I recently had the privilege of dancing with the lovely Shahzaadee, another Durham-based belly dance performer and instructor. Shahzaadee and I have known each other for a while now, but we have never danced together. We decided to perform together after spending an amazing weekend workshop with Aziza of Montreal where she taught us a beautiful veil dance. [...]

Whew, what a weekend it has been! I just finished hosting my first beading workshop and my second hafla (belly dance recital). It was all an awesome experience! And the best news is that the hafla raised $239 for the Triangle Belly Dance Scholarship Fund. Woo hoo!  The Scholarship provides funds for those belly dancers [...]

I am so excited! I will be hosting a belly dance student hafla and my very first workshop on April 21, 2012 in Durham, NC. I hope you decide to attend one or both of the events! Beading for Belly Dance Costumes This workshop covers basic beading techniques that are used in making belly dance [...]

I’m not really a Valentine’s Day celebrator (much to my fiancés relief), but I did want to share a special Valentine’s Day message about how important it is to cherish yourself and love yourself as you are today. Right now. As a part of my day job, I write and design health education brochures for [...]

I got an iPad for Christmas from my fiancé and his parents. I didn’t really ask for one since I am so attached to my laptop, but I was so glad that I got it! It literally hasn’t left my side since Christmas. As soon as I was up and running, I was thinking about [...]

The Chocolate Cupcake is finally finished! According to the date on one of the first photos I took for this project, it appears I started construction in February of this year. Um, yeah; it’s December. That’s a 11 month costume right there. I’ve got a photobucket album loaded with over 100 photographs of the process. [...]

I try to keep this blog all about belly dance, I really do, but sometimes it’s fun to talk about other things that are going on in my life. This year, I’ve decided to vend at some craft fairs to sell my handmade line of jewelry, Mountains to the Sea. I’m very excited to get [...]

I recently signed up with a new vendor service, called Thumbtack. This is your typical local vending site, like Yelp!, Local, Eventective, GigSalad or Gigmasters, only Thumbtack has some neat features on its site that I haven’t seen on any of the others. Thumbtack uses a point system and the more information you provide them, [...]

SOLD – Custom made Eshta Amar costume for sale Gently used costume for sale. Please contact me for more information. I take PayPal, Amazon Payments and most major credit cards.  Shipping not included in price, unless otherwise noted. All sales are final. Costume comes from a smoke-free house. I’m selling my signature costume (featured on the [...]

I’m making a joke here because I am working on a pink and brown costume and every time I pull out the fabric my fiancée says, “What can brown do for you?” He’s not a fan of the color, but it reminds me of liquid chocolate. Anyway, I’ve been working on this project for about 2 months [...]