I began my dancing career as a young ballerina, but it wasn’t until I discovered bellydance that my passion for dancing was truly sparked. I met my first teacher, Shawn Prychitko, in 1999 and studied and performed folkloric and tribal styles on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In 2004, I focused on Oriental and Persian dance, studying privately with Audrey Elizabeth for a year in New Orleans, Louisiana.

After Hurricane Katrina hit the MS Coast in 2005, my family and I relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I was serendipitously led to my teacher and co-dancer, Deborah Newberg. My dream of performing bellydance was manifested through the creation of The Saltanah Dancers, a collaborative Oriental dance troupe founded by Deborah, Areena Estul, and myself in 2006. For the next nine years, we produced hundreds of bellydance shows together, and it was through this unique collaborative that I grew into a vivacious group performer and soloist.

In 2015, I was in need of a paradigm shift and moved to Hawaii to expand my horizons and deepen my dance studies. I joined forces with local and international dance artists Stephanie Bolton and Najla Raqs in 2016 to form the Island Spice Dance Company, specializing in cabaret dances from around the world, performing together in several unique dance shows.

I also began collaborating with Amber Brose (Sweih) in 2018 to form Big Island Bellydance. Together we created the “Fit from Shimmies” bellydance fitness class that we co-taught at The Club Kona until the pandemic began. Currently, I teach private bellydance lessons in my home studio and offer group classes at Kona Dance & Performing Arts in Kealakekua. 

I am inspired and influenced by many dance styles including Latin Salsa, Brazilian Samba, Tahitian, and Bollywood. I continually study all styles of bellydance but am most passionate about Egyptian-style, oriental bellydance or raqs sharqi. In 2012, I had the pleasure of studying it firsthand in Egypt – an experience that radically changed my whole approach to the art form.

It is my firm belief that embodying rhythm and movement regularly can heal you from the inside out by creating a physical channel to release your deeper emotions. I teach bellydance classes and workshops from this perspective, challenging my students to dance both intricately and emotively to connect their mental and emotional bodies into an authentic union of physical expression.

I am also a certified Group Fitness Instructor with the American Council of Exercise (ACE), and I love to geek out on the science of exercise. I am fascinated with the self-healing that is available through the movement arts and have enjoyed facilitating this empowerment through not only dance but therapeutic horseback riding of which I’ve previously been certified to teach through the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, Inc. (NARHA). 

In addition to bellydancing, I run my own graphic design studio called Thunderhorse Graphics, specializing in print and digital graphic design. As a proud, multi-generational mama of four children, I am a fierce advocate for instinctive mothering and the sacred feminine. Merging all of these passions into one is the inspiration for my School of Enchanting Arts® and my Enchanted Mom® wellness program that will be unveiled in the near future. 

Please follow my dance journey on Facebook at facebook.com/michelleleighbellydance.