Valentina grew up belly dancing with her mom Leela and their teacher Mesmera from the tender age of 12. During her first Burning Man festival in 2007, she was entranced with the hula hoopers and fire dancers and vowed to learn how to do both! A year of hooping allowed her body confidence to soar and she was inspired to perform Hoop Burlesque. She quickly landed herself on national television, HBO’s “Live Nude Comedy”. In 2015 she married Steve Bags, Hooping.org’s 2013 “Male Hooper of the Year.” Together they formed Twisted Orbit and have since traveled the world performing and teaching. She has also added hoop fabrication, juggling, stilt walking, teaching yoga and large-scale show production to her repertoire.

• Suhaila Salimpour Level 1 Certified
• YTT 200hr Certified with CorePower Yoga
• People’s Choice Belly Dancer of the Universe, 2010
• Nominated as Fire Hooper of the Year by Hooping.org, 2012
• First Place in “Best of the Mixed Arts” at ABurlyQ, 2015
• Competed in Burlesque Hall of Fame’s Debut Category in 2018

ABurlyQ – Albuquerque, NM  • Alternatease – Boston, MA  • Arizona Burlesque Festival – Tucson, AZ • Australian Hoop Convention – Melbourne, Australia • Belly Fusions Festival – Paris, France • Bobbie Burlesque Presents – Los Angeles, CA • Brighton Flow Fest – UK • BurlyCon – Seattle, WA • Burlesque Hall of Fame – Las Vegas, NV • Burning Man – Black Rock City, Nevada • Bustout Burlesque – New Orleans, LA • Byron Bay Hoop Festival – Byron Bay, Australia • Cairo Caravan – Long Beach, CA • Colorado Burlesque Festival – Denver, CO • European Juggling Convention – Almere, 2016 • Fantasia Belly Dance Festival – London, UK • Fern St Circus – San Diego, CA • Fire Drums – Northern California • Fishnet Follies Burlesque Revue – San Francisco, CA • Flame Festival – Georgia • Flow Storm – Texas • Heart & Hoop Dance – Holland • Hollywood Burlesque Festival – Hollywood, CA • Hoop Camp – Santa Cruz, CA • Hoop Convergence – Carborro, NC • Hubba Hubba Revue – San Francisco, CA • In Depth Hoop Retreat – The Big Island, Hawaii • Kinetic Flow Festival – Ohio • Mac Cosmetics – Los Angeles, CA • New Orleans Burlesque Festival • New York Burlesque Festival • Nicaragua tour with Performers Without Borders • Objectify – Australia • Pacific Fire Gathering – Portland, OR • Rendez-v’Hoop Convention – Paris, France • Return to Roots Gathering – Pennsylvania • San Diego International Fringe Festival – Show Producer • Show Me Burlesque Festival – St Louis, MO • Spin Summit – Colorado • Stars of the Orient – Reims, France • Swhoop – Bristol, UK • San Diego Zoo & Safari Park – San Diego, CA • Singapore Grand Prix • Under the Spinfluence – Wellington, NZ • Ursino Buskers Festival – Catania, Sicily • Viva Dallas Burlesque: Cirque du Burlesque – Dallas, Texas