My Soda with Susan
by jvaragona
Last night I met with a woman at McDonald’s. I bought her a large Diet Dr. Pepper. I had a large Diet Coke. We talked about her troubled childhood and how many years later it led straight to her performing dance routines at live music events around the area. We talked about her being a misunderstood loner that has had many urban legends created surrounding her, some based loosely in fact, that are used in attempts to drive her from a community that she has lived in since birth. This woman is Susan Stone, known as the Dance of Life dancer.
Susan has most recently been in the spotlight for being kicked out of the African Arts Festival at Forest Park in St. Louis, MO. On local CBS affiliate, KMOV, she claimed that she was kicked out because she was white. While the details of that incident are complicated, it certainly made people across the world aware of this unique individual in my area.
Shortly before the African Arts Festival, I had exchanged messages with Susan, saying I was interested in shooting a documentary about her, having her address the stories around her as well as talking to those that are critical of her. Since 2009, she has uploaded over 2000 videos to YouTube of her dancing at various events and giving small glimpses into who she is and the message she wants to share. It seems unusual, but innocent enough. Of course people stare when she performs in public because of how she looks and the dance she does. And internet commenters have a field day with her, exchanging stories that they have heard and speculating about her age, her sex, who she is having sexual relations with, and what crimes she has committed recently. Her rap sheet is long, including traffic offenses, theft, and what many know her for — slashing tires.
I first came across Susan at the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. She caught my eye, dancing off to the side of the stage where the band was performing. She gyrates to the music in a pink tutu, waving various props such as fans and ribbons. As I posted some photos to Twitter and Instagram, I began getting comments identifying her as a local celebrity of sorts that I hadn’t heard of before. When I went home, I did some internet research, coming across a plethora of material. This is too fascinating to not put together into one piece.
Some may say Susan will participate for the attention. Obviously she enjoys that a bit, otherwise she wouldn’t have the 2000+ YouTube videos. I think she does want to address controversies surrounding her, though. I have explained that I will be getting other sides to stories and other perspectives on her, and she has agreed to participate. Documenting such a story and her dancing will require shooting over the next year which I think will be quite the ride. I will launch an Indie-Go-Go campaign in the coming weeks to try to secure some funding for some higher quality equipment to work with and plan on continual updates on the progress of this project through a Twitter feed and Facebook page.
I welcome feedback of all kinds. Maybe you can give me leads on Susan’s past. Maybe you have reasonable questions you’d like asked. Feel free to participate. I only ask that dialogue be civil. Below I have included some of Susan’s videos. Enjoy. And thanks.
Jim Varagona 
My family and I have personally been affected by Susan Stone. She allegedly robbed my younger brother of his rosary and bible from his car when he was in high school. She also made offensive comments on my YouTube channel and violated copyright infringement laws by stealing one of my YouTube videos, which was a parody of Susan Stone’s dances. She was reported and YouTube removed her copy of the video.
Was there a police report on the theft from your brother?
Yes, a police report was filed. She just got out of prison in 2011 for former crimes. She is from Lenzburg, Illinois. This article explains it briefly. http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/10/dancing_transsexual_and_belleville_tire_slasher_one_and_the_same.php
Right, I’m aware of previous theft and her time away. I was asking, basically wondering if it was part of those incidents. Do you think your brother would be willing to do an interview on camera? It wouldn’t be for a couple of months, probably.
I would probably be more supportive of her “idiosyncrasies” if not for you own mention of theft and tire slashing. And mrange03 had to say.
It’s public record. We won’t avoid it in this. I think there will be a better picture of this whole story in the end though.
I think it is very nice you wrote this. I have seen Susan many times at different events in St Louis and also Belleville. I most recently seen her at my church. No one sat next to her or around her at church. I have to tell you though, I watched her throughout the service. The energy that she radiated almost made me jealous. I am ashamed that I didn’t go sit next to her or talk to her but you can bet the next time I see her I will say hello. Thank you so much for writing this and tell her next time you see her that not everyone sees her as she thinks. I admire her.
I see her everywhere! I pass her house going to work everytime. She lives in a town two mins away from where I live. Always out and about in her maroon truck with her advertisement posted.
he/she is from a town called lenzburg I lived there most my life.When I was young we called him crazy Dave, he lived in a trailer on the outside of town by the highway and drove an old beat up car.
Did he have the old charger or challenger with the dolls in the windows, and on the grill and such? A brown car? Sorry for gender identifying, but at the time she did present as a male. This would be a very interesting story, and there is tons of speculation. Etc. Being from Belleville, I have seen her perform a lot, and I do take it light, almost as a joke.
