Bella Wishes was written in January of 2004 and by March that same year “Boogie with Bella” song was written to accompany the book. and by July the book was coming off the printing presses (American Printing) in Culver City.
Tess Cacciatore (AKA) Tessa May began a multi-city tour, where the book lectures became an interactive dance workshop for kids and their families. By October, Tessa May was on the road with a book tour and workshop and the books were on the shelves of Borders, Barnes and Noble, Storyopolis and other book store chains.
It didn’t take long for Bella Wishes to take fire, so Tess began the BELLA WISHES DANCE TROUPE where 10 girls from various cities came together for Saturday morning dance workshops. Mothers and daughters were greatly impacted by the experiment of seeing how the dance community could be supportive of each other in this multi-racial girl group, which included girls of all ages, sizes and shapes. Acceptance and tolerance were the cornerstones of the classes, while instilling self-confidence and good body image lessons.
The dance troupe participated in the production of the dance instructional DVD, PINK LOTUS – BELLY DANCE FOR GIRLS OF ALL AGES – which was instructed by belly dance professional, Anahata Spurkel. The DVD comes in 5 languages of instruction (English, Spanish, Italian, German and French) to teach girls from various countries around the world and to encourage girls to learn other languages to ensure racial tolerance among girls of all nations.
Other products were created to enhance the Bella Wishes and Pink Lotus brand, such as the Bella Wishes Plush Doll and the Bali-inspired belly dance hip scarves, coined headbands, dancing veils and clothing line, all designed, produced and created by Cacciatore.
Throughout the years fan clubs popped up and Bella Wishes was selling internationally (France, Spain, Canada, Australia, Puerto Rico, Italy and more) as well as product that had been donated to orphanages around the world, which coincided with Cacciatore’s other life mission, which is to work with women and children around the world in the empowerment arena. Bella Wishes is now in the orphanages, libraries, and schools in Cambodia, Thailand, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Ghana and South Africa. Tess is also the Founder of the World Trust Foundation which is dedicated to mentoring youth and empowering women and children. Collaboration rather than competition is a major aspect to this organization, so visit the site to see the coalition of organizations and the projects under the umbrella of World Trust Foundation.