Tanna Valentine

Fascinated as a child by the album cover for "Music for Bellydancing" (Ahmed Shiba & Ensemble), Tanna Valentine fell in love with the costumes, the music, and the dance. Moving to New York City gave her the opportunity to study bellydance with some of the finest instructors in the world, and also to deeply immerse herself in two main genres of the dance, Classical Arabic Cabaret, and Classical American Cabaret. She quickly learned how to make costumes, and for a brief period of time operated her own design business. As her studies have continued over the years, Tanna has also explored various emerging alternative styles of bellydance. Her teaching career started in 2002 when Tanna discovered that she loved sharing this dance with others as much as she loved learning it for herself. As a teacher, Tanna provides detailed technical instruction, historical and cultural information, and a great deal of moral support to her students.

With over 17 years of experience in the field, Tanna is constantly seeking to grow and to challenge herself an artist. She has performed at many venues throughout New York City, from tiny hookah lounges to beautiful theater stages. While she loves performing to live music, she also enjoys creating alternative pieces and designing unusual costumes. Her dance company credits include Samara"s "Sands of Time" productions, Jehan Kamel"s "Goddessdance", and Gamila El Masri"s "Nileside Dancers". In 2004 Tanna decided to experience a bellydance competition firsthand, and, to her surprise, she won 2nd place in the Grand Champion category of the East Coast Classic.

Alongside her love of bellydance as an art form, Tanna is a firm believer in the importance of planned and regular exercise routines. She feels that staying in shape is not an indulgence; it is an absolute necessity for a truly healthy and balanced lifestyle. Bellydance provides a great, low-impact form of exercise that is especially helpful for people who are just starting to incorporate physical fitness into their daily lives. Tanna designed two bellydance-inspired workouts entitled "Bellydance for Body Sculpting: Floorwork" and "Bellydance for Body Sculpting: Total Body ". She also appears as the instructor on the non-bellydance workout "Perfect in Ten: Abs". Further DVD credits include "The Ultimate Bellydance Fitness Workout" and "Gothic Bellydance". To learn more or to contact Tanna, please go to www.TannaValentine.com