Below are the bios for the performers at the Winter Dreams live stream show on Sunday 23rd August 2020. Performers are listed in performance order.
Kiri
Kiri has been performing and teaching MENAT dancing for over 15 years. Before COVID-19, Kiri traveled extensively throughout Australia and Internationally attending workshops and festivals. Residing in a small East Kimberley town has had its challenges for growth in dancing and continued learning. A silver lining of COVID, has been online live workshops, she has been taking advantage of the openings to learn from some of Australia and the worlds most esteemed dancers. So in love with the music is Kiri that she took up the Cello 2 years ago in a bid to become more intimately acquainted with the music. Improvising and being in the music is her happy place. Hopefully she can share some of that joy with you.
Joanna Angelidis
For the last 20 years, Joanna Angelidis has trained in numerous dance forms, from ballet, to jazz, to musical theatre. It wasn’t until she found bellydance that she knew it was her true calling. Joanna has trained with some of Melbourne’s best, including being a member of Melbourne Bellydance and Strut Entertainment’s Elite Performance Team, as well as training with Bellydance Bohemia. Her ultimate goal is to leave her audience filled with joy and adrenaline after every spirited performance.
Sarah Moulton
Sarah is an established fusion belly dancer who takes a devotional and dedicated approach to her training and classes. She experiences fusion belly dance as the platform for her soul expression, allowing her to explore the many archetypes and moods within herself.
Her intention for her stage performances inspires to transcend the audience into a blissful state of consciousness through the beauty of dance artistry, allowing them to receive and experience embodied movement filled with passion and devotion.
She is also a regular performer in the Melbourne Belly Dance and Live Music scene, and also in the Festival circuit within Australia and Europe where she performs with world renowned ethno-fusion bass and electronic musicians and live bands.
Emily
Emily is a fun dancer who loves grooving long to every (and any) song played. She is the director of Blue Fire Belly Dancers who are a group of dancers who love performing at community events, bringing the sparkle and light of belly dance to the local communities.
Astara
Astara lives in Point Cook Melbourne and she has mainly to be a Early childhood and Latin dance teacher for years till she met Middle East dance, she discovered her real passion and dived into Middle East music and culture especially Raqs Sharqi and folklore style. By learning from some master teachers from Egypt she’d love to present and share her love of some fun folklore styles, Which bring audience simple joy as it’s coming from the people and within the people. Astara has been offering weekly free online dance drills, check out her page ‘Astara Belly Dancer’ for more details.
Amanda
Amanda is the director of APB Dance, through which she runs workshops with international teachers and master instructors as well as local productions such as First Run Stage, which provides local dancers a place to learn and practice performance skills. She is also the co-founder of The Far East Belly Dance Collective.
After years of performing on stages (of all sizes) across Australia, in 2017, Amanda chased a new dream by joining the Salimpour School of Belly Dance (California, USA) which has taken her around the world for training and performances. She is currently certified at the “Foundations 1 & 2” levels and is working on her “Intermediate 1 & 2” certifications right now.
Carla Lee
After I went through a traumatic experience emotionally and physically, I was reborn as a bellydancer in my mid-40s. Bellydance gave me a second life and It will be my company for the rest of my life.
My bellydance learning started with Bluefire Bellydance in 2017. My teachers include Nicole Sanderson, Emily Nicholson, Laura Entwined, Datura online, Salimpour online school, Keti Sharif, Alisa Shine, Angella Kim and many teachers from workshops and short courses (Virginia Rizkallah, Cinzia Purificato, Jilina Carlano, Rachel Bond, Jrisi Jusakos, Joana Saahirah etc).
