Today we’d like to introduce you to Jillina Carlano.
Hi Jillina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Jillina Carlano, I have been dancing for over 30 years with my main focus on the MENHAT region which includes The Middle East, North Africa, Hellenic, and Turkish styles of dance. When I was a young dancer in the LA scene training and auditioning as much as possible, I started as a Hip Hop and Jazz dancer contracted for various performances including music videos and performances abroad in Japan. When I transitioned to my main focus on Egyptian style of dance, known as raqs al-sharqi, I started really getting noticed for my talent. I won awards from the IAMED (International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance) and began my own dance company Jillina and the Sahlala Dancers. I began teaching not only my dance company, but traveling and teaching workshops in other parts of the world. This was when I was noticed by Miles Copeland and asked to become the Artistic Director of The Bellydance Superstars in 2002. I helped Miles Copeland the producer create the Bellydance Superstars, a touring dance company that performed with Lalapalooza and at other theaters and events around the world. After 7 years of traveling the world directing and performing in the Bellydance Superstars and maintaining my local dance company, and dance studio, I decided to break away from Miles Copeland’s commercial dance company and create my own touring dance company Bellydance Evolution.
I purchased Evolution Dance Studios in 2009 and had a successful business for 12 years. I decided to sell both the local Sahlala Dance Company and Evolution Dance Studios in 2021 and moved to Hawaii, to focus and build my online teaching programs. I travel much less and now focusing on my Bellydance Evolution productions and BDExperience programs.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life is always throwing us challenges but these obstacles pushed me to be resourceful. Building my dance company with little to no budget helped me expand my knowledge on things like costuming, marketing, and administration skills. Much of it I did myself so I had to learn quickly or find the right people to consult to expand my knowledge and business skills.
Reflecting back on those days feels like a lifetime ago but I’m grateful for those bumps in road as they helped shape the artist I am today.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have always loved dance. However, it is a different ball game to go from loving something and doing it as a hobby to making it your career and business. I hear from many other business owners in my field that there is such thing as “burn out” and loosing the joy and initial love of the activity once it becomes a business. I am lucky that I was always able to recruit co-workers and employees that felt more like friends than associates which made the business side much more enjoyable for me. I also keep up with the trends in the dance world in music, stylization, and production side of theater shows. But what has really helped my business especially during Covid was social media and new technology. My team and I might not be the most tech savvy, but we work hard to keep up with the ever changing platforms on the internet and way to communicate.
I’m also proud of my tenacity of never giving up even when things were hard. I was motivated by growth and developing of my skill more then the financial rewards. I believe that my success of my company is due to the fact that I surrounded myself with talented artists while always keeping in mind my own worth and contributions.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Personal and professional growth plus staying curious and generous as my driving force.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Jillina.com & Bellydanceevolution.com
- Instagram: Jillinacarlano
- Facebook: Jillina
- Youtube: Jillina & Bellydance Evolution
Image Credits:
Davin Phelps
