Neena & Veena, "The Bellytwins," have been featured as special guest dancers, choreographers, and actresses on hundreds of national and international stages, films, TV shows/commercials, and music videos. The twins are also the artistic directors and choreographers of their own dance company, which specializes in dances of India and the Middle East. Their live productions continue to receive rave
reviews from sold-out audiences and media worldwide. Based in Hollywood, CA, the twins have performed live stage shows for royalty, dignitaries, and world renowned artists and celebrities including former Prime Ministers of India and Lebanon, Eddie Murphy, Sting, Antonio Bandaras, Melanie Griffith, Nicole Kidman, Ozzy Osbourne, U2, Hugh Hefner, and at Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Some television credits include Academy Awards, Live with Regis and Kelly, Dancing with the Stars, Big Time Rush, Tracey Ullman State of the Union, The View, American Music Awards, and The Early Show. Neena & Veena have also been the center of Hollywood's TV gossip and news shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Extra, E!, and several segments on both CNN and VH-1. The twins have also made their mark on worldwide television networks including BBC (UK), CTV (Canada), Univision (Latin), Zee TV (India), Sony (India), RTN (Russia). Numerous national and international magazine and newspaper articles have been written about the twins in prestigious publications including InStyle, YM, Time, Muscle & Fitness, Harpers Bazaar, New York Daily News, and Fit. Neena & Veena have been spotlighted in several books, and now they have a multi-book deal of their own with a reputable publishing company. Their first book, The Way Of The Belly received a rave reviews including a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Neena & Veena are the pioneers in mainstreaming bellydance fitness products, and have produced over fifteen instructional and fitness videos, some of which had long runs on the Billboard Top Ten charts. Fitness magazine have named some of their videos the "Top Ten Videos." The Bellytwins have sold millions of products worldwide. BIO
Neena & Veena
We began performing when we were just barely out of mother’s womb. Mom was always playing Indian music while cooking or cleaning. We weren’t allowed to dance professionally, but we still enjoy dancing to Bollywood and Bhangra (Indian folk dance) at home or family gatherings. Even though we weren’t formally “trained” in these dance styles, it was in our blood, and noone could tear up the dance floor like our family! In our early teens, we discovered bellydance, and decided to take lessons with a local teacher. Every week (or whenever we could), we would sneak out of the house, catch a ride with our neighbor friend who had a car, and participate in the dance class. We would pay for the classes with our babysitting money we earned after school. A few years later, we started taking classes and workshops outside of our local area, including classes in Egypt. We studied rigorously, but not only bellydance (or raks sharki), but other styles of North African and Middle Eastern dances as well. Around that same time, we were also taking dance classes in classical bharatnatyam, kathak, odissi, and kuchipudi with master teachers locally and in India, and continued studied those styles for over ten years. During this time, we would make frequent trips to India to also learn folkloric styles, including banjara gypsy style (original gypsy), to familiarized ourselves with other styles of Indian dance. And if that wasn’t enough, we were taking daily classes in ballet, jazz, or hip-hop class. If there was a dance class in the style, we were probably there! But dancing wasn’t our only passion in the arts. In our late teens, we studied classical voice, both Indian and western style, for several years, and even won vocal scholarships. Singing led us to acting - performing on many stages, films and television series, as well as teaching. Today, mom and dad are cool with us performing, and even proud that we’ve come such a long way!.
