At age 5, my mother enrolled me in tap, ballet, jazz, and baton classes at Kehl’s School of Dance in Madison Wisconsin. I took regular classes for the next 9 years where I was given a solid foundation in technique and choreography and had much experience performing in various recitals. My first dance recital was in a red polka-dotted dress tap dancing to ‘The Good Ship Lolly Pop.’ Throughout childhood and into my teens, dance classes were a good discipline and outlet for my hormones and wild energy. In college I enjoyed studying poetry, creative writing, geology, nature cosmology and completed a Wilderness and Civilization Study Program as a minor at the University of Montana, Missoula in 1992. We spent a lot of time hiking in wilderness areas appreciating the beauty of nature. Soul searching led me back to my love of dance to explore modern dance as a major at the University of Montana 1992-1994 where I was inspired by the philosophies of Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham. Assisting teaching a children’s creative movement class and studying contact improvisation were also influential in my experiences learning about different aspects of dance and movement as a healing art. I also admire the works of Gabrielle Roth.

In 1997 while attending East West College of Healing Arts in Portland Oregon I became enamored with bellydance when a friend gave me an instructional video of Delilah of Seattle. Since then I’ve been hooked and have done a lot of self study with videos while songwriting and birthing 2 music CDs with 30 of my original songs. I have also studied with local instructors Kendra Wolfe, Paulette Rees-Denis of Gypsy Caravan in Portland and international instructors including master teacher Keti Sharif of Perth Australia, Hassan Khalil, and Liza Laziza of Cairo, Egypt. In March 2006 I studied with Keti Sharif in Manhattan, New York City at Morocco’s Studio completing her A-Z Original and Advanced Routines Bellydance Teacher Training Program which includes a solid foundation in understanding Egyptian, Turkish, and Folkloric dance styles.

Versatile by nature, I am drawn to a variety of bellydance styles and I appreciate the full spectrum of movement and costume variations. Admiring its rootsy, community-oriented group improvisation dance, I also study American Tribal Style Bellydance at Gypsy Caravan Studio in Portland Oregon and in July 2007 attended the ‘Collective Soul’ Dance Program. As a student of Middle Eastern dance I also deeply enjoy learning about its music, history and culture and took my first trip to Egypt in August 2007 to study Raks Sharki. Immersed in the motherland of dance, I attended Keti Sharif’s International Teacher’s Conference and the Raks Sharki tour exploring dynamic choreographies with cane, veil, shamadan, and zills. We were fortunate to be able to dance to live music with amazing drummers and rababa players. During the conference I also attended Keti’s 2 workshop intensives and got certified to teach Pulse8 Fitness and AstroBelly. The combination of intensive dance study while
exploring aspects of culture and visiting historical monuments was a bellydancers dream come true!

Along with singing, songwriting, composing music on guitar and keyboards, dance has always been a powerful means of expressing a ceaseless flow of creative energy that moves through me. In fact, my music and dance disciplines have always complemented one another because I allow creativity to manifest itself through many channels. When I feel flat or uninspired with one art medium I will switch to the other and it will reinvigorate me. Dancing and music to me is like a form of meditation, grounding/centering, prayer and ritual. It is therapy! Through art, we access the soul, celebrate in an expansion of consciousness on many levels and are transformed.

Although performing comes natural to me, the ability to reach out to an audience and evoke an emotional response, it has never been a focal aim as a dancer. I find excitement in performing, I also equally enjoy being a teacher and encouraging students infinite creative potential, health and fitness and am committed to a holistic lifestyle. I encourage dance as a form of health maintenance. Being a performer and a teacher are two different, unique skills. Performing is about self-expression, teaching is about facilitating and supporting expression in others.

My fitness teaching experience began Sept.13 1998 instructing regular weekly Hatha and Kundalini yoga classes at Wow Fitness Center in Corvallis Oregon and I have been teaching there ever since. I attended a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training program in Portland, OR at One at Heart Martial Arts Studio in Jan 2001. I have also been in private health care practice as a Licensed Massage Therapist since 1999 and worked as an LMT and CA (Chiropractic Assistant) with a chiropractor for 6 1/2 years. I attended regular continuing education classes in massage and bodywork including anatomy and kinesiology and have traveled to Thailand and China to study acupressure and Thai bodywork.

As a bellydance instructor I aspire to inspire women’s self-confidence, creativity and fitness. I began instructing beginner’s bellydance classes at Wow Fitness Center in Jan. 2005 and taught there for 1.5 years. Upon returning from Keti’s Bellydance Teacher Training program in March 2006, I opened up my studio, Galactivate Studio inside Stoker’s VitaWorld Health Store where I work in passionate profession with my husband Stoker. The meaning of Galactivate is gals getting activated! My teaching combines a balance between the art of dance with the science of the body.

I perform professionally as a soloist and with my bellydance student troupe, Galactivate Bellydance Troupe. I have been a member volunteer of the Corvallis Bellydance Performance Guild since 2004 and served as Outside Events Coordinator 2005-2006. I am also a member of MEDGE.

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