Seven years ago, Kathryne began bellydancing simply because she thought it would be fun. Before she knew it, she was more than intrigued. "It ended up developing into a passion," she said. Only a year after she began taking bellydancing lessons in high school, Fedele turned professional. She was asked to audition for Gypsies of the Shimmering Sands, the local bellydance troupe. "We performed solo and group pieces at cultural and arts festivals and private parties," she said. "Some time after that I began giving beginner and intermediate lessons and continued to do so when I came to Amherst."
Fedele stopped dancing professionally after coming to college, however, because of the misconceptions that the profession of belly dance inevitably seems to carry with it. "I was afraid my dance form would be completely misunderstood," she said. "The taboos that surround it largely come from Western notions of harems and 'Oriental dancing girls'-which is really not what bellydancing is about at all."
Perhaps that explains Fedele's devotion to the Amherst Feminist Alliance (AFA). She became the chair of the AFA during her sophomore year at Amherst and has been diligently involved in organizing feminist action at Amherst ever since. "AFA has been a big part of my life here. We've done so much since I've been here, from hosting 'F-word' panels to attending national feminist conferences in D.C." she said. "And, I've met some of the most wonderful, empowered and strong women here-my friends."
Fedele's extracurricular activities don't end there, however. As if bellydancing itself didn't consume enough of her energy, Kat is also very much involved with Dancing and Stepping at Amherst College (DASAC). "I've been with DASAC from their inception," she said.
Though she loves to dance hip-hop, Fedele finds the experience quite different from bellydance. "Bellydance is primarily an improvisational dance form," said Fedele. "Also, and probably most importantly, bellydancing is actually all about subtlety and moving the way your body was meant to move, while I feel hip hop is actually much more sexually explicit."
What makes Fedele's dancing even more unique is that it's not your average bellydance. Not too long ago, Fedele began working a lot with fusion bellydance. "Since it evolved from many different areas around the Middle East, the Meditteranean and even Eastern Europe ... bellydance in itself is a kind of fusion," she explained.
Much of this transition from traditional to fusion bellydancing came about, according to Fedele, during the semester she spent abroad in Sevilla, Spain. It was there, also, that she began experimenting with different ways of looking at the dance form. "I guess I could say I was somewhat of a purist in my bellydance past ... but in my years of studying the dance-I've read just about everything there is about bellydancing-I've chosen at this point to look at different fusions of the form."
For Fedele, fusion does not happen only on the stage or the dance floor, but can also be spotted in her scholastic endeavors. "She combines a wonderful love of life with a feeling for how uncertain things really are, a powerful idealism with a good dose of irony, a sense of tragedy with a huge comic streak," said Professor of Women and Gender Studies Margaret Hunt. "She has great ideas, but knows that you have to mix them with very hard work if they are to amount to anything."
Throughout her four years at Amherst, Fedele has befriended not only fellow students, but many faculty members as well. In fact, according to Fedele, one of her closest friends here is her boss at Frost Library, Judith Lively. "She's been like a second mother to me during my time here at Amherst," said Fedele.
The affection is mutual. "I'm proud to know she considers me a friend and her Amherst College mom," said Lively. "Kathryne is truly a daughter that a mom would always love and my door will be open for her anytime."
As it seems, doors will open for Kathryne wherever she turns. Though she does not yet have any specific plans for life after college, she expects to find a job and work for a while. In the near future, she expects to do a lot of work for non-profit organizations and NGOs and to attend graduate school in the U.S. "Ideally," she said, "my ultimate goal is to end up back home in Italy with my little sister Audrey doing whatever it is I feel will complete me as an individual."