Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheyney Teagan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Cheyney. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was raised in a rural area in East Texas, pretty secluded from any major metropolitan areas. I like to joke that the population was 5:1, cows to humans, with the numbers in the cows’ favor. We had a small dance studio in town that was known for its cheerleading and tumbling group, but also offered baton twirling lessons. My mother enrolled me when I was in the fifth grade, much to my disappointment–I wanted to play soccer. However, I ended up being eternally grateful for her wisdom, as I found that I had a natural talent for twirling and loved the costumes. My mother made many of my competition costumes, and I remember spending hours watching her sew and helping however I could. I often sketched out (quite poorly, I might add) the designs I wanted and she would do her best to bring them to life. That fascination with dance and design never left me, and my mom’s creativity and attention to detail are a large component of how I approach just about everything in my life. I use those skills now in my professional bellydance, theatrical fusion dance, modeling, and bellydance costume designs. Those early explorations have led me to a very active career performing multiple times a week and creating costumes for some of Austin’s premier dancers.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nothing worth doing is ever easy, and the road is often long and arduous. Even from youth I experienced quite a bit of turbulence, as my late biological father was an abusive alcoholic whose actions shaped a lot of poor decisions I made later in life. I failed to identify and heal from that trauma, and when coupled with an extreme workload and taxing relationship, I literally crumbled while teaching, suffering from a heart attack at age 25. A year later I was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease, and an autoimmune disease where my body doesn’t process folic acid and all life-sustaining vitamins and minerals have to be taken daily with a methylfolate tablet, and given 5 years to live if I didn’t make some drastic changes to my lifestyle and diet. I did make those changes and while that 5 year mark is actually this year, I believe I definitely have a longer lifespan ahead of me. However, every day I live with chronic pain both from my body and heart, existing in a constant paradox of needing to exercise to maintain good health, but that exercise causing more pain. I also battle severe depression, but through these struggles I have learned to take nothing for granted and accept everyday as what it is: a gift given to be cherished and explored.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Cheyney Teagan, pronounced “shuh-nay tea-gan,” while being my stage name, has become a moniker for my business ventures: bellydance and costume design. I also dabble in sound design and sometimes assist my significant other, Reuben, with his business PitHacks–a company for sound engineering and design.
Cheyney Teagan Bellydance exists to provide traditional Egyptian Bellydance (Raqs Sharqi) performance in venues of all sizes, and my performances have been described as “full of zest and joyous energy,” and I love to interact with my audience members. I’m known for my “shenanigans” (or as close friends have called them, “cheyney-nigans”) on stage.
Cheyney Teagan Designs is my newest venture, and I am so excited to share it with the world. For bellydancers, buying a costume is a months-long process that involves communicating with ateliers overseas, and then waiting for the costume to be shipped (usually from Egypt) before finally making it to the States–only to discover that often it was created with the wrong color requested, or way off on sizing. It’s heart-breaking and costly, and something I wish to alleviate. I work to create one-of-a-kind tailored pieces for my clients, based on their own personal dance and fashion styles. With each piece I certify that their exact costume will never be re-created for anyone else, and is as unique as they are. Each completed costume has a label with my logo inside the bra and skirt, as well as a moon and stars charm sewn somewhere discreetly on the costume. I am proud to design for dancers of all sizes, and am breaking the industry standard of not offering professional bellydance costumes to plus-size dancers. I am also not limiting my designs to just identifying women, and welcome anyone who likes to shimmy to wear my designs.
I also make and sell accessories like earrings, necklaces, arm & leg cuffs etc., and will be debuting them alongside my first full costume line, “Aiwa,” on April 4th, 2020 in Modelemi Talent Agency’s “April Showers Fashion Show.”
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was definitely a curious child who loved to explore. I was so fortunate to be raised in a time before computers and the internet reached our secluded part of the world, and with my mom and step-dad who encouraged me to go outside and play in the woods, to craft new things out of found objects, be open to new experiences, and unafraid of getting hurt. I was the youngest of three, and so learned to stay out of the way pretty early on. When I tired of being outside or found our boisterous home to be overwhelming at times, I would sequester myself to my room (“my cave” as my family called it), and would read for hours. I attribute my vocabulary and love of historical fiction to reading “Gone With The Wind” in 4th grade (while also carrying around a dictionary to accompany that reading) and never shied away from large novels or reading levels that were too old for me. I was a book worm, studied hard, got good grades, and participated in as many extracurricular activities as possible. I tried to expose myself to as many cultural experiences as I could, and spent my entire school career (college as well) absorbing information about the world. This knowledge fuels my creativity that I draw on for designs and dance choreography, and that sense of adventure has stayed with me as an adult.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cheyneyteagan.com
- Email: bellydancebycheyney@gmail.com
- Instagram: @cheyneyteaganbellydance OR @cheyneyteagandesigns
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CheyneyTBD
Image Credit:
Marcus Neudigate, Franko Aguirre, Joe Spitler, Brian Keyes
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