JENNA is a professional bellydance artist & instructor, and the proud co-director of DanceGarden LA. Trained in ballet & modern dance from childhood through university, Jenna continues her lifelong passion for dance by soaking up multiple movement disciplines & styles at every opportunity, and passing her knowledge & understanding freely on to her students here in LA and in special workshops nationally & internationally. She is also the star of three highly successful instructional bellydance DVD's. You can read more about Jenna's extensive teaching and performing experience, in NYC, LA and abroad at www.beyondbellydance.com.

ZAHRA Zuhair is co-director of Dance Garden LA, as well as a master teacher, performer, and choreographer who is world renowned for her knowledge, authenticity, and dedication to the art of Middle Eastern dance. Raised in oriental dance from a young age, Zahra is known for her musicality, flawless technique, and elegant style. She has trained and influenced many of today’s international, bellydance stars, and has performed and taught workshops on 5 continents, including the Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival in Cairo Egypt. For more information about Zahra, visit her website: www.zahrazuhair.com

Princess FARHANA has performed, taught & written about Oriental Dance since 1990, having appeared across the nation, around the world, & at concerts with major Arabic recording stars. Named “Favorite Oriental Dancer 2006” by Zaghareet Magazine, famous for her balancing skills and outrageous belly maneuvers, she is featured on-screen and starring in bellydance DVDs. Trained in classic Egyptian style by the greats (including her first influential teacher, Zahra Zuhair) Farhana is also well-known as a theatrical fusion performer. Her warmth, enthusiasm and adventurous spirit on and off stage captivate audiences and students alike.

Princess Farhana teaches bellydance!
Photo Don Spiro

HEATHER is a performer and teacher of Tribal & Tribal Fusion BellyDance, and winner of Champion and People's Choice Awards for Tribal Fusion Soloist at the 2007 Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition in Long Beach.
Dancing from a very young age, Heather's repertoire includes modern, hip hop, jazz, Classical Indian and middle-eastern dance. She fell in love with American Tribal Style belly dance in 2004 after seeing local tribal troupe SubeeDjinn perform. She began to study American Tribal Style (ATS) passionately, and naturally fell into tribal fusion after being inspired by Rachel Brice. A fun and giving teacher, she in turn inspires her students to echo strong technique while feeling confident to express themselves. Heather is gifted with the ability to explain movements so everyone can understand, and have fun doing it!

Heather teaches American Tribal Style, Tribal Fusion and Chakra Dance!

NASILA has been dancing and performing since the age of 5, exploring ballet, tap, jazz, and gleefully participating in several years of competition show choir. Moments into her first bellydance class with Zahra Zuhair in 2002 she became smitten with Middle Eastern music and movement. Since then she has trained extensively, taking workshops and classes with over 50 different belly dance instructors, many of whom are world-class and/or local super stars in the dance community. She is co-founder of LARaqs.com and performs at local restaurants and shows as a soloist as well as half of the duet Nasila wa Camila: Sharqiyyah Ruh (Eastern Soul). She continues her studies in Middle Eastern dance and folklore while honing her classic Egyptian style and passing on her knowledge through teaching.

Nasila teaches Bellydance Choreography

DeVILLA Award winning dancer, choreographer and make up artist DeVilla has been Dancing and performing since the age of six. DeVilla has sought out and studied with some of the worlds best teachers both in the U.S. and in Egypt, and studies extensively with Zahra Zuhair. She is trained in classical egyptian and folkloric styles of middle eastern dance.
 Her dance style is a blend of classical egyptian raks sharki, fusion, a bit of campy fun and a love of drama, costuming, make-up and the glamour of old Hollywood!
Her teaching style, while focusing on technique and good posture is revved-up, fast-paced fun, geared to get the dancer moving!
DeVilla performs as a soloist and with her troupe Isis-Siren-Sekhmet and can be seen performing in many shows and restaurants in and around Hollywood.
DeVilla is teaching Beginning belly dance and mixed level drills, combinations and choreography classes. All classes focus on posture, technique, and musicality. Some history and rhythms thrown in for good fun!

