You know the hair salon—stylists and clients buzzing about
everything: especially what’s hip in hair and, at my salon, dance! I was in to
see my stylist, Kathy Wolff, for a cut and color at
Shaar Salon on Wilson St. and the talk turned to
So You Think You Can Dance. I hadn’t
seen the new episode, but Wolff, her associate Joseph Blanchard and his client,
a Petaluma High School senior and long-time ballerina with a troupe in Santa
Rosa, filled me in. Consensus was the “tap boy” really can dance. I asked what
made him so good and learned all about Kathy’s background in dance—she’s not
only a great stylist and master colorist, Kathy Wolff is an expert in Tap, Hip
Hop, Belly Dance and the leader of two belly dancing troupes.
A native of Los Angeles, she’d been doing celebrity hair—for
Supertramps’ bass player, the head writer for General Hospital, John Fogerty’s
attorney and Slash’s girlfriend (Guns and Roses) among many—but she wanted a
change. Wolff moved to Northern California on “March twenty seventh, 1987, just
after eleven in the morning. I’ll never forget it.” She laughs. “The great
escape.”
She landed in San Francisco and rented a station in a salon
where the tension and conflict between the salon owners was so marked she
watched a client turn around and walk out the door. She soon followed. “You
have to have a truly respectful and harmonious environment. You can’t fake it.”
Eventually Wolff settled near family in Cotati. She worked
at Capelli Salon and became a resident
Petaluman when her daughter entered Petaluma Junior High School. I found Kathy
through one of her clients in a yoga class at Bodyworks on Second Street (I’ve
heard they’ve closed. Sad—it was a great yoga studio.) when I admired my
classmate’s hair, and I’ve been following Kathy around Petaluma’s salons since.
First for me was Repunzel’s
Hair Salon on Keller. Later Kathy (and I) moved to Lauthr Salon on Petaluma Blvd. just off Washington. I loved going
to that salon for my fashion fix: adorable handbags, and the historic building.
The original floors creaked and sloped, lending an old world charm to the
elegant decor. Wolff was happy there too. Maybe the cricks and cracks of the
floor fed into her passion for rhythm? But one day, surfing Craig’s list she
happened on a 1970’s home with a two-station salon attached. She had not intended
leaving Lauthr, but how could she
resist? Shaar Salon was born.
She says it was easy to open since she already had her cosmetology
license. All she needed was her Petaluma Business License and her Establishment
License issued by the Department of Consumer Affairs: Board of Barbering and
Cosmetology. That’s not as easy as Wolff makes out. I read over the
requirements for salons and cosmetologists and discovered that a salon is
highly regulated. Did you know the law mandates all combs and brushes need the
hair removed, be washed in soap and water and soaked for 10 minutes in a
disinfectant solution between clients? Kathy suggests that only about 5% of
stylists clean according to law.
Shaar
does. Kathy once left a salon when she saw the worker sniff a used towel then
toss it in the dryer and reuse it with a new client. Towels, etc. must be
washed and dried between customers.
Shaar
does. The bathroom must provide paper towels, not cloth towels. Disposable cups
must be provided with water.
Shaar—yes
and yes!
Wolff was excited, “not the usual reaction,” when the
inspector came to check out all these details. Shaar passed with flying colors. “I felt legit.” The only things the
salon needed were products (she uses Goldwell hair color and products) and
Kathy’s friend and associate, Joseph, colorist par excellence. She says “I snagged him from Repunzel.” And the two have created that harmonious environment. The
name Shaar means “hair” in Egyptian Arabic and the unpretentious salon is
livened with Wolff’s collection of Egyptian and Turkish plates, lamps and my
favorite piece: a graceful Turkish mint-tea service that takes pride of place
against a deep red background. I’m impressed with the cleanliness and order of
the premise and the fact that it is well ventilated. I love the hair colors but
don’t want to choke on the dye fumes! That would ruin the cup of tea I drink
while I wait for the color to set.
But what does any of this have to do with dance? It was the
“tap boy” that led Wolff to explain she got her start in dance at age thirteen
with tap lessons bestowed on her by a generous uncle. She worked under Tony
Award winning choreographer Danny Daniels, known for his work in film and TV,
notably, Pennies from Heaven and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Fifteen
years into her tap and Hip Hop career, Wolf saw the Hahbi’Ru belly dance troupe
perform at the Renaissance Faire and was smitten. She has always been inspired
by anything rhythmic, “being a tap dancer and a very bad drummer,” (she got her
first drum kit at eight) so when she injured her ankle she “put tap on the
shelf” and turned belly dancer.
Tap, Hip Hop and Belly Dance are based on the music’s rhythms
as opposed to other types of dance such as Ballet and Modern Jazz, which
illustrate the melody and lyrical portions of the music. In classical Belly
Dance, you have to interpret the time signatures and tempo changes with the
melody playing over. Rhythms come from different regions and are what dictate
the dabke and beladi movements.
Confused? You don’t need to be: Wolff teaches Belly Dance
through the
Sebastopol Center for the Arts and S.R.J.C. Ten years ago her
teacher retired and passed the
Dance Journey troupe and classes to Kathy. The
on-going Monday night class is open for beginners and dancers who want to
brush-up. Wolff welcomes drop-ins.
Just prefer to watch dance? Wolff’s troupes, Dance Journey
and Katherina’s Habibi Dancers, perform all over Northern California. Dance
Journey has won both first and third place in the troupe category in the North Coast
Belly Dance Competition. They’ve got shows coming up on Oct. 11th and 12th at
the
North Bay Bellydance Bazaar in Sebastopol, the Annual Halloween Hafla at the
Glazer Center in Santa Rosa on Friday, October 24
th at 7:00 pm, and
friend Dance Journey’s facebook page for
info on the North Bay belly dancing holiday dance “office party” that Alnisa started
at Papa’s Taverna and is open to all.
Get your hair done before the belly dance party. I heard a
rumor that Kathy and Joseph may be serving wine in those regulated paper cups in
December, and along with color and cuts, the salon specializes in special
occasion hair: weddings, proms, photo shoots, and costume hair—like my
Charmian London do for the launch party
of our
Redwood Writers 2013 Anthology.
I watched So You Think
You Can Dance, and with my new salon gained knowledge I ask you, where were
the Hip Hop twistiflexes, the popping and the locking?
I know the tutting is
going on at Shaar Salon.
