Mariyah Shimmies!

Mariyah's Biography

A Little Background on Mariyah!

Mariyah was born into a culturally diverse family with a passion for music and dance. As part of a healthy and active lifestyle, one day Mariyah enrolled in a belly dance class for a new exercise adventure. She immediately fell in love with its art form. Since that first class, dancing has become an integral part of her life. Now, she shares her passion of dance teaching & performing professionally!

When Mariyah isn't dancing, she works as a professional educator. Mariyah holds a Bachelor's degree in business and a Master's degree in education. She lives with her husband & two dogs in the Twin Cities metropolitan area where they are often seen riding their Harley-Davidson motorcycles together in the warm summer months.

As a long-standing member of The Guild of Oriental Dance, an organization of professional and avocational Middle Eastern dancers, Mariyah is committed to cultural awareness through music and dance. Mariyah has proudly served as an elected board officer for The Guild, and actively continues to serve in a vital role chairing various committees.

Mariyah considers herself a life-long learner, and continues to study education issues, multi-cultural concepts, and Middle Eastern dance. She has had the pleasure to study dance under and take workshops from a variety of gifted & talented instructors including: Cassandra, Master Teacher, Jillina, of the Bellydance Superstars, and Dina of Egypt to name a few.