We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Olga Kramarova. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Olga below.

Olga, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I have dedicated my life to folk/cultural dance, and I find it incredibly important to understand the history and culture behind each dance style. This has led me to travel the world, study the art from it’s original source, and most importantly, share my knowledge with students in my dance classes or with my audience members during my performances.

One particular specialty of mine is Middle Eastern Dance – a combination of folk dances from over a dozen countries, including the very popular “Belly Dance.” When Eastern dance made its way into the “Western” world, there was a shift from authenticity to commercialism… which led to very incorrect perceptions of Middle Eastern Dancers. I have always been an ambassador of educating people about the true art of Middle Eastern Dance, and one of my most meaningful projects was a self-produced 2 hour multi-media theatrical production called “Journey through the Middle East.” The goal of this production was two-fold: 1) to educate people about the colorful & elaborate music and dance of Middle Eastern countries, and 2) to show that contrary to popular opinion, this art form is worthy of being presented on large stages with high production value (not simply in a restaurant while you’re enjoying some kabob). It was important for me to introduce the historic origins of each dance style, which I presented with historical images paired with voice-over text that I wrote. I also included live musicians in the show, so the audience could feel the even more authentic energy of this culture.

This helped the audience who was seeing these dances for the first time understand what they were watching, empathize with the culture, and simply broaden their (often ignorant) cultural awareness. Folk dances, in particular, stem from historical experiences of a nation, and many of their dance movements emulate or gesture things from their daily life. Even the costumes for each dance style have a story behind them. I brought attention to all of these details in this production, and the audience response was overwhelmingly positive.

I am currently working on trying to bring this production to various cities and share the beautiful art of the Middle East with viewers around the world.

Olga, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

For as long as I can remember, music and dance have been my motivation in life. Born to Ukrainian and Armenian parents, music is an integral part of our culture. I started dancing at a very young age, like most Soviet girls do. When I was 4 years old, I was firs enrolled in a ballet class. For about 6 years, I studied Ballet, jazz, tap, the usual combination of Western dance studio repertoire. However, when I reached the age of 10 or so, my ballet teacher told me I would never be a ballerina because I was too tall, and my partner would never be able to lift me. (For some perspective, I am currently 5’10 barefoot…once I add some dance shoes to that, I am easily 6 feet tall). My teacher had a point…and thus, my ballerina dreams were crushed. But were they?

At age 11, I joined a folk dance group, where I stayed for another 5 years. But again, I was the tallest person in the company, and was even removed from dances because the “costumes were too short.” However, my experience training in this company really made me realize that I really enjoyed working with a larger team, being part of a community, and doing dances where the power lies in group cohesion, rather than individual solos. Unfortunately, my height made me stick out like a sore thumb.

This “height discrimination,” if you will, was really getting to me. I also often found myself thinking, “I could make this choreography so much better” or “I have a great idea on how to make a new formation here.” I was starting to realize that I shouldn’t be wasting my time trying to fit into companies…I should just start my own! Around this time, I was out with my friends at an Arabic restaurant, where it is common for a DJ to play music and party guests dance on the dancefloor. A lady approached me and asked for my business card. I stared at her in confusion, and asked “Business card for what?” She replied, “Aren’t you a professional dancer? We would like to hire you for an event.” I stood there – shocked, My friend quickly stepped in and said that I had run out of business cards that night but gave the lady my phone number. And what do you know – the lady called me! Mind you, at this point, I didn’t have any of my own costumes. I had a couple weeks to figure out a costume, and my mom, who now does A LOT of my costume design/sewing, made me a costume from scratch for this show! Ever since that show (when I was 16 years old), I have been performing practically every single weekend. That was over 15 years ago.

I am an eternal student, and my thirst to learn more grows exponentially with every passing day. There is rarely a day that I am not in a dance class. I have expanded my repertoire to include Arabic & Middle Eastern/Belly Dance, Persian Dance, Armenian Dance, Dabke, Indian Dance, Russian & Ukrainian Folk Dance, Brazilian Samba, Spanish Flamenco, Swing Dance, Ballroom and Latin Dance. Tahitian and Irish dance are also on the way…I perform these dances every weekend for private and public events. I also established my own dance company and have the opportunity to work with very talented dancers.

I truly feel that music is my religion, and when I move my body to music, I am the happiest I can ever be. Add some gorgeous costumes to that, cameras, lights, and a captivating audience – I am practically in Heaven. I really love performing on big stages in larger theatres, but I also truly value the more intimate interaction with audiences where I can SEE how I make them feel during my performance. Those feelings are priceless, and I am truly addicted to this lifestyle. Whenever I need some new motivation or new energy, I take a trip to New York or Vegas and immerse myself in live shows. Whether I am ON stage or sitting IN FRONT of a stage… those moments give me life.

But growth is natural, and stagnation is my number one enemy. I have been a professional performer for over 15 years. And over those years, I have become more creative, more organized, and more of a visionary for larger productions. This has led me to become a director, choreographer, and producer in my own events. To this day, I have produced two large theatre productions: 1) Journey through the Middle East, and 2) Calendar Girls: A Pin-Up Experience. I am excited to continue producing more, collaborating with incredible talent, and making my visions come become reality.

