WORKSHOPS
We're quite delighted to have these fabulous teachers travel from afar to teach you marvelous things. Please don't forget to sign up for their great classes!
SATURDAY
10:00am-12:00pm ::::::: BELLY DANCE SOULFIRE
12:00pm-2:00pm ::::::: TRIBAL BELLY DANCE WITH ASHARAH
SUNDAY
10:00am-12:00pm ::::::: BELLY DANCE SOULFIRE
12:00pm-2:00pm ::::::: CLASSICAL PERSIAN DANCE WITH SHAHRZAD KHORSANDI
Workshops are $35 each at the door or $30 in advance.
SPECIAL EARLY BIRD PACKAGE PRICE OF $100 for all 4 workshops if you sign up by July 31st!
Special for Performers: $25 workshop rate if you sign up before September 15th!!!
SPECIAL FREE WORKSHOPS ON SUNDAY:
10:00am-11:00am ::::::: FREE: BEGINNING BELLY DANCE WITH SHOSHANNA (limited space)
11:00am-12:00pm ::::::: MIDDLE EASTERN DRUMMING WITH RAY DOWLER
(then join Ray onstage for a DRUM CIRCLE.. it's fun!)
>>>>>>> REGISTRATION FORM HERE<<<<<<<<<
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS AND MORE INFO WILL BE COMING SOON!
Email Shoshanna to tell her to get on it and post the info if you want it sooner... she sometimes gets a little distracted! :-)
ASHARAH
Asharah is internationally renowned for her strong technique, dramatic fusion of tribal and cabaret belly dance, tough but compassionate teaching style, and her dedication to raising professional and artistic standards in belly dance.
She has taught throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia; her 2008 instructional DVD, Modern Tribal Bellydance with Asharah, is considered one of the best instructional belly dance DVDs on the market for belly dancers of all styles and levels. She is certified Level 3 in the Suhaila Salimpour Format, Level 1 in the Jamila Salimpour Format, and holds a B.A. from Princeton University in Near Eastern Studies.
Asharah is fiercely dedicated to educating dancers about the history and culture of the Middle East and the evolution and roots of belly dance, as well as fostering creativity and individuality in every dancer. After living on the East Coast for 12 years, she now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Read her blog on dance, art, integrity, and business at www.bdpaladin.com, and learn more about her upcoming events at www.asharah.com.
BELLY DANCE SOULFIRE
Belly Dance Soulfire is an innovative collective of established and professional solo artists that have come together to synergistically create a shared vision. They draw on all of their various performance backgrounds and life experiences to bring you their heartfelt and passionate signature “Soulfire Style” They serve as groundbreaking pioneers dedicated to elevating and expanding the Sacred Art of Belly Dance along with helping it to gain a legitimate and well deserved place in the artistic world and entrainment industry.
Their work comes to you with integrity and love, they hope to inspire all to embrace and accept all forms of beauty, help women to feel more comfortable in their skin, and to promote cultural awareness and global healing.
Their dedication and commitment to Belly Dance will hopefully help all to realize and experience the magic and power of this ancient and magnificent art form.
Find them at www.bellydancesoulfire.com!
THE DANCERS:
SHAHRZAD KHORSANDI
Shahrzad Khorsandi lives and dances in the Bay Area, California. Since 1996 she has directed a non-profit dance academy and a performing ensemble, Shahrzad Dance Company, which performs her choreography at various concerts and dance festivals. Born in Tehran, Iran, Shahrzad immigrated to the US in 1980, Shahrzad has been involved in Persian dance since childhood. She studied Modern dance and performance art at California Institute of the Arts in LA, earned a BA in Dance and an MA in Creative Arts from San Francisco State University.
Shahrzad has developed a formal structure for teaching classical Persian dance, a dance form that has been outlawed in Iran since 1979. Having no formal archive of Persian dance to reference, over the last 15 years she has delved not only doing research in the history of Persian dance but also undertaking an internal journey to her past and place of birth to gain a deeper understanding of the essence of Persian culture, manifested in the dance form. Her mission is to educate the dance public about Persian dance as a dynamic and expressive art form, high in artistic integrity as well as ancient beauty.
"What makes my dancing unique is my background in a culture rich in ancient beauty evident in its calligraphy, painting, and poetry. These aesthetics are seen and felt in the organic flow of the movement and the oneness of the body with the music. Over the years my choreography has developed to not only reflect a rich cultural heritage, but to also encompass conceptual and complex choreography that reflect global themes. It captures & combines the unleashed expression of modern dance with the refined, poetically potent aesthetics of an ancient culture, resulting in a style I refer to as Contemporary Persian Ballet."
Visit Shahrzad at www.persiandance.org.
