IBCC Speakers
April 22 - 25, 2010
Join in on Panel Discussions, Lectures, Presentation Panels featuring the most famous Middle Eastern dance scholars and artists and the hottest topics!
Welcoming your IBCC 2010 featured Speakers:
Amel Tafsout
Algeria/UK/U.S.A.
Amel Tafsout is among the most charismatic and acclaimed professional world performers and master dance instructors of North African traditional and contemporary Maghreb Dance of our time. She has mesmerized audiences around the world with the earthy fluidity of her dance and her expressive and stunning stage presence.
Andrea Deagon
North Carolina, U.S.A.
Andrea Deagon received her Ph.D. in Classical studies from Duke University in 1984, and she currently coordinates the Classical Studies program at UNC-Wilmington, as well as teaching in the Women’s Studies program. Since 1975 she has studied, taught and performed Middle Eastern dance, and has taught workshops for professional dancers throughout the Southeastern Unites States. She delivered the keynote speech at the First International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance (1998), and has spoken widely on Middle Eastern dance for both dance and academic audiences. She is a frequent contributor to Habibi, and her articles on dance history and spirituality have appeared in other dance and academic publications.
Aurora Ongaro
Alberta, Canada
Aurora is an accomplished and graceful dancer. Belly Dancing since 1999, Aurora has studied extensively with Arabesque's founder and artistic director Yasmina Ramzy and other Arabesque Academy instructors such as Denise and Audra. Other influential instructors include Anemone of Edmonton, Magdy El Leisy of Germany, Hiba Al-Kinani of Guelph, Beata and Horacio Cifuentes of Germany, and Aida Nour of Egpyt. In addition to classes and workshops, Aurora completed both the Teacher's Course and Professional Course provided at Arabesque.
A member of Toronto's Arabesque Dance Company from 2002-2004, Aurora performed in company tours and performances such as Dance Ontario Dance, In Search of the Almeh, Descent of Ishtar, numerous corporate and gala events, music videos and the televised Toronto Show. As a soloist, she is experienced dancing with Arabesque Orchestra and other live bands during Hezz ya wezz, Haflas, and Layali Arabesque. Aurora and her students have performed for many events such as Heritage Days, International Bellydance Conference of Canada and the Festival of Trees.
In addition to dance training, Aurora’s love for Middle Eastern music and prompted her to study dumbek (Egyptian Drumming) with Suleiman Warwar. Per invitation, Aurora performed with Suleiman as a back up drummer in Edmonton's 2004 Sisters in Dance; Sisters in Solidarity workshop and show, and again in 2006.
Aurora is the Artistic Director and principal instructor of edVenture Arts Academy. As an instructor, Aurora has also taught bellydance for Arabesque Academy, Euphoric Fitness, Harmony Health and Club Fit. Aurora currently lives and teaches in Edmonton Alberta.
Barbara Sellers-Young
Ontario, Canada
Barbara Sellers-Young has a BS in Sociology, MS in Dance and a PhD in Theatre from the University of Oregon. Prior to her academic career, she was a dancer/choreographer/director who performed extensively in the Pacific Northwest, Japan, and England. She has also taught workshops and classes in dance and movement for international groups and universities. Her research projects on the intersections of dance, body, and globalization have taken place in Sudan, Egypt, Nepal, China, England, and Australia. Her articles can be found in The Journal of Popular Culture, Theatre Topics, Asian Theatre Journal, Dance Research Journal and elsewhere. She is the author of three books: Teaching Personality with Gracefulness (1993); Breathing, Movement, Exploration, (2001) and Bellydance: Orientalism, Transnationalism and Harem Fantasy. (2005). Professor Sellers-Young’s research has been supported by fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Centre for Cultural Research into Risk, Charles Sturt University, Australia, as well as numerous grants, including a Davis Humanities Fellowship and a Pacific Rim Planning Grant. She served on various university committees at UC Davis, taught as a member of the Davis Honors program and was from 2001-05 Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance.
