This is Caroline

Time to talk about myself. Welcome to my page and my artistry. I always find it difficult to summarize something so delicate and complex, but I shall give it a try. Dance has always been a crucial part of my life. This is mostly because music is and always as been my kryptonite. I remember my mom would get annoyed at me for always having my earphones in when I was younger (always on highest volume, mind you!). When I came home from school, music was the first thing I would turn to. I also remember listening to music on long car rides on my green Ipod Nano, imagining myself in Musical-like scenarios where I would perform and dance to the songs I was listening to in my mind.

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I grew up with great music. That lush pop-music from the 90's was still around (NSYNC!!) when I was growing up, which then further transformed into the iconic early 2000's pop-beat. And it's safe to say that this time has impacted me greatly. Artists like Britney Spears have always been a great source of inspiration to me: the way she would carry herself in a performance, how she would interact with the camera in her music videos, her stage presence...ICONIC! But not just that, especially the way in which she so unapologetically embodied her womanhood and sexuality. Something which, back in the day, she was unfortunately shamed for rather than celebrated for.

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I have always been most inspired by artists who turn into beasts when they perform. Freddie Mercury, Prince....Like shapeshifters. From one second to another you witness a change in energy, posture, emotional delivery and vibration. They immerse you completely within their performance.

I was very young when I discovered Michael Jackson. And I was very young when I realized that I wanted to be exactly that. I felt connected to him. His music did things to me like no other. I always said that, if my soul were a song, it would be Michael Jackson's Who Is It? 

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But what exactly does this have to do with my dance journey? Quite frankly, it has everything to do with it because it has impacted the way in which I process and understand music. The way I listen to music is, and always has been, a highly emotional and intense experience for me. When I feel a certain way, I listen to songs that exactly  describe my situation. I will then listen to that song like a maniac, from the second I wake up, to when I go to bed at night. The song will not leave my system until either, my mood has changed, or, I have finished choreographing to it. In 99 out of 100 cases, it is the latter. Dancing has always been my way to connect with myself. It is crucial to comprehending my own emotional world. 

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As a dancer, you're a storyteller. Some may even argue you're also an actor. I don't like labeling myself as one though, because to me dance is not about acting. I never act when I dance. The secret lies in activating whatever emotion you are embodying within yourself, and bringing that to the surface. I am never pretending to feel a certain emotion when I dance. The dance itself is the embodiment of that specific emotion. This is why I never dance or choreograph to songs I do not genuinely resonate with; because I want the dance to be authentic, I want it to genuinely express something about myself: the song is telling parts of my own story. Songs I choreograph to are therefore never random. I love nothing more than reflecting my own life within my art. I like to think of it as the process of alchemy: You feel a certain way about a situation, maybe you are sad...or angry.... Instead of letting these emotions consume you, you transform them into something of higher vibration, thereby raising your own. You turn dirt into gold. And then, later on in life you may look back at a specific situation and think "Wow, I was really going through it there, wasn't I?''. But instead of feeling bad about yourself, you recognize that you have done something with it, you have made art.

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Knowing about my way to approach dance and music, it will probably not come as a surprise to you that I am indeed self-taught in a few dance styles. To me, there is nothing better in this world than just spending hours and hours in a dance studio, experimenting with movement. But let's take a quick detour. I started dance at 12, taking Hip-Hop classes, StreetJazz and Dancehall. At 17 I became part of a dance crew with which we had a few performances in various cities. We performed at various YouTube and Gaming Conventions, which allowed me to gather a bit of stage experience at a young age. However, it wasn't until 2019 that I discovered what would later develop into the love of my life: Heels Dance.

I had seen a few videos on YouTube, however back in the day I was not very invested in social media. Also, the style itself had not blown up as much as it has now, years later. So I simply put on a pair of heels and started moving around. Only a few years later, after I had already established myself as an aspiring heels dancer in my home town, I ventured out into the vast realms of Instagram, YouTube etc to seek out other artists and let myself get inspired by them. I do think though that the first few years of just being in this creative vacuum with no external influences or comparisons did help me form my own style in heels dance. I had no reference point whatsoever. Just me, myself and the mirror. I taught myself Heels technique and came up with choreography that simply felt right - always inspired by songs that would speak to me, or rather, about me.

However, it is always of great importance to want to stay in that learning-space as well, next to being creative. I love taking dance classes of all types and styles, and it is also necessary! The learning process never ends and this is important to recognize. There is always something to work on. There is always more movement to discover. I am obsessed with working on technique and finetuning my own skills. I am always very aware of how much work there is, and always will be, in front of me. Also, I have found that the more flexible and the greater my movement vocabulary is, the more I also ''move'' in real life. Dance has a direct representative function. Every single year I look back on my creations and find that they are always exact representations of myself at that very moment in time. Growth always happens - and it is always nice to have a digital diary of yourself in that way.  

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Remember the Musical-like performances I would envision in my mind on long car rides? In 2021, I started working on my own concept videos The Journey. These concept videos are what drive me as an artist and are very dear to my heart. They give me the chance to bring into life what is harboring inside my mind as visions, ideas or, how I like to refer to them, ''mind-movies''. When I find a song I relate to, I literally imagine movie-scenes in my head. So each part of The Journey is a mini-movie if you will. These art projects are very time-intensive and require a lot of thought, planning and of course, choreographing. But they really do mean the world to me. Check out my social media profiles, or just click to                                             to see a few of my creations. 

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And then it just kind of happened. I was living my dream, I was becoming a professional dancer. Completely on my own. Something I had never really thought possible. Alongside working on my business, I finished my Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts at University College Maastricht. Then, my Master's in Cultural Studies/Dance Studies at KU Leuven. However, dance was always my number one priority.

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And then, Serpent Dance happened......

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I have always considered myself a ''One Woman Show''. All of my creativity comes from within, I choreograph, produce and edit my own (concept) videos. Since my visions are always crystal-clear, I like to maintain in creative control of my projects. Also this website is a result of my own creativity, as I made it myself.

I am incredibly thankful to be able to call dance my job and profession, and I would not want it any other way!