2011 is not yet over, but what a fantastic year it was for my belly dance company in Orlando. From launching a website, to a new featured billboard, to more bookings, and meeting some amazing and kind people, this year was truly spectacular. If you know me personally, you know that I never stop working on my craft or juggling the multiple roles that I play. As I look back on 2011 there were so many lessons learned, and I look forward to making 2012 not just better, but out of this world! I like any one else have my set of new years resolutions that I am determined to accomplish. I am determined more than ever to see my dreams come true, and step by step, I hope to get there. Here are my New Years Resolution in terms of a belly dancer :) What are yours? Feel free to share them on my fanpage.2012 Belly Dance New Years Resolutions1. Improve my health! 2011 was...

December is here and thankfully it is busy as usual. Lot's of inquiries have come my way for individuals looking for an Orlando belly dancer for holiday parties and I thought, why not blog about it? Holiday parties are so fun and full of surprises. I just performed at another spectacular birthday party tonight and had the family dog jump into my isis wings routine lol! If you are wondering what to add to your holiday party, hiring a professional and charismatic belly dancer is the way to go! Many times holiday events involve the gathering of many families, and an icebreaker can really help get the party started. My belly dance style is elegant, beautiful, and family friendly, as well as funny as I always try to add some comdeic moments during songs. I would say that some things to know when looking for a belly dancer in Orlando to dance at your holiday party are:- This is our busiest season (along with wedding season)...

So over the years I have had my bouts with  health/beauty products and have met some really knowledgeable and amazing people who have given me some good tips along the way so I thought I would share them as many of my friends are fellow belly dancers. If you are not a belly dancer these tips can still apply to you too, so keep reading lol!#1: All serious dancers should take glucosamine. It is a supplement that is great for your bones, and we all need that with all the bending, and crazy movements we do. This can be found pretty much everywhere (wal-mart, publix, walgreens) and is inexpensive.#2: Teeth whitening strips are terrible for your teeth. They mess up your natural tooth shield and leave white stains on your teeth..not good.#3: Dove has this fantastic new deoderant (I have been on it for 3 months) that reduces hair growth and helps nourish underarm skin. I am notorious for dry shaving right before I gig, so...

Yesterday I had a great convo with a friend of mine about weight, health, and body image. As a performer, I have met tons of women in all shapes and sizes, and with all sorts of outlooks about beauty and weight (which is a popular topic in this industry). In America a lot of emphasis is placed on looks. It is a multibillion dollar industry and we have all been conditioned to think that the ideal beauty is someone that is tall, skinny, and etc... As belly dancers and performers, these ideals have really caused a lot of pressure on women who just do not fit into this mold.  So deeply rooted is this ideal that some women go to dangerous lengths to try to reach this "look" even if it means destroying their health. Which brings me to two cases.   1) The first is a beautiful, tall, blond I met who is super skinny. It happens that this woman, believes that she is "fat"...

It is already November and being that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, it is only appropriate to write a little something to share my appreciation. This year has been magical to say the least. It began with my new website redesign that I put a lot of love into and has really broadened my client base and allowed me to connect with so many dancers across the world. 1. I am thankful for the amazing belly dance community I am a part of. I have met some inspiring, classy, and sincere individuals this year and it is a pleasure to be able to call you girls my friends.2. I am thankful for the ability to finally have incorporated my business. I have been in business 6 years and going strong, and so much more to come in 2012 I can barely contain my excitement.3. I am thankful for the ability to dance full time and make a living off of my passion for so many years and the...

    Last night I was surfing the web looking for the latest video uploads form my favorite dancers and i am heart broken by one of the videos I found. Let me begin by saying that I in no way mean to bash this dancers accomplishments as a performer nor her ridiculously amazing dance skills, she is after all someone I consider to be one of the best in the world right now and gorgeous to boot. That being said I am going to make the point using this video I am about to post, that I as a fan of ladies such as her, am extremely disappointed when I find that such inspiring dancers cross over to the dark side and display themselves scantily clad, overtly sexualized, and just "too much sex" in their presentations in order to try to "get ahead".       I feel that as professional belly dancers, it is our responsibility to conserve the true nature of belly dance. This is...

Since the creation of the internet the government has tried and tried to continually regulate and impose control over the way we view and use it. In essence they have tried (and with many successes) reduced our freedoms in this platform and are now pushing more than ever to take control. For a couple years now I have read articles upon articles talking about this and finally I have had enough! The internet is free for any one to use, and the what you choose to see is entirely up to you and should not be regulated by the government. The EFF is the foremost organization that has battled to keep us from ending up like China on this subject and I for one have donated and feel passionately about continually supporting their cause in protecting our rights and freedoms. If you have never heard of this organizations before, please follow the link to EFF.org They fight for us in court and cannot continue without our...