DeVilla teaches Bellydance Basics, Bellydance Bootcamp and Makeup for Dancers

FAHTIEM is in demand worldwide for her signature artistry, embodied in her quote "There are no magic steps -- only the magic you put in every step." She travels the world from New York to China giving bellydance workshops and raqs sharqi performances, inspiring dancers wherever she goes. Her unique belly dance style has been developed over years of training and performing, and she passes it to all her bellydance students with great care.

Fahtiem teaches bellydance!

KAMALA began her dance career in Ballet and Jazz. She has performed Raqs Sharki, aka "belly dance", in hundreds of nightclubs, theaters, hotels and events around the world, as well as on television and film. Kamala was a founding member and choreographer for “The Flowers of the Desert”, has produced her own theater productions, and has choreographed and coached many 1st place champions in Belly Dance competitions. Kamala has a broad range of influences. Students will incorporate classical and theatrical Egyptian dance, modern Cairo style, and a touch of Cyd Charisse into performance dances, learning counts and phrasing of Arabic music. Students also bring their imagination to class, and are taught how to construct a choreography. Kamala began teaching at DanceGarden in October 2009, where her many fans look forward to learning her famous bellydance choreographies.

Kamala teaches bellydance choreography and Bellyrina!

Helena Vlahos is a legendary belly dancer who is well known for her “Nine Quarter and Dollar Bill Act”. She is in the Guinness
Book of World Records for Unique Abdominal Dexterity. Helena started her dance career in Los Angeles, California in the mid 1960's. She moved to Texas in 1971, where she was asked to perform dance at various Greek nightclubs. While there, she ran and operated two belly dance schools. Helena moved back to Los Angeles in 1978 and was invited to perform her unique act on television shows such as “AM Los
Angeles”, “That's Incredible”, “Spectacular World of Guinness Records” and many more. In 1990 Helena moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where she taught classes at numerous colleges, dance studios and resorts. She also found time to perform at the Bacchanal Greek Restaurant. She is on the Executive Panel of Judges for Tonya & Atlantis' Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition every February in
Long Beach, California. Helena has mentored dancers who have gone on to win titles in competitions including the BDUC. Helena has graced the covers of two magazines: “Studio”, A Quarterly Journal of Folk & International Music & Dance in
January 2006 and “Belly Dance”, A Raqs Sharqi Magazine in the summer 2008 Issue. She is also a featured dancer in a new DVD “American Belly Dance Legends” produced by Amaya.

Helena moved back to Los Angeles in the Fall of 2011, where she teaches and performs when not traveling for master workshops.

Carolyn Krueger
Originally an accomplished ballet and modern dancer, Carolyn embraced a life-changing passion for Central Asian dance in 1984. Among the first handful of Western dancers to study seriously at the source, she deepened her specialty in Uzbek dance by training with master artists in Samarkand and Tashkent, Uzbekistan (1989, 1994, 1997). Two of her trips were funded by NEA-approved grants from ArtsLink—affording her the rare opportunity to live, study and perform in Tashkent with People’s Artist of Uzbekistan, Viloyat Akilova. Carolyn has been a featured Central Asian soloist on stages across the U.S. and in Uzbekistan, as well as on Persian Television and Tashkent Television, and has been interviewed for radio and television broadcasts in Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan. In addition, Carolyn holds BA and MA degrees in dance performance and choreography and has served for ten years as a full-time dance teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s innovative Elementary Arts Program. In 2000, Carolyn founded Gulistan Dance Theater to present and preserve opulent women’s traditional dances of the Central Asian Silk Road (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Iran and East Turkestan). Gulistan also performs original theatrical works, and its creative and technical excellence has earned the company numerous nominations for the Lester Horton Award. In 2001 and 2003, Viloyat Akilova honored Gulistan with several new choreographies, giving the ensemble the largest repertoire of her work outside of Uzbekistan.

