My belly dance journey began in 1999 in New York with my beloved first teacher Safiya. Her gift to me was a strong foundation of Classical Egyptian Beledi and fiery Turkish Style. Her teacher was/is the revered New York dancer Anahid.
From this foundation, I continue to explore Gothic and Dark dance fusions with formatting and cues inspired by the tribal style of dance. I'm also very inspired by community and uniting women to dance, connect innovate and explore.
I strive to be a deeply emotive dancer with a fluid and graceful style that is haunting and memorable, yet I also explore industrial elements, steam-punk and other themed theatrical choreographies and a strong commitment to innovation and sincerity.
Teacher
My contribution to Australian gothic fusion dance art is Elysium, a gothic fusion belly dance format for teaching and performing improvised and choreographed performances. My aim with this is to define my own style of dance in a way the is easy to learn and teach and share, that is compatible with ATS and its fusions, and allows the dancer to perform solo, duet or in groups while exploring the darker fusion styles.
My reason for developing Elysium, as well as projects such as PseudoSkirt, is to create amazing dances with dues and groups with ease. As much as I love the freedom to improvise as a solo dancer, there is the joy and purity of spirit when dancing with others that no solo performance can replace. It's hard work, compromise, and at times it is frustrating, but there is nothing else in the world quite like it. I am a dancer, a teacher and an explorer.