The answer is yes.. Dave as I knew him lived in or on the very outskirts of Lenzburg with elderly parents in a mobile home. He drove the Charger for years. Not only were there dolls in the windows but the interior was “papered” with women’s photos cut from magazines.. I believe the car was more of a burnt orange color. Personally I have never had a run in with him/her but the stories around the New Athens, Lenzburg, and Marissa area will keep you busy for some time
My dad once got pretty worried because “Crazy Dave” was sitting outside of the local grade school in his car watching children leave. He didn’t have kids enrolled…
This is one mentally unstable and creepy person
I knew him from when he went Millstadt school. Didn’t really know him well, he was very introverted then. I don’t have a problem with him pretending to be a woman and dancing, but he shouldn’t do it when another group is performing. It’s very distracting and not fair to the group invited to perform.
I actually would be really interested in watching a documentary on him/her…. As I was growing up in New Athens everyone knew “Crazy Dave” and always talked about the Barbie dolls hanging in his car and were always warned to stay away…. I always wondered about him but never really wanted to talk to him because he made me nervous…. I can handle different people but sometimes you just get strange vibes from a person that really prevent you from having a conversation, I’m not sure if it is from him in actuality or from the stories and warnings while growing up.
I don’t support this at all. I don’t think she is misunderstood or should be put in the spotlight. She might be mentally unstable, but she knows what is right and wrong. She stole from a church and slashed tires among other crimes.
I feel that there are many other people who have had troubled childhoods and had to grow up not knowing which gender they are who are not criminals and who are actually making a difference in this world.
Her message is a joke. She wants attention. She is not quirky or flamboyant. She is a criminal. What would feeding the fire accomplish? There are other people who could be filmed to raise awareness of mental illness and gender identity issues who are just as colorful as Susan.
Take the film The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia for example. They are dangerous criminals. What did that movie accomplish besides making people laugh at their family and feel disgusted about their actions. That is what will happen with Susan.
I guess this documentary will strike quite the controversy and get people talking. Which will bring you business and attention. So I can’t blame you.
No matter how you portray her, she is dangerous. I’m not saying she should be shut off from the rest of the world, but she does not deserve this attention.
Susan stone is not a she ~ hes a man ~started dressing like a woman ~he has lots of mental issues he used to go to all the churches in the area always begging for money ~ car ~ etc
This “it” is a menus to our society. I worked at Lowe’s at the time of the tire slashing. This crazy person needs held behind bars or in a straight jacket. You are also crazy our missing something upstairs to make this it get more attention. I have no respect for people who want to hurt other people. It’s a male with breasts. Freak of nature.
I haven’t seen any evidence that Susan physically hurt anyone. If you can prove differently, please do so. If she truly was a menace to society, I would think she would have spent more time locked up by now.
Additionally, what evidence do you have that one, she is still a male? And two, that her breasts are real? What concern are people’s body parts to you?
See my post on the topix blog. I’m not going to repeat it here, but suffice it to say he took several, several swings at my coworker and I back in the early 2000’s with razor blades when he was driving the voodoo orange charger with dolls… He knows right and wrong, but people somehow feel sorry for him?? I guess until you’ve been personally impacted by this psycho then you’ll just be seeing the dold and all his fake ‘happy world’ nonsense…
I agree that he needs no more spotlight than he already has. Many who follow him on the net do so to warn others of his capabilities…
Here’s an idea, tell him you’ve decided not to do the documentary and then watch his reaction and actions in the following days toward you…
I dare you…
Worked at a small nursing home that kept his mother before she passed. He had to be monitored when he visited. Why? Cause when she lived at home he would have sex with her. Some of the phone harassment came after she passed. He would call and just breath heavy into the phone. We all knew it was him. He didn’t like the administrator and threatened the facility. You can tell he is mentally unstable. Not just by his transgender choices. I would be weary of being arpund him alone.
So you saw her do it, you personally witnessed her slashing the tires? Interesting. Did you talk to the police?
I think you must type with your forehead, you fucking mongoloid.
I can’t wait for people like you to die off into stories we tell our grandchildren about how backwards & totally FUCKED some people used to be, about nothing. Stories they’ll know we aren’t lying about but can’t really ascertain.
“It”… who the fuck do you think you are?
You’re a fucking disgrace. Please get out of the gene pool.
