Zaina Hart
   
   
     

My Favorite of Favorites

 

Costumes/Costumers

Ali Hamidzadeh - Costume Site - Fabulous

Belly Dance Bazaar - Indian Designs at their best.

BellyDanceFashion.com - distributes an exclusive collection of Egyptian and Turkish belly dance costumes, hip scarves, skirt and veil sets, and accessories for professional and beginner bellydancers.

Belly Dance Shop - Provider of Authentic Turkish Imports - out of Charlotte, NC

Dawn "Davina" Devine - Costume Wizard Extraordinaire and FAMOUS Author!

Fatima Al-Wahid - Dance and Costume Site

Gaylene's Boutique - Costumer Extraordinaire and all around fun kinda gal.

Halima's Designs - custom coin belts, ready made skirts, pants, veils and so much more.

India Bazaar - Lots of jewelry, hips carves, bindis, etc. A great fun site.

iWorldArtists.com Emporium - Online Shopping for Costumes and Accessories - NY

L. Rose Designs - Magnificant Cholis, Silk Veils, Velvet and Silk skirts and more. also the home to SHOSHANNA.

Magic City Costumes - Great New Costume Site

Moon Dance - Out of Portland, OR - jewelry, hip scarves and always a monthly special.

Nahari - Wonderful Silk Veils

Originals by Faye - Elegant Costuming for the discerning dancer. Voluptuous, long leggy creatures will always find a costume here.

Topkapi Designs - Gorgeous Tukish Designs!

Tribal Belly Dance Costumes - a great new site out of Italy, owned and operated by Ranya.

Zara's Costuming - Fun, and fairly new site.

 

Dancers/Performers/Instructors

Adry Svraka & UniTáncz UniTancz Dance Artist - 2004 Golden Belly Award Winner (Best Kept Secret) - CA

Amara Al Amir - A Kaleidoscope Of Visions, A Spectrum of Colors - NY

Jane Archer - owner of Euphoria Studios (featured in the Quarter 2/05 issue of The "Belly Dancer" Magazine) - Portland's unique movement artspace.... Home of The Circle Dance Company & Mandala1235 SE Division St., Portland, OR 97202, 503.240.1997, www.euphoriastudios.net

Aziza originally of Portland, Oregon now residing in Montreal, Quebec, Canada - a multi award winning performer.

Aziza Sa'id - Mid Eastern Belly Dance Site - CA

Azura - is an award-winning performer residing in the San Francisco Bay area of California with over 17 years of collective dance experience - from Middle Eastern, to ballroom and Scottish Highland. (Her website also sports wonderful leopard trim pages).

Jim Boz - Pacific Northwest's premier male bellydance has moved to San Diego - we sure do miss him - CA

Dalia Carella - Dunyavi Gypsy and La Danse Orientale - - Not merely an incredible performer - but a genuinly loving person. Sure to take your breath away. (also a Rakkasah Instructor) - NY

Desert Moon Dance - Informational Site and Dancer

Fahtiem - Beautiful and Loving Dancer/Instrucoter - Rakkasah Teacher - Instruction and Performance - CA

Gypsy Caravan - Check out their site and bio page. Without a doubt my favorite Tribal Group ANYWHERE and truly wonderful people - WA

Hanan Sultan - I met Hanan when she was living in Portland, OR. She is a fabulous dancer and wonderful promoter of Middle Eastern Dance Art. She is also the owner of Bhuz.com.

Hasani - Seattle WA area - Performer and Costumer - WA

Jaleh - Award winning master performer/instructor and director of the award winning (winners of the 2004 Double Crown Belly Dance Competition's Nile (Troupe) Category) RAKS EL ZAHIRA, from Puyallup, WA.

Jamilla Al Wahid - A multi-talented dancer and instructor now residing in Southern California. Jamilla has branched out into new ventures, one is her new business "Barkcuits". Check out her new business site.

Jessica - Multi Talented Performer (2 place Headliner -Wiggles 2002) and and really wonderful person. Wait ill you see this site, beautiful! - CA

Jillina - Middle Eastern Dance Artist (choreographer and performer for the "Belly Dance Superstars Shows" - and a truly nice person as well. Check out this beautiful site - CA

Kashani - Director of Mas Uda - from Olympia, is an accomplished Troupe Director and writer for various publications, with her own column in The "Belly Dancer" Magazine.

KissMyShimmy - from Greenville, SC. This group has been together since the early 90's and are still going strong.

Kitiera of Silverdale, Washington (Seattle area) recently relocated from Charleston, SC and we are thrilled to have our Gypsy Girl in the Pacific Northwest.

Latifah Ahlam - Portland, Oregon Tribal Style Dancer and Community Supporter - Classes Available - check out her site.

Leylah Jamal of Portland, Oregon. Cute as a button - and a dynamic drum soloist. Has been traveling to Egypt for a number of years now - OR

Margo Abdo O'dell - Wonderful Dance Artisits and Rakkasah Instructor - A Dancer who provides her audience "Charisma" at its BEST!

Michelle Joyce, 1st place winner of the People's Choice Bellydance Competition 2004 - residing in the San Francisco Bay area. Her site has some fabulous video clips - check it out. - CA

Monica - San Francisco Bay Area performer - CA

Morocco - Teacher Extraordinaire!

Nadira - Multi Award Winning performer residing in Seattle, WA. 2006 Belly Dancer of the Year, 2005 Belly Dance Performing Artist.

Nubian Divas Jessica, Nefertiti, and Annitra Raven Moon of California.

Orientale Expressions - This is a group of dancers who really know how to have a great time. Their website tells that story well. Please visit them soon!

