SORAYA, a gifted and multi-talented dancers shares her open, honest & candid thoughts about the dance, the art and the attitude needed to be a successful, respected Middle Eastern dancer.

Just because you are dancing, does not mean you can ignore warming up your muscles. The music may sound just perfect, and you may think that you can start doing shimmies and hip drops. That is not the case. Give your muscles the attention they deserve before and after your practice.

Early August 2008, I had the opportunity to experience the Suhaila Salimpour Multi-Level Workshop. It was an experience that I will never forget.

More and more belly dance classes are starting to go online. Suhaila Salimpour's choreography to "Dark Veil" was available as an online class for under twenty dollars.

Workshops, belly dance seminars, are the hot thing for the summer. Most professional belly dancers have put together impressing, summer packages that just call out your name. However, before making your choice, there are some things to take into consideration.

How wonderful it is to have a belly dancer design costumes, so that the dancer feels confident. Frances (Brandi) Doran, known as T-Shura, makes all her costumes that are available for purchase at the Texas Renaissance Festival.

The story of The Arabian Nights, inspires movies, books, music, and belly dancers. It is not uncommon to hear of belly dance songs inspired by such a magnificent book. However, to become familiar with the story, is well, another story.

There is no need to stress yourself out at the last minute. The best gift to give is time. A few ideas for fellow belly dancers who have no idea what to give this year.

It is the drum solo that really spotlights a belly dancer´s talent. When a belly dancer does a wonderful drum solo performance, she is praised for it. However, when performed not so well, she is made aware of her shortcomings.

Now it is time for storytelling at its finest. In this discussion, I will refer to the storyteller Shahrzad, in the Persian transliteration. The first parts are "The Merchant and the Genie" and "The History of the Fisherman".