Like Mother, Like Daughter

I'm often asked about our mother/daughter workshops. Claudia and I love to work together, for example a recent taught a workshop on Mothers day ~ of course it was a mothers and daughters workshop.

The day was attended by children as young as 6 years of age to mothers in their seventies. Some families came as 3 generations the daughter with the children and the the mothers and mother in laws. This included our own family, as my mother and sister came too and some came as extended mixed families. It as a very special and fun day.

Claudia and I decided we would take the Hip Hop line and have a Dance Off - mothers verses daughters. We chose a Panjabi MC track and took alternative segments of the tune each and created our respective style choreography. Off course mine was the Egyptian Dance component and hers was Hip Hop/Afro Funk style. We separated the mother and the daughter which some time became grand mothers and grand children, took them to our respective studios and taught them the segments of the dance. We then met and put it all together and to their astonishment we had created this very entertaining dance piece. There was much laughter and excitement as we bought the dance together shimmy our shoulders and flicking our hips to push the other side off the dance floor so each side could do their thing. We separated them into 2 performance groups so each group had a chance to watch and applaud the performing teams.

Thanks to The Underbelly team Andrea and Trisna for inviting us to create this mothers day treat. Bellow is an interview that Trisna did with Claudia and I as a prelude to the workshop.

I hope you enjoy it!

Like Mother, Like Daughter?
Interview with underbelly

If you thought that the latest addition to the Underbelly family looked familiar, it may be because she was part of the family already! Claudia Sangiorgi has recently started teaching Afro-funk at Underbelly alongside her mother, Maria Sangiorgi, who has taught Egyptian Baladi at Underbelly since the Thornbury studio days.

Underbellydancer caught up with mother and daughter about growing up among art and dance and what it's like to work with your mum.

UB: Firstly to Claudia, welcome to Underbelly... how are you enjoying working in the same place as your Mum?

C: It was bound to happen some day and I can’t think of a more relaxed and warm environment for it to be than Underbelly. My first month has been fantastic! Just ask the girls in Shonah’s African class, they get to have studio B after us, and boy do we make it smelly in there.

UB: Maria, tell us a little bit about what you do, your lifestyle, your many jobs.

M: Our life style… We had quite an eclectic, not very ordinary lifestyle,

compared to the norm. Whatever the norm is. My focus has always been on the creative and no matter how hard I try to put away the washing or the dishes or sweep the floor, it is my creative life, which I am blessed to say is how I make my living, that always comes first. I have never had a nine to five job in my life, and I really don't know what it would be like. The concept fascinates me.

I teach Egyptian dance, and facilitate Raqs Chakra, Trance dance and The Dance of the Sensual Soul workshops. I am working on consolidating my work on paper and as a video/DVD. I am an artist's model and have been since I was 19, so that is 26 years now. It is the only job I have had where I get a pay slip and a group certificate. I sew and recently made my girl friend her wedding dress. That has rekindled my passion, so I would like to do more of it again. I play the guitar and write and sing songs late at night when there’s no one listening, (before I took up MED I studied jazz singing). I draw, I write articles for the Spiralling News, a quarterly publication that I produce and for my website and sometimes for Underbelly. I write poetry. All these things are my job in one way or another. One of the most exciting things that I am doing right now is a certificate in Dance and Movement Therapy. I do some dance work with people with disabilities and would like to do much more. I have been a single supporting mother for 18 years, Claudia has a big brother called Robert. We live week to week, so it can get very exciting sometimes.

UB: Claudia, tell us a little bit about what you do.

C: This year I’ve decided to go back to school. I'm doing a Diploma of Visual Arts/New Media at Swinburne TAFE in Prahran, which takes up a lot of my time and energy in the week. On the up side I’m surrounded by painting, drawing, photography, printing, sculpture and film making - all the things I love. Aside from that, for money (and for love) I do a bit of graphic design, photography, filming and what not for friends and acquaintances. Occasionally I work along side artist Amanda King assisting her on public art projects which gets me to interesting places and meeting new people with a lot of laughing along the way. I’m also a member of the Mzuri Dance Network, contemporary and traditional African dance company, which gives me very exciting opportunities to perform and teach all over Melbourne. A friend and I are just at the beginning of starting our own dance project, and now I’m teaching at Underbelly, so my dancing career is unfolding very nicely! Everything is like a project… at least that’s how I try to view it, otherwise it all gets a bit crazy and overwhelming at times. Needless to say at 19 I’m pretty fortunate to be doing all the things I do and that’s thanks to my creative upbringing and the wonderful people that support me.

UB: Maria, are you a proud Mum (just because Mums often are)?

