About Zara Black
Zara has studied and performed various belly dance and Mid-eastern dance styles for more than 15 years with master teachers from the U.S. and abroad. She has also studied tap, ballet, jazz, modern dance, flamenco, hula, Tahitian and fire dancing. Over the years, she has synthesized her experiences to create one of the most highly effective belly dance teaching techniques in the U.S. today.
As a professionally trained public school teacher with a Bachelor's Degree in English and two teaching credentials, Zara brings professionally recognized teaching approaches to a dance form that currently has no standardized terminology or techniques and no means of certification other than degrees in other dance forms.
Even as a small child, Zara was fascinated by films of the orient on television, where the dancing girls, draped in chiffon and moving in snakelike undulations, danced to exotic sounding music.
When she was 16 years old, she was baby-sitting for a neighbor and discovered an interesting book. It was entitled, Exotic Exercises by Princess Nyeela. She read it cover to cover that evening after the children were in bed. Although it wasn't a belly dancing book, per se, it was written by a belly dancer and listed some contact information for books and music. That was the beginning. Zaramaya started taking lessons in Washington D.C. After developing a good foundation in the dance, she continued to attend workshops all over the country, learning excellent technique from many masters of Oriental Dance (as it is called in the Middle East).
She began teaching belly dancing when she was 18 years old. Over the years, she developed her own unique and highly effective teaching technique. Zaramaya was determined that every student in her class would become a beautiful dancer, and so, when one approach didn't work, she developed another. After many years of continued studying and teaching, her technique was perfected.
Her belly dance technique includes the integration of proper posture, stretching, body conditioning, meditative movement and highly effective, non impact belly dance style aerobics, which evolve for each student into a safe, healthy and beautiful art form. This technique is so effective that Zara has yet to encounter a student she couldn't teach to dance quickly and well. This technique prepares students to dance any style of belly dancing, from American Tribal to modern Egyptian.
Some of her performance venues include Greek and Indian restaurants in Norfolk, Virginia and Sacramento, the Baghdad and Casbah clubs in San Francisco, and many, many various locations and special events throughout Oregon and California. She has three trophies from competitions -- a runner up trophy for Belly Dancer of the Year and two trophies from the North Valley Belly Dance Competition for best drum solo and best troupe. Zara is admired for her intricate hip articulations and mesmerizing stage presence. As an entertainer, Zara brings experience, charm and flawless, mesmerizing technique to her audiences. Whether dancing with veil, Egyptian cane, fire, sword or serpent, a belly dance performance by Zara Black is not soon forgotten.
A producer of quality belly dance events, Zara has hosted workshop/performances with exciting instructors and performers such as John Compton, Suzanne Al Nour, Nakish, Asia, Fatima and Jamilla Al Wahid and many others. In addition, her student nights, night club performances and belly dance showcases have traditionally attracted standing room only crowds.
Zara teaches belly dance classes, runs an internet import business, produces quality workshops and shows and travels to special events to sell her belly dance costumes and a wide variety of other items of interest to belly dancers and enthusiasts. She designs and sews costumes for Medieval re-enactors as well as beautiful and unique costumes for belly dancers. She currently resides in Cottonwood, CA, close to her family and friends in Redding where she enjoys watching her daughter, Deeta, create and run her own successful belly dancing business.
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