Brigid Kelly
New Zealand
Zumarrad a.k.a. Brigid Kelly is based in Christchurch and started studying Middle Eastern Dance in 1998 and started teaching in 2002, initially under the tutelage and mentorship of Christchurch's Gendi Tanner.
Zumarrad is an independent belly dance teacher, researcher, and performer. She cites as influences and inspirations Tahia Carioca, Suher Zaki, Tito Seif and Randa Kamel, Dr Mo Geddawi, Denise Enan, Cassandra Shore of Minneapolis and Hadia of Canada. She continues to pursue education wherever possible with contemporary teachers of Egyptian-style dance, most recently with Jennifer Allen of Glasgow, who specialises in khaleegy and modern Egyptian orientale.
Zumarrad is the dance name of Brigid Kelly, who completed New Zealand's first masters-level academic inquiry into belly dancing in 2008. She retains a deep interest in the complex ways belly dancing plays out in our contemporary globalised culture. As part of that globalization of belly dance Brigid has be asked to present part of her paper to the IBCC in Canada. As a dancer, her passion is Egyptian raqs sharqi and its music, and good, old-fashioned, entertaining belly dance. She also loves world dances of all kinds.
Caitlin McDonald
UK
My research focuses on analyzing the dance practice and unit of cultural capital known in one appellation as belly dance now practiced throughout the world, both in real life and virtual spaces that allow dancers to connect to one another regardless of physical boundaries. I will examine how belly dancers around the world use Egypt as a reference point for situating themselves within the global dance community, and how Egypt gets romanticized and fantasized in global narratives about belly dance. Like all dance ethnographers, I believe dance is a culturally rich artifact that can be viewed as a tool for examining underlying social mores and attitudes towards social structures like gender and the nation. How and why knowledge of dance is transmitted in Egyptian society and from thence to the global arena are major questions in my research, as are where, when and by whom dance is typically performed. Theories of gender performance with a focus on postcolonial gender theory will be used to examine the ritual significance of social dance and dance as a culturally valuable artifact both within Egypt and on the global stage. The conflict between authenticity and cultural growth with particular reference to the boundaries of and interactions between different cultures is another aspect of my theoretical framework.
I conducted fieldwork in Cairo from September to December 2008, followed by fieldwork in the United States from December to April 2009, and my fieldwork will continue in Britain from April to September 2009. This is comprised of interviews with dance teachers and students, with particular focus on those who engage in dance tourism. I also am gathering data through participant-observation at dance events like haflas, belly dance conferences, and ordinary classes. Finally I am conducting 'virtual fieldwork' on listservs, message boards and belly dance websites, in keeping with my interest in globalization. This will include research on the belly dancing community in the virtual world of Second Life, where dancers can virtually enact dance as well as engaging in the more traditional function of spaces on the Web for analyzing, discussing, and promoting it.
Candace Bordelon
TEXAS
Candace Bordelon has been exploring movement since her first dance class at the age of 4. After 15 years as a ballet, modern, and jazz dancer, Candace discovered belly dance in 1998 with Isis in Bedford, Texas, quickly rising to the professional level.
Candace holds a Master's degree in Dance from Texas Woman's University. She is currently a Candidate for the Doctoral degree in dance, with her dissertation research focused on the relationship between the raks sharki performer and Arab tarab music. In 2007 she was awarded a fellowship from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education and was one of only eight educators and students to travel to Saudi Arabia as part of a University of North Texas outreach delegation. Her studies have also taken her to Egypt and Jordan. She is the founder of the North Texas Middle Eastern Dance Association, Middle Eastern culture advisor for DFW International Alliance, and a registered teacher with the National Yoga Alliance. Candace continues to teach at TWU and North Central Texas College and has taught in both the Dallas and Collin county community college districts. In 2009 she was a resident artist at Bethel College in Newton, Kansas.
In 2005, Candace created an accredited course in Middle Eastern dance, art, and culture through Texas Woman’s University’s World Dance program. She now teaches this course in both traditional and online formats. Candace has performed throughout the United States and has delivered presentations based on thesis and dissertation research at various academic conferences throughout the nation.
