I was on a walk with Russ earlier when for whatever reason I decided to play one of my favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, for reference it’s Fortune Faded. Next on the greatest hits album is Save the Population which I also let play through. After I finished the songs, I went to the By the Way album (arguably their best) and scrolled to the bottom. I played a song that evokes strong memories and emotions: Venice Queen. It’s probably worth mentioning that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were my favorite band as a teenager. I saw them in concert many times and even met Flea when I was 15. I had an entire drawer of RHCP shirts and relied on their music to get me through my happiest and saddest days. As a kid/teenager I was dressed like a tomboy and felt uncomfortable when I dressed too feminine—reasons unknown. To this day, I still tend to dress more in line with this style and feel like a caricature of myself when I feel too done up. This was an interesting crossroads to find myself at as a teenager because I was a competitive dancer and had to wear fake eyelashes, heavy make up and glitter regularly. To me, it felt like I was playing a role and in a way, I was. I kind of went along with whatever I had to do and put my best foot forward at competitions and didn’t complain.
There always comes a time in a competitive dancers tenure where they can start competing solo. I performed my first solo at 12 and I was so nervous I could have puked. I wore a black and red sparkly costume: a long sleeve crop top with matching pants. I danced to “Lose my Breath” by Destiny’s Child. My friends came to watch me and it didn’t feel authentic so in my next rounds, I tried to find something more fitting to my style. Finally, when I was 15, I decided to go against my own rule which was to ask my teacher to choreograph and dance to a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. The understanding in the dance community is that you typically don’t choose a song you love because by the end, you’ll come to hate it. You listen to it 500 times and will always have the dance associated with it. This solo was important to me so I decided to do mine to a song that wasn’t my favorite but I still enjoyed which happened to be Venice Queen. With solos, you even get to pick out your own costumes and I finally felt like I had found a way to express myself in an art where I often felt disassociated.
For several months, I’d meet with my dance teacher on Saturdays and we’d rehearse. She would see where we could push, what my special move could be and readjust when needed. To this day, 17 years later, I can still remember a decent amount of that choreography which is kind of amazing. Anyway, I picked out a black costume with these cut out tribal looking designs. I decided to only wear dance pads on my feet as opposed to shoes so I could turn and catch traction. I opted for dark, moody make up and statement hair. I tied my hair back in a high pony tail and teased the hair to make it appear untamed. I looked in the mirror and thought I looked cool. I was so excited to dance to music that I loved and feel authentic all by myself on stage. As I waited backstage, I watched the girls in my age group perform before me. I watched them in their pastel dresses leap across the stage to Lee Ann Womac, James Blunt and the Goo Goo Dolls. I looked at their neatly tied back hair with fake floral decorations pinned on the sides. I watched them smile and make eye contact with each judge, every move timed and perfected down to the count. I walked out into the hall and told my coach I didn’t want to perform. It was in that moment I realized how different I looked and felt amongst my peers and that made me want to back out all together.
I slid my back down the wall and buried my face into my hands. She came and sat down beside me, initially frustrated at the timing of this revelation. She asked me if I would have felt better to be dressed like them or choose a song similar to theirs to blend in or would I have regretted not doing something that felt like me. She told me how cool the whole piece was and how hard we had worked to put something together that I connected with and how the solo slot was the opportunity to do that. She told me at one point I’d look back on that moment in life with gratitude that I did something with conviction and brought me closer to recognizing my own sense of self. I’ve thought about that moment since but it’s only now that I can truly connect the dots and underscore the importance of identity and the bravery it can take to do something that is authentic for yourself. I got up and wiped my eyes and took a few deep breaths. I knew my brother Ryan and his girlfriend had come to watch me and I wanted to do my best.
Somewhere in my things back home, I have this performance recorded. I can watch it with a critical eye for the technical aspects but the emotion pours through. I wasn’t meant to smile in this dance or “perform” so to say. For me, it was statement if to nobody else but myself.
So anyway, that’s what I think of when I listen to that song.