When I began dancing at restaurants full time many years ago I wish I would have known what I know now in order to have prevented some pretty dumb mistakes. Here are some tips that I think would definitely be a big help for newbies joining the scene: 1. Have a contract ( I wish I would have done this form the start) and have the owner sign it. This contract should include duration of employment, payment info, how to be paid, provisions for starting late, basic needs such as capable system and speakers, etc… I cannot tell you how many times I stupidly went to an audition for a restaurant gig I was interested in only to find I wasted my time because the owner/entertainment coordinator started me half an hour late and then took forever to pay. If I would have just contracted them form the getgo that could have been avoided. 2. Do not assume your bud is charging the correct rate....

So this year I entered and gained a lot of wisdom in competitions. Last month I wrote a blog about the Miami Bellydance Convention, and this month I am going to tell you about my adventures at Rakstar in Miami. Rakstar is a huge event held in Miami every year by the talented Virginia Mendez. It comprises of four days of workshops, shows, fashion shows, competitions, and of course belly dance shopping and mayhem. I did not plan on competing as the competition is not fitting with my style of dance but at the last minute I was given encouragement from a very wonderful dancer and went to have fun, show Miami who I was, and learn more about this side of the belly dance business as I am still very much a newbie to belly dance competitions. To make a long story short I ended up placing fourth and danced with everything I had. I felt naked as I laid out all my emotions on...

So it has been nine long months of using mineral makeup and I am happy to say that the chalazions and styes I suffered from for about a year and a half have finally stopped occurring and even have reduced in size! The surprising parts of this blog are the negative side effects that mineral makeup had on my skin that I did not foresee... For the first eight months I used purely bare minerals brand loose powder minerals and found out a few interesting things. First of all, if you are going to wear the foundation, you MUST wear it with the primer. I wore it for the first few months without the primer and due to how much I dance and thus sweat, I ended up breaking out all over my face :( Bare minerals foundation covered blemishes wonderfully, but for really hot summer days when I had to go to workshops all day or be outside for too long, streaks would develop from where...

I know I know, it is only October 3rd but at the rate things are going I had to write about the holiday belly dance entertainment I offer. You see, normally I would print flyers around early November, but with this fabulous blog, and busy October, why not get things started early. While hiring a belly dancer for your holiday party (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years) might not seem like the first idea that comes to mind, take a cue from my clients and go for it this year! Over the past few years, I rocked it belly dancing at lavish private estate parties, turned up the heat by fire dancing at New Years events, and got the party going with my ultra energized shows at pre-thanksgiving family events. The holidays can be really stressful so why not lighten the mood and impress everyone with a really unique spin on holiday entertainment by hiring a professional belly dancer. The question should really be, "why haven't I...

Before I begin let me just say that I go to technical school during the daytime, as well as run my business. I dance almost every night, and the couple of nights I do have off, I go to school for my masters. Needless to say, a few months ago I began to foresee the fact that I needed to take some time off of work and school and focus on relaxing and recharging my batteries. It is funny the phrase "recharge my batteries". I consider myself to be quite a work-a-holic and always maintain a tightly packed schedule. If I find myself with a night off, trust me I will fill the time with numerous tasks and assignments in order to take advantage of the extra time and get try to stay ahead. I think in this business sometimes things just go so fast that we forget to just stop and take time for ourselves. I just came back from a vacation and feel more energized...

Hello my name is Jennifer and I am a costume-aholic. There I said! I do not know why, but it seems every year my addiction becomes worse and worse. When I first started dancing I always told myself I would never go beyond x amount of dollars for a costume. My focus always has and continues to be education. Only thing is that my taste for designer costuming continues to grow and grow. I used to be satisfied owning classic Bella's and Legends, but now that is not enough. I want only the most contemporary, up to date styles in the most crazy fabrics or unique colors. I know as dancers we all crave gorgeous costumes but maybe I am a bit old-fashioned in the sense that I won't go beyond a certain number no matter what. I am not a hoarder (thanks goodness), I work x amount of times per month so I have a sufficient amount of costumes that I constantly rotate in order...