I think the one that I want my fans and followers to know is what sets me apart from my competitors is my integrity and authenticity to the cultures I represent. If I am going to present something, I will be sure to do it correctly, tastefully, and thoroughly…everything from the music selection, to the hairstyle, to the choreography. I believe that when I take on the responsibility to perform another culture’s (or even my own culture’s) art, it must be done properly.

And I also want to add that as much as I am a student and constantly learning new things, I love to teach and share my own knowledge. Locally, I teach dance classes, but I also have an entire YouTube channel dedicated to World Dance Tutorials. I have received a lot of praise and gratitude from viewers who find my dance tutorials unique and helpful. I hope to continue inspiring new dancers who want to learn more about the beautiful dances of the world.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think as an artist, especially an artist living in the entertainment capital – Los Angeles, it is VERY easy to feel threatened or worthless in this industry. While social media does wonders for promotion and advertising, it also does horrible things to an artist’s self esteem. We often see others succeeding, and we start comparing ourselves to others. This is the literally the WORST thing an artist can do. We have to focus on being a better version of OUR OWN selves…not a better version of someone else. I know – you’re thinking – this question says “What is rewarding” not “What is NOT rewarding.”

I know that I personally have wanted to quit performing, quit the ‘hustle” several times in my career just because I was mistreated or someone else (who is less worthy) got the success that I felt I deserved. And you pull yourself together, you put on your make up, you get into your costume, and you go do your show…and then once you’re on that stage (or dancefloor or pedestal…or wherever your dance space is), you remember WHY you do this. You’re not doing this FOR SOMEONE. You’re not doing this to get validation from someone else. You are doing this for YOURSELF. THIS is your comfort zone, this is your happy place. And once you come back to that original motivation for what you do, all the bad stuff disappears…instantly.

I think the most rewarding aspect is having the power to connect with music, connect with your body, and be able to remind yourself of the original reason you have chosen this path in life. And in my opinion, the connections you make with your audience make each performance worth it. No matter if there are 5 people or 500 people in the audience; if you made at least ONE person in that audience FEEL something from your performance, you did your part, you did your job. I particularly love when little kids are fascinated by a performance or a dance class. They look at you as if you’re a princess, and you inspire them and make them think that they can be one, too.

The other very rewarding aspect of being an artist is collaborating with other artists, too. Solo shows are great, but they do get boring after a while. There’s nothing like getting into a studio with some other performers (singers, dancers, actors, whoever) and just working together towards a common goal – towards a common performance. I am incredibly inspired by other dancers and singers around me, and I try to find any opportunity I can to collaborate with them.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I know COVID was a difficult time for everyone. And thankfully, even though I got sick once, the consequences were not long-lasting at all. I lost people to COVID, and I lost people DURING COVID. Nothing about that time was easy.

But for me, it seemed like the end of the world. Imagine for at least 10 years, every weekend (and sometimes even weekdays) you have an average of 4 performances. You have something to look forward to. You know your purpose. You are coming up with new shows to impress your audiences. And then suddenly, all of that gets taken away from you. Your air, your purpose, your reason to wake up in the morning…just GONE.

This was SO HARD for non-artists to understand. They felt that I was overreacting and that my depression was uncalled for. Yes, I was alive. Yes, my close family was alive. Yes, I have two other jobs that put food on my table while all other artists had nothing. Yes, to all of that. But I felt nothing. I was numb, I was depressed…I was literally dead inside. I started doing live streams for my social media channels. I would do joint live streams with my musician friends with whom we would perform. Full costume and everything! I participated in so many virtual fundraisers…it became a hobby for me.
I literally didn’t know what to do with myself and thoughts of suicide were frequent.

And then, I decided that if I can’t perform and I can’t teach in person, maybe I will try to do it more often virtually. So I created a YouTube channel. And I filmed concept videos where I danced, and I also filmed tutorials. I had NO idea the tutorials were going to be so successful, and I started getting requests and comments from people ALL OVER THE GLOBE. It was unreal. I was building a community of people that I had never met before. The emails and messages they sent me made me once again realize my purpose. Just as an example, I had a viewer who could not hear but really wanted to learn how to dance. He said mine was the first tutorial that made him feel like he could hear and he could follow along with my movements. Another lady (in India, I believe) said that she had no money to pay for dance classes or gym memberships, and she watches my videos every day. I am making it possible for her to learn and exercise. I mean…there are BILLIONS of YouTube dance tutorials…but these people came to MY channel, watched MY videos, and took the time to write me LETTERS of gratitude. This saved me during COVID. I started my channel in 2020…and now I have 7 thousand subscribers. All from just filming videos on my iPhone in my garage. So I guess the moral of this story is that artists will always find a way to come back to their purpose. A pandemic won’t stop us from creating, from sharing our art, and from touching people’s lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shamiramdance.com (currently under construction)
• Instagram: @shamiramdance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dancingprofessor
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olga-kramarova-a5095510b/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1ivv2JxJBfEn6Ob144Sd7w

Image Credits
Eddie Wolf Photography (All supplemental photos) Portraits by Geri-Ann (Personal Photo)