Instructors
Olivia Kissel of Zafira:
Raised the daughter of a Slovak Steel Worker and a German Go-Go dancer deep in the Rust Belt of Western Pennsylvania, Olivia Kissel’s love of bizarre music and dance began at a tender age. Intrigued by the world-renowned Binewski’s Fabulon, Olivia turned her talents to the circus arts early on. At first, she performed wildly exotic Senegalese and Guinean ritual dances. Then she was seduced by the sultry art of Tribal Belly Dance, where she found a band of exotic and passionate dancers who would later become known as Zafira Dance Company. Together they drew standing room only crowds in performance after performance across the nation. With a powerful gypsy flare, Olivia incorporated fire into her dance, mimicking the curve and heat of the flame in her every movement.
Olivia has traveled tirelessly to study, teach and perform her art all over the world, from intimate settings to theater performances, from elegant hotels to sticky bars, from beaches to raves. One of her favorite trips took her to Morocco, where she danced in the markets in Marrakech, Fez and Essouira with street musicians and Henna girls, and drank Quilmes until dawn.
Olivia continues to astound audiences with Zafira Dance Company and in solo performances. Known for a fiery passion and her smooth technique, Olivia milks every note of the music. Her mesmerizing style brings emotion and elegance to every turn. Olivia’s saucy and sultry style will make you laugh… it will make you cry… it will make you pee your pants with glee.
Onca O’Leary of The Mezmer Society:
Bandit Queen: A director, event producer, and career entertainer, Onça's touring project is The Mezmer Society, a collaboration with accordionist August Hoerr. Together, they present a delicious mélange of Eastern European music, powerful bellydance technique, and sultry oddments. The Mezmer Society have been featured instructors at TribalCon in Atlanta, TribalFest in California, Tribal Revolution in Chicago, Elevation in Colorado, and many other events.
Director of Baraka Mundi Live Music & Dance Ensemble since 1999, Onça has long been known for her evocative stage presence. Baraka Mundi pioneered tribal bellydance in the Carolinas and was nominated for 'Best Kept Secret'. She was the first in the world to be Certified in General Skills by Carolena Nericcio, founder of American Tribal Bellydance. Her annual dance camp, TribOriginal, was nominated in 2008 as 'Best Event' in the national Golden Belly Awards. She is also an internationally published author and illustrator under her given name, Lauren O'Leary. For more info on Onça, visit www.barakamundi.com & TribOriginal: Tribal Dance, Music & Culture Camp at www.triboriginal.org.
Elizabeth Ostteen of Tribe Marrakech:
Elizabeth Ostteen teaches and performs nationally as Tribe Marrakech and also as a solo tribal fusion artist. As the founder and director of Tribe Marrakech, she has been teaching and performing professionally since 2002. Tribe Marrakech has morphed through the years and has encompassed Elizabeth's solo dancing, duets with Chris Chambers, and up to 20 dancers. It has included drummers, musicians, and members of her student troupe. During her years in Colorado, Elizabeth consistently taught up to 8 belly dance classes a week at her studios/stores Paprika & Marrakech and directed her student troupe, Tribe Marrakech Express.
In April 2010, Tribe Marrakech hosts Elevation in Golden, CO, an event which has been bringing tribal style teachers and performers to Colorado since 2003. Elizabeth is currently living in Florida.
Elizabeth’s credo is built upon the belief that hard work is worth it, inspiration and guidance always come through, and that finding the joy of the dance is the most important part.
It is a joy to learn, grow, and create in dance, and a blessing to share that experience with others.
August Hoerr, Accordionist, The Mezmer Society:
August taught himself to play accordion as angsty teenager, and after discovering Middle Eastern music, began working with Tribal dancers in 1999. In addition to The Mezmer Society, August is a member of the quartet Ashes in Order, and maintains a career as an internationally represented figurative painter. He is the president of the Institute for the Advancement of Occultism and Aerophonics (previously Asheville Accordion Club), and he has released albums with the cinematic trio Soora Gameela, and Greek fusion band Makari. August lives in Asheville, North Carolina and is currently working on his first solo album.
David Machek
Darbuka Dave Machek has been studying the goblet drum for 9 years. He began as a hobbyist in the Society for Creative Anachronism, but quickly sought out instruction from some of the best teachers in the country, including Kevin "Nevik" Hartnell, and Issam Houshan.
He has gone on to teach workshops across the Southeast, as well as weekly classes for beginners and advanced students in his home town of Huntsville Alabama. He can be seen performing solo or with Lumani, and recently consulted on Artemis Mourat's "Zill Speak" cd.
Dave is considered to be an excellent instructor and performer by his contemporaries, known for his technical precision and emotional expression.
Johanna 'Xenobia' Krynytzky
Belly dance artist, entertainer, fire performer, percussionist, and massage therapist, Johanna fell in love with belly dance upon her first visit to Istanbul in 1996, while a student at the University of Chicago, and has been pursing it with a passion ever since. In 2000 she moved to Florida to pursue belly dance full time, connecting with the dance community of the Tampa Bay Area. Currently she directs Loud Zoo, an improvisational music and Tribal dance ensemble (since 2000), Hip Expressions Dance Studio (since 2004 with Co-Director Karen), plays in several music projects including A Muse and A Maze fusing Native American flute music with Middle Eastern percussion, and the Sunset Hookah Lounge Band playing traditional Arabic and Turkish music. Johanna added fire to her dance in 2004, creating the first Fire Belly Dance Instructional DVD, produced by notorious fire artist Fire By Riz. Her latest DVD 'Basic Belly Dance Drills' is new just this year.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, Johanna survived several surgeries and chemotherapy treatments, and now finds a deeper respect for the art of dance, as an expression of life. She finds that nothing compares to the art of dance where the moment is truly experienced by the dancer and observer. She thanks the belly dance community nation-wide that helped support her through her treatments.
Karen Sun Ray
Karen has an extensive background in folk dances of Europe, Asia, the Americas and Polynesia and has studied and performed Middle Eastern Dance since 1976. She has eight years of experience as a performance director for folk dance groups. She has performed with Gainesville, Florida's internationally known professional ballet company, DanceAlive!, and has choreographed folk dance pieces for their production of Dracula. She is a member of the Sahnobar Dance Ensemble who has performed at Disney's EPCOT, Universal Studios, St. Petersburg's Florida International Museum openings of "Splendors of Ancient Egypt" and "Alexander the Great" to name a few. She has had the privelege of performing interpretive dance with world beat bands such as the Exotic Music Ensemble (Gainesville, Florida) and Loud Zoo (St. Petersburg, Florida). In 1998, she toured the country with a Polynesian performing group based in Orlando. Her teaching career began at an early age along side her mother and continues until today.
In 2004 began working with Johanna ‘Xenobia’ and together they formed Hip Expressions, opening their dance studio in 2008. She can be seen on tons of instructional videos across the web, and in their first instructional DVD just released this year.
Jan 22 - 24, 2010
St Pete Beach,
Florida
727-459-8558
sales at hip-expressions dot com
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