If you have never been to the Miami Bellydance Convention before, GO! For the past few years I have attended and have loved every last minute of it. This event is held during labor day weekend every year and gets bigger and better every time. It is organized by the beautiful and talented Nathalie of Dreams Bellydance Academy and is a mecca for belly dance enthusiasts from all around the world. This year I competed again and am proud to say that I received 1st place during the preliminary round and fourth overall at finals. I plan on coming back next year and going for the crown so wish me luck. I had a blast meeting some talented women from all around the world and taking workshops from some of my idols. Superstars such as Renata Lobo from Brazil were there and my favorite part about going to this convention is the fact that you are bound to bump into stars all the time since your...

Many fellow Orlando belly dancers out there know or have heard about Shimmy Girl Co. They are an elite group of professional belly dancers from across Florida who have tried to maintain a high standard among the belly dance community by promoting family friendly, ethical, and fantastic belly dance performances (sound familiar?). Well, I am now proud to say that I have become a Shimmy Girl member and am excited to be associated with the fine reputation this company has earned. One of my former instructors, Jolie (who is absolutely fantastic) is a Shimmy Girl as well, so it is an honor to be added along with her and all the other ladies. For more information about Shimmy Girls please visit:http://www.professionalbellydancers.com   or visit my Shimmy Girl page: http://www.professionalbellydancers.com/jennifer.htm...

I am often asked where I get all my gorgeous costumes, so I decided to write this blog as a resource for other dancers and clients to finally know. I pretty much only buy high end Turkish, Russian, and (once in a blue moon) Egyptian costumes. I make many of them as well as I am a belly dance costume designer. Here is the list, enjoy!1. Bella websiteTurkish designer who makes very light weight, unique belly dance costumes. These are ideal for summer months.2.Sim Moda Evi websiteThis is another turkish designer.They make very heavy, durable, and well built belly dance costumes ideal for winter months. Offering classic designs to ultra colorful bursts of color and pattern.3. Legend websiteI find that legend is the combination of Sim and Topkapi (below). They have that durable, mid-heavy weight costuming, but with the option of very classic designs to almost bella like decorations.4. Topkapi facebook (she no longer has a site, but feel free to contact her via Facebook)One of...

The past eight months have been nothing short of marvelous. A steady flow of private events and teaching workshops on top of my usual full time belly dance performances across various restaurants has me feeling blessed. Making it in Orlando is difficult with the amount of saturation in the industry, but thankfully due to my hard work, amazing friends, clients, and supporters, I have been able to run a successful small business in  terrible economic times for the last six years. I wanted to say thank you to everyone again. There have been a few bumps in the road from jealous ridden individuals, but that is just part of the journey. It has been eight months of meeting new clients while belly dancing in Orlando and all around Florida in weddings, birthday parties, graduation parties, and I even have bookings up until January of 2012 already! Before my website I was fortunate enough  to have a steady ring of referrals flowing through for my private events,...

Like many dancers, I am a huge fan of so many talented belly dancers out there who continue to amaze and inspire women like me  with their breath taking performances. Some of the ladies and gentleman who have directly inspired me and my style are the following:*Keep in mind there are MANY more incredibly talented dancers out there, but for the sake of brevity I am limiting the list to my top ten. Here are some of my favorite videos of each. Enjoy*1. Didem Kinali2. Sadie 3. Saida4. Ela Rogers4. Dina5. Mercedes Nieto6. Randa Kamel7. Racheal Brice8. Alla Kushnir9.Orit 10.Daria Mitskevich...

So today I just feel the need to vent. So a few months ago it was brought to my attention that a dancer thought I was copying her content and marketing position....how about no! My content is all mine and I pulled everything from my past flyers and plain old experience (clients asking me the same questions all the time). I had numerous conversations with this dancer actually about all the hot topics I felt were important and was going to write about, and funny that somehow just because my website came out later that somehow I was copying? I don't think so. I do admit, there was one line I loved from her faq’s (I even mentioned that to HER and the world on Facebook) which I reworded and expanded to an entire paragraph but that does not mean I am a copycat! To her that was not enough and went bazerk! I can understand if it was copy and paste or obvious paraphrasing...

There are many belly dancers out there who absolutely refuse to work in restaurants, but I am a firm believer and example of when dancing at a restaurant can go right. I have made a great living dancing in restaurants 3-7 days a week, every week, for the past five years. Many times the horror stories occur due to girls working for low rates, working with owners they hate, or in places that are not safe. While dancing at restaurants has its ups and downs, I have acquired the perfect venues over the years that keep me sharp. I have chosen to perform at my select venues because they have shown that they value my work. These restaurants have taken good care of me and have provided me with some pretty amazing opportunities. I also find that dancing on a full time basis has really benefited my clients as I am continually improving and practicing my skills, learning to deal with different issues as they arise,...