The plan was that FACES publishers Beth Palmer and Ann Henrichsen (otherwise known as “the Swisher sisters”) would participate in a two hour belly-dancing lesson, Mike Wolforth would take photos, and I would come along to make everyone uncomfortable by sitting there and not talking. Essentially, my job as art director is to visualize the finished story in all its four-color glossy splendor, and to make suggestions to the photographer. Among other things, I look for angles that make people look as young and thin as possible, and it was for my skill in this area, I believe, that my presence was requested.
The instructor was to be Carol LaBau, a belly dancer and teacher of vast experience, a great deal of personal charm (from the male point of view), and a sense of humor. An interesting plot-wrinkle was that both she and the Swisher sisters hail from Kadoka, which, for a town of 700 people, seems to produce an inordinate number of attractive and accomplished women.
(Read the rest of this story in Spring ‘09 FACES)
