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I've always loved dancing, performing and the study of ethnic cultures. In college I studied modern dance, ballet, dance for theatre and received a B.A. from Sonoma State in European studies. When I saw my first Middle Eastern dance show in 1976 my passions seemed to collide. I was captivated by the dance, music, costumes and camaraderie between the performers on stage. The dance company I saw, named Chimera, were from Stockton, CA and their director, a very talented dancer, was named Asia. I enrolled into Asia's class immediately and began performing with Chimera a year later. In 1984, Asia decided to move to San Francisco and pursue her career in dance. She asked me to become director of Chimera and to take on her teaching duties at the studio. It was a wonderful opportunity for me and I thank her for setting me on that path. In my new role as teacher, I felt compelled to continue taking classes and workshops to keep myself challenged, and my material fresh. Over the years I've had classes with exceptional teachers. A partial list includes wonderful American artists such as Aisha Ali, Morocco, Horacio Cifuentes, Suhaila Salimpour, Aida Al Adawi, Amaya, Margo Abdo Odell, Suzanne Del Vecchio, Mesmera and Egyptian artists Khariya Maazin, Dawlett Ibrahim and Nadia Hamdi. Although Middle Eastern dance has been my primary focus, I have also studied other forms of ethnic dance, such as, Central Asian, Persian and Georgian dancing. These dance styles were taught to me by a talented artist named Sharlyn Sawyer of Berkeley, CA. I studied and performed with her company, Ballet Asfaneh, for ten years. Some of my most challenging and rewarding work was done with this incredible company. In 1996, I decided it was time to travel to the source of my obsession, Egypt and Turkey. I needed to see and hear this art form in its original setting. It turned out to be the most rewarding, gratifying and educational trip of my life. I relocated to Reno, NV in 1999. It was very difficult to leave behind my performing and teaching career in the central valley of California. However, I still return to teach as time allows. In Reno, I currently teach studio classes and private lessons, perform as a soloist and with my new dance company, Yalla Habibi. Throughout my career in Middle Eastern dance, I have performed at ethnic restaurants, nightclubs, conventions, theatres, museums, and private parties. My performance highlights consist of the Tokyo/American Club, Tokyo Japan, UC Berkeley Zellerbach Hall, a concert with Uzbekistan Folkloric Ensemble, San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Cabrillo Music Festival, Santa Cruz, CA, Town Hall, New York, NY, UN Women's Conference, San Francisco, CA. |