This Is It Valentines flowers and chocolates are languishing in the bargain bin, but I’m all consumed with the LOVE you’re lavishing upon yourself. It’s incredible; we started working with the Transformation Plan in January, and NOW we… Are seeing what happens after six weeks of Read more…
A Look Back At 2018 Wow what a year it’s been! If I had to describe 2018 in 1 word, it was the year of change. With your support and our fabulous team, in 2018 we: Produced Shimmy Shake Socialize 2018 in Philadelphia Presented at Cabaret Dance Read more…
She Said Yes! – Rachel’s Story I still clearly remember the first time I encountered bellydance. I remember she was beautiful, and the precision she had over her movements was absolutely amazing. I wanted to be able to dance like that. But even then I knew we did Read more…
SharQui From A Bellydancer’s Perspective – Shakila’s Story We all know that “Raqs Sharqi” means “eastern dance” in Arabic, but what is the SharQuí® workout? I found out at Rakkasah West this year when I took Oreet’s workshop, “Drills and Skills, SharQuí – The bellydance workout .” At first Read more…
Pause and Exhale How stressed out are you? Do you feel like you’re always scrambling, like you’re chasing a runaway train? I know women who are still agonizing over their incomplete resolutions and the year’s almost over! It’s madness. Let me share a little secret with Read more…
You Don’t Know I met a woman yesterday in Stabucks who spent 30 minutes telling me how she loves Zumba and that she’s the fittest she’s ever been at age 50. (I’m thinking…totally cool and way to go sista!) I quickly suggested (before she could start talking Read more…
What I’ve Learned In My 20 Years Of Teaching SharQui These are gentle reminders of how I want to live my life and some days are better than others. But I never stop trying. I hope these will help those who are currently on their journey and for Read more…
Get Out And Dance Can I remind you how important it is to be with people? Almost 90% of our interactions these days are non-verbal? This worries me because human connection is absolutely vital to our survival. There’s a lot coming out these days about how electronic Read more…
Oh Exercise… how we love to hate you. We’d feel so accomplished if sitting was considered exercise, right? To tell you the truth, because I run my dance business myself, I also have to be a pro when it comes to sitting at the laptop for hours on Read more…
Getting Uncomfortable Hey there Beauty Shaker, I’m super stoked to tell you about an amazing event I produced in my hometown of Philly. It was called Shimmy, Shake & Socialize 2018, the first-ever bellydance fitness of it’s kind. There were 3 types of bellydance fitness formats – Read more…
What Happens Backstage The other night I went to see a contemporary dance company in Philadelphia. I’ve been a fan of this company for years when I was a contemporary dancer in NYC, and this was my 1st time watching them live, on stage. What a thrill! Read more…
Strange Things Are Happening The weather is strange. Leaders are doing and saying bizarre things. Teens are doing emotional and dangerous things. It’s a weird time in this world. I’m sure you know what I mean. As a result, we’re stressed, overwhelmed and have feelings that we Read more…
Who Me? – Sandra’s Story In 1986 I started bellydance lessons at my local community center in Sunnyvale, CA. Flash forward to 2006, two daughters occupy my life and bellydance has fallen by the wayside and my weight is slowly creeping up about 10 pounds per year over Read more…
Do YOU I want to share a story with you. It was a response to a bellydance documentary I was interviewed on over 10 years ago. This documentary had multiple interviews of bellydance teachers and choreographers from the East coast, West coast, and in between, talking Read more…
So Tell Me… How often do you say things to yourself that questions your ability? How often do you compare yourself to others and believe you’re less than in some way? How often do you criticize yourself without fully realizing it? Do you know Read more…
Dancing At Any Age: Belly Dancing For Seniors Jennie Niles, one of the Ailey Extension’s more senior students, shares her story of how she and her friend, Lorraine Lunceford, came to be regular SharQui® belly dance class takers at the Ailey Extension. Learn why, when it comes to dance, Read more…
Who Will You Be? My amazing student and friend, Annette, asked me one day…”Oreet, did you always have confidence? What triggered you to start on your own? Did you intend SharQui to be bigger than yourself or did it evolve on it’s own? When did you know you Read more…
Life Is Like A Bellydance Competition I LOVE Bellydance Competitions – loved being a competitor and still love being a spectator as well as a judge. I appreciate the beauty and the hard work that goes into it from both the competitor and the producer, yet Read more…
Holy Shift I’m not going to lie… One of the most emotionally challenging mindset shifts I’ve had to make personally in my biz is stepping into a CEO role. And to top it off, I didn’t have any mentors to help me navigate this wild Read more…
The Bellydance Pro vs. The Fitness Pro I am both a teacher of dance AND fitness, and I am deeply appreciative and honored for being here. As both a teacher and a leader, I have a strong investment in finding out what motivates people to improve their Read more…
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