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Navel Academy Owner & Artistic Director |
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Cedena teaches and performs Middle Eastern dance with more than 18 years of experience to draw from. While performing at local Arabic clubs, she quickly became known for bringing tradition back to the stage. Highlights of her performance career include co-starring in a music video, performing overseas, and the Michigan Renaissance Festival. In 1998, she founded the Navel Academy Studio for Oriental Dance and recorded Zaghat Al Helwa — her own percussive composition. Shortly thereafter, her teaching career took off. She collaborated with leaders in other dance disciplines to choreograph award-winning numbers for competition teams, including two national titles in 2002 and 2004. And has served as a judge for the Personal Best Middle Eastern Dance Competition in Columbus, OH. |
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At the start of her teaching career, Cedena became known for her efforts to promote the dance in a manner that benefited all Michigan dancers and instructors. Her award-winning booth at the 2001 International Women’s Expo and televised interview successfully generated new interest on a state-wide level, and many Michigan teachers acquired new students as a result. As a certified fitness instructor, she has promoted belly dance within the health and fitness sector as an alternative to traditional aerobics. Many local area performers and instructors started out as Navel Academy students and troupe dancers. In 2005, Cedena created an associate instructor program to raise the bar for quality of dance education by helping to ensure that newly established instructors are fully qualified. Though the program was discontinued, it was a positive and successful venture, and participating students have since become independently successful as a result of her support.
Currently celebrating her 13th year of teaching, Cedena’s own student body continues to grow at a steady rate, and most beginner classes sell out to full capacity. She remains the only instructor in the state certified by the National Association for Teacher Certification in Middle Eastern Dance, has served on their staff as a certifier, and taught side-by-side with Egyptian dance legend, Mahmoud Reda, at their annual Choreography Project competition event. At Henry Ford Community College, her classes bring in the highest number of students in their continuing ed program.
Throughout the national belly dance community, Cedena is recognized for consistently demonstrating excellence in show production, costume design and choreography, with uncommon originality. Her artistic interpretations, sponsored events, and ongoing efforts to generate public appreciation for the dance have earned three nominations for community arts awards in 2001, 2002 and 2004. Cedena pledges her support for the arts and to fellow business owners as a member of many highly-respected organizations, including the National Dance Association, Michigan Arts Council, the Michigan Retailers Group, and the National Association for Teacher Certification in Middle Eastern Dance. |