Magana would become my first and principal oriental dance teacher and together with her husband, Walt, my yoga teacher.  We are still best of friends and regardless of the many influences I have had from oriental dance masters in the United States as well as Egypt it has been Magana's philosophy of dancing from your heart center that has guided me from the start.  Magana Baptiste has been a leading force in bellydance in America for more than 50 years and although, as I recently discussed with her, she agrees with me that the classical term is really "oriental dance", we concluded that we just cannot get away from the term Bellydance.

A disciple of the legendary Devi ja, Magana's training also includes Martha Graham technique as well as flamenco.  In fact, she confessed to me that as a young woman she found herself choosing oriental dance before flamenco.  In 1955 Magana and Walt Baptiste founded the first yoga center in downtown San Francisco at the heart of Union Square.  

it is amazing to think that today there are numerous yoga schools throughout the SF Bay Area and yoga is being taught in just about every fitness center.

In her earlier days Magana sponsored yoga luminaries such as the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Swami Vishnu-Devananda, yoga master and founder of the Sivananda Centers and Retreats worldwide.  It was he who awarded Magana with the title of "Yogi".  The Great Saint and Spiritual Master, Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj came to the Baptiste Center the year of its inauguration and blessed it with his discourses and initiations.  Magana Baptiste received initiation into his teachings of Surat Shabda Yoga and together with her husband and daughters Sherri and Devi was commissioned to carry on with his teachings.  Her son, Baron Baptiste, grew up to become a master yogi with tremendous popularity among many film stars in Hollywood, author of three books on yoga and conducts numerous yoga retreats throughout the United States and abroad.

Magana tells of these days when she was thought of as a fanatic because her ideas were so far away from mainstream.  It was considered inappropriate for women to work with weights, although Magana does not advocate the muscular giants that some women are training to be these days.

She possesses great knowledge of health and nutrition and she co-directed a health retreat right on the beach in La Libertad, El Salvador where she inspired hundreds of people to become healthier and stronger through regular exercise, dance, yoga and meditation discipline, as well as a well rounded style of living guided by a high standard of moral values.

Dance Hall of Fame Morocco, Yousry, Anahid Sofian, Magana, Phaedra, Sabah Nissan,?, Dahlena

The Cifuentes wed at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golded Gate Park in San Francisco. Walt officiates.

She loves to combine the rhythmic movements with meditation, pranayama or yogic breath and spiritual dance because, as she says, "It transports one to higher dimensions of being and joy, and enhance a healing flow to the body, mind and emotions".  Magana credits the discipline of yoga for a total transformation of her life.

At the time when her husband placed second in the Mr. America body building contest, and mind you, these were the days when body builders took no steroids and were true examples of healthy humans, Magana placed first runner up in the Miss USA beauty competition held in Los Angeles in 1951.  She has been a choreographer and consultant to the San Francisco Ballet and has led sacred dance and music tours in the Middle East, India and Central America.

I have always been amazed by her ability to beautify a room by her mere presence and she is living proof that true beauty comes from within.  That beauty is so much more than just a pretty face.  That beauty is the divinity of the soul manifesting through movement, persona, lightness and peacefulness of being, consideration of others, compassion, good humor, prudence, friendliness and joy.

Magana says that she is inspired to do daily what she was born to do - be a teacher of healthful practices for the body, mind and spirit through the discipline of yoga, dance and resistance exercises.  I follow my inner intuition and the guidance of my Higher Self." Her inspired way of living has served as an example for thousands of people as it has to me to combine the discipline of dance and yoga.  When asked about her ideals for a great future in this world, she would wish "To be a greater instrument for the spiritual upliftment of humanity.  My dream realized would be to help establish love and peace to all."

"Ï studied with her in Hollywood and she used to come to our center in San Francisco.  I am also very inspired by the ancient priestesses who were drummers, yoginis and spiritual leaders for their communities.  For thousands of years the old liturgies and religious rituals were chanted to the rhythms of the frame drums played by the priestesses in the ancient temples of Sumer, Mesopotaniam Egypt, Greece and Rome.  The oldest named drummer in history is the priestess Lipushau who was the financial, administrative and spiritual leader of the temple of the moon god in Sumer in 2300 BCE."

When Magana speaks of her ultimate dream for the future she says "That we would see that we are all descended from the first great mother of all the people on this planet, that the same blood pulses through all out veins and that we all want the same things - enough food, a good home, health, love, peace and wellbeing for our families.  That we would recognize that we are all emanations of the one field of all consciousness and truly understand that there is only one of us here."

In all the years that I have known her and with all the virtues that form her personality, there is something in particular that strikes me as extraordinary. I have never, ever, heard Magana Baptiste say a bad word about anyone!  I consider myself to be a fortunate man and thank life that circumstances brought me in contact with this great lady, a woman who through the discipline of dance, yoga and health has brought out the best in herself, has found her own divinity and has shown me that we can all do the same.