Meet Ginger Fatale

We were lucky to catch up with Ginger Fatale recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ginger, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

I own a dance studio for adults that provides trauma-informed dance instruction that is specifically queer-friendly. I am a mental health professional – specifically I am a dance/movement therapist. I am the clinical director of a queer-focused group private practice. And I have depression and ADHD.

There are days when just getting out of bed is hard – much less showing up for my loved ones, students, colleagues, and clients. Running the administrative work of the studio, managing associate clinicians, completing my paperwork, answering the phone/emails/texts/DMs, making sure I take care of basic survival needs, and even show up in the right location for what I’m doing, all feel like absolutely monumental tasks. Sometimes I want to give up and just get a job that doesn’t deal with intense human emotions.

I haven’t overcome anything, but I persist. I have my own tools that keep me going: getting sleep/taking naps, making sure I eat, dancing/working out, spending time with my partner and pets, and leaning into my community. I know some of that sounds like a broken record, but I really think it’s about intention. Are you going through the motions or are you really present with where you are in the moment and soaking in what you can? Are you dissociated and ignoring the cues that your body is giving you or are you paying attention and making adjustments as you go?

Right now, in June 2025 as I write this, it’s terrifying to be a queer person of color. It’s also scary to be running a small business as the economy tanks. The things that I hold do not help my mental health most of the time, but the spaces I occupy and the intention with which I show up are a powerful medicine. Don’t underestimate the small ways you can take care of yourself – they start to add up.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

As the country started to open up after the COVID-19 lockdown, I opened a dance studio. Soul on Fire Dance is an adult (18+) dance studio in Santa Ana, CA that offers in person and virtual dance classes. We were looking for a supportive and safe environment for all bodies to learn, express, and create – so we built it. Our focus is promoting equity, diversity and inclusivity through dance and social activism. All of the instructors receive training on Trauma-Informed Dance Instruction. They are all working professionals who love to teach a wide variety of styles and levels, but they are also individuals who love to share their passion of dance and movement with others.

In the dance world, once you reach adulthood, you have limited options. You’re either good enough to be touring with musical artists, dancing in music videos, or doing other professional work. Or, you end up in classes where 16 years old is considered adult and you’re being out-danced by someone half your age – demonstrating how “far you’ve fallen”. If someone had never been able to dance growing up, where were the spaces where they could learn as a beginner without being embarrassed by the teens in class? Or if the studio was indeed just for adults, why did all of the other participants and instructors have to be so judgmental and cold?

Dance has always been a healing art that builds connection – it’s an ancient practice of communities all over the world. I personally fell in love with dance because it helped me through my depression as a teenager, but coming back to it as an adult was rough. I didn’t want to be in spaces where I got glared at if I missed a step. The studio we built is beginner friendly – we want everyone to feel supported and successful. All our students are welcoming to every new face and actively encourage new people. Some of them have never danced until their 30s (or later) and are discovering this new way to heal their body image, increase their feelings of self-worth, and improve their confidence. It’s an absolute honor to witness every moment.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three things that were essential to this journey:
1. Ability to pivot when something wasn’t working, but not giving up on it too soon
2. Learning to ask for help – because I don’t know, and can’t do, everything
3. Increasing my own self-care to uncomfortable levels (I historically have not been good at taking care of myself)

If you are going after a dream – keep at it, you have this dream for a reason. Asking for help is super uncomfortable for a lot of us, but you never know who knows the perfect solution for a problem, or who is willing to step up in unexpected ways. Building out your dream takes a lot of self-sacrifice – for me it was a lot of money, time, and energy and I often felt like I was giving the rest of my life up. AND you can’t lose yourself in the process. This thing will only work if you have the resourcing in yourself to give to it. If you’re empty, you have nothing to grow with.

How would you describe your ideal client?

At Soul on Fire Dance, we want people to fit into our community. We’re all queer or allies, we are a LGBTQ-affirming, neurodiversity-affirming space, that seeks to center BIPOC and voices of other communities that are exploited and marginalized.

We treat everyone with respect – this studio has a zero tolerance policy for hate speech informed by systems of oppression, including (but not limited to) racism and white supremacy, sexism and patriarchy, ableism, fatphobia, transphobia, queerphobia and heteronormativity/heterosexism, mononormativity, ageism, classism, colonialism, and religious discrimination.

This studio operates using values of accountability and restorative justice to allow compassion for us to be imperfect humans, while also encouraging each of us to hold impacts of hurt/harm we may cause and work towards repair together.

If the above resonates with you and you have the spark inside that is whispering to find a new or renewed connection to your body through dance and movement – you’re our people.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Arcane Focus Photography

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