You stated ‘Susan’ is being shunned from the town ‘she’ has lived in since birth – not true. David Stone lived in Millstadt & went to school there until 8th grade. Yes, he has mental issues – he was very much into almost cultist type activity. So while I’m thankful ‘Susan’ has turned to a dancer of life – no doctor would have done any type of genetic altering procedures on someone with David’s mental capacity. So your documentary will only reflect badly on you should you do such a story & claim he is a woman when so many have known him since 1st grade. And to state he’s lived in Lenzberg his whole life: another incorrect fact. His parents were elderly & they did the best they could with him – but there was only so much they could do. Just think long & hard before you start such a documentary, that’s all I’m saying.
I appreciate your concern. At this early of a stage, nothing is stated as fact. The idea is to obtain interviews with various people with different perspectives and let an audience decide what the truth is. Would you like to speak on camera?
God, you’re another treasure. See above. I guess at least you can spell.
I support your decision to do a documentary. Yes, she can be controversial, but she is not hurting anyone with her “Dance of Life” and she has paid the consequences for her past by going to jail.
This person should not be allowed to do whatever nonsense it is doing in public places. Someone with this level of mental illness and criminal history needs to be banned from making a nuisance in public. It’s pretty obvious that it’s just a stunt to try to cause a scene. I am always sure to inform the amused bystanders that this man is deranged and to keep their distance, especially children. Shame on you for encouraging this nut.
I think Susan is misunderstood and has had a difficult time being a transgendered person. She has not had a beautiful, supportive and clean transition like some people are lucky enough to get. She has done wrong things throughout her life, but what person hasn’t made some mistakes? I am really saddened by the responses I have read about her so far. She has shown a kindness to my family that I can not thank her enough for. She is praying for my nephew who has cancer. I see her quite regularly where I work and she has even been harsh to me once or twice when she’s had a lousy day. But when she found out about my nephew having a bone marrow transplant in passing conversation as I was ringing up the items she bought, she cared enough to come back to the store an hour and a half later just to ask his name so she could say a prayer for him. Then I took a picture of her to send to my nephew’s phone to let him know he had one more prayer going up from a complete stranger. She did a video to try to raise awareness for childhood cancer in his honor. She cared enough to go out of her way to come back the following week to ask how his recovery is going. My whole family has gained a friend in Susan. She is good people in my book. The world could use a few more just like her. I would take ten of her to every one of these hateful comments I have read. Her message is one of kindness and compassion.
hay william , & classmate and tiffany and all the others ( this is dance of life) my remark is i sure would like to be there at your judgement with god when he sends all of you to hell for all the lies you made up , im not sure witch reality your in however its sure as hell isent mine as ive not done this , i take account for the minor things ive done however you have me as a crazy mad man killer , crazy ass nut , that steals Christians rosary and outs it in my car in high school i was age 15 then ( hay fools i did not own a car) you call the lord jesus god down here right now ill stand before him as i tell no lie here , ive done nothing to hurt anyone ( however i no longer care ) if you think im this crazy mad man monster killer , manson , criminal out of there mind person ( witch im not ) then why are you fooling around with this internet crap wasting your time , if you hate me want to get rid of me so much stop making me more well known stop turning me into a world wide urban legend stop spending your and my time with this crap instead simply get it over with ( repeating in gods name ive hurt no one ) they killed jesus to for nothing , get it over with run me over , get your riffle shoot me , throw me off a cliff i dont care no more , you want me out of the picture this internet crap wont do it , burn me alive , blow me up i do not care im sick to death of this shit , run me off the road , whatever your going to do do it !! im sick and tired of being accused for doing nothing wrong !!
