Aleeytis started belly dance lessons in southern California with her first teacher, Nefra, in 1976.  Nefra was a student of the world famous Aisha Ali.  Aleeytis took lessons from Nefra, Samera and other teachers in the San Diego area for several years.  In the early 1980’s she danced regularly at renaissance faires in the San Diego area.  After a 15 year hiatus, Aleeytis returned to belly dance again in 1999.  She took lessons from some of the local instructors and danced with the Gypsy Fire dance troupe September 2000 to February 2002.  She and several other dancers opened the Desert Wind Dance Studio in 2002.

Aleeytis has studied with many other instructors at workshops; among them are Morocco, Shareen el Safy, Rana, Shekira, Vashti, Saqra, and Desdemona.

Aleeytis has written many of the dance choreographies used by the troupe.

Shaheen’s love of Middle Eastern dance forms began in the 70’s when she took lessons from Lili, a lovely young woman who came from Syria to study at Oklahoma State University. Lili shared what she had learned from the women of her family, and stressed that dance was meant to bring joy, both to the beholder, and the dancer. Shaheen has always focused on the positive aspects of dance, as a benefit to the dancers physical and emotional health. “Many of my best friends and best experiences in life have come to me through Middle Eastern dancing.” 

    In the years since, Shaheen has studied with a number of dancers, some relatively unknown, as well as famous names including Bert Baladine and Amaya. Also, she has steadily participated in seminars throughout the mid and southwest states, with the goal of broadening her dance vocabulary and keeping a fresh perspective on dancing. “There’s always something wonderful you haven’t seen before, or something you’ve forgotten you learned, that you can discover when you seek out other fine dancers and instructors.”  

     Shaheen has been sharing her knowledge and love of dance with students for more than 25 years. According to Shaheen, there are 3 rules of dance (and perhaps life):

1 – Have fun!  2 – If it hurts, stop doing it, and ask for help. 3 – Have fun!!