Rakkasah - Middle Eastern Folk Festival and Fantasy Bazaar

Ariellah
Ariellah performs and teaches belly dance all over the world. She has an extensive 12 year dance background that includes strict classical ballet training with the Royal Academy of Dance from London . She has studied and performed belly dance for the past seven years with Janine Ryle of Danse Mahgreb and as a founding member of The Indigo with Rachel Brice. Her style infuses many genres of belly dance, all with a modern dark flavour that is uniquely her own. She is featured on the first of its kind "Gothic BellyDance" DVD and has also released her first instructional DVD.

Email: info@ariellah.com Web: www.ariellah.com

Asharah
Asharah is best known for her dramatic fusion of tribal and cabaret styles, but also has extensive experience in Turkish, Egyptian, and American bellydance. She is currently a faculty member of two of Washington DC's finest dance studios: Saffron Dance and Joy of Motion Dance Center. She recently released her first instructional DVD, Modern Tribal Bellydance with Asharah and is featured on the groundbreaking DVD Gothic Bellydance: The Darker Side of Fusion, both produced by World Dance New York . As a student of Middle Eastern history, she believes that every belly dancer must know the history and culture of this dance, whether she is performing it in its traditional forms or fusing it with others.
Email: Asharah@asharah.com Web: www.asharah.com

Carmine T. Guida
New York City-based mulitinstrumentalist Carmine T. Guida is a familiar face at Middle Eastern dance and music events throughout the country. A dancers' musician, Carmine is appreciated as an enthusiastic, adaptable, and creative accompanist on both doumbek and oud; he plays weekly for belly dancers with several New York City ensembles.

Email: carmine@carmine.com Web: www.Carmine.com Phone: 212-725-9635

Daila Carella
Dalia Carella, is a world-renowned Middle Eastern Contemporary Dancer, Choreographer, Instructress and Global Fusion Artist. Her dances are both traditional and contemporary with a spiritual essence behind each and every movement that she creates. Blending mudras and movements from India, China, Japan, North Africa, and Egypt, her choreographies represent movement rituals from the ancient to the avant-garde.

Email: dalia@daliacarella.com Web: www.DaliaCarella.com

JeniViva

Although she has studied and performed various genres of dance, JeniViva felt most “at home” with the genre of Bellydance. She states “there is nothing more natural, more organically based than the sensuous and earthy movements in Bellydance. Its as if the movements were always a part of me, of every woman…our birthright, and all we ever had to do was remember.” JeniViva has the distinct pleasure of being one of the pioneers of a new genre of dance: Gothic Bellydance. This genre blends the old with the new, adding a dark twist of Gothic elements to classic genres of Bellydance. The fruits of JeniViva’s efforts can be seen in numerous Gothic subculture magazines and websites. She also has been featured on the first ever Gothic Bellydance Dvd by World Dance New York and recently performed in and appeared on the cover of the Gothic Bellydance 2: Revelations Dvd. Gothic Bellydance is a voyage into uncharted territory, a journey within the realm of an alternative aesthetic. Gothic Bellydance is an highly expressive emotional dance form and it is a movement that is sweeping the entire globe.

Email: mysticalhips@gmail.com Web: www.mysticalhips.com

Sarah Johansson Locke

Performer, choreographer, and teacher whose work is inspired by her experience with several forms of ethnic and contemporary dance, theater, yoga, and somatic modalities, as well as her training and interest in cultural studies, international folk art traditions, and the visual arts. Throughout her career, she has been involved with projects ranging from site-specific installations and street theater to international arts festivals and large theater productions, both across the U.S. and in Europe . Sarah began her study of tribal bellydance in 1994 and was a member of the renowned Gypsy Caravan dance company for several years before returning to NYC (where she grew up) to develop her own style of tribal fusion as an alchemy of her wide ranging theater, dance, and movement experience. As the Artistic Director of Alchemy Performance, Sarah has been at the forefront of establishing and cultivating the New York Tribal/Fusion scene since 2001. She directs two companies, Alchemy Dance Theater and the Alchemy Tribal Collective; teaches dance, yoga, and anatomy; curates the HYBRID performance series; and performs regularly throughout NYC and across the country.

Email: sarah@alchemyperformance.com Web: www.alchemyperformance.com Phone: 323-931-6781

Sera
Sera is a performer/choreographer/instructor of Bellydance from NYC who teaches and performs internationally. The director of two dance troupes, Solstice, and the Solstice Project, Sera has created a best-selling bellydance video: East Coast Tribal, produced by World Dance New York: Presenting bellydance as funky, fierce, and fresh, arising from music/dance influences of the East Coast (which may or may not coincide with what is happening out west). Sera works in collaboration with musicians of Freek Factory, a collective of cutting edge artists who fuel her choreographies. Sera is a core-collaborator and performer with the live band, The Rhythm Shamans, where she uses dance as a form of communication and empowerment. In 2005, she was invited to India to teach dance as a means of healing to young women who had been rescued from sexual abuse. This experience opened Sera to further discovery of dance as a medium for communication. Sera's primary interest is in creating substantive choreography set to current, intelligent electronic music. Sera is a former core member of 3 nationally respected Troupes: Bellyqueen, Raqs Sahara, and The Silk Road Dance Company.
Email: Sera@seradance.com Web: www.seradance.com

Sharon Kihara

A seasoned performer, inspirational teacher and exotic personality, Sharon Kihara is known the world over for her avante garde and slightly eccentric artistry, as well as for her skillful, graceful and powerful technique. She comes from a strong background in western dance, beginning with Ballet as a wee tike and continuing to perform with college Modern and Jazz dance companies throughout the nineties. But her true love came in the form of Bellydance, first witnessed by Sharon as a child in it’s Cabaret form, then as Tribal Style in the mid nineties, and, as her mind had been blown beyond all hope for repair, she decided to pursue this art form with full enthusiasm…it wasn’t even a choice at this point. Since then, Sharon has joined the Bellydance Superstars, beginning in early 2004, and has been touring internationally full-time ever since. She has taught and performed in over 30 countries to date with many more on the horizon, has shared stages with acts such as Missy Elliot, the Black Eyed Peas, and co-headlined with the BDSS on the main stage at the prestigious Glastonbury festival, alongside the White Stripes and Coldplay. She has appeared on television and been featured in radio and media in countless countries, as well as several BDSS DVDs, including her very own Tribal Fusion instructional DVD.

Email: sharonkihara@gmail.com Web: www.sharonkihara.com

Suhaila Salimpour
Suhaila Salimpour is the world's most sought-after performer, teacher, and choreographer of belly dance. A second-generation belly dancer, Suhaila has developed a format combining her heritage with classical dance training. After being the first Belly Dancer featured by Arab American Television, Suhaila toured the Middle East and Europe. She returned to the US to open her school - offering the first Certification program available in Belly Dance. Suhaila Productions creates instructional and performance DVDs for all dance levels, CDs for percussion artists and printed dance manuals. Suhaila has orchestrated Middle Eastern dance musicals and is director of both the Suhaila Dance Company and Bal Anat.

Email: suhaila@therealsuhaila.com Web: www.TheRealSuhaila.com Phone: 510-527-2400