Delilah
Washingtom, U.S.A.
Delilah is one of the pioneers in the contemporary movement of belly dance in America. Deeply inspired by sturdy roots in ethnic music and dance in the 70’s, she won contests/awards and became known for her almost supernatural dramatic style. Her company, Visionary Dance Productions, has produced a leading instructional video series; Delilah’s Belly Dance Workshops. This series fueled the hearts, bodies and imaginations of women all over the globe. Delilah is a visionary dedicated to this art.
Emma LucyCole
UK
EmmaLucy began research into feminist theory whilst studying at University. Initially developed to further understand the role of women in the Art World, this gradually became intensely related to her career as an International Bellydancer (Stage name ‘Shema’). With past experiences as a restaurant manager, musician, nightclub bouncer, pizza chef and business owner , her research forms the backbone of her approach to being on stage. EmmaLucy has presented radio shows and been featured in music videos and TV pilots. She is a published writer with articles, short stories and reviews printed in both the UK and North America.
Galiah
Ontario, Canada
Following the tradition of a long lineage of dancser, Galiah came up through the ranks of ballet and modern dance to find as other had said, "her soul was already that of a bellydancer". Her three children embrace their personal dance journeys also.
It wasn't until she first became pregnant that she formally stared taking Bellydance classes; or until after the birth of her third child that she fully pursued her passioante obsession with bellydance.
Galiah dances and teaches classes and workshops to children and adults in and out of Toronto, and with her company Art-Sea and Dance. She laso dances with Shagara moon.
Dr. George Sawa
Egypt/Canada
George Sawa was born in Alexandria , Egypt in 1947. He studied Classical Arabic music at the Higher Institute of Arabic Music specializing in qanoon, voice and theory. After immigrating to Canada in 1970, he studied ethno-musicology and obtained his doctorate in Historical Arabic Musicology at the University of Toronto.
He has taught medieval, modern and religious Middle Eastern Music at York University and the University of Toronto, and is the author of "Music Performance in Early Abbasid Era 750-932AD" published in 1989. George Sawa has given numerous concerts and lecture demonstrations at universities, museums and art galleries in Europe and North America He has been teaching at Arabesque Academy, School of Middle Eastern Dance and Music Arts since 1995 and regularly teaches alongside Yasmina Ramzy in many dance workshops.
He was awarded the 1990 Ontario Folk Arts Recognition Fellowship for his performances and lecture demonstrations on the qanoon. George served as a performer, composer and music coach in R. Murray Schafer's RA in Toronto (1983) and Holland (1985). As well as serving as the Musical Director for the Egyptian exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum, George has arranged music for and directed the musicians of the Arabesque Dance Company Orchestra since 1996 where he also plays the qanoon and naye in all of their performances.
Jaene Castrillon
Ontario, Canada
Jaene aka Juvia has been bellydancing for 6 years. Since she started she has gone from skeptical tomboy to full out bellydance enthusiast! Juvia was initially attracted to bellydance as a fun way to get fit but since then it has become a lifestyle and religion to her. As a component of her classes she always addresses issues of body image, self love and encourages a positive relationship to the body through belly dance. Juvia feels bellydance is one of the few dance forms in the world that has a positive impact on people regardless of gender, age, weight, size, color or sexuality and often dances at events that promotes this message of all inclusive love. Furthermore, she has shared this passion with inner city schools, seniors, people in wheelchairs and gay/bi/trans people.
Jillina
California, U.S.A.
A master dancer, instructor and choreographer, Jillina has devoted her life to dance. In 1999 she started Jillina’s Sahlala Dancers and in 2003 joined the Bellydance Superstars where she served as the artistic director and main choreographer until 2009. Jillina continues to serve as one of their principle choreographers. In the spring of 2009 Jilllina started Bellydance Evolution. In the summer of 2009, Jillina was the first American artist to be featured in the prestigious Ahlan Wa Sahlan closing Gala, in Egypt.
