Barbara Grant

The Gilded Serpent presents...

Barbara Grant

Barbara Grant grew up in California's San Fernando Valley, where her earliest dream was to become an actress. Inspired by her family's love of the American musical theater, she performed in plays and shows until her early teens. She began professional training in Dramatic Arts with the Northridge Theatre Guild, Northridge, CA, at ten years of age. The fine quality of the training Barbara received there placed her on par with her counterparts in the more affluent L. A. areas of Beverly Hills and Westwood. Barbara considers her early training in acting to be among the most important influences on her public speaking activities in her career, which includes appearances discussing technology on radio and television including the History Channel.

Barbara earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from San Jose State University in 1983, and a Master of Science in optical sciences from the University of Arizona in 1989. She began serious study of Middle Eastern dance in 1990, and continues to pursue this art through teaching, studying, and performing. She has had the opportunity to study with a number of fine instructors including Rhea (Greece), Baraka and Amina (San Francisco), and Carmen Evans (Tucson, Arizona.) She completed Baraka's teacher training certification in Bastet Oriental Dance and taught for three years at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, where her troupe, "Wings of the Desert," performed in local shows. She has taught classes at Tucson's Canyon Ranch Health Resort and at The Training Zone in Tucson, and she currently teaches at 4Ever Fit Personal Training Studio in Saratoga, CA.

Barbara has written several articles and reviews on the subject of Middle Eastern dance, published in The Gilded Serpent and in Habibi magazine under her former stage name, Basheera.

E-mail: barbara_dance(at)att.net

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