Rachel Brice first fell in love with Belly Dance at 16 years old, when she saw The Gypsy Moor Dancers (who later became Hahbi’Ru) at a Renaissance Faire, and started classes with Atesh immediately. Soon after, she discovered a video of Suhaila Salimpour which she obsessively studied. She began making her living by performing American Cabaret Belly Dance at restaurants and teaching yoga while putting herself through school.

A decade later she discovered Carolena Nericcio’s American Tribal Style, which shifted her aesthetic from nightclub to nomad, and Jill Parker became her technique inspiration. She then studied several world and contemporary dance forms as she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance Ethnology. The fresh immersion in these dance forms and exposure to San Francisco culture began to mix with her 10 years as a restaurant dancer, and she (unwittingly) started to blend these influences and create something new.