I have danced with Chris in Valizan’s class at BellyUp for at least 3 years now. When she came into our class, intermediate from the beginners class she was probably wondering what she had gotten herself in to. We were a loud and boisterous group and she often took a spot at the back of the class. As the years passed, saw her at the drill houses, workshops and even a pantaloon workshop as she explored and dabbled in the ATS world. This past year I feel that I have taken the time to get to know her better and her mantra seems to have been- I can never remember the moves we have been taught from one class to the next. Well, I can attest that while we all have that problem, her memory is much improved! She now often takes the lead spot while we dance in class and passes from one move to the next with a secret smile on her face- Yeah, I can do this…and you had better be following your leader! I have just had the pleasure of doing a duet with her at the BellyUp Student Recital and feel honoured for being her partner. Having found out that there was a song she fell in love with, I had approached her to see if she would be interested in doing a duet at the recital. She said sure. As this is an improvisational form of dance, I felt that whatever happens on that night, happens. But over the weeks of practicing with Chris, she came in one night and just blew me away. She was bang on the phrases of the song, passed lead and took it back seamlessly, crossovers and even threw in some moves that I never even thought of. The night of the show I was full of anticipation to get out there and dance with her as I so knew that she was going to do fantastic and so impress our fellow dancers. Which she of course did! So from coming from the back of the class, to leading a duet where you cannot hide behind another dancer, you have come a long way baby! Sherry
