Occupation: Zumba & belly dance teacher
Country: USA/Israel
Started Learning Belly Dance: 20 years ago
Joined the Iana Dance Club: July 2021
Belly Dance Transformations
"A lot of the time it’s difficult to prioritize for ourselves, and to prioritize our dance because there are so many things that we have to do… But if we have assignments and goals to reach for the week/month, that really helps to prioritize our training."
"I think it’s so nice to record yourself right from the beginning of your dance journey, so that 1 month/ 2 months or even a year later you can look back and realize: “Omg, I have improved!”. Video recording is a wonderful tool."
"I think I’m mature enough to know that progress isn’t instant, but I know it will come. There is always room for growth, so we just keep going."
"Belly dance brings me that need to continue to challenge myself, to learn, to grow. Something I can’t find anywhere else."
Shani Brown is a seasoned Oriental and North African dance artist based in San Diego. She dances classical Egyptian Raqs Sharki and North African Folkloric drawing from her Tunisian Roots. In the 2000s, Shani performed at cultural festivals and restaurants in Chicago, typically accompanied by a live band. As a musician herself, Shani would occasionally play clarinet with the band for a song or two before stepping up to dance.
After a hiatus from the dance world to pursue her Marine Biology career and raise two daughters, Shani returned to professional bellydance. Her primary motive is to reconnect to the international dance community and the heart of the dance.
Shani instructs and inspires others on their bellydance journeys. She loves introducing people to the rich music and the world of bellydance. At the same time, she draws inspiration from seeing the confidence and joy that learning brings to her students. Shani is also a Zumba Fitness Instructor guiding others to find joy in movement in that same spirit. Shani is a firm believer in the idea that dance is for everyone and everybody.
Reasons she chose to join the Iana Dance Club:
“I wanted more, more information about dance, so I found Iana via Instagram.”
“I was resisting to sign up for the club because I’m very bad at cancelling subscriptions, but I thought that 7 days free was enough time to try, and even if it ended up charging, it’s not that much. But it was right in the beginning of the new intensive, I tried and I was hooked.”
“I love weekly messages from Iana because they give such a nice connection.”