Paulette Rees-Denis - Director of Gypsy Caravan - check out her bio page - - she is remarkable - OR

Rachel - A dynamic performer residing in Portland, OR, Rachel has won many awards. She is certified in level 1 & 2 of the Suhaila technique and continues to compete, perform and holds regular classes in the Portland area.

Raqs Halim Tribal Fusion Belly Dance - Seattle Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Troupe - WA

Said el Amir - One Hot Hot performer and an amazing instructor.. Said is the creator of JOMDANCE (Jazz, Oriental, Modern-Dance). He is a dancer's dancer, who never fails to leave his audience wanting more MORE.

Salome - Promotion of international performer as well as belly dance directories, talent agency directory, jobs available, on-line lessons, articles, and interviews.

Saqra - Middle Eastern Dance Artist and Rakkasah instructor from Kent Washington. Producer of the annual Belly Dance Showcase in Hillsboro, OR. - WA

Sarasa - Our sweet dancer's new site for her Yoga School - CA

Selket - Belly Dance With Selket

Shahina - Lovely dancer from the Chicago, IL area.

Shayla's Pharoah Dancers - Check out her Shayla and Yanni look alike gallery - it is fantastic - CA

Two Old Bags - Nevada Promoters/Producers extraordinaire.

Venus - Our lovely dancer to the North. Check out her beautiful web site. Canada

 

 

Festivals/Shows/Event Calendars

Calendars:

iShimmy.com

 

Zaina Hart's Calendar - This site - Updated Weekly - If you would like to add an event to this calendar simply e-mail zaina@zainahart.com with the dates/times / etc.

Competitions:

Double Crown Belly Dance Competition, Festival and International Bazaar - Held Annually (now in its 13th Year) in Santa Cruz, CA. e-mail: zaina@zainahart.com for additional information.

Wiggles of the West - Produced by The Two Old Bags (Janie and Chris) of Las Vegas, NV.

Festivals:

Desert Dance Festival in San Jose California, presented by Dunia and Scarab Productions. Held annually in September. CA

Egypt World / Little Egypt - bringing you Dina, Aida Nour, Magdy El-Leisy, Faten Salama, Lubna Emam, & Freiz and many more from Florida to Los Angeles.

Mediterranean Fantasy Festival - held annually in July - One of the longest running Outdoor Festivals in the United States. Seattle, WA.

Rakkasah Festivals - Biggest Festival and a Must Attend. Rakkasah West - SF CA * Rakkasah East - NJ

Saqra's Annual Showcase - Check out the new additions, workshop instructors and new location for this festival. OR

 

General Informational Sites

Arizona Middle Eastern Dance Associatiion - site includes information from more than just Arizona. My old stomping grounds - - love this site.

Bhuz.com - This is a wonderful site - - so much information it will make your head swim. Owned by Hannan Sultan.

Dancelead.com - Resource Directory

MEDPDX - Local Area Bellydance Calendar

Nizana's Calendar Updates - this is a great site of events and dates.

OrientalDancer.net - A wonderful informational site with a fabulous Teacher's/ Instructors Directory.

World Belly Dance - Valeria offers this wonderful site out of the UK, which includes information on DVD's, history, events, classes and much more.

Yasmina of Phoenix - Informational Site and a personal favorite of Zaina. This site includes volumes of information for Belly Dancers in many cateories (costuming, educational, historical, cultural and more).

 

Magazines

iShimmy.com, The "Belly Dancer" Magazine - Owned and Edited by Zaina Hart of Vancouver, WA. Entering it's third year of production.

Jareeda Magazine - Owned by Mezdulene, my dear friend and sister dancer. Based out of Sutherlin (southern), Oregon.

The Chronicles - A brand new magazine - it is just beautiful and full of information.

Zaghareet - One of the longest running, on time magazines in our business. Packed full of information, and a huge teacher's directory.

 

Music/Musicians

Americanistan of Eugene Oregon performs music inspired by cultures of the Middle East and Mediterranean. CD's available on their site.

Carmine - The Pacific NW loves this wonderfully darling drummer (and darn he lives in New York where they also love him) who is featured on two of Pangia's CD's. For drum/doumbec lessons (DVD Available) or lessons in New York speak, check him out. Check out his latest project "Djinn". (Djinn blends traditional Middle Eastern music with electronics, hurdy gurdy and human beatbox to create a sound that is uniquely NYC.)

Desert Wind's Web Site - Truly wonderful friends and musicians. Traditional with a New Age Twist. Gentle, yet powerful and always loving. Their work is highlighted on Zaina's videos.

Mary Ellen Donald - Of the San Francisco Bay area - - a true fount of information. Seen each year at Rakkasah West, Summer Caravan and many more events.

Harry Saroyan - Wonderful Zil (I only sell Harry's zils) and Music site and on the top of "MY MOST FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE BUSINESS LIST". I adore Harry - - always have, always will.

Hossam Ramzy - Mr. Ramzy's music is what I cut my dance shoes to/with/on - along with Eddie the Sheik and Harry Saroyan. Hossam's website is extensive and well worth the time to visit and/or place an order. He has DVD's now available of my Idol - Naima Akef.

Pangia - Mt. Shasta, California. They just released their fourth CD and it is fabulous. Pat Olson's incredible smoldering voice and fabulous Oud, mixed with Denise Mannion's keyboards and vast musical experience along with rhythms by Carmine Guida, Eric Johnson, and Gordon Kamm. Their new site is now up and running!

Peko International Records / Hollywood Music Center - If you are looking for IT, they will probably HAVE IT. Mehr is a great guy and always willing to help. Best distributiors in the business and they keep up on all the latest in music and videos.

 

Photographers/Artists