Faelan Shiva fell in love with belly dance at the Renaissance Faire in 1989. She was mesmerized by the serpentine, graceful movements she beheld executed with such control, mastery and enchantment. Dance has always been a pivotal part of her life, and the moment she stepped into her first belly dance class, a fire was ignited that still burns strong. She trains hard and dances from her heart. She loves community, walks on the beach and loud music. In art, she is a contrast junkie.
As a dancer she is a solo artist, the director of Satinka Belly Dance, and has had the great fortune to be a member of Zoe Jakes’ House of Tarot and Coven Dance Companies, along with many performances with Beats Antique. She is a percussionist, vocalist and dancer with the Feldthouse Family Band and spent three years as a dancer and percussionist in Arcana Music & Dance. She has been a delighted guest, dancing and making art with other incredible bands, including Stellamara, Helm, The Silk Road Caravan and more.
Faelan has a long and ever growing list of certifications as she is committed to continuing to learn more about her art and how to teach movement. Her current certifications include: Practitioner (Phase III) of Rachel Brice’s 8 Elements of Belly Dance, Datura Style® Instructor (Phase IV), Hot Pot ITS Level 1 Instructor, Yoga and Meditation Instructor since 2003 (the live in a yoga ashram for 6 years kind, not the “I went to a weekend workshop” kind), American Council on Exercise (ACE) Group Fitness Instructor and Fitour Myofascial Release Instructor. She has distilled this diverse background, education and passion into her own dance program, Trillium Belly Dance – West Coast Fusion Format®.
She is the Structural Consultant, Editor and Administrator of Zoe Jakes’ DanceCraft certified dance program.
Other random achievements have been winning 1st and 2nd place in local belly dance competitions and being a UCSC guest speaker on the modern era of belly dance in Santa Cruz.
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