About Danielle

It was 1996, and I had taken a trip to Atlanta for my very first Dragon*Con. There was a bellydance class in the Mercedes Lackey tract, and I thought, "Why not?" I was so enamored by this dance, that when I got home to South Florida, I looked everywhere for a teacher.

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It was the early days of the internet, so it took me awhile. But as luck would have it, I found my first teacher, Tasha Banat, in April of 1997. She was teaching classes--for free!--at Broward Community College, where I was also coincidentally taking classes. Through Tasha, I met Dawn, and spent my early days taking every available class they offered.

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Tasha was Lebanese who's unique style blended debke and folkloric elements into cabaret. Dawn's style was a rich blend of American Cabaret and nightclub, where I learned veil, finger cymbals, floor work . . . Between the two, I had unknowingly stumbled into a very well-rounded bellydance education. It helped me land my first restaurant gig at the Kasbah in Pompano Beach, and kept me going through other spots like Mykonos in Boca Raton, Moroccan Nights in North Miami Beach, and Jordan Valley here in Pensacola.

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Over the years, I experimented with different styles, landing and staying on Fusion for quite some time. But as I'm coming out of an almost 10-year dance hiatus, and as I've gotten older, I'm eager to get back to my roots and take more time to study the intricacies of bellydance; to continue to learn the history and the culture that this beautiful dance sprang from. 

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I have been incredibly lucky to study with so many wonderful teachers:

Tasha Banat, Dawn, Gina Nolan, Rajaa, Maestro Hossam Ramzy, Serena Ramzy, Sufi Master Adnan Sarhan, Delilah, Rachel Brice, Mardi Love, Mira Betz, Yamil Annum, Saida, Sadie, April Rose, Jihan Jamal, Jim Boz, Amani Jabril, Sharon Kihara, Amy Sigil