Alexia
Alexia (Kim Leary) is a belly dance performer, choreographer and instructor in Central New Jersey.  Kim's dance accomplishments include teaching both credit and non-credit dance classes at universities and community colleges.  She is artistic director of Groove Merchant Drum & Dance Ensemble and of her school Alexia's Belly Dance & Beyond/The Drum & Dance Learning Center in the Princeton area.  She has performed at a number of prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center, The Ohio Theatre (SOHO), CAMI Hall (NYC), DanceSpace (NYC), FIT (NYC), The Evolving Arts Theatre (NYC),  The Black Box Theatre (NJ) as well as many colleges, universities and festivals as a soloist and with her own dance company, SaZ Dance Theatre, Jamila Salimpour's Bal Anat and, Dalia Carella's DNA Project.

Email:  alexia@alexiadance.com      Web: www.drumdancecenter.com     

Ashye
Ashye is a New York dance artist, choreographer and designer. Ayshe blends her Greek and American heritage to create an exotic and unusual dance style. She has trained extensively in classical ballet, modern dance, yoga, and numerous ethnic dance forms, particularly Middle Eastern dance, ancient pharaonic dance, and Indian dance. She holds a B.A. from Hunter College in Human Movement, Archaeology, and Middle Eastern Studies. Ayshe's performing and teaching dance genres include: Turkish and Egyptian style bellydance, Indian dance, ancient Egyptian pharaonic dance, and fusion/ fantasy bellydance. Currently, Ayshe has been working on creative performance projects and workshops with Venus Uprising  and has been performing in dance and fitness dvd's for World Dance New York .  This past winter she taught and performed in Trieste , Italy ,  and "Spirit of the Tribes" .  In May she was honored to perform for Cirque du Soleil's premiere party for the show Kooza.  Since the early 90's, Ayshe has been designing "Wings of Isis", a spectacular dance prop that transforms a dancer into a vision of a winged goddess. Ayshe is responsible for the initiation of " Isis wings" as a specialty for bellydance performances.  Her instructional dvd,  WINGS: THE COMPLETE TECHNIQUE, is the only one of its kind, fully describing and teaching, step by step, the movement vocabulary Ayshe has created for dancing with wings.  Ayshe designs wings for dancers worldwide, including BELLY DANCE SUPERSTARS.  Ayshe continues to experiment with wings, using them with many styles of music and movement.

Email: ayshedancer@gmail.com      Web: www.wingsofayshe     
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


Heather Stants
Heather is a lifelong artist and dancer with a degree in photography and fine arts. Her career in tribal fusion dance began over thirteen years ago when she became the assistant director of Read My Hips (www.readmyhips.com) in Chicago, Illinois. In 1999 Heather moved to San Diego, California and launched the southern California tribal movement through her classes and the formation of Urban Tribal Dance Company.  Heather's diverse movement and arts background plus her yoga practice feeds her creativity and her groundbreaking approach to choreography. Urban Tribal Dance Company is known for it's contemporary approach to belly dance, a pared down costume emphasizing body movements over ornamentation, athleticism and the use of the dance form as a means of personal expression and interpretation. Their creativity has twice earned them the title of "Troupe of the Year" in Zaghareet! Magazine's Golden Belly Awards. In addition to teaching several weekly classes in San Diego since 1999, Heather Stants and Urban Tribal Dance Company tour extensively sharing their love of modern tribal fusion dance with dancers in the U.S. and abroad. Urban Tribal Dance Company can be seen in dvd releases produced by The Bellydance Superstars and Hollywood Music. Read more about Heather and Urban Tribal on their site: www.urbantribaldance.com

Email: info@urbantribaldance.com      Web: www.UrbanTribalDance.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 

Mimi
A life-long dancer, athlete and musician, Mimi has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe .  Upon her introduction to belly dancing, Mimi quickly established herself as an emerging artist, serving as a principal dancer for Serena and Maqamikaze dance companies. She was also a founding member of Alchemy Dance Theater, and co-founded Vadalna tribal dance company. After over a decade of performing and studying various Middle-Eastern influenced dance formats, Mimi found her home in American Tribal Style (ATS) Belly Dance.  In 2006, she founded Manhattan Tribal, New York City ’s first ATS dance company.  Studying with Carolena Nerricio, creator of ATS and Director of Fat Chance Belly Dance (FCBD) in San Francisco , Mimi received multiple certifications in the FCBD format, and was granted Sister Studio status in 2008.  Sister Studio is the distinction that FCBD awards to select teachers around the world that have demonstrated they are striving to provide the same quality instruction one would receive at the San Francisco home studio. In addition to regularly teaching multiple ATS classes in NYC, and the workshops she conducts nationally and overseas, Mimi is an AFAA group fitness instructor and Fitness Coach, inspiring and educating people on their personal fitness and nutrition. While preserving ATS belly dance in its true form, Mimi and Manhattan Tribal add their own brand of NYC flavor, infusing their performances with high energy and exciting combinations that have become their signature style.  

Email: manhattantribal@gmail.com      Web: www.MimiFontana.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


Tempest
Now based in Rohde Island, Tempest pulls from her visual arts background (BFA from RISD), literary tendencies, and global inspirations to create dance that crosses the boundaries of time and culture. Tempest began her journey into dance in 2000, and has traveled the country to study traditional, folkloric, and fusion forms of bellydance. She is the premiere instructor of Gothic Bellydance in North America , and her extensive work in the genre has helped to define and develop the movement across the world. Her compelling performances exemplify her distinctively theatrical and expressionate style, and are rooted in oriental dance technique with a transcendent approach. Her costume designs have revolutionized the look of modern bellydance, and continue to inspire new and old generations of dancers alike.

Email: tempest@meddevi.com      Web: www.darklydramatic.com    

Rakkasah
email: rakkasah@att.net