Regina Woods, goes by the name Queen Sheena. The name Regina
means Queen in Spanish, and the name Sheena means God's gift. I believe when God bless you with a talent he wants us
to use that talent in a way where we can bless others. I've decided to use this artistic dance as well as
workout in a way to help others exercise. I teach Egyptian style belly dancing for exercise and fitness and it's a great
workout! Belly dance works every muscle in the muscular skeleton system. Belly dance is a natural workout for
the body. Exercising is very important to the human body; it would allow us to live longer. Belly dance works
your entire mid-section - core area of the body, it shapes and tones. Belly dance is a great cardiovascular exercise!
Any type of cardio exercise such as belly dancing, swimming, skating, hiking, biking, walking, etc would keep our heart
pumping and blood circulating. I love to encourage people to exercise such as belly dance. If I could help you
exercise, I believe I've just helped you to live a lot longer, and it's highly important that your diet is consuming
the correct foods. One of my talents that I've found and love doing, is teaching this beautiful ancient art of belly
dance to as many as I could possibly. This ancient dance not only is beautiful, classy, and elegant when performed correctly,
but it's also a joyous exercise that can be taught to all ages, sizes, and races. This ancient dance has been around for many
years, and it has a way of speaking to women in a very meaningful way. It has a way of making us feel beautiful about
ourselves no matter the size or shape of the individual person. It has a way of giving us confidence and removing low
self-esteem and negative thoughts about ourselves. As we grow more mature in our years of age - we start feeling we
are getting older. We start feeling like we're getting fat, our breast are sagging, our tummy is protruding, our hair
is graying, our forehead wrinkles, or my stomach hangs over my belt, etc. There are many other negative thoughts that
come to mind, but the art and beauty of this dance has a way of making you feel confident. It would allow you to appreciate
and accept who you are. Belly dance is not only a workout; it can be used for performances. The
art and technique of mastering this dance, and having knowledge of the Arabic music will allow you to perform at
different venues. Choose belly dance for your workout. I encourage you to participate and learn belly
dance, it's a great exercise and it's great for fun and fitness. There is so much to learn about this dance, and as an
instructor you never stop learning. This dance is not only a hobby, but for some of us it's also a full time
career or a part-time career. Remember that belly dance is for all ages and sizes, and its fun and fitness so you can't
go wrong with a belly dance workout!
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Read
How I Got Started With Belly Dance... ...
For a few years
I had been searching for a workout that I could enjoy. I’ve tried a variety
of workouts for example, the treadmill, walking indoors and out doors, kick boxing, free weight lifting, biking, skating,
etc… Although I love to bike and I do enjoy skating I still wanted to find
something that I love more than both of those exercises. I first wanted to get
involved with Afro Brazilian dance back in 2003, but I had a hard time finding a place where this dance was being taught. I then learned and stumbled upon belly dance.
I took the class at Waldorf Gymnastics Recreational facility in Waldorf for about three months with an instructor name,
Raquel and I found myself enjoying it. Raquel left the area to get married and
moved away to another location. So there I was without belly dance. I reverted to belly dance tapes until I found an area that taught belly dance again; although, to me you
get a better workout under instruction than you do with tapes – but there’s nothing wrong with tapes or belly
dance DVDs. After about six months, I learned of belly dancing being in two locations
- Dancer’s Studio and Colony South Hotel both in Clinton Maryland. I took classes at Dancer’s Studio taught by Verna Thompson for a couple of months
and enjoyed it. Verna is a very sweet lady, and I admire her with her strength,
age, and grace to keep teaching this dance as she does. Mrs. Verna is seventy
something' years old, she’s been teaching belly dance for 40 years, and I admire her energy to still be teaching this
dance. She’s an inspiration to me in hopes that I can live to be that age
or older and still have the strength and energy to teach this dance. After I
took a few classes with Verna, I tried belly dance at the Colony South Hotel taught by Yucy El Banan a (Egyptian born native)
belly dance instructor in the Clinton area. Once I took lessons with Yucy I was totally hooked! When I
first went to Yucy’s class I examined her class for about thirty minutes, and I noticed the ladies were really getting
a good workout. After about thirty minutes of watching Yucy's class I went to
the front desk and registered for the class. After taking about thirty minutes
of Yucy’s class I felt like I had worked out for one full hour instead of thirty minutes that was left of the class! It was a great workout, and I knew from that moment I loved belly dance. This dance had captured me and I was hooked! Yucy became my
instructor and I am honored to have learned from Yucy who is a born native Egyptian instructor from Cairo
Egypt, and she’s highly knowledgeable
in her culture of dance & its rich history. Yucy is great with her choreographies;
she’s great with adding expressions & feelings to the music. I also
joined her professional troupe called 'Dokki Ya MaZika' from 2003 to about 2005 or if not longer. The term ‘Dokki Ya MaZika’ stands for “Let the drums roll, here comes the belly dancers!”
for those of you wondering what Dokki Ya MaZika stands for. I had a chance to
study with the talented Lotus Naraja from Baltimore Maryland.
Lotus is very knowledgeable in Middle Eastern dance, the music, and its history. She
inspired me, and she represents the Baltimore area magnificently! She rocks when she performs, and she’s great with her upper and body sharp crisp
movements along with expressing herself by feeling the music when she performs or teach.
One other instructor I took lessons from was Nadirah Nasreen from Rockville
MD, who is also a talented instructor.
Nadirah is also knowledgeable in Middle Eastern dance and the music, and she’s great with upper & lower body
isolations and sharp movements. Belly dance is about expressing the art of the
dance through traditional or classical Arabic music, modern style Pop Arabic music, as well as American R&B music. American R&B music is a new innovation along with belly dance hip-hop. There are
a variety of movements that can be taught and performed, and expression is a huge part of the dance. You should learn to express yourself in your dance and feel the music while you put your entire soul in
to the dance. But you must have knowledge of the music and know what to do and
what not to do. I attended a variety of workshops that I enjoyed going to and
learning. To name a few I attended Yucy’s workshops (Egyptian dance –
born native), Lotus (Lebanese & Egyptian dance), Nadirah (Egyptian & Turkish dance), Faten Salama (Egyptian dance
– born native), Karima Alize (Egyptian & Tribal dance), Ava Fleming (Egyptian & Tribal dance), Raqia Hanson
(Egyptian dance – born native), Sultana (Egyptian dance), etc… I’m sure it’s others I could name. All were wonderful instructors & knowledgeable, and as we move forward in the
future I look forward to attending more workshops with those highly knowledgeable in Middle Eastern dance. I believe you should never ever stop learning as an instructor or student if you love this dance, there
is so much to learn, and you can never stop learning. So I encourage you to get
involved with one of the most wonderful and eccentric dance arts like I did. You'll
get a great workout and you'll have fun doing it!
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