M: Yes, I am a very proud mum, many parents dream of their children doing what they do. With Claudia she just did and does. When she was five she was at a life drawing session working away on the floor and a woman came up to her and said, "Isn't that nice dear, are you going to be an artist when you grow up?". Claudia looked her square in the face and said "I already am". And that is the way it has always been. Even now when people ask me what she is going to do, I say she’s already doing it. Her father tried very hard to discourage her from pursuing an artistic life, being an artist himself and knowing the struggle, but it was inevitable. So we share a rich, creative and parallel life. There were many times I couldn't go and be the proud mum and watch her dance when she was small because I was doing a gig too and visa versa. I love to watch her enthusiasm and to see her blossom in what she does. Along with being motivated she is a great motivator. I also feel privileged that I can give her support and encouragement and that for her it is reasonably easy to be a strong individual, unlike my own early life where I was an alien in my home and had to fight very hard to be myself.

UB: Claudia, are you an embarrassed daughter (just because daughters often are)?

C: Not really embarrassed, I find it very funny when mum gets proud. She gets a huge grin on her face. When there is good news she also feels the need to rush out and tell everyone. Although she may not come across as one of those mums, when there's good news, boy does everyone know about it! It’s especially funny when she comes to see me perform. She just stands, stares and can’t stop smiling… well maybe I get a little embarrassed.

UB: Maria, do you think you have consciously influenced Claudia's direction in life?

M: No I don’t think I consciously influenced Claudia's direction. As I said before, she just is who she is and it is truly a gift, as not only is she my daughter, but she is also my colleague and friend. Did I want her to be a belly dancer? Well she might surprise you all one day! I can see how I indirectly influence her. Sometimes, very rarely, she will ask me about something, but she is one of those people who takes things in without giving too much away. Later she will tell me that whilst she was teaching she said this and this to her students and I recognise my influence. I think one of the biggest influences I have had on her is that she is able to see that there are many ways to live your life.

UB: Claudia do you think you consciously followed in Maria's footsteps as far as becoming a dancer and dance teacher?

C: Being surrounded by sequins, zills and figure eight’s from a young age definitely didn’t discourage me from taking up dancing. My journey to dance is a little different to mum's in that I have really been dancing since I could walk and have always been surrounded by performing artists. The constant support and respect of dancing in my home has definitely made my direction easier to take. As far as becoming a dance teacher, well I still think that is a bit surreal and just plain funny. About 3 years ago at the ripe age of 16 I was sort of thrown into the deep end when asked to teach beginner classes for MZURI. Since then, it’s just been full steam ahead - not only are my students learning but I am learning too. I’ve been ‘teaching’ people to dance for years, I did it right through secondary school and I love the experimental side of it, not to mention the proud mother goose feeling I get when people twice my age are doing things I’ve taught them. At the end of the day teaching for me is about having fun and letting people express what they want.

UB: Has your Italian heritage had any influence over your

lifestyle/directions?

M: I think so. My background is very grass roots. We are mountain people and of the earth. I come from an area in Italy that many life models came from the 18th and 19th century, renowned for their strong bodies, good proportion

and beautiful hands and feet. The Mediterranean connection is very strong in this dance. Also there is some research that has been done by a cousin that suggests that we have a gypsy lineage in our family. My mother's maiden name is Eramo which means "to roam". My mother being a very devout Catholic is not interested in perusing this line. People often think I am Egyptian (I have considered lying).

C: The European heritage has definitely influenced the way I look. I‘ve been called Spanish, Italian, Yugoslavian, Argentinean, Mexican, Chilean, Turkish… even Egyptian. My genetic heritage is a little more interesting and would explain my dancing. We all know my mum can dance well. My dad is a pretty amazing mover too. It's all in the genes you see.

UB: Claudia, what is the most valuable lesson you've learnt from Maria?

C: I couldn’t say one particular lesson, she has taught me a lot without even knowing. In terms of dance, I have so much respect for her knowledge of human movement. To have that much patience not only to understand, but to want to understand your own body is something everyone can learn from. Stubborn as I am, I do secretly listen to her when she is telling me about the something joint in the something bone doing the something transiting through the something chakra. Her exposing me to my own body awareness and anatomy really does help me, not only in dance but in everyday life. She has a lot to share with everyone if they are willing to listen and learn. Cliché as it may sound she really has taught me I can do whatever I want to

in life, never putting any pressure or emphasis on having to be anything except for just being me.

UB: Maria, what is the most valuable lesson you've learnt from Claudia?

M: Claudia never ceases to teach me. She has always been very wise. She has taught me to stay young. She has taught me to discriminate and speak out (she is much louder than me). She has taught me that no matter how eclectic her life has been, that I am a good parent, which is something I used to doubt. She's also taught me the value of being totally honest with her and her brother.

UB: Tell us a story from Claudia's childhood that really sums her up.

M: When she was about 6 she said she wanted to do Ballet, so off we went to the Clifton Hill Ballet School. She did her thing and seemed to like it. When the next term came and I went to enrol her again she said, "I don’t want to point point point! I want to dance". So off she went to Dominique's Dance and that is were she stayed for seven years. You can see what kind of head she’s got!

M: In a nut shell, it's great having Claudia on the Underbelly team. We are planning a duo for the next Underbelly Bazaar to one of our favourite pieces. I don’t know who is going to move out of home first - me or her?