Tracy Phillips

About Tracy Phillips

Possibly most widely known from the role of Carol Shannon the "Baptist Belly dancer" from the movie, "Charlie Wilson's War" Tracy Phillips began dancing at age three and just knew that was what she wanted to do.
The daughter of American football coach Wade Phillips and the granddaughter of the Legendary coach O.A. "Bum" Phillips, with her love of dance and striking beauty, becoming a cheerleader was just part of the natural progression of her life.
At eighteen, she moved to Los Angeles. Like so many dancers of that era, she entered through well-worn channels: scholarship programs, agency representation, commercial work. She trained at The Edge, secured representation with Bill Bohl, and began working steadily in music videos, commercials, and film.
But even as she moved through that system, something else was unfolding. “I was choreographing at the same time,” she says. “I didn’t really think of it as a career yet. I was just… doing it.”
The shift from instinct to opportunity came unexpectedly. A piece she created for the first Choreographers Carnival—set to Tom Waits’ Pasties and a G-String—caught the attention of choreographer Fatima Robinson, who approached her afterward and asked to work together.
It was a turning point, though Phillips resists framing it that way. “I wasn’t thinking, ‘I want to be a choreographer,’” she recalls. “I was just inspired to make something.”
That sense of organic evolution defines her career. Rather than waiting for permission within established structures, Phillips began creating her own. Early shows took place in clubs and nightlife venues—spaces not traditionally associated with concert dance, but rich with possibility. Drawing from burlesque, theater, and commercial dance vocabularies, she developed productions that were stylized, narrative-driven, and grounded in strong performers.
“I’ve been doing shows in L.A. for over twenty years,” she says. “I just felt compelled to create.”

What distinguishes her work is not only its aesthetic, but its integration of disciplines. Costume, film, choreography, direction—each element forms part of a unified vision. While she readily acknowledges her collaborators, the throughline remains distinctly hers.