Dancing queen

>> Prancing ballerina and social butterfly aims to please

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Kiyoko Gotanda

Age: 22

Occupation: Ballerina

Salary: $26,000 per annum.

Bio: This slinky Plateau resident and ex-Californian has been shaking her booty on stages across America since she was five years old. Claiming to have understood that "dancing was going to be my life" by the time she was a teenager, she can plié like a motherfucker and has been perfoming with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal for the past three years.

Her childhood ambition: To become a schoolbus driver.

How often people mistake her for a stripper once she tells them she dances for a living: Not too often. "Once they get a look at your breasts they can usually tell you're not a stripper. Not that many strippers are flat."

How regularly she gets mentally unstable and fanatical male fans following her around and sending her flowers backstage: So far she has been spared this situation personally "but it has happened to some of the girls and it can get pretty creepy."

How big a problem is anorexia within the culture of dancers? "There is an awful lot of emphasis put on weight. I don't think there is a dance company out there that doesn't have at least one dancer with an eating disorder. But our troupe is pretty healthy as they go. You know, a dancer's body is her instrument so you try to take pretty good care of yourself."

Does she feel a person can develop a pot and big fat ass and still be a good dancer? It depends on the individual and their body type. "Some people can put on weight and it doesn't affect their performance in the slightest while for others a couple of pounds will make all the difference in the world."

Do her sexual partners expect her to be an acrobat in the bedroom? Not so much. But she has been asked about her ability to do the splits on several occasions.

Best part of being a pro dancer: "To be able connect with people, to see kids come backstage and see how much in awe they are of your performance."

Worst: The constant physical pain she has to endure after years of beating up on her body.

Are painkillers the drug of choice among dancers? Maybe not the drug of choice, but people who are really hurting will definitely load up on Voltaren or muscle relaxants before a show.

Where she hangs out: Kiyoko and her gang of dancers are out on the town boozing all the time. "We hang out at Unity, Sky, Sud-Sud-Est on Rachel, St-Sulpice, Vol de Nuit, tons of places."

Her current spiritual path: Raised a Buddhist, she believes in mind over body and the existence of a higher entity but claims not to be terribly religious.

Something she does for fun: Reading. She likes bestsellers once they come out in paperback.

Last book read: The Alchemist, by Paulo

Coelho.

Musical tastes: U2, Sarah Harmer, Samba music. Kiyoko says she loves everything. "I'm a CD junkie, I've got over 600 CDs at home."

Philosophy: "You may not be able to please everyone but you can still do your best to please a lot of people. Follow your dreams."