Visionary Dance Productions's Profile

My passion is belly dance. Strangely enough it’s one of my earliest memories. A calling from some sort of ancient yearning in my mind. In this lifetime I began dancing in California at age 18. It was a about a year after taking a series of yoga and belly dance classes with my Mother. At the time I was working as a hair dresser and putting my self though collage part time. All of a sudden I had a 24/7 active career in belly dance! Who would have guessed? I became the the star of a local Greek show in La Jolla California, the popular house party dancer for the traditional families from all over, as well as a featured lead performer at a sassy modern Middle Eastern revue in San Diego's Hotel Circle. I was dancing with live exotic foreign music and learning about so many different cultures first hand. I won major belly dance contests and I was being interviewed by the press. All very exciting. As the years continued I started teaching, I married and I danced. I had my kids and I danced. I started a instructional video series (that is still growing) and taught women all over the world the secrets of belly dance. My kids graduated and I’m still belly dancing, traveling and performing! What I know is this dance has effected my life in so many amazing holistic ways that one would not suspect.

For the past 30 plus years I hear again and again that this dance form changes women’s lives. I know this dance is about women and our connection to life, creativity, birth and the celebration of being a woman.

I must admit my perspective towards the art of belly dance in uniquely colored. For one my video series and worldly journeys into exotic places gave me unique perspective. Early in my career I dove further than the average belly dancer because I saw not cultural boundaries unifying this dance but rather saw women themselves as the common denominator. I sought out diverse inspirations and teachings; women’s studies, early modern dance movement, mythology, sufism and dervish training, feminism,movement therapy, ti chi, archetypal psychology, shamanism, rhythm training. I was in search for the real meaning within this dance. It took me on many paths but one of the most important was to connect it to our natural instincts. All life comes from the Sea. The belly, the womb, the basic hip circle, the flowing arms and body undulations all meet here. Everything in life is wave patterns and vibration. Shimmy and circulation. Thus to share some of these ideas to my students (absolute beginners to professional level dancers) I began holding my famous belly dance retreat programs each January in the lush, tropical, watery environment of Hawaii. (18 years now!). These retreats are about more than just belly dance, they are deep personal growth hatcheries.

In 2004 I opened my current VDP Studio in the artsy neighborhood of Fremont. Come dance with me and my wonderful staff of teachers and musicians! All are welcome.

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