"I fell in love with Arabic dance a long time ago and decided early on that I would become an accomplished performer and a dedicated teacher, sharing the joy of this art with many women".
In 2005 Tracey started a dance group at the Sea Mills Community Hall in Bristol. She trained as a fitness instructor so she could deliver safe and effective classes.
It became a strong community dance group and is now run by the group itself with talented Natalie Chow at the helm.
She regularly hosted top dancers to teach at workshops and events. Her peers, her students and sometimes her own teachers attended them.
With the benefit of a Marketing Communications Diploma she undertook some large projects such as The 'Best of the West' Arabic Dance Show which she produced in Bristol in May 2007.
"It was a wonderful feeling to give so many talented dancers and musicians a proper performance platform!".
Tracey Dancing 'Love Celebration' at Best of The West 2007
She regularly studied with the regions longest standing and respected dance teachers, Wendy Bonaventura. Karine Butchart, and Jacqui Jamal.
She was also lucky enough to have teachers who grew up in countries where MED (Middle Eastern Dance) has its roots. Venus Saleh & Medea Mahdavi.
This led Tracey to theatre and into Iranian (persian) Dances, such as the make up dance that she perfomed as 'Princess' in Caroline Afifi's show 'Sabrine' at Majma in March 2007.
Tracey was delighted to be asked to teach at Majma dance in 2007, it is such a lovely warm, friendly and well run festival.
It was shortly after this intensive training that she won the UK National Belly Dance Competition in London in November 2006.
Shortly after that she danced at Planet Egypt in London. The UK's premiere belly dance showcase.
Tracey dancing her winning choreography to Dala al Banat in November 2006 in London
Tracey on Location in Egypt 2007 ~ shoot with Yasmina of Cairo (yes, it's a real snake round her waist!)
Tracey travelled to Cairo in Egypt once a year to learn from the top dancers residing there. Initally through Farida Adventures and then directly with Yasmina of Cairo.
Whilst in Egypt she had her costumes designed and made. In addition to shopping for her class.
She rode fabulous Arabian Horses out in the Desert by the Great Pyramids of Giza.
She rode through the desert at night on a camel to see the huge powerful Arab Stallions Dance to traditional Eqyptian Music.
It was in Egypt that she really connected to the deep feelings Egyptians have about music and dance. It wasn't just the awe inspiring talent and dedication of the top dancers and musicians that inspired her, but the cultural celebrations of the people; how music and dancing is integral to their lives.
Tracey on Location in Egypt 2006 ~ shoot with Yasmina of Cairo
Tracey on Location in Egypt 2007 ~ shoot with Yasmina of Cairo
She Had The Accident in June 2007 - It changed everything but it could never take away the dancer in her.
"The amputation of my leg forced me to give up dancing for two years but the one thing I never gave up on was hope!"..
"With the right attitude and the right limb there is very little that cannot be achieved, it's still early days and I am already dancing pre-accident choreographies".
The Prosthetic Leg She Had Made For Arabic Dance
It took two years for her residual limb to settle down enough to have expensive legs made privately.
Eventually she was able to commission a leg for dancing which was made by Dorset Orthopaedic in Ringwood. It took a long time to get something functional and aesthetic. It had to mimic barefoot dancing as much as possible.
The Foot...
She 'road tested' two types of feet and the foot she danced on in Raksans Rumba with Veils workshop at Scirocco in April 2009 is not the same one she dances on now. It was wonderfully soft but did not have enough energy return through the carbon fibre spring for travelling steps.
Plantar flexion (up on the balls of the feet) cannot be very high, but is possible to a certain degree if you can balance on the tip of the carbon fibre sprung foot.
Balance and 'driving the leg' is everything. ...
For this you need a socket you can put weight through. Badly fitting sockets can cause nerve pain, numbness, chronic cramping, blisters, bad posture and aches and Pains as a knock on affect right throughout the body.
Tracey has experienced all of these problems trying to get a leg to actually fit properly.
A well fitting leg should have just the right amount of skeletal support without being un-bearably uncomfortable or overly restricting her knee joint.
Continual Adjustments..
Adjustments to the socket have to be made as the residual limb fluctuates. It can swell, shrink or even change shape. Changes to your weight can affect the socket fit.
Adjustments can be made by the wearer, adding or taking away socks that are used to pad out the socket. Or if socks no longer work a visit to the prosthetist has to be made.
For Arabic Dance Performance it needs to look good...
The silicone covers made by Dorset look amazing and really life like. The downside of the silicone cover is that it makes the limb quite heavy to wear and this in turn affects the performance the 'handling' if you like.
Many amputees prefer limbs completely stripped of any extra weight to get the maximum performance out of it possible. So with these limbs you see the bare components of acrylic, steel and carbon fibre. They are very popular with particularly active or sporty people.
Tracey has started training again at workshops in the UK with top dancers to encourage her to push the boundaries of dancing on an artificial limb. Ultimately a leg like this would be desirable for such activities because it will allow optimum performance in prolonged use.
"Life is not about weathering the storm, it is about dancing in the rain" ~ Unknown
You don't know what you can achieve unless you try. On our family Crest (and a CB awarded to my father by the Queen for his services as a nuclear physicist to our country in 1980) our motto is "Conatus res gesta est" (To try is enough).
How She Copes Emotionally
To begin with it was too easy to think about what was no longer possible. This was a negative thought process and she quickly learned to use positive thought processes instead. A bit like NLP.
- She always counts her blessings - every day
- She always focusses on what is possible, or might be possible
- She keeps very busy
- She makes sure she is needed and valued by others
"My partner Neil and My Son Joshua have kept me strong, we all need each other".
During her time off from dancing Tracey had a little boy, Joshua and has settled with partner Neil, in Devizes, Wiltshire. They are engaged to be married on a beach, once we have recovered from the renovation of our 1750's house!.
Tracey who absolutely needs a creative outlet, also used this time to study metal smithing and jewellery making and is working towards setting up her own natural gemstone jewellery business, Earthbling.co.uk which she hopes to have this fully launched by the end of March 2010.
She has also studied website design, she has been designing quite a few sites and they will be loaded quite soon and the list of clients include charities, dancers and building companies, so far non- paying but hopes that this can be a source of income to help fund prosthetic treatment.
Tracey's engagement ring that she made with 9ct white gold and Emerald cut Ruby.
A Personal Message From Tracey to all her dance friends;
" I would like to thank all the dancers who wished me well, those who sent cards and messages of sympathy. Those sent me presents
and some who even raised money to help me fund my dance leg, please know how much I value your support.
You know who you are!
I hope to dance with you all again sometime soon."
She is looking into starting another dance group in Wiltshire sometime later on this year, after moving house which is nearer to Trowbridge.
She now regularly performs around the UK, mainly in the South West and London.