Khairiyya Mazin
Egypt
Khairiyya Yusuf Mazin is the youngest of the famous Banat Mazin, one of the last exponents of Ghawazi dance, which is perhaps the primary origin of Egyptian "belly dance." She is the sole remaining practitioner of the authentic dances of the Nawari Ghawazi of Upper Egypt. When Khairiyya Mazin retires, one of the most distinctive traditions of Ghawazi dance may come to an end. The Ghawazi are the famed female dancers described so often in Western travelers' accounts since the 18th century, and probably the major wellspring of Egyptian danse orientale.
Lynette Harper
British Columbia, Canada
Dr. Lynette Harper is an author and ethnographer, and currently teaches anthropology at Malaspina University-College. Her academic and popular publications address museology, dance ethnology, culture learning and diversity, Lebanese refugee narratives, and education partnerships. Travel and research has taken her abroad to Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Kenya, and Tunisia. Inspired by her Lebanese ancestry, Lynette has developed a unique and effective teaching style in three decades of teaching and performing Middle Eastern dance throughout the Pacific Northwest. She was a founder of Earthfire dance collective, and is well known for her versatility, respect for tradition, soulful expression, spirited improvisations, and use of narrative.
Mahmoud Reda
Egypt
Mahmoud Reda is the pioneer of theatre dance in Egypt. In 1959 he founded the world renowned Reda Troupe. By the mid 60s the troupe had over 150 members including, dancers and musicians. As soloist, choreographer, and artistic director, he was instrumental in creating a legitimate theatrical dance genre that embraced many styles. He has choreographed more than 300 dances including for many Egyptian feature films, and has starred in three musicals directed by his late brother Ali Reda, two of which are major productions and are regarded as mile stones in the history of Egyptian cinema. With the troupe he has performed in prestigious theatres in more than 60 countries such as the Royal Albert Hall in London, The Olympia in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York and Stanislavski in Moscow.
Mayada
Ontario, Canada
Since discovering Middle Eastern dance in 1994 when she was fifteen years old, Mayada has become a dynamic teacher, a popular performer, a creative choreographer, and creator and editor of Canada's first bellydance magazine: MID-BITS!
Mayada has taught bellydance classes across Toronto at various venues including Arabesque Academy, the Royal Ontario Museum, Ryerson University, York University, Toronto Bellydance Collective, as well as running specialty workshops across the continent. Background and studies in fitness and personal training allow Mayada an informed perspective on the anatomy of movement, around which she designs her teaching of technique. In September 2003, Mayada opened flow fitness, giving her the opportunity to share her experience and expertise by teaching at her own studio.
Mayada has performed - as a soloist, and as a lead dancer with Arabesque Dance Company - throughout Canada and the United States. Performance highlights have included opening for many great masters (Wael Kfoury, Assi Helani, George Wassouf, Ragheb Alameh, and others), Egyptian Exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum, Caravan/Toronto (Cairo & Istanbul pavilions), United Nations Millennium Summit (New York City), Int'l Conference on Middle Eastern Dance (Los Angeles), theatrical presentations Descent of Ishtar and Isis. Mayada also appears as a regular soloist at various Arabic restaurants, clubs, and special events. Her career has been tracked through media coverage on T.V. shows such as Munawaat Arabia, Diverse City, Mosaic Magazine, Eye on Toronto, Breakfast Television, City Line, and Canadian Living, and in newspapers like the Toronto Star and the Oakville Beaver.
Marthyna
Quebec, Canada
Marthyna is a teacher, a dancer and a choreographer. She started training in Oriental dancing in 1997 and is an active member of the first tribal Bellydance troupe in Quebec – “Les Trib’elles”. She is alsot eh artistic director of her school’s troupe ‘Les Shuvanies’. Marthyna is an oriental dancer who enjoys exploring various avenues. Studying the multiple facets of oriental dancing through diverse styles such as Raks Sharqi, Turkish Rom, Oriental, Dunyavi, Gawazee, Tribal SGI and Tribal Fusion, she aims at creating the perfect fusion between impeccable technique and vibrant emotion. Fusion is her passion but knowing the element of fusion is a life long quest.