hay out there cruel evil world ( you think im as monster im in good company they crucified jesus christ to for doing nothing ) im sick of being accused of doing nothing you have me pasted down as being 1000 worse then Charles manson ( ill stand in front of god any day with you and we will see witch one god sends to hell ) ( hint im not scared of his answer ) however if you want me out of the picture for doing nothing then stop this crap your not making me go away your making me more well known , im sick of this crap , you want me dead then stop this internet crap , you want me in hell for doing nothing then send me there you want me locked up forever heres a good idea ( run your big rig through my house blow me up or shoot me i dont freaken care no more , ive been ready to die ever since i was 27 , ive done nothing however i wake up each day wishing to god i heaven that he would strike me down with cancer or something because i no longer want to wake up , end both of our pain (( stop this internet game crap !! )) get your tools out send me to hell blow me up , rum me over i dont care no more , every day i wake up is a living hell anyway with what you did to my life ( ive done nothing wrong god pity you your all going top burn in hell and see gods punishment day for the lies lies lies youve told about me i pity that day , as for now i do not care if i did nothing wrong you caused all of my pain now you end my6 pain put your damned mouse down and pick up your keys and drive your truck through my house with me in it make sure you have your guns to you ruined my life now you fix this crap im through i no longer care
hello this message is for monya im sure your out there somewhere in fact its for everyone , first i want to state in front of god himself ive not done any of the things ive been accused of other then theft and minor damage property god strike me out forever if im not telling the truth however this message is for those out there that want me dead twisted in jail or in hell or all of them , its been over 34 years this has been going on , youve made me out a charlie manson killer devil nut ( witch i never was or never will be) you play this game with me its all a game life itself this none of its real you would not understand anything about life since youve spent all of yours trying to ruin mine , this internet game is crap all your doing by this is making me more and more and more well known , this game has game has gone far enough (( MONYA )) youve spent your entire life pursuing and telling lies about my life ( yours must really suck )) however isent it time to end this nightmare youve caused in my life you monya and everyone else , you can play with your computer mouse all day however you want to hang an innocent person send me to hell and destroy me slowly for no known reason , im tired of its time you put down your mouse and acted make both of our nightmares go away , stop fooling around with the internet come kill run me over ill tell you what get out a big wooden cross and nail me to it crucify me they killed jesus for nothing why not me to , burn me alive drive a truck through my house i no longer care all i want is this nightmare to end ,, as stated if your right then send me straight to hell however ill see you there in hell before god takes me to heaven for your cruelty, you can kill my body , hit me nail me down you can spit in my face and hurt me with words however you can never ever steal my soul , so go on stop this crap throw your mouse down and if you must come burn me up run me down kill me or hang me on a cross whatever just get it over with as we will both be facing the judgement room of god ( i do not fear it ) do you fear gods judgement — ones that lie do not go to heaven ones that are cruel dont get there , i fear not death and judgement youd better look at yourself are you damned sure your ready if you claim god wants you to hurt or destroy me then what are you waiting for ive been ready to die for 13 years as i am right with god i devote my remaining years to help others your living in the past if you must take my earthly body then do so may god in heaven have mercy for you as i face him i plead with my god to forgive yous all for what youve done to me
hello everyone hello monya hello ,
i want to start out with this as im not going to repley to everyone however , i want to start out by saying this ( number one ive not done the things you accuse me of and or make up about me )) other then petty , heres my message . each and every one of us is the art of life with differences , you hate and crucify me because im different as jesus was ( no im not perfect ) however i worry about all of you out there involved in this game your playing with me ( in fact your playing a dangerous game on yourself as you waste weeks on top of years making up things to hate me for in trying to make the world hate me for no reason you have lost one important thing (( you own meaning of life )) someday when your life nears its end you will wake up in the same nursing home you put my poor defenseless mom in with your lies and nearing the december days in your life face the same wall mom did and you wiill say ( my god what have i done i wasted my life its over i filled my days with hate and lies ) now you face truth you can lie no more not to me them or god you cannot lie to yourself , then and only then you will for a moment see the meaning of life as i do ( you will scream cry and beg god me and yourself please i want one more chance im sorry) however heres when you will face your moment of truth you cannot lie no more (( there is no going back to do it over again )) however in my understandings of life and my god i do something for both myself my god and even you something you are not able to do ( i forgive you all my haters for i understand you know not what it is you do !!) i go to my god my force of life and ask my god to have mercy on your souls for they are filled with sin hate and evil an evil i as of yet cannot understand , ive done some wrong in my life ive been forgiven now i plead with the world the haters after all it and the dance of life was a gift given to me by my higher power god as i was told sent back telling me share the meaning of life with the world as i had a near death experience after mom died . as it is hard to overlook those that hate you moke you , hurt and spit on you however as i promised my mom as i walked out of the nursing home that day she died ( mom ill share your message of life with the world ill not let you down )) the last words mom said before her death was (( the breath of life is a gift i dont want to lose it ) i shared with the world in my dance & poems the breath of life is a gift each moment is yet another opportunity to share it with others , its you i feel sorry for as some day you will be judged for your wrong doing monya and all the rest , however my job is the dance of life as i will do what you wont ( i forgive you all for you know not what it is you do and ill have daily prayers to show you all what life is really about
