am today, and I owe you so much more than complements. I've had many influences, but you have been my foundation". I shook her hand, cause I'm old school like that... said "thank you" and I walked away before she could say anything...
I don't usually get nervous, but I don't usually praise someone like that either. I just had to walk away, or I probably would have tried to melt into her. HA! From time to time, our eyes would meet and she would smile at me. It's still one of the coolest things I ever did... dancing for Carolena.
The next day I was blessed to have her as a judge again, and one of the songs I picked was to honor a dance she had done many years before, I wasn't kidding when I told her she had helped shape me and I wanted her to know it... not just hear me say it. I still remember the smile that broke across her face when that song started (it's not a common piece). I'm sure she knew it was no accident... and that I'd choose it out of laLoVe!
When I think back, she never did speak to me, but she didn't have to... nor did I give her the opportunity. How funny I must have been coming up like that, and just turning on my heels and walking away before she could blink... but the thing is, it wasn't about me. I didn't need her to talk to me... I wanted to tell her something. She'd already given me enough.
peace & laLoVe -
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Re: The Big C
Mon, August 13, 2007 - 11:08 AMThe Carolena encounter that meant the most to me was, to echo some of the other tales here, one that had a profoundly private impact on my life and my dancing. By the time n.o.madic came to Birmingham in October of 2004 to study with her, I had already had the pleasure of meeting and studying with Carolena three times - yet it was this experience that sticks out in my mind.
We were in the middle of a workshop at the Devyani studio in Birmingham. It was daytime, the room aglow with autumn sunshine. Carolena was teaching snake arms, and the studio was alive with a thousand undulating arms all trying to mirror hers. She spoke deeply about muscle and tissue while we practiced, and all of a sudden - ZAP - I was transported to a place of intense lucidity. The light in the room took on a different quality, as though it were inside me and yet connecting me directly with my teacher. I felt focused and completely plugged in to something greater than myself, something coming through the body knowledge I was receiving. "Tunnel vision" is the phrase that came to mind. It was a state of being that I was familiar with through my meditation practice, but that I had never reached to that degree in a dance space...particularly in a workshop, and certainly not spontaneously. It felt so joyous and private that I never mentioned it to anyone except Ali.
When I am bogged down by the mundane, this is a memory I resurrect to shock myself back into action. When dance has its dull moments, or I've misplaced the inner fire to fuel my practice, this experience can reignite me. When I forget the common thread that binds my physical and spiritual practices together, when I become complacent and start slipping away from the small actions that lead to major changes, when laziness threatens to devour the knowledge I've gained over the years: I go back to that day to remember what is possible, and where my deeper answers are buried.
More than a workshop, yes. And Carolena was the catalyst. -
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Re: The Big C
Mon, August 13, 2007 - 12:14 PMI met Carolena at the Texas Tribal: Pura workshop.
I had been struggling with a LOT of movements that my then dance partner could do effortlessly. I was in doubt of myself as a dancer at all.
Carolena spoke in the workshop of learning the movements but knowing WHICH moves worked on YOUR body and not every dancer could do each and every move easily. (I'm paraphrasing here). I nearly cried and listening to her describe what muscles should be used and describing posture, I really began to understand ATS.
I don't know if I ever told her how much her teaching meant to me, but the next time I see her, I will! -
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Re: The Big C
Mon, August 13, 2007 - 12:20 PMThese stories have been so moving that when we've collected a good number of them, I'm going to forward them to Carolena, with everyone's permission, of course!
So, if you still have a story to tell and want to put your flower in the bouquet, please add it here.
love.
ali -
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Re: The Big C
Mon, August 13, 2007 - 12:21 PMWhat a lovely idea, Ali.
Thank you!!!! -
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Re: The Big C
Mon, August 13, 2007 - 12:29 PMali
That would be really awesome.... -
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Re: The Big C
Mon, August 13, 2007 - 8:57 PMNot sure if this was the first time I saw/met Carolena, but it was so memorable (and includes Meg before the collaboration with FC). FC came to Houston. I remember the beautiful silk backdrops on the stage. I remember seeing Meg just showing early on in her pregnancy and I remember seeing Carolena instructing and dancing on that raised stage and thinking how tall she was, that is until she stepped down to go through the crowd. I remember that being my first experience with huge chorus lines, there were two back to back in a very large ballroom. I was so impressed that Meg could just get up there and hang with FC even though she lived so far away. Carolena was such a captivating instructor, so eloquent. If I wasn't already in love with the dance, I was after that weekend.
Another fond memory was a pilgramage my troupe used to make to Santa Fe on or near Mother's Day weekend for the FC workshops that were held every year there for several years. Such a beautiful town and always great instruction. So fun to travel there and be around all those women on Mom's Day. I always thought it was so fitting to spend Mother's Day with the Mother of ATS. My mom was so sweet and always encouraged me to go too.
I should also mention that sponsoring Carolena here in Texas was always a dream of mine, one of those things you hope to do in your career. She was as great to work with as I always thought she would be. Thanks Carolena for all these wonderful dance memories!!
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Re: The Big C
Wed, August 15, 2007 - 10:16 AMI think that is a great idea! I was toying with the idea of sending her the link to this thread... but it would be much more fitting coming from the board moderator. Semantic arguments aside... we all adore Carolena.
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Re: The Big C
Sat, August 18, 2007 - 11:05 PMOh gods...I was in such a fan girl state when I first met her (at the first-ever Tribal:Pura in Birmingham) that I don't even remember what I said/did on first meet! I do know that like all good Southern gals, I greeted her with a hug....only to find out later that she wasn't a "huggy" kinda person. (It's apparently a southern thing to do that) I felt so bad about that....but when she was leaving, she very graciously gave me a goodbye hug. (I also had a complete and utter meltdown over a faulty turban in the dressing room because I was so freaked that I was going to be sharing the stage with Carolena!)
Even though I've spent some time with her over the last couple of years, I still turn into a fan-girl geek. And truthfully, probably always will. She is just such an amazing person...she knows her shit and tells it like it is....and is an absolute riot to hang out with. I adore this woman...and I will forever be in debt to Meg for introducing me to this dance and to Carolena. -
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Re: The Big C
Sun, August 19, 2007 - 10:39 AMHa! That's funny! I'm a Southern girl who is not especially huggy! I have to know someone really well and not have seen them in a long time to hug them! I worry that people think I'm cold or stuck up, but well, that's just how I am, like it or not.
I remember several years ago the queen of England came to visit the U.S. and was taken aback when some lady hugged her. I couldn't imagine hugging the queen, or Carolena either for that matter! -
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Re: The Big C
Sun, August 19, 2007 - 11:13 AMI'm the same way... "no huggie"!... Why do people wanna hug so much??? I'm not snobby... I don't think they smell... I just don't like passing out hugs willie-nillie... inviting everyone and their neighbor to come into my personal space. Eep! I'm glad to not be alone with this feeling, the belly community seems to be very hug oriented... "it's the end of the night, start hugging people". NOOOO!! I was beginning to think I was just weird for not being down. It's comforting to know I share this trait with others. Just one more reason for me to admire Carolena. She has her personal space, and tries to keep it that way. Kudos.
...or maybe it's just cause when tribal girls hug, we get tangled? HA!
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