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About My Classes

My class meets at The Lifestream Center, Roanoke, at 5:45 p.m. (Intermediate) and 7:30 p.m. (Beginners) on Mondays, and 5:30 on Wednesdays (Multi-Level). In my class you will be given instruction on several line/group dances from the Mediterranean and solo dance techniques included in Raks Sharki or Belly Dance. The classes are structured to teach all levels of Middle Eastern dancers. Please wear comfortable, non-restrictive clothing. A hip scarf or belt will make hip articulation more easily identified, but is not required. A 3 yard veil of sheer fabric such as chiffon is required by the fourth week of classes. Class size is limited to 15 students. The class fee is $50 for 8 weeks.

About Me

My very first exposure to Belly Dance was in 1987 when I was in high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. A married friend was taking Belly Dance classes at the local Parks and Recreation Center, and thought it was really neat. She taught me several basic movements in the living room of her home, with her three children looking on or doing the movements too. I really enjoyed the mini-lessons and later her dancing as a student at a local Moroccan restaurant.

The featured performer that night at Menara Moroccan, Una, was incredible. Her movements were fluid and lyrical. She had the whole audience spellbound, and when a special carpet was brought out, the lights dimmed, and a lit candle rested on her stomach, moving and fluttering there in the dark….I was hooked.

Unfortunately events don’t always co-operate with what we desire, and I moved from the area and had a child. When I decided to get back into shape, I looked for a Belly Dance class instead of aerobics. I found Sultana of Portland, OR, who over the last 10 years has continued to instruct me.

Another move and I found Kameal of Corvallis, OR, whose husband is Joseph Pusey, formerly of Brothers of the Baladi, and who sang on the Brothers' Beyond the Tenth album. She focused me on creating a learn and re-learn process, that keeps me teaching and going back to beginning level classes because I always learn something new.

Close by was Crystal of Albany, OR. She is so incredible I cannot come up with words to describe how she has inspired me. Her continuing battle with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is amazing. Her four hour weekly teaching/coaching sessions were enlightening on how belly dance has progressed in the last 20+ years as well as sweat provoking.

What I continue to enjoy most about my instructors over the years, is that that they all (including that first dancer who inspired me, Una) still perform. It is a lasting tribute to how wonderful this dance form can be for your body. That they for the most part started 20 or more years before they ever met me also indicates the longevity this dance form allows. Imagine dancing for 30 years….Wow!

Here are some of the wonderful teachers I’ve had at seminars over the years: Suzanna del Vecchio, Boulder, CO; Morocco, New York, NY; Azziza of Portland, OR; Halima of Seattle, WA; Dalia Carella of New York, NY; Jamilla Al Wahid of Sacramento, CA; Aneena of San Francisco, CA; Shukriya of San Francisco, CA; Momo Kadous of Frankfurt, Germany; Leila Haddad of Paris, France; Fatima al Wahid of Sacramento, CA; Soraya of Frankfurt, Germany; and Michael Solakian of San Francisco, CA, just to name a few.

For more information, contact Johonna.