Willow Glen Resident

News

Photograph by Brian Connelly

Nanny's World: Una lives a double life, but everyone she works with knows it. By day she is a nanny to Naveen Black, who lives in Willow Glen. In the evening she teaches belly-dancing to students in Campbell.

Una knows how to shimmy through life

By Lynn Crocker

What does one an internationally known belly dancer do when she is not engaged in her craft? She works as a nanny in Willow Glen and a dance teacher at Ariel Dance Studio in Campbell and the Cupertino Community Center.

Una, who has three daughters, two stepsons and 11 grandchildren, sees little disparity between her jobs.

"Both jobs are so giving. I give to the kids or to my students or to the audience," she says. "Ether way, whatever I give out, I get back."

Una says she started babysitting as a way to help out the working mothers in her Los Gatos neighborhood.

"Because I danced at night, I was home during the day," she says. "I realized that a lot of women got in a bind when their children were sick, and they couldn't take them to daycare. They'd have to stay home or find an alternative."

Una became that alternative. Within a short time she was caring for about seven children on an as-needed basis.

"I became known as the sick nanny," she says.

Una sold her house in Los Gatos and moved to the Willow Glen area 12 years ago. She started working for a nanny agency and became popular among families seeking babysitting services. After working for the nanny agency for a couple of years, she landed a steady position working for two Willow Glen families. "She was with us from the time our oldest daughter was 1," says Intero realtor and Willow Glen resident Katie Busche. "We did a nanny share with another family who also had a 1-year-old."

Two years later the Busches had another daughter, and Una cared for both of them for the next five years until the girls reached school age.

"We were very lucky to have her," says Busche, whose daughters are now 10 and 7. "The thing about Una is she is very consistent, and this is something that is hard for parents to be. She had a routine with the kids that included limited TV and daily walks down to Lincoln Avenue. She was strict with the kids, but they loved the consistency. They always knew what was expected of them. Plus, she taught me a lot about nutrition and got my kids to start eating things like oatmeal with fresh peaches. She's like a member of the family to us, and I certainly miss her now that my kids are in school."

These days Una works for Brad and Dorothy Garofalo, friends of the Busches, and provides after-school care for their three children, ages 11, 8 and 5.

"She's a great nanny," says Dorothy Garofalo. "We share the same type of values with respect to behavior. I think that's very important. She has a level of strictness about her that I appreciate. She helps the kids with their homework and takes them to after-school activities, but what I love most about Una is she plays with them, too."

Long before the Garofalos learned about Una's nanny abilities, the family was familiar with her nighttime persona and had seen her dance on many occasions.

Una's passion for dance started at a very early age. She grew up in the Salinas Valley, traveling with her extended family of about 60 members, and remembers doing the mambo and cha cha on various occasions.

"When I was young, my family moved around, following the crops," she says. "At harvest time there were always parties with music and dancing. I was the first one on the dance floor and the last one off."

After Una gave birth to her youngest daughter, now 32, her doctor recommended she try belly dancing as a way to strengthen her core muscles and help her ailing back. She picked up the moves easily and quickly became proficient in the Middle Eastern dance.

When she was in her early 30s, she had an opportunity to dance at a well-known Moroccan restaurant in Campbell and was subsequently asked to become a regular performer. She and her second husband, also a belly dancer, performed together six nights a week for 19 years. After her husband died, she stayed on for seven more years before retiring from the restaurant two years ago.

She still dances for private parties and can be seen at Cuccinis, 72 N. Almaden Avenue, in San Jose on the third Saturday of every month.

Una says her 26 years dancing at the restaurant were incredible. This exposure opened the door for her, going to places she only dreamed about. One of those places was Morocco.

In the early 1990s a group of dignitaries saw her perform in San Jose. They invited her to dance for the former king of Morocco, Hassan II, and she did, after the country sent her a plane ticket.

While Una downplays the magnitude of this honor, her friend Martin Lingel is quick to point out no other American belly dancer has ever been asked to perform for a Moroccan king.

Throughout her years as a dancer, she has remained passionate about teaching others the art form.

"It's a great way to get into shape and strengthen your back and core muscles while giving students a chance to express themselves through the freedom of dance," she says.

In addition to teaching through the Cupertino Parks and Recreation Department, a year ago Una started teaching in Campbell at the Ariel Dance Studio.

Students rave about Una's teaching style, and the personal rewards they've experienced from taking belly-dancing classes.

Ann Marie Sheehan, who has been taking lessons from Una for more than 10 years, says she first got into belly dancing because of the fun she saw students having.

"I was taking a ballet class, and when the class was over, I noticed we all left in silence, but the students coming in for the next class were all talking, laughing and having fun," Sheehan says. "One night I decided to stay after class and see what they were doing. I discovered it was belly dancing. I signed up for the next session and have continued with it because it's so much fun. I am an economist by trade and spend most of my day with men, so this is an opportunity for me to spend time with women and get in touch with my feminine side. It keeps me balanced."

Sheehan, who has been studying dance since age 17, raves about Una's dual talents of teaching and dancing.

"Usually a person is one or the other. They can either teach or dance. Una is unique because she can do both," she says.

Dancing student Valerie Kiadeh agrees.

"I think she is the best belly dancer I have ever seen," says Kaideh, who at one point lived in the Middle East. "She's an incredible teacher. She doesn't just teach dance, she teaches life lessons. The best thing I learned from her was never waste a movement."

Student Quynh Sherman started taking classes five years ago as a way to meet new people when she relocated to the Bay Area.

"I started taking classed to get out of the house, but after the first year I was hooked," she says. "Una is a great teacher. She is very technical and pushes me to levels I never thought I could achieve."

For Una whether in her role as a nanny, teacher, mother, grandmother or renowned dancer, she says she puts her heart into each activity and hopes her zest for life will help others achieve the same positive experiences.

For more information about belly-dancing lessons with Una, contact Ariel Dance Studio, 2385 Winchester Blvd. or call 408. 621.2790.