BellyVida

4th Feb 2012

Romeo! Please Sing To Yselande For Her Birthday!! (by yptweety)

Black Women, being afraid to “sweat out” your hair can be a health-risk. The term “sweat out” refers to the process of “moisture and motion transforming straight hair” into curly/frizzy hair. Because of the fear of the ”sweat out” process in chemically treated hair, some Black women avoid gyms and any form of a workout.The United States surgeon general wants black women to know that exercise is important. Please read this impacting article by Anahad O’Conner from the New York Times concerning a call for health over hair. Enjoy the read.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/surgeon-general-calls-for-health-over-hair/

14th Oct 2011

The Art of Cha-Cha and Finance

Hello my BellyVida friends. Here is this wonderful article I found while reading the NY Times. The articles is about a woman who went from size 6 to 0 while ballroom dancing. Furthermore, she talks about how dancing helps her cope with life. Please read if you have a moment.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/dreaming-about-dancing-the-cha-cha-on-the-trading-floor/

7th Oct 2011

Why I Belly Dance?

I remember the day in 2001.

The reason I started to belly dance. I saw Shakira’s Whenever, Wherever music video http://youtu.be/weRHyjj34ZE. I wanted to learn how to do those nice looking moves. Four years later, I am pursuing one of my dreams by establishing BellyVida “the Belly Life”. BellyVida aims to provide fun and fitness through belly dance for women, specifically minority women.

Belly Dance is a stress reliever and the dance helps with my weight management. I was privileged to study with Kahreen and Kira of Kismet Dancers for two years until I moved to Orlando, FL. Then, I met a wonderful woman named Melanie LeJoie, a breathtaking belly dancer and artist. I took a couple of classes with her and learned the true essence and core of belly dancing.

Lastly, I formed a life-long friendship with Karima, a beautiful, confident, young belly dancer who believed in me. She saw something special. She was one of the only people who saw my short hiatus from belly dance and said “what is your problem”. She made me belly dance again. I owe all of my confidence in the art form to her.

I have to give major credit to these women. They taught me that belly dance is about celebrating womanhood and being sisters. They taught me how to do the dance properly and love it. If you are ever in the Orlando or Miami, FL area, please take a class with these wonderful women. Please visit their websites or e-mail them for class information or to schedule a performance. They are amazing.

http://www.kismetdancers.net/