Diva Dish: Diva talents and dreams
By Kara A. Medalis with Zack Zeigler
Written: November 09, 2007
This week in Diva Dish, Melina gets in the groove, Maria muses on her dreams, Victoria reminisces on childhood adventures and Mickie James indulges in her passions.
Dancing Diva
Melina is a Diva with many talents. Whether she’s walking the red carpet, mingling with fellow A-listers or showing Raw Divas just who’s boss in the WWE ring, Melina is always the epitome of class, sass and style. Melina has added one more sexy talent to her list of accomplishments — belly dancing.
“I’ve been belly dancing for a few months. My instructor got me so motivated because she said I’m learning really quickly. It’s so complicated. You watch it and you think all you do is shake your hips, but it’s really very intricate,” Melina told Diva Dish.
“It’s kind of like wrestling where you not only have to learn the moves and be able to perform them, but also do the moves with someone else and then perform at the same time. There are so many aspects of wrestling combined into one, that’s the way belly dancing is, too,” she explained.
Melina is known for her physicality in the ring, and belly dancing has helped her stay in tip-top shape. Plus, learning how to belly dance only adds to the Diva’s sexiness.
“Not only is it a good workout, but to me, it adds sensuality and it’s an art. Belly dancing is an art form that I really respect. It makes me more of a confident woman,” she said.
“I’m reading books about it and the way belly dancers see life. I think that every woman has a belly dancer in her. And I’m finding mine, and it’s going to be an extension of me. Maybe it could transcend into the ring,” she teased.
Diva dreams
Maria is a Diva with many dreams and aspirations. Faithful readers of Diva Dish know of her love of acting, singing and playing the drums. Maria fans also know she’s Raw’s resident fashionista Diva. But did you know she makes some of her own in-ring gear?
“I am a fashion designer. I make a lot of my own wrestling gear, as well as some of my own clothes. I’m thinking about going back to school, actually, for fashion design and merchandising,” she revealed. “I’ll probably start up at the beginning of next year. We’ll see. It’s tough with my schedule, but if you take a class at a time, and you’re really dedicated, you can do it.”
Another little-known fact about Maria is that she’s quite passionate about dancing and took lessons for most of her life.
“I danced for 17 years. I was a teacher for four years in ballet, tap, jazz, acrobat, hip-hop, every other kind of dance you can think of — lyrical, modern,” she said. “When I finish my acting class, then I’m probably going to take a dance class for a semester and go back and forth between the two because I don’t ever want to lose that.”
Maria’s dream is to unite her passion for dance and fashion, and combine it with being a positive role model for young females.
“Eventually I would love to open up either a dance studio or a fashion store — my own store,” she said.
“I’m the oldest. I’m the big sister. My sister learned a lot and did a lot better in school because I think she already saw what I went through. So I think it would be so cool to start a place called ‘Big Sister.’ ” Maria explained.
“It would be for girls who don’t have a big sister and teach them all the quirks of, you know, how do you do your make up or straighten your hair or any of that stuff, because I knew none of that when I first started!” she smiled.
Daredevil Diva
Victoria recently Dished to us about some of her favorite childhood memories with her best friend. Seems like Victoria was a strong and fearless Diva as a kid, too!
“My best friend, Maura, and I would go to crazy places like Mazatlan and Newport Beach. We were really into ATVs — the big three-wheelers. As kids, we used to paint our faces in camouflage and play on those with our walkie-talkies,” the SmackDown Diva smiled.
“How cool, though, to have those bikes as kids, right? We’d get on those bikes and play army. ‘Do you see the enemy? Down, down, down!’ It was silly, but it was fun!”
All the time in the world
Mickie James is one busy Diva. When she’s not getting down and dirty in the Raw ring, she’s at home in Virginia taking care of her horses. But what if the Diva had all the time in the world to indulge in her passions?
“The horses, everybody knows I love my horses. I’d love to be a professional horse trainer,” she said.
“I’ve really wanted to do some movies. If I had an awesome singing voice, then I’d think about singing, but it’s kind of raspy. I think I have a pretty voice; it’s just different,” Mickie said.
Maria’s not the only Raw Diva who has a serious sense of fashion.
“What about my own clothing line? I’d love to start my own clothing line. They’d be my own designs. I’d call it ‘M.J.’ ”
Credit: WWE.com