Learn, Share and Discover With This Bellydance Blog

Hello my name is Jennifer and I am a costume-aholic. There I said! I do not know why, but it seems every year my addiction becomes worse and worse. When I first started dancing I always told myself...

Many fellow Orlando belly dancers out there know or have heard about Shimmy Girl Co. They are an elite group of professional belly dancers from across Florida who have tried to maintain a high...

I am often asked where I get all my gorgeous costumes, so I decided to write this blog as a resource for other dancers and clients to finally know. I pretty much only buy high end Turkish, Russian,...

The past eight months have been nothing short of marvelous. A steady flow of private events and teaching workshops on top of my usual full time belly dance performances across various restaurants...

Like many dancers, I am a huge fan of so many talented belly dancers out there who continue to amaze and inspire women like me  with their breath taking performances. Some of the ladies and...

So today I just feel the need to vent. So a few months ago it was brought to my attention that a dancer thought I was copying her content and marketing position....how about no! My content is all...

There are many belly dancers out there who absolutely refuse to work in restaurants, but I am a firm believer and example of when dancing at a restaurant can go right. I have made a great living...

As many of my friends and supporters know, although I purchase many high end designer costumes, I also make my own line of couture high-end belly dance costumes in Orlando, FL. I often host small...

To start off, let me just say that make-up and I have never been great friends. I am allergic to just about everything and have eye lids that are extremely sensitive. That being said, after years of searching I think I have found the one line that might actually not harm my skin… Bare Essentials (yes I am late on joining the bandwagon). I have used this a few times now and here is what I have experienced from a dancers perspective:

1. It lasts! I sweat quite a bit and this holds up pretty well. The eye liner could have lasted a little longer, but everything else was fantastic.
2. The particles are big enough (I am using the natural mineral form not pressed format) that they should not enter my pores. 
3. My skin texture felt smoother after I took the make up off (that’s a nice bonus).
4. The colors are very vibrant compared to what I had anticipated. They have quite a good range of colors and even metallics! I can’t use the metallics due to my eyelid sensitivity but if you can do it go for it!
5. It felt very light on my skin. I can usually feel the heaviness of the product, but this felt so comfortable and light. It’s perfect for summer gigs.

That being said, I am the type of girly that never wears foundation. I rather go pay the dermatologist to get my skin healthy rather than cover it up, and this is a really great middle ground for in between the stressful times and dermatologist visits. The ifoundation is light enough where I feel my skin can still breathe and be seen. I hope this solves all my allergy and eye lid sensitivity issues and that any other girls out there with crazy reactive skin types try it out like I did. I was skeptical, but am liking the results so far. Hopefully in a few months I can come back and update this with more positive news. Let’s wait and see…

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no….its the oversized ego of a super diva! It is amazing the characters you meet in the entertainment industry and no other character gets my blood boiling more than the divas and divos. It is one thing to be confident and secure of oneself, but to think you are THE most amazing thing in the world and think you are just too good for anyone else is another story.  I can personally speak from experience that dealing with the diva(o) leads to negative outcomes. I once had to work with a performer that although  this person had limited belly dance experience, thought she was the most amazing thing since sliced bread. Now this did not ruffle my feathers too much at all (I already had met a number of these personalities) but the actions that resulted from that did. This person refused to share the spot light, would give dirty looks to other dancers while they performed their set, would purposely walk the other way in order not to cross paths, purposely would take too long getting ready so the next dancer would have to start late, would give you “tips” that frankly were designed to bring your confidence down.

 My focus for today though is on the twist to the story…the divos! Divos are the male counterpart to the diva. I met one recently who gave me and the rest who crossed his path quite a good laugh. This person was a musician hired to do an event. I was the performer hired to perform at the event. A last minute attempt was made by the coordinator to see if we would possibly want to unite our talents for a segment of my performance. I told the coordinator yes (I love dancing to live music) and the coordinator passed on my contact information to this person…..but no email ever came. The day of the event the musician came up to me asking me when we would start. I am sorry, but until that moment I had no idea who the musician was, had never heard a solo from him in order to access his abilities, and if there is one thing about me to know, it’s that I do not do things half way. All musicians are NOT created equal. The divo presumed to grumble to the coordinator and out loud try to ruin the mood.  To make a long story short, I went ahead with the show I had designed especially for the occasion and everyone was raving about the performance.  In the end, the people he tried to get on his side were so disappointed in his childish behavior and will gladly work with me and not him ever again.

 You have to be humble in life. If you are talented that’s fantastic, but no one will want to work with you again if you have a diva(o) attitude.  Acting rudely to anyone else “in your way” also makes you have a terrible reputation.  This business is about passion, talent, and personality. What goes around comes around and no one is too good to stop learning or being kind to others.

How to spot a Divo/Diva (jajajaja)

1. Listen for the person barking orders
2. Usually eying everyone up and down that crosses their path
3. Always have a pen for potential autographs handy in their costume
4. Are the first to wail when things do not go their way  
5. Are the first to give themselves credit when something good happens (it is never the talented team that made it possible, it is their effort only)