Meet your Host: Karla Marie

It is my honor and privilege to share in this beautiful space of art, creativity, soul, and dance. 

Join us this year, and welcome to your new home. 

We will have a wonderful opportunity to dance, to flash mob, to party, and to become one big happy #ShimmySoul Family.

Registration Opens 
Wednesday, 
August 16th! 

Don’t miss it!


Karla Marie
Shimmy Soul: A New Orleans Belly Dance Experience, Founder/Creative Director/Host

Belly Dance Goddess Hour, Instructor

Shimmy Shakti Troupe, Creator/Director

This year's Shimmy Soul: A New Orleans Belly Dance Experience promises to be an amazing opportunity for continuing education and training for dancers! It will also be a great place to start your #OrientalDance training with the perfect balance of workshops offering some of the belly dance must-haves. From an energizing and Tantalizing Drum Solo, to Learning to Dance with a Prop, from the most classical (Dancing to Oum Kalthoum), to the most intimate (Dancing From Your Heart Chakra). Also, this year, the opportunity to continue to share this beautiful dance with our community through a Flash mob choreography that you can bring back to your studio home or students, and perform with us here in New Orleans. I just cannot wait for this beautiful weekend and to welcome you.

I recently shared my thoughts and hopes for this year’s event. To read more, click here

My bio will tell you a little bit about my personal experience in dance and how and where I first fell in love with this art form. In 2005, at MidEastern Dance Exchange in Miami Beach, a studio under the direction of Tamalyn Dallal and then Bozenka…. I would have never dreamed I would end up dancing for this long, much less teaching, and never imagine I would host such a beautiful group of dancers in my own city. Nevertheless, here we are. I am honored, excited, and so eager to share everything that has been shared with me by my teachers. With much love, a lot of soul, and every bit of passion, I created a workshop to share with students. My first opportunity to share this workshop was at Bayou Belly in July of 2017, I am happy to share it with you at this year’s Shimmy Soul. This time, to a new choreography. I hope you will join me. 

WORKSHOPS

Anahata: Dancing from your Heart Chakra

Choreography: Yearning (Modern Oriental)

In this workshop you will Learn practices that will enhance your Dance With Connection, With Intention, with Heart! We will activate and open our Heart chakra through powerful exercises, learning to unlock and balance energy through dance. Karla Marie is a Middle Eastern Dance Instructor and energy light worker, trained in Reiki and energy reading and healing, she also serves as a professional Communications Specialist trained in body language. 

During this workshop, you will learn energy clearing techniques and chakra activating practices and incorporate them into your belly dancing. We will go through specific footwork, technique, isolations and drills, incorporating breath and visualization focused on the heart chakra, as a tool to enhance our dancing. Learn to connect with your energy and body to express authenticity and sincerity in your dance. Learn to connect with the audience during performance through specific communication techniques and movements that allow your dancing to come alive with intention and a deeper connection for stronger, more powerful presentation. Open Your Heart to the Power that is YOU and Learn to Dance with Joy, With Connection, With Intention, with Heart! 

FLASH MOB: Latin/Oriental Fusion

To add to your New Orleans Experience, we will close our weekend with a Flash Mob in the French Quarter, New Orleans performed by Shimmy Soul Flash Mob Workshop Participants along with local Belly Dance Goddess Hour students. 

I will be teaching a workshop where we will learn a basic Latin Fusion Choreography specifically designed for a Flash Mob setting with lots of yummy moves, directional turns and changes, and a beautiful fusion of Latin Dance styles (Salsa, Bachata, Flamenco, and Kizomba) and Oriental Dance! 

Students signed up for the Flash Mob Workshop will receive a video of the choreography ahead of time, in case you want to get a head start.