Workshop and teacher descriptions:

Maya Gaorry

Techniques and Choreography of Fingers Cymbals

This is a workshop where you will learn to play with Zills and use them during you are dancing. This is the time where you prove your coordination. Playing music, dancing and having fun!

*Please bring finger cymbals

Maya Gaorry is a star dancer and a teacher of middle-eastern dance at an international level. Maya has enchanted audiences and students around the world with her elegant interpretation stile of Middle East Dance. She has been running workshops in many Italian cities, as well as in Slovenia, Lebanon (2° Amani Oriental Dance Festival - 2006), Canada, Japan, Spain, Holland, Russia, USA, Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden, Cyprus and Portugal. Maya had performed in Egypt, England, Austria (Bauchtanzfestival) and Greece. Here, she shot her first teaching video, which is one of the most popular in Italy in his genre. Maya has her own style creation "Sambalady", mix of Brazilian samba and oriental percussion, a big success all over the globe.

Maya Gaorry's incredible style is primarily Egyptian further characterized by particularly smooth hip movements perhaps thanks to her Brazilian origins.  

She has a degree in psychology and has been devoting herself to the study and practice of oriental dance for many years. She has attended a number of training courses: Transpersonal Psychology, Biopsychology, Cultural Mediation and experienced working with belly dance in the field of mental health. She was guest dancer during the Belly Dance Superstar’s show in Milan.

www.mayagaorry.com

Silvia Salamaca

Tribal Belly Dance meets Flamenco

A gypsy Spanish twist to tribal movements and combinations. Combine the precision and sharpness of tribal with the fire of flamenco expression and you get a series of exciting steps, combinations and tribal-flamenco formations to take home and leave everybody speechless! Emphasis will be put on posture, arms and spins, and special work will be carried on hand movements.

Silvia Salamanca is a life-long dancer from Mallorca, Spain. She graduated at the age of nineteen as a major in ballet and performed professionally as a modern dancer in major Europe festivals with the contemporary dance company of the University of Barcelona.

Silvia is also the codirector of Shunyata Belly Dance, the tribal-style company that captivates audiences at the Texas Renaissance Festival and has recently launched its first DVD. Silvia's activities are based in Houston, and there you can find her performing regularly in a variety of venues, as a soloist, or as member of her beloved troupes Urban Gypsy and Sisters of avalon.
Nevertheless, Silvia's true passion is in teaching, and she is honored to hold classes (both Egyptian style and tribal style) in her own studio in Houston and be a member of the teaching staff at the acclaimed Danmar dance studio in Katy, TX as well as Zahirah Noor dance studio.

www.silviasalamanca.com

Pablo Acosta

Oriental Presentation of Pablo Acosta's fabulous dancing style

You forget to breath at his workshop....join him to experiance WHY. All dancers level may join this master class. Everybody will learn something what will remember for ever.

Pablo Acosta - Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer, International Jury Examiner in Arab Dance, Flamenco, Argentine and International Folklore.
He studied with great teachers and trained at the Instituto Superior del Arte del Teatro Colon.
In Tucumán, he directs the Cultural Center "La Union" where more than 200 young people from all ages study and where great artists came out today in national competition, Pan American and World.
Jury CIAD Circuit Competitions, and PRE-PRE-Baradero Cosquin.
Congress passed lectured at seminars and providing their Shows in La Rioja, Catamarca, Cordoba, Santa Fe, San Juan, Jujuy, Neuquén, Tucumán, Misiones, Entre Rios, Santiago del Estero, San Luis, Mendoza, Chaco, Corrientes and Salta (Argentina ), Montevideo, Punta del Este and Maldonado (Uruguay), Asuncion and San Bernardino (Paraguay), Santiago de Chile and Viñas del Mar (Chile), La Paz (Bolivia), Sao Paulo and Bauru (Brazil), Quito and Guayaquil (Ecuador), Distrito Federal, Puebla, Merida, Campeche, Can Cun, Morelia, Veracruz, Atizapan de Zaragoza, Estado de Mexico (Mexico), among others ...
He received numerous awards among the largest 19 gold medals legitimate as Best Performer and Dancer, 11 Awards Revelations, 8 statuettes for Best Choreographer and 11 Master.
Established by the American Federation of Professionals of the World Dance and Art Exchange (WAEO) National Prize "The Best of Argentina" 2002 and 2003 as Best Dancer of Argentina at youth level and Professionals.
Organizes Mega Dancing, the Contest of the Argentine Northwest with the highest number of participants and the highest level of competition in the country. we have achieved in each of the editions a high level of participation of dancers from Argentina and neighboring countries.
He was appointed Cultural Ambassador Argentina International Society of Letters, Arts and Sciences (Salaca).
Awarded by the Latin American Council on Education Quality Honor Award for Excellence in Education ".
Also received the prize for the Mexican Society of Choreographers (SOMECA Vistars) A revelation to the remarkable trajectory, given by CIAD and CID.-UNESCO.
Prize "The Best of The Northwest" by artist of international renown.
Title "Champion of Champions" in the Grand Final CIAD.
Danzamerica Prize: Trip to Egypt 2010.
He is currently preparing to tour Europe, Africa and Mexico with his Ballet for the Feast of the anniversary, 10 years of uninterrupted activity.
He is Chairman of the Association of Professional Dance Tucumana (ATPD), Active Member of the Ibero-American Council in Honor of Educational Quality and Member of the International Dance Council CID. – UNESCO

Abir & Magdy Youns

Malaya Pop

Real Cairo style! One of the favorit  choreography of the famous star choreograhers Abir and Magdy Youns.  It’s a very playful and well danceable choreography. The Malaya is set cheekily with lots of play, flirt and Egyptian lifestyle. With lots of mesmerizing moves enchanting any audience. The motto here is to move and give yourself away like a spoiled girl from “Old Cairo”, who with her Malaya turns men’s heads and thinks it’s nothing.

