Driana Kai on Finding the Joy
By Nerissa
Driana Kai Avilla has been there and done that. She's studied in New York with Morocco and her very first bellydance teacher was in California, Jamilah Salimpour -- Suhaila's mother and Rhea's first teacher. Driana has even taught English, art and math to both elementary school children and college students and is currently the co-owner of a store Hampden as well as a fine artist.
But at the end of the day when Driana want to speak to her heart, she reaches for her hip belt and turns up the CD player.
"To me, bellydancing is straight joy," she said. "I think bellydance has spiritual meaning for me - there are different forms of meditation and connecting spiritually. Movement takes me into a spiritual space. It's different when I do choreography - but when I'm just working on bellydance movement on its own, it helps ground me physically and spiritually."
Dancing found Driana in 1997 at her local health club in Santa Rosa. She was walking around the corner and saw a flyer for beginner classes. At the time she was doing aerobics and lifting weights, and bellydance seemed like a fun new way to exercise.
Enter the legendary Jamilah.
"I didn't know what to expect, I had never even seen a performance. At the time, she was in her 70s, but she was amazing," said Driana. "This woman looked 20 years younger than her age and she could still shimmy. I learned that the dance keeps you young and vibrant."
Driana often got private lessons from Jamilah for the simple reason that other students didn't show up. Before long, the dance had captivated her and after her intro classes, she stayed and watched advanced classes practice.
What kept her interest as time past is the versatility of the dance.
"With bellydance you never get bored, even with the basics - there's always another layer, or another way to approach it. It gives me joy from moving my body- it just feels good," she said.
Though she has taught many subject to a large range of students, dance is the first movement form Driana has taught. She focuses mostly on intro and beginner level classes as well as private lessons and will take over some classes this summer for Piper, who is expecting a baby in July.
Driana feels that teaching makes her a better dancer and she loves to share the joy of bellydance with students experiencing it for the first time.
"You have to cover the basics again and you have to find ways to help students to understand and when they get it it's like 'Yea!' I get a lot of women who haven't moved their body since high school gym classes and I try to help them get in touch with however their bodies want them to move, so they are better at learning technique once they are more comfortable in their bodies," she said.
Recently, Driana gave a seminar and developed choreography for Fluid Movement's 1001 Freudian Nights: A Biography in Bellydance. The challenge she faced was working with a group of people who weren't bellydancers and trying to develop a set of moves that would work for the show and be right for each actor's body type.
"It was very interesting and a lot of fun, " said Driana.
In addition to teaching and dancing, Driana runs and co-owns Comics Kingdom with her husband, Sheldon. In July, she opened the Oasis, a store within a store. She sells costumes, hip scarves, zils, middle eastern music, jewelry and more. In the future, she plans to open a second space with more bellydance supplies, costumes and books. To reach Driana for more information or for classes, call 410-889-6005.