Meet McKenna Driver of East Nashville

Today we’d like to introduce you to McKenna Driver.

Hi McKenna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started dancing as a young child and grew up in the dance studio. I studied all the styles of dance that you think of; ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, etc. At 11 years old, I became a part of my dance studio’s competition team. My dance studio truly deserves all of the credit for my success in the professional dance world. Bringing in different teaching styles has helped me immensely not only in auditions but also in the way I teach and share material with my students. I danced professionally, locally, nationally and globally for many years, picked up belly dance in 2016 and had started teaching children at a local studio until covid shut down the world. At that time, my local belly dance troupe stopped having classes so I decided it was the right time to branch out and opened my business, Fire Phoenix Belly Dance, with my mother and sister in the fall of 2020. That winter, I was disabled by covid and have been dealing with it ever since in some capacity. I am much better off now than I was and I’m continually working on finding my strength again, Now, almost five years in, I couldn’t be more grateful for my small business, all of the people who supported me and, of course, all of my students over the years. Without them, I definitely would not be where I am today.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not! We started our business in a pandemic. We have faced a number of challenges one of which being my health. I was on a walker for many months and had to teach sitting down while my advanced students demonstrated the movements. We lost our studio space (more than once!) with short notice and had to scramble to find a new place. But I will say, I am so grateful to our students and troupe members for rolling with the punches, having faith in us, and continuing to dance with us.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I teach a specific style of belly dance called Fat Chance Belly Dance Style®, formerly American Tribal Style®. It is a modern fusion style of belly dance with influences from Raqs Sharqi, Spanish Flamenco, Rajasthani dance, and North African folk dances. With FCBD Style® being a group improvisational dance form, you must trust your fellow dancers and they must trust you in return. The movements and cues form a vocabulary that is used as a non-verbal language to communicate with other dancers. Because this is a global dance form, it means dancers who don’t speak the same language can still dance and communicate during a performance!

A little bit more about me personally; within the dance community I am known for my high level of technique and musicality, as well as my ability to make the style accessible to dancers from all walks of life. I am quite proud of that last one. I have students who had not had any dance experience before and some of them now dance in my professional and student troupes. I am also proud to have kept my business afloat for almost 5 years (mostly during a pandemic) but I am the most proud of the growth I see in my students every week. I am committed to advancing my dance education so I can continue to bring back that knowledge to my students so we can grow together.

What are your plans for the future?
Ideally, I would like to continue to grow the business by adding classes in non-western styles of dance. I am hoping that we can eventually find a permanent home that we can make our own and continue to grow our community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.firephoenixbellydance.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fire_phoenix_belly_dance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firephoenixbellydance
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@firephoenixbellydance