Sweat and fun are guaranteed.

Shaabi

is the name of a style of living, a style of dance, and a style of music. The word is Egyptian Arabic refers to the poorer, commoner sections of the city. The style is somewhat rougher and more playful than the rest of Egyptian pop music. Meanwhile, in working-class neighborhoods, a brash new sound called sha'abi, which means "of the people" bloomed into view. Sha'abi has old, rural origins, but also refers to a modern urban musical style, often using western and electric instruments. Sha'abi musicians popularized short song forms and lyrics dealing with everyday social themes, paralleling the development of "working class" politics.

Abir & Magdy Youns is a sympathetic pair of genuine Egyptian dancers.

Abir has Egyptians parents and grow up in Germany. She has been dancing since her childhood. She went to many studying trips and learn with  international teachers in Egypt. This has made her an expert on Oriental Dancing.

Magdy completed his study of Egyptian Dancing and Ballet at the Academy of Arts in Cairo.

The two sought and found one another and have since been teaching very successfully throughout Germany and rest of Europe. They are notably able to choreograph and teach with flair the refreshingly new style from Cairo. Cheeky, flirtatious, gestures mingle with unusual combination of steps.

Their workshops are always unique and are said in the oriental dance scene to be tiptop.

As experienced dance teachers, Abir and Magdy are teaching with classical structure, humor and affectionate discipline.

An inspiration for every dancer!

www.egyptianartists.de

Artemis

The mystic snake movements of the Oriental Dance

Sensually and softy, smoothly and gracefully, mysteriously and fluorescent the snake appears to us. We deepen or learn the amusing, infinite eight movements with which the snake writhes and holds straight. Let us understand the mysticism originating from it in our body and enrich with it our dancing expression. Teaching contents: Backgrounds about the mythological aspect of the snake. Short dance and movement estate cars, refines in scene sedately, the playful free space for own improvisations leave. Nice ground dance elements are also given. Level: from beginners with good grounding It a detailed script about the historical background as well as about the dancing contents of the Workshop will give.

Artemis – a charismatic dancer at highest stage. While living several years in Greece, Artemis discovered her affection to the Oriental Dance and folklore. Back in Germany and inspired by cultural experiences she started studying the Egypt style of bellydance. Shortly after she started teaching at a well-known bellydance studio at Stuttgart. Many engagements and performances at Serbia, Switzerland, Egypt/Kairo and Austria as well, paved her way as a dancer, fascinating the audience with her temperamental, sensual and elegant style of dancing. She developed her own, distinctive style of dance being a composition of talent, effort and energy. Artemis organizes the „Oriental Dance Festival Stuttgart Global“, proceeded 2009 for the first time, and being repeated once a year in March.

“My favorite styles are the Classical Egyptian Style, Raks Sharky and Baladi,”

www.artemis-events.de

Paola Blanton

The Four Elements in Dance

A journey through the Four Elements, guided with imagery and technique from Isadora Duncan, blended with vocabulary from Oriental Dance in a Phyisical Theater format.  Exploring space, levels, shapes, and partnering/group work. Duncan dance provides beautiful ways to frame and finish all styles of bellydance, since its principles are rooted in Universal movement concepts such as geometry, solar plexus, and breath work.

WATER MOVEMENT - emphasizes lyrical flow and continuity of movement, with lovely sequences for torso and arms and sinuous shapes in space.

EARTH MOVEMENT - emphasizes earthy rootedness, spirited footwork and floor patterns.  Learn to dance with the force of Gravity and not against it.

AIR MOVEMENT - is the movement of freedom and joy - solar plexus and breathwork give us the keys to lifted, ethereal beauty of line, especially in the arms and upper body.  

FIRE MOVEMENT - feeds the passion of the soul through the fiery, outgoing motions of the body - hips and attitude, dramatic turns and gestures.

Paola Blanton - a dance artist and movement coach has been dancing her whole life, rooted in the traditions of Balkan dance, with extensive work in Middle Eastern and Lyrical Dance via Isadora Duncan.  She teaches her art at her own studio and travels regularly to present her ideas and research at international festivals. She began her professional dancing career in Brazil, where she lived for eight years while teaching Humanities at Escola Graduada de São Paulo.  She has performed in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.  A native of Macedonia, her life path took her first to the U.S., where she earned two University degrees, then Brazil, Asia, and back to Brazil, her permanent home.  Paola continues to travel and teach at world festivals, seminars, and workshops. As a Duncan dancer, Paola brings in the liftedness and nobility of form that Isadora Duncan was famous for - elegant lines mix with conscious expression and geometric body aesthetics.

www.paolablanton.com

Dear dancers,

Your workshop booking is for a good cause.

Visiting the workshops will not give only you a benefit.

The 10% of every booked workshop will be donated to the Saartjie Baartