Natalie is a passionate and captivating performer who will leave a lasting impression on your audiences. She has a powerfully engaging stage presence and playful personality.
I first fell in love with Belly Dancing in 2001 when I was inspired by watching the truly amazing Candida Di Giandomenico perform a drum solo at a dinner show in Mellville. I immediately began pursuing lessons with Candida along with my close friend, Angela Anzilotti. Angela and I lived together at the time and found ourselves practicing every single night, laughing and having fun … we were addicted! It became a ritual – we would even dance while cooking together!
Candida was a wonderful teacher and I absorbed as much as I could and looked forward to every lesson, learning movements and new props was so exciting. Angela was a natural and soon started performing professionally, while I on the other hand was as rigid and stiff as a stick with no co-ordination when I started, so it took me longer to learn to flow and be graceful *sniff sniff*. But I am evidence that ANYONE can learn to belly dance and become a graceful and elegant dancer.
In February 2003, Candida held a studio show in Honeydew which I participated in, my first time performing in public! It was a wonderful experience even though I hadn’t yet mastered this art form and it was encouraging to dance for my family and friends and see the look of pride in their eyes!
My second time performing in public was at the Jewels of the Nile end of year show in November 2003 at the Wits Great Hall. The hall was packed and I was rather frightened to dance for so many people – but in the end I thoroughly enjoyed it!
In April 2004, Angela Anzilotti opened her own studio, Belly Dance Babes which I joined. I did my advanced levels with Angela who managed to take me further in this art form than I thought I could go, getting rid of my fear of freestyle dancing and teaching me to improvise and perform in public! For this I will forever be grateful, it was something I had struggled with for 2 years – to get over my shyness and just dance as if no one else is watching. This opened new doors for me – and so began my professional dance career – something I had previously not wanted or even thought I could achieve.
began my professional dance career in May 2004, my first show was at Shoukara in Sandton, it was nail-biting, there were a lot of celebrities and I was so scared! But after the adrenalin hit I enjoyed every minute of it! Since that time, I have performed at numerous venues throughout South Africa for Corporate functions and private functions.
Angela opened yet another door for me and gave me the opportunity to start teaching for her. In May 2005 I began teach my first beginner class in Alberton with a mere 4 students! The class soon grew as did I as a teacher, learning to deal with class dynamics! I also began choreographing my own dances, which I found I thoroughly enjoyed.
In August 2005 I attended my first lesson in poi dancing with the amazing Diana. Poi dancing is something that truly excites me as it takes great skill and co-ordination to get it right. I had found another passion and couldn’t wait to move on from the ribbon poi to fire poi!
In November 2005, Belly Dance Babes held its first ever annual end of year show. It gave me great pleasure to watch my students dance and to see how they had grown. The show was a success and I felt honoured to be a part of it.
Thereafter, I felt I needed to pursue my individuality as a teacher, choreographer and performer and opened my own dance studio, Dancing Divinity, in February 2006. I started to explore other belly dance styles, fusion styles and other dance forms like Polynesian dancing and Poi dancing. I found that the more I researched, the more there was to learn!
I started training myself from instructional DVD’s and attended workshops/enhancement training with various recognized South African dance teachers - Charlotte Blignaut, Rusty Odendaal, Aviva, Senta Seele, Shalimar, Astrid, and many more. I have also attended workshops with many International Bellydance Stars from all over the world such as Beverley Joffe (UK), Jazira Malu (Germany), Nisrin (Germany), Amun Colleen (Germany), Asja Samia (Croatia), Belyssa (Australia) and Rania (USA). I further made it my goal to travel to Egypt to experience the true culture of the dance and learn from the Egyptian Master Teachers. It was my honour to participate in workshops with Mahmoud Reda, Aida Nour, Liza Lazizza, Freiz, Olfat Hassan, Faruk Mustafa, Aida Riad, Mohamed Kazafy, Magdy El Leisy, Nesrin, Neveen Ramiz, Yousef, Khaled Mahmoud and Ousama Emam.
In the time since I opened my own dance studio, I have learnt a magnitude, and also know that there is still so much to learn. This is why I love belly dancing in particular, because it is like a never ending story!
My goal for the next few years is to travel to Egypt again and complete my certification as a teacher and professional dancer with Mahmoud Reda, to gain exposure as a belly dance performer on an international level, to continue to build relationships with other belly dance teachers in South Africa and ultimately build my experience as a teacher, choreographer and performer.
Dancing is my passion – when I put on music, I can’t help but dance! I eat, sleep, drink dancing and irritate everyone around me because its all I can ever talk about ~ it is just something that changed my life dramatically in more ways than one! It is something that I want every woman to experience – to set herself free of the image that society sees – and start seeing herself for the woman she truly is.