About Jen:
Growing up in a Palestinian household, Jen has been immersed in the art of Middle-Eastern dance for as long as she can remember. She was first, formally, introduced to belly dance while watching various local Egyptian Cabaret belly dancers in Portland, Oregon and quickly became even more enthralled with the mysterious art form. Several years later, at the age of fifteen (1995), she began taking Cabaret-style classes with an instructor in Portland.
In 2001, she relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah where she sought out Cabaret-style instruction from Thia. She began performing with Thia’s student-troupe, Topaz. Later, in 2002, Jen was invited to join Wysteria to continue perfecting and performing Thia’s unique style of Tribal/Gypsy Fusion for several years.
Years later, while watching FatChanceBellyDance® perform in Salt Lake City, Jen became fascinated with American Tribal Style® Belly Dance. She was absorbed by the swirling colors and grace that was presented on stage. It was then that she knew that Tribal belly dance was for her! Shortly thereafter, Jen was equally consumed by a Tribal Fusion performance performed by Rachel Brice, and Mardi Love, which ignited a flame inside her to pursue all things tribal!
She immediately began studying American Tribal Style® (ATS®) Belly Dance and Tribal Fusion style with Kashmir Dance Company (in 2007), eventually becoming a core member of both Kashmir Dance Company (KDC) and the Black Pearls (KDC’s Tribal Fusion troupe). Instruction by LaRa Zorn, led her to become a core member of Barefoot BellyDance in late 2008, Utah’s only Tribal Style & Fire Fusion Dance Company in the Salt Lake City area at the time.
Since early 2009, Jen’s outside projects have led her to become a soloist as well as one of the founding members of Davina Tribal Collective, a pure FCBD® ATS® troupe, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jen recently moved to the Seattle/Tacoma, Washington area in May 2011 and now can be seen performing as a Tribal Fusion soloist, with double swords, and with fire in the area. She also will be performing with Davina Tribal Collective in Washington, Utah and the surrounding states when possible.
Jen has received her ATS® General Skills Certification in June 2007 and earned her ATS® Teacher Training Certification in February 2009. Aside from Jen’s tribal fusion soloing, she is dedicated in maintaining the ATS® format as created by Carolena Nericcio, originator and creator of ATS® and Director of FatChanceBellyDance® based in San Francisco, California.
In addition to her ATS® training, Jen has had several years of classical training in ballet, jazz, tap, and modern dance throughout her adolescent and early adult years. Jen has taken various workshops and instruction from several, internationally-known instructors such as Rachel Brice, Mardi Love, and Zoe Jakes as well as local instructors such as Amina. It is from this experience in which she enjoys fusing with Tribal Style belly dance to create her own solo choreography. Jen is currently a full-time fourth-year pharmacy student and uses her knowledge of the body, including Anatomy and Physiology, to deepen her understanding of dance.