Meiver
Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Meiver, under the tutelage of some of the best-known names in this art form, has studied Raqs Sharqi since 1996, taking classes in 7 countries around the world! In addition to Arab dance styles, she has studied modern dance, flamenco, Afro-Brazilian dance styles, folk dances from Turkey and Central Asia, ballroom, and ballet. Primarily a solo artist, Meiver has also performed Sharqi, Arabic Techno Fusion, and various forms of Folk Dance with such groups as the Belly Dance Superstars, Karim Nagi's Bellydance Overdrive and Ahmet Luleci's Collage Dance Ensemble. This work has led to performances all over the Northeast of the US, as well as in Salt Lake City, Miami, Los Angeles, Montreal and Taiwan. Meiver is also a researcher and scholar, writing primarily about the gender, racial, and sexual politics involved in the American practice of Arab dances, in the context of transnational war and terrorism. She recently completed a Master's Degree in the Gender and Cultural Studies Program at Simmons College, and will soon be beginning a PhD Program in the fields of Gender and Performance Studies. She has been teaching dance (with emphasis on technical development, cultural understanding, dance history, global context, artistry, musical literacy, and performance) since 2002.
Sami Abu Shumays
New York, U.S.A.
Arabic Violinist Sami Abu Shumays was born in the United States of mixed Palestinian and American descent, but returned to the Arab world to develop a richer connection with his cultural heritage. Originally a composer and scholar of Western Classical music, he began studying Arabic violin with renowned Arabic violinist and oud player Simon Shaheen in New York, where he concurrently pursued graduate studies in composition and ethnomusicology at C.U.N.Y. after receiving his B.A. in Music from Harvard. Seeking a deeper immersion in Arab musical culture, Sami studied in Cairo, Egypt on a Fulbright fellowship, with Dr. Alfred Gamil, and continued his studies in Aleppo, Syria, with Mohammed Qasas, Abdel-Basit Bakkar, and Abdel-Minaim Senkary–experiences that led him to devote himself to Arabic music.
Since then, Sami has been performing and teaching Arabic Violin and Arabic music theory (maqam) across the United States. Having played with numerous ensembles, such as Tarab, Saffafir, Maqamikaze Dance Troupe, the Chicago Oriental Ensemble (with which he also recorded The Songs of Sayyid Darwish), and Simon Shaheen’s Near East Music Ensemble, he founded Zikrayat with his wife, dancer Dameshe, in late 2005. Through Zikrayat, an ensemble devoted to presenting the classical, dance and folkloric repertories of the Arab world side-by-side, with a particular focus on rare music and dance pieces from classic Egyptian film, Sami seeks to make Arabic music accessible to a wide variety of audiences. Sami also composes original music for Zikrayat. He produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered Zikrayat’s first CD: Zikrayat: Live at Lotus, released in May 2007. In addition to performing, Sami also works as a studio musician and has composed and recorded for film.
Educating is one of Sami’s deepest passions. Having come to Arabic music as a “second language” has given him valuable insights into the learning process, which has enabled him to find creative ways to teach Arabic music to American students. He has brought his practical, melodic-based approach to teaching maqam (the Arabic system of melodic modes) to hundreds of students across the U.S., through workshops and classes. A regular instructor at Lark Camp in Mendocino, CA and Folktours Middle Eastern Music and Dance camp near Lansdale, PA, Sami has also led classes at the Global Youth Village in Roanoke, VA, the Arab Dance Seminar in Hartford, CT, and Lotus Music and Dance in New York City, as well as giving workshops in middle and elementary schools.
Sera Solstice
New York, U.S.A.