Carolyn teaches Uzbek Dance

ANDREA began performing at the age of 4, born with a love of dance. While classically trained in ballet, jazz and musical theater, her focus for the last 10 years has been Afro-Latin dance. Andrea teaches a street-style of salsa, merengue, cumbia and dancehall. For her class at Dance Garden, she instructs on Afro-Brazilian samba, axe and samba reggae. She performs at various nightclubs, private parties and events. Her curiousity about Brazil led her to study not only samba, but also capoeira and Brazilian history. Under the instruction of Irani da Silva she has honed her skills in Afro-Brazilian samba. Andrea’s students love her fusion of traditional Afro-Latin style dance with modern street style. In class, Andrea’s personal, down-to-earth style allows her to bring out the best in her students, helping them to feel confident and sexy. Aside from teaching dance, she is also a personal trainer specializing in dance conditioning

Andrea teaches Brazilian-style Samba based on Afro-Brazilian Dance Traditions

AUBRE has been studying dance since she was a child, including classical, jazz, hiphop, social dance, and her main passion, bellydance. Studying with such esteemed talents as Suhaila Salimpour, Jamila Salimpour, Zahra Zuhair, Tamra-henna, and many others, Aubre has developed her own beautiful and innovative style defying definition. She has shared stages with Bal Anat, Cirque du Soleil, and the Blue Man Group and served as Assistant Director for the Bellydance Superstars while touring and performing around the world. Featured in numerous films and DVDs, she is also the grand champion of the International Bellydance Competition 2007. Aubre can be seen on FitTV's "All Star Workouts" and is on faculty at California State University, Los Angeles teaching accredited Bellydance and Pilates classes. Aubre is also the artistic director of the Lumina Bellydance Company and producer of the full bellydance production, "Sketches of Arabia."

Aubre teaches Bellydance & Pilates!

JAYNA Kouzouyan has enjoyed a lifetime of dance experience. Because of her Lebanese Armenian heritage, she grew up surrounded by Middle Eastern culture and dance. From jazz and ballet classes beginning at the age of nine to captain of the high school dance team, performing dance has been a constant focus. And although Jayna's first word could have been "shimmy" (her mom, Marta Schill was a Middle Eastern dancer as well) it wasn't until the year 2000 that she fell hard for the art of Bellydance. It was a fusion piece to "Kashmir" by Zed Zeppelin, performed by the troupe Flowers Of The Desert that showed her she had no choice but to follow in her mother’s footsteps and indulge herself in pursuing the art of Bellydance.
Since then, Jayna has studied and performed with many favorite local dance companies, taken part in numerous DVD's and stage performances, as well as traveled the world with acclaimed dance company, The Bellydance Superstars. Performing at multiple nightclub and theatre venues throughout the years has showed Jayna that one of the most important elements of Bellydance is the intimate connection that can be made between the dancer and the audience. Jayna's love for fusion now finds an outlet in her new creation -- "Bellyquake": combining the addicting rush of a cardio workout with the sweet nuances that only Bellydance can provide.

Jayna teaches BELLYQUAKE!

SMITA first started dancing at the age of 7. She has trained in Indian folk dance styles, ballet, and jazz. A former group fitness instructor at LA Fitness, Smita enjoys sharing her passion for the arts and helping others achieve their fitness and personal goals. Currently, she is a troupe member and teacher with Bollywood Step Dance - LA's top rated Bollywood Dance Company. With the company, Smita has performed at venues such as Disney's California Adventure Park and Hollywood Bowl, and on shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Melrose Place.

Her fun and energetic personality make heart-pumping Bollywood dance a great workout that keeps you smiling the whole time! Combining an aerobic warm-up with choreographies by Bollywood Step's director Yogen Bhagat, Smita gives you the latest moves from India in each class

Smita teaches Bollywood Dance!