Dance connection

So, when I went to Dance Camp North the last time, I asked Cassandra for a recommendation for a teacher in Oklahoma City.

She thought about it for a very brief moment, and told me to look for a woman known as Soraya.

I went home from camp, and searched the web for the name, and came up virtually empty. I assumed that Soraya had retired.

Over a year passed, and I FINALLY moved to OKC.

While emailing with my cousin, who lives in a nearby town, about things we might do together for fun, we got on the subject of dance.
This was because she was telling me about a restaurant that is a favorite of hers and her husband's, where they have belly dancers on Saturday nights.

In a round about way, she told me that the dancers at the restaurant all come from a studio on the west side of town (where D and I live), and that the owner of the studio goes by Soraya!

She gave me the phone number, but, rather than calling out of the blue, I went on line again.

Again, searching for the name, I found nothing convincing.

I did find the name, but it did not look like the kind of studio my cousin had told me about....and I didn't get the feeling that it was connected to this master teacher I'd heard tell about!

But then, I realized that my cousin had provided a phone number, and I had just picked up a new local phone book.

SO! Yesterday, I took that phone book, and opened the yellow pages to DANCE, and the first listing matched the phone number!

AALIM dance studio on Meridian, which is the main drag in front of our apartment complex!

I went on line and searched for a website with the name of the dance studio from the phone book, and viola!!

There it was...located just a few miles up the road, right by the grocery store we use....AND there was a bio of the teacher whom I had hoped would be MY Soraya!!

I clicked on the CONTACT US link, and sent a note.

The response came back from Soraya Al Musri herself, and we have since exchanged a number of messages.

She is, indeed, the master teacher recommended to me all of those months ago, and she has personally invited me to join her advanced class (taught by her personally, not her staff, and bypassing the lower level classes, which is unusual in her school), based upon what I have told her of my dance history, and who my teachers have been.

Unfortunately, I don't have a job yet to pay for classes....but, at least now I have a dance contact here who was very welcoming and open to my joining into the community!