Rachel is a San Diego based performing artist, educator, choreographer, producer, and arts leader with more than 30 years of experience in Belly Dance, arts education, performance production, and cultural programming. Beginning her Belly Dance career in 1994, she has built a multifaceted career spanning performance, instruction, choreography, production, arts administration, and cultural stewardship. She is CEO and Co-Founder of Maqam Arts Alliance, Director of Salimpour Collective San Diego, Certification Coordinator for the Salimpour School, and a Licensed Level 5 Salimpour Instructor.

One of the highest certified dancers globally in the Salimpour formats, Rachel has remained a dedicated student of movement, music, and cultural history throughout her career. Her work combines strong technical training, detailed isolation work, musical interpretation, and an understanding of the cultural and historical context surrounding Belly Dance and related Southwest Asian, North African, and Mediterranean (SWANAM) dance traditions. She has taught classes and workshops internationally, bringing together technique, musicality, cultural knowledge, and expressive artistry in both her teaching and performance.

Rachel’s professional experience includes international touring, assisting Suhaila Salimpour in performance and instruction, extensive work alongside live Arabic musicians, traditional nightclub performance, theatrical productions, cultural events, and arts education. A multi-award-winning performer, her honors include Bellydancer of the Universe, Entertainer of the Year, and Bellydance USA.

Her work in the Salimpour School spans performance, instruction, certification, curriculum support, and digital education. As Certification Coordinator, Rachel supports dancers through the School’s structured certification program and helps maintain educational standards and continuity across the curriculum. She has also contributed to the development, organization, and creation of educational content for the Salimpour Online Institute, helping translate established training material into structured resources for online students. As a Licensed Level 5 Instructor, she provides Salimpour training in San Diego and mentors dancers through progressive levels of technical and artistic development.

Rachel’s production and project-management experience highlight includes Bal Anat, the historic production founded by Jamila Salimpour. As both a performer and project manager, she has contributed to artist coordination, production planning, organization, and the continued presentation of this longstanding artistic work. Her involvement has further developed her experience in collaborative leadership, production management, and the stewardship of culturally rooted artistic traditions.

As Director of Salimpour Collective San Diego, Rachel leads an ensemble of certified dancers through artistic direction, rehearsals, mentorship, performance development, and community presentation. The Collective creates professional performance opportunities for trained dancers while emphasizing musical integrity, technical excellence, cultural context, and responsible representation.

As CEO and Co-Founder of Maqam Arts Alliance, Rachel brings her experience in performance, education, production, and administration to nonprofit arts leadership. Her work focuses on program development, partnerships, artist support, cultural programming, and community engagement, with an emphasis on creating sustainable and paid opportunities for artists, expanding access to culturally informed arts education and performance, and strengthening connections among artists, audiences, and communities throughout San Diego County.

Across her work, Rachel is committed to responsible stewardship, transparency, collaboration, cultural respect, artistic integrity, and accountability. Her approach centers on preserving and responsibly transmitting artistic knowledge, supporting the artists and communities connected to these traditions, and creating opportunities for the art form to continue growing for future generations.

Interested in taking classes with Rachel? Click here to see her current schedule of classes

AWARDS AND CERTIFICATIONS

THOUGHTS ON DANCE

I believe that dance is your own expression and personal interpretation of the music. As an artist, a picture is painted of the music with movement on to the stage as the canvas. When I dance it is always an emotional experience; happy or sad. Greatly influenced by so many wonderful dancers and their personal interpretation of music I will continue to study and teach for the duration of my ability. The most important thing that we share as dancers is the love for dance. The friendships that have been created through this dance have deeply influenced my life in so many ways. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Dance should an artistic path for you as the artist, and above all you should enjoy the talent God has blessed you with. If that ever changes we do it for the wrong reasons!

Dance is Music Made Visible