the dance of life dancer
hay out there its time to end this foolishness , today you harassed me till i broke down crying , telling me i should be in hell or dead harassing me all evening with foolish wishes ( im who i am im dance of life )) as i said before you tell me i should be in hell that god hates me that i should be dead killed and tormented ( in actuality im already dead in hell and tormented with these lies ) however this game will never get you no where ( you want me in hell then send me there as im so tired of this ) i know i dont belong on this earth however heres a compromise that will please everyone and end everyones nightmares sometimes before this season ends i will do a last dance do a big dance move and take a serious fall on purpose ( as i do not fall and have only 5 times in 13 years it will have to be a fixed fall ill make sure im injured crippled for life that way ill never ever be able to go no where dance nor do anything more to do with dance ( is this good enough for you ! or do you want me dead out of this world if so then thats up to you to do doing what you did at the stadium will not make this happen as i stated before you need to put down your foolishness get up from that fat seat your sitting on and get the job done ( im ready are you )) im sick of this hell on earth nightmare game every day every week please lets end both of our nightmares it dose not matter that ive not done anything i dont no longer care lets simply end this one way or another you will hate me forever even if ive done nothing stop fooling around etc , times here put your foolishness down get up and lets end this horrible nightmare youve made out of my life , it dose not matter that i did nothing god and the world hates me anyway , stop terrorizing me (( im sure if you destroy me injure me cripple me or end my life they will give you a big fat metal and an award and throw a celebration party , come on lets go do it get it over im tired of this pain pain pain all for nothing i did nothing get out a cross nail me to it hang me on it get it done
^^^^ this is the ugly side of Susan Stone… This is why she is considered a menace. She is mentally unstable, and this side of her, the belligerent attack side, comes out in public, in front of children. Usually she is not immediately threatened with arrests. She is politely asked to dance a certain distance away from the stage or audience because she shows up uninvited. She doesn’t take into account that while most of us have been passive about her dancing for years, we did not ask her to show up and be a distraction from the artists we came to see. Over the years, she has become much less respectful of authority, audiences, and artists. What was once a fun, oddity in the Belleville area has become a time bomb all around the metro area for belligerence and arrests. She’s breaking the law and becoming a nuisance… The fun is gone, and we are left with something ugly 😦
Right right..
.. or maybe that’s all what happens after a person gets called “it” too many times.
I’ve seen her at events in Belleville and every time I see her she’s off to the side doing her dancing. What harm is there in this? I am disgusted that so many are judging her for her past. Let the past die. Who are you to judge a person? You are not God. Would you want to be judged for your past? Let the poor lady be. Where is your kindness matter of fact have a heart. So she’s different who cares. If everyone was the same the world would be a horribly boring place. We are all different and shouldn’t be treated like crap just because we are.
You seem to be uninformed on the record of this woman. No one is discriminating against a currently innocent man/woman or judging based on personal choices AT ALL. “Susan” (on legal record as David) Stone is a current active criminal. You should know your facts prior to defending anything, especially a stranger who is a criminal for God’s sake. It sure does make one appear to be an ass who supports active criminals. Now THAT is not flattering on anyone.
The legal record shows her as Susan. All of her criminal record is under Susan. ‘Defending a criminal’ connotes some evil stuff has gone on. Susan has not committed any violent or sexual crimes.
As far as criminal records go, anyone in the Western Hemisphere over the age of 30 who does not have a criminal record has simply never been caught for any of their antics.. innocent or sinister. So spare me that shit. No human is 100% law-abiding.
Everything I’ve read in opposition to this documentary amounts to “NO, WHY?! SHE’S BAD OMFG YOU HAVE NO IDEA.” And I have yet to see direction towards one credible source, or one person opt into being interviewed about what they say.
People tend to torture each other.. I watch & listen to Ms. Stone & it’s clear that she has more than a few things going on. I have to wonder how much of that was caused by how her peers have routinely treated her. Watching how she’s received by adults, I fuckin shudder to imagine what it was like growing up.
Long & short of it, SOURCES or stfu.
I have very damming evidence. I do not need to validate my claims to a stranger who speaks in a vulgar manner to those whom he or she is not familiar. The police are well aware of the evidence at hand, as they are the only enforcement to which I answer.
She is probably the worst dancer I have ever seen. She is annoying and distracts people from performances they have come to enjoy because she cannot stand for anyone else to have center stage. I wish she would disappear for good.
Yet again, words word words, zero backup. And zero public record to at least back up what you say.
And I’m vulgar with everyone, not just strangers. 😀
[…] Someone wanted to make a documentary about her but it looks like the project never got going. She told the videographer a story about a life of great suffering. No way to tell if any of it is true. She has had some serious run-ins with the law, and not about […]