Colleena Shakti has dedicated her life to dance ever since moving to India in 2001 to undergo intensive training in Odissi Classical Indian dance, as well as to research and document Rajasthani folk dances, music and jewelry traditions. She has had the great fortune to study under some of India’s greatest masters for more than a decade, and continues to dig deeper in the philosophies and practices, which tie Indian dance to the path of Yoga. Colleena is committed to honoring her dance lineages and preserving traditional and quickly disappearing art forms of India, while balancing her work with innovation and self-expression through her approach in Fusion Belly Dance.

Many who seek her instruction find a gentle bridging of Eastern and Western thought in the structured dance training and reflective philosophical teachings. She lives most of the year in Rajasthan, India where she has founded Shakti School of Dance in the historical Rang Nath temple complex in the holy town of Pushkar, while in summer months she tours, performing and teaching worldwide. Annually, she presents the Pushkar Temple Dance Festival, a classical music and dance festival in the temple which houses her school.