The Heart of America Belly Dance Convention celebrates the dance, art, and music of Arab countries. Our goal is to present high quality dances of the Arab world to foster understanding and diversity of Arabic culture though the universal language of dance.

The event showcases Middle Eastern dance and provides world class instruction to belly dance enthusiasts from around the world and has featured professional belly dance instructors and performers from Egypt, as well as artists from across the US, Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, and Russia.

For Theresa, belly dance is more than a passion, it’s a way of life.   As an international performing belly dance artist and instructor, she is honored to have been invited to perform in countries such as Egypt and Lebanon and is one of the top dancers in the the Midwest and beyond.  In addition, she has served on the judge’s panel at the International Belly Dance Competition in Mexico City.  Theresa teaches workshops and weekly classes to students of all levels and she is eager to share her experience and knowledge. Visit Kansas City Belly Dance for more information about Classes.

Theresa began her dance journey with ballroom with ballroom and Latin dance. Later the dance studio offered belly dance classes. Theresa was immediately captivated by the unique melodic and rhythmic patterns of the music. One of her earliest and most valued teachers is Kansas City’s own, Zaina Ali. Theresa unquenchable thirst to learn as much as possible about the belly dance, inspired her to travel extensively to study with world renowned dance instructors. She makes frequent trips to Egypt, the motherland of belly dance, to enhance her understanding of Egyptian culture and the dance.

Theresa has made guest appearances on television and radio shows. Her dance story is published in the collection of short stories, “Confessions of a Belly Dancer” and she was a featured dancer in the Off Broadway production of Confessions of a Belly Dancer in NYC.

In addition, Theresa is a popular belly dance entertainer at weddings, parties, and events in the Kansas City area.

Ed Draz, This musician, actor, MC extraordinaire lights up the stage with more fury than a split finger roll. Eddie Draz is truly a man of many talents he is a lifelong musician and is skilled in many instruments as well as vocals musically he has collaborated internationally and continues to be friend and mentor to many aspiring musicians. He has several acting credits and has taken part and feature films. he is a gifted MC with the ability to take an event from zero to party quicker than a triple time Maqsoum.