Suhaila SalimpourAfter meeting and studying with Suhaila last year in New Jersey, and attending her weeklong workshop in California this January, 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.
Joe My Heart and soul. My loving husband. You are my complete inspiration. I love you with all my heart.
Kajira DjoumahnaKajira has a free spirit and a great personality! I cant wait to take more workshops with her! She has introduced 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!!!
Gwen/ZenobiaA beautiful tribal belly dancer friend
Rachel BriceRachel is now touring with members of the Indigo and the Belly Dance Superstars project, and teaching Yoga in San Francisco.
My beautiful sister BeckyBecky is my only sister and person of my own heart whom I admire and look up to very much.
Delilah Seattle, WA
I have seen Delilah perform on video, and have her instructional videos. She has been one of the most influential dancers to mes 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
based in 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.
My 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. 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 has taught me how to persevere, to hold on and be positive, even when things are going tough. During tough periods I remember my mom telling me to "Keep positive". She stressed this and I do now today. I avoid all negativity. At an early age she taught me how to condition for sports, especially volleyball which she was the best. I now see my middle eastern dance as a sport, not only something to condition for, but to give it my best, mentally and physically. It is a dance of the heart. Bellydancing is a way for me to express I have been studying dance for now a couple years and learning how to condition for this art, a very technical form of dance, something I take very serious. As my mother, Judy settled for being nothing but the best she could be, I also strive for this. She is a 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.
"The cosmic religious experience
is the strongest and noblest driving force
behind scientific work."
"Only a life lived for others is a life worth while."
"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."
"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium (1941) ch. 13
"The only real valuable thing is intuition."
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."
"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value."
"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty ."
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge ."
"The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It doe s not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books---a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects."
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely t o comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity."
"I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive."
"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom."
"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
"The only source of knowledge is experience"
"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree."
"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."
"A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?
"
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances if there is any reaction, both are transformed." -- Carl Gustav Jung
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. -- Carl Gustav Jung
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. -- Carl Gustav Jung
Where love rules, there is no will to power, and where power predominates, love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.
Carl Jung, "On the Psychology of the Unconciousness", 1917
