About Jaleh

In the mid 70's I saw my first bellydancer at a wonderful Morroccan Restaurant in Arizona. I was enthralled by the glitter and the exotic beautiful dance. But never having seen this before, I never ever imagined that I could do this sort of thing. But, as fate had it, not a month later I visited a high school friend, Sausan of San Francisco, and she told me she was a bellydancer, and look at my costumes.....

Immediately I had visions of dancing, my thoughts were "well, if she can do this, I can too!!" Actually knowing someone who bellydanced, knowing that this was someone who I could relate to as being "the average person" (BTW Sausan is anything but average!!!, but you know what I mean), meant in my books that I could learn this exotic and sensual dance form too!!

At that time I was living in a small town in eastern Washington that had never heard of bellydancing, so it was several years before I had the opportunity to take classes. But I bought music, and how to books and pored over them. I eventually started lessons in Puyallup with Maiya. I studied with Maiya for 5 years, performing throughout the Pacific Northwest with her troupe "Troupe Ali Baba".

In 1984 I moved to the San Francisco Bay area. There I studied with various local teachers, and performed throughout the Bay Area in various restaurants and Nightclubs. I performed annually in San Jose's International Fair, and each summer performed with various other dance artists in many local street fairs and festivals. While in the Bay Area I performed with 2 local bellydance troupes.

In 1986 I was a member of Bahar Bellydance Troupe.
In 1987 I was a member of Troupe Nafisa.
In the spring of 1989 I co-produced a benefit for a Bay Area dancer, this event titled A Night for Sharing, showcased many of the nations top bellydancers, and raised over $4000.

Throughout my dance career I've studied with various teachers. The greatest influence to my dance style have been the late Ibrahim Farrah of New York, Shareen el Safy from California, and Cassandra of Minneapolis.

I continue to take workshops from various dancers as often as I can, as I believe you can never learn enough about this wonderful dance art.

In 1989 I started teaching bellydance, and returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1992. I continue to perform throughout the West Coast and Canada, I teach out of my home studio in Puyallup on South Hill, and also teach seminars throughout the Northwest.

I performed for many years in Kent at Spiro's Greek Isle, and feel very fortunate that I had the opportunity to expose so many restaurant patrons to Middle Eastern Bellydance in a family atmosphere, and give them such a postive image of bellydancing.

For six years I produced "Middle Eastern Magic", a workshop and show in Puyallup that showcased many local soloists and troupes. Each year Middle Eastern Magic featured a renowned dance artist as the workshop teacher and star of the evening show.

Currently, I produce two yearly Student Showcases for my students. This allows them the opportunity to perform for family and friends. I recently formed Raks el Zahira, a bellydance troupe of my most promising students.