First of all, I will be performing with Angelina’s dance group this Friday, 7:30pm at Julianna’s Restaurant located at 3001 W. Peterson Ave in Chicago. The event is a showcase for Chicago dancers hosted by master belly dance instructor Dahlena.

Dahlena’s Chicago Workshop kicks off on Saturday. Dahlena is an EXCELENT instructor, her workshops are fabulous and I highly recommend them. Great technique, beautiful choreographies and tons of fun! See her website for more information. Unfortunately, I will be missing the first day of the workshop because I have an event, but you can expect to see me there the other 4 days!

We will simultaneously preparing to do a show for my birthday celebration which is next Thursday, August 6th! I am so excited, the party is at a beautiful Chicago night club and I be again performing with Angelina’s group. I can’t wait!!!

In other news, I just had a great photoshoot with a wonderful photographer named Hadassah yesterday. I should have the pictures ready and online in the gallery in the next couple days!

Please check out Dahlena’s workshop and if you ever need pictures, you should definitely contact Hadassah, shes very talented.

Rina here, getting all caught up to speed on the 21st century. I should finally have a website up later this week and tonight I am writing my very first blog post! This is so exciting!!!

I just want to take this opportunity to introduce myself! My name is Rina and I am a proud Chicago native. I am pretty sure I was dancing before I was walking, but found my true calling in the belly dance style. I am deeply passionate about traditional middle eastern music and dance but, I do love to be experimental. I mix it up by incorporating other dance forms into my style such as ballet, Latin, modern, and hip-hop. I also work very closely with a music producer to create hot new tracks inspired by and infused with traditional sounds.

I am starting my blog to share my accumulate knowledge about dancing and performing, as well as give insight about the life of a belly dancer to anyone who might be curious. I also hope I can spread my love of belly dance on to others and educated them about the wonders of this ancient performance art.

I hope you enjoy my blog and if there’s a topic in particular you would like me to cover, or if you have any specific questions fell free to let me know! Thanks for stopping by!

-Rina