Sera Solstice is a performer/choreographer/ instructor/artist/shaman/warrior/pioneer of Bellydance and Founder and Director of Solstice Studio in Times Square, New York City. Sera is director and choreographer of the dance troupe Solstice, Creatrix of "East Coast Tribal" (a Tribal Fusion DVD produced by World Dance New York), and director of East Coast Tribal in NYC. Sera's Choreography has been described as "complex, content-rich, sublime, technically superb, physically demanding, at the forefront of evolution of Bellydance as an art form."
Shira
Iowa, U.S.A.
Julie Anne Elliot first began studying Middle Eastern dance in 1981. She pursued her studies while living in Iowa, Ohio, and California. Over time, she began performing professionally under the dance name of Shira.
In 1997, she began her focus on the pursuit of the historical and cultural foundations of the dance form. For continuing education, she has traveled multiple times to Turkey and Egypt. She is known worldwide as the creator of the web site www.shira.net.
Her academic credentials include Bachelor of Arts double major in journalism and French, and Master of Business Administration in Management Sciences.
Suleiman Warwar
Palestine/Canada
Suleiman Warwar was born in Nazareth, Palestine in 1977. He began playing Arabic Tablah or Dumbek at age 6. The self-taught musician was the lead Dumbek player in his high school orchestra in Nazareth and performed traditional and modern musical pieces around the country. Suleiman immigrated to Canada in 1995 where he was introduced to Latin American, African, Turkish and many other types of music. As well as traditional Arabic percussion including Dumbek, Duff, Katim and Riqq, Suleiman also plays Bongos, Congas and Djembe. His innovative style of drumming has led him to play with such artists as Bassam Bishara, George Wasouf and in various peace movement events. Suleiman is a sought after master dumbek artist who is invited around the world to teach. He is the lead dumbek player for the Arabesque Dance Company Orchestra and has composed many popular drum solos available on his CD entitled "Beyond Rhthym" and the Arabesque Dance Company CDs entitled "Nawaem", Asala 1 and Asala 2.
Tamalyn Dallal
Florida, U.S.A.
Having started her study of Middle Eastern dance in 1976, Tamalyn Dallal has enjoyed a prolific career. She has taught and performed in 38 countries. In 1990, she founded the non profit arts organization "Mid Eastern Dance Exchange" in Miami Beach, through which she mentored thousands of dancers around the world. Through sixteen years of directing the organization, Ms. Dallal produced numerous stage productions and dance festivals, including the famed Orientalia Festival of Ethnic Dance in Miami Beach for fourteen years.
She authored three books, They Told Me I Couldn't, about living and dancing in Colombia in the 1980's, and the instructional book Belly Dancing for Fitness. In September, 2005, Ms. Dallal moved to Seattle, Washington, and began her latest endeavor, "40 Days and 1001 Nights", in which she lived in five Muslim countries for 40 days each (Indonesia, Egypt, Zanzibar, Jordan, and China's western most province, the predominately Muslim Xinjiang Autonomous Region.)
Meanwhile, Ms. Dallal continues to teach Middle Eastern dance workshops, perform, and do speaking engagements around the globe.
Yasmina Ramzy
Ontario, Canada
After many years of performing throughout the Middle East for royalty and heads of state, Yasmina Ramzy founded the critically acclaimed Arabesque Dance Company and Orchestra, Arabesque Academy and the International Bellydance Conference of Canada (IBCC). She received her key training from leading masters in Egypt and Syria including Aida Nour and Mohammed Khalil of the National Folklore Troupe of Egypt.
Her unique and highly creative choreographies have been commissioned internationally by universities, museums, ballet companies, figure skating teams and many Middle East dance companies including the internationally renowned Bellydance Superstars. She has been awarded numerous grants for her choreographies by all levels of arts councils.
Yasmina is invited to teach and perform regularly in over 60 cities on five continents. She has produced 8 instructional DVDs, 7 performance DVDs and 6 CDs that sell worldwide. The "Ask Yasmina" column which is published in the world�s largest Bellydance magazine is translated into several languages.
Yasmina is well known for elevating the status of Middle Eastern dance as high art and conveying its relationship with Arab music and culture. She is a member of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists and has served on the Board of Directors for Dance Ontario since 1996.