The Dancing Spirit Bio

         Barbara has always been dancing. . She began dancing in the waves on her beach front house, in the motion of her father’s boats and in creative movement class in NYC at the Jean Erdman Dance studio at age 4. Isadora Duncan and Anna Pavlova were her muses

          The early years of Ballet, in her home town of Rye, NY, were  with Natasha Redel, a devoted student of the famous Michael Fokine family and Madame Swaboda .At 16 Barbara attended the Washington School of Ballet with famed Mary Day..Senior year of high school found Barbara in NYC attending the Professional Children’s school where she was on scholarship at The Joffrey School of Ballet.

         Barbara received her Baccalaureate of Fine Arts in Dance from SUNY Purchase. At Purchase she  studied all the dance arts - Ballet, Graham, Limon and, Cunningham, dance history, composition, improvisation, dance theatre and it is where she fell in love with Modern Dance.

         After college she danced in NYC  for several modern dance companies – Grethe Holby ,Asakawalker , Dancer Company, Susan Dibble & Co to name a few – there were many. She also traveled and lived in Boulder Colorado where she danced with Nancy Spanier’s Dance Theatre for a year. But the east coast , the water and her creative solo dance journey called her home

         Barb &  Mark Donahue were married & started their family in Tiverton. Barb's dance and her  family have always been inseparable.

         Adam was born 22 years ago. Three months later Barbara began teaching locally and began choreographing for local troops.

        Jaeke was born 20 years ago. She started Tanagra Movement Theatre Company with partner Michelle Bach of Brown University. Together they ran their company for 5 years. During those years she was creating her Goddess Dances. She created a trilogy of women's dances through the ages inspired by a poem for which she recieved a grant from the RI state council of the arts.. Featured were Womb, a dance of surviving cave woman with spears. a dance of pagan rites and rituals called Rites and Mysteries, based on the book , The Mists of Avalon, and lastly was Kajum Chantu, a dance of the Egyptian Mysteries. Kajum presented an ancient fantasy birth during which the women danced and helped to breath a baby's birth. Kajum was originally choreographed and  performed by the modern ballet company,The Island Moving Company of Newport

         Izabelle was born 17 years ago. Barbara then started teaching creative movement , ballet , modern, art & movement classes for children and additional pilates for adults. Barb's children don’t dance with her but they are all phenomenal dancers and athletes

         Barbara opened a local dance studio called The Dancing Spirit Studio which has become her trademark dance name

         She performing, taught and created community shows for all ages of dancers using modern dance,art, theatre and stories until her father passed away.

         At that grave time she  considered doing something completely different with her life but on a whim she took a belly dance class and voondebah – her dance life was recharged and shockingly altered.

         Barbara has been reinventing herself and her dance through the intense study of all aspects of the art of belly dance.She was very surprised to learn that such a diverse dance world existed , that she had never known about it before and that she hadn’t learned about it in college .She would very much like to help create a college syllabus for intense study of this dance form. Barb was also surprised at how unaware of the world at large she had been in her east coast dance nitch. She learned quickly how big and deep the study of the belly dance world is and how different it seemed than her entire previous dance life. To learn the dance properly she had to physically and psychologically unlearn all her former training and then slowly put the two forms back together, which she has done

           For these last 6 years she has had the opportunity to follow the belly dance path – to study with many great & passionate teachers, perform in as many different venues as possible in her home area.Through the dance she has met many wonderful dancers and musicians. She traveled to Turkey,- a country of belly dance origin & recently taught in Sayulita, Mexico.

             Barbara currently has a studio on the Main Rd of Tiverton RI . She is continually trying to learn more about the dance which is an endless study of the world – especially now in our internet age. She is tirelessly trying to teach  the joy and knowledge of the dance to all her students. Future projects -  she is hoping to share her journey of this dance in a book and on a video tape, to create a summer performance series in Tiverton and to create  a syllabus so she can pass on what she has learned to students and future performers and teachers.

             Erete in Latin mean highest standard. Barb says Erete - the highest expression of joy is to dance!

                                                                 “ You might as well dance!!!!!”