Dance Inspirations
My beloved husband Joe. I love you habibi!! My Heart and soul. You are my complete inspiration. I love you with all my heart. Thank you for everything you do. You mean everything to me. Joe has a heart of gold and is such a sweetheat! He completely supports all of my artistic and creative endevours, he understands my passion of the dance and is 100% supportive of everything I strive for!
Rachel Brice
Rachel is the most influential tribal dancer to me. She is now touring with members of the Indigo and the Belly Dance Superstars project, and teaching Yoga in San Francisco. Rachel is the most beautiful tribal dancer that I have ever seen. Watching her puts me in awe and draws me into her intense dance.
Suhaila Salimpour
Suhaila is also one of the most influential dancers to me who taught me how to internalize every movement. After first meeting and studying with Suhaila in New Jersey, and attending more workshops all over from the East to West Coast, and attending her weeklong workshop in her mothership in Berkley California, she has opened up my heart to a new perspective of the dance, and she helped me internalize and isolate each and every movement(and tiny muscle!). In her approach--she very thoughtfully, slowly, conscientiously dissected all the movements of middle eastern dance, and then put them back together--sometimes in new and unusual ways--to allow for maximum freedom of movement. (The point of powering shimmies solely with the glutes, is to make it more possible for the dancer to isolate this movement and then more easily layer other movements on top of it. She has a wonderful personality and great heart. She understands the influence she has made on me as I have been her testimonial for years now on her newsletter.
Kajira Djoumahna
After studying with Kajira, I found out what a free spirit and a great personality she has! She is so down to earth, and even got to know her a little sharing middle eastern cuisine in PA with her. I cant wait to take more classes and workshops with her! She is the first insructor to introduce me to the American Tribal Style Dance. Kajira is also a Reiki Master Teacher and incorporates that skill into all that she does. She is the author of the definitive resource for American Tribal Style Bellydance, "The Tribal Bible, Exploring the Phenomenon That is American Tribal Style Bellydance." Wonderful book! I recommend that anyone interested in tribal style, this book is a must! I have met and talked with her while I attended the Folk Tours in PA. What a great experience!! She made it one of the most exciting camps I have ever been to!
Delilah
Seattle, WA
After studying with Delilah when she toured the US, she is one of the most talented performers I have ever seen! An excellent teacher! One of her gifts is "dancing in nature." She can do things with her hips that I've seen hardly anyone else do. She also has the most dramatic, expressive belly I've ever seen. (Not to mention that she can roll a quarter down one side of her abdomen while simultaneously rolling another quarter up the other side, etc. Who else can do this?!!! She's a goddess!)
Eva Cernik
Denver, Colorado
Eva is a much sought after performer and workshop instructor both internationally and in the United States. She is a tiny, fiery, lithe, muscular dancer with a strong background in Turkish and Turkish Gypsy styles. Eva, like Delilah, has devoted herself to the spiritual path of Sufism as well as to the practice of bellydancing. Her dancing is often sprite-like and lighthearted, it's also profound, deep, and very strong. Read her story on whirling. Eva is well educated in Islamic customs and techniques for self-improvement via thirteen intensive years in spiritual Sufi training. Eva quotes,"Belly Dance gives birth to all dance: it comes from the source of life, it demonstrates the creation of life, it is an embodiment of the soul."
My Beautiful Mother
A beautiful woman with a heart of gold. Someone I have looked up to my entire life. Very strong minded, determined and hard worker, and dedication loving mother of four. She would be there for me at a seconds notice, and always has been there for me. I admire everything about her. She is a sincere giving lady that has given her whole life to making her children happy and giving them everything we needed. Thank you mom. She succeeds at everything her heart leads her to. I have looked up to my mother my entire life, and proud of everything she has done and accomplished. Nothing will hold her back from achieving her goals and aspirations. She is a kind nurturing woman. She has a love for animals… especially dogs (boxers)! You’ll have to check out her website here. She would love for you to sign her guest book for you dog lovers who enjoy her website and advice on care for your pet! She has taught me how to persevere, to hold on and stay positive, stay focused even when things were going tough and life seemed impossible, she kept me going. At an early age she taught me how to condition for sports, especially volleyball which she was the best. She taught me to settle for nothing less than the best. I now see my middle eastern dance as a sport, not only something to condition for, but to give it my absolute best, mentally and physically. It is a dance of the heart. Persistant conditioning and training for this art, a very technical form of dance, is something I take very serious. As my mother and best friend, Judy settled for being nothing but the best she could be, I also strive for this excellence. She is my complete inspiration. Thank you mom for everything. :) I love you.
My Dad
My father is a wonderful man I have looked up to my entire life. My first man in my life. He has worked hard his entire life to support his family and make sure his children have everything we needed. I always loved vending at craft and gem shows, and is something I will remember always. This has led me to love vending now at middle eastern dance events. I love meeting people and being out in the public. My dad is quiet and happy. He loves god, his children and my mom and his country very much. He is very patient, a quality I wish I more of. It is my father who has made me believe in god again. I look at him and know sincerely in his heart there is a wonderful loving god. Also, it took him years of taking classes to be a gemologist, and he succeeded at his dream. He is also a proud serving member of our armed services. I am so proud of him. My dad is a complete inspiration in my life. I love you dad.
Inspiring Quotations
Einsein -- Quotes