Gina Lee

Life is full of strange and wonderful twists and turns. One of those was my discovery of Tribal Bellydance in the fall of 2000. Thank you, Paulette, for being the first teacher to call me back and letting me start class that very night! I fell in love with this dance from the very first class and the joy of it still resounds within me.

What an incredible journey since that night! I never dreamed I would be become a performer but in the spring of 2004, I was invited into the student troupe, Caravan Daughters. Later, we merged with Sister Caravan to become Urban Berbers. In December of 2005, I was honored to be invited into Gypsy Caravan Dance Company. In late 2008, I also joined the Caravan Collective, a lovely collaboration of sister dancers from the studio who wanted to stay connected and keep dancing and performing together. It has and continues to be an incredible and fulfilling experience for me.

The power of this dance is joyful, strong, soulful, grounding and at times meditative. When I see Gypsy Caravan and the Collective perform I see all these qualities imbued in their dance and I am entranced and so amazed to think that I’m a part of that sisterhood. Through this dance, I’ve met an incredible community, local and worldwide, of wonderful dancers, artists and musicians, whom I’ve come to know, admire and learn from. I’ve also met many lovely people for whom we have been their first exposure to Tribal bellydance and are struck by the same sense of wonder that I had when I first saw it performed. To share that wonder and joy about this dance is a great delight and privilege and to teach it has been even more rewarding.

Photo by kaizennw.com