History

Our classes were Founded by Natasya Katsikaris in 1999. It was Ventura's first and only belly dance studio.

In September 2004, Natasya and her husband Daniel Eshoo bought a new place and moved to Portland, Oregon. In order to keep the classes going, teaching duties were taken over by 3 of Natasya's advanced students. The classes are currently being taught by Vicki Westerling and Natasya Katsikaris.

Kaeli Brown

Kaeli is currently a full time college student majoring in biology. She also works part time as a file clerk in a Ventura law firm.

Kaeli fell in love with belly dancing when still in high school where she was also on the Color Guard and Short Flag teams. Her love for the art only continues to grow stronger with the passing years.

In addition to Belly Dancing, Kaeli has also been on an award winning competitive/exhibition clogging team called Fourth Dimension.

Due to being in her last year of college and the overwhelming demand on her time, Kaeli is not currently dancing or teaching. However she will return to both after graduation.

Vicki Westerling

Vicki is a wife and mother of two cute young'uns and works full time as an agricultural crop consultant in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

She began studying belly dance two years ago with Natasya Katsikaris in Ventura and never imagined that she would end up performing and teaching belly dance.

Her background in music allowed for a deep appreciation of the complex rhythms and scales found in Middle Eastern Music. In addition, she finds the American Tribal Style of belly dance particularly intriguing because it involves group synchronized improvisation. Thinking on your feet as a soloist is hard enough but try making up a dance on the spot with three or more women following, now that's challenging!