Shay's Bio - Beyond the Dance

Bio Home - Dance Training - Career Highlights - Beyond Dance

Writing

"As a child, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, one of the first answers I ever had was "an author" (the other was "an actress"!)."

I was always reading and writing as a child, and to this day I really enjoy expressing myself in the written word. Of course my blog is one way I get to write regularly, but my writings can also be found in various other places.

I have had the honor of being published in several magazines, books, and online 'zines, exploring my thoughts and opinions on bellydance and beyond. For several years I was the author of the column "Of The Tribe", which was a feature in the widely distributed tribal bellydance journal Caravan Trails. I was a contributing author for The Tribal Bible by Kajira Djoumahna, and was also asked to contribute to Tribal Vision by Paulette Rees-Denis.

I also maintain an informational site devoted entirely to tribal bellydance, www.tribalbellydance.org, for which I am always seeking additional contributors. Please pop over and mail me your thoughts and ideas to share with the community!


Design

Over the years I was primary designer and code-monkey for all my web pages, business cards, and marketing efforts. I have learned a lot about what it means to be a struggling artist trying to promote themselves in a world of constant media immersion. Before long, people were asking me to create their web pages and marketing materials, and from that grew my side business as a web and graphic designer.

You can see a collection of some of my design work here. And if you are looking for some help creating a new web page, business cards or postcards, or other promotional materials, please mail me anytime.


Personal

"When I am not dancing, I am blessed to spend my time with my best friend--my wonderfully loving and supportive husband, Chris"

We enjoy geeking out together over computers and tech, video games, and movies, and we love getting the chance to throw parties and entertain friends at our home whenever possible. We are thrilled to play loving auntie and uncle to our friends' beautiful children, and though we choose not to have children of our own right now, we dote on our two dogs (furkids!), Gretchen and Loki, who we completely adore.