Cleopatra’s Drum
Cleopatra’s Drum is a Melbourne-based performance group and drumming school. Its’ founder Evy is an accomplished Egyptian percussionist who brings more than 18 years of experience from Australia and her birthplace Egypt. As a psychologist, culture and development specialist, Evy is a respected drumming teacher who runs regular drumming classes for people of all ages. abilities and backgrounds. Cleopatra’s Drum special focus is female empowerment and providing the best environment for women and girls to express themselves, have fun and to build their creativity and well being through the healing power of drumming and rhythm. This Winter Dreams Performance, “Tabally Ya Masreya” ((Play The Tabla Egyptian (Woman)) pays special homage to all women that play the Egyptian tabla, who regardless of their background, become Egyptians in some way, as they embody the beautiful and tantalising sounds of this special instrument and its associated culture, the moment they strike its skin. This solo performance includes a fun rendition of the original Egyptian classes “Gana El Hawa’ by Abdel Hafez followed by an Egyptian drum solo.
Prue
Prue is the co-founder of The Far East Bellydance Collective and is thrilled to be performing in our 3rd Winter Dreams show. With 20 years experience in the Bellydance industry, Prue is a vivacious and cheeky performer and hopes you enjoy a cameo by Oscar the fat cat. Prue is also the director of Bellique Bellydance, based in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria.
Aqua Moon Fusion Belly Dance
Aqua Moon Fusion Belly Dance is a collective of strong and vibrant women from the Outer Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne, coming from all walks of life – being mothers, artists, teachers, musicians, carers and healers.
Guided by Director Lauren, they bring their own unique experiences and personalities to the improvised format FatChanceStyleBellyDance® (FCBD® Style – f.k.a ATS®) as well as an eclectic spin on World/Folkloric Fusion Belly Dance. Inspired by the many cultures of the Middle East, North Africa, India and Spain (and sometimes with a good dose of Viking/Celtic energy!) – goodness knows what they will bring to the stage!
Director Lauren also runs classes every Wednesday evening at Maroondah Federation Estate in Ringwood.
Tara Yasmin
Tara Yasmin has been performing raqs sharqi since 2007, and travels regularly to continue her study in the art of Middle Eastern dance. She has trained widely with internationally acclaimed teachers from Australia, USA, Egypt, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia and Spain.Tara is known for her style that blends modern and golden-era stylisation, and is an acclaimed costume designer.
Entwined Belly Dance
Laura Entwined aka Entwined Bellydance is a Queensland-born, Melbourne-based traditional, transnational and fusion bellydance teacher, performer, choreographer and troupe director. Laura has been studying the art of bellydance for more than 15 years, with more than 40 teachers world-wide, and has been teaching successful weekly classes in Melbourne since 2013. Performing since 2006, Laura has graced the stages of some of Australia’s biggest music and lifestyle festivals, and also performed in NZ, Indonesia and the USA.
Laura has been also practising yoga for 20years as a wellbeing, health and cross-training tool for dance, and recently became a certified yoga teacher to bring the gifts of the practice to a wider audience. Laura is passionate about sharing the art and techniques of bellydance and yoga through classes, workshops, performances and much more!
Michelle Simpson
Michelle has been loving Bellydance for more than 20 years. She especially loves the pure joy dance brings, when performing herself or watching others dance. Living in Gippsland, Michelle travels to Melbourne and interstate whenever she can to attend workshops, classes and performances. With two little dancers of her own, Michelle also relishes her role in supporting our next generation of dancers. Michelle is very excited to perform as part of Winter Dreams, and just loves being part of this amazing dance community.
Janna
Janna is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award winning belly dance performer, teacher and choreographer from Australia. Perhaps most notably, Janna was hand picked by Egyptian superstar Dina to represent Australia in the reality television style bellydance competition “Al Rakessah” for the Al Kahera Wal Nas television network in Egypt in 2014. Janna has since founded “Bellydance Brisbane” and the sellout annual event “The Essential Brisbane Bellydance Weekender”, and propelled her presence on the Australian festival circuit. Being immersed in the dance from a very young age, 2020 marks Janna’s 25th year of bellydance, and a career that has spanned over two decades across the Middle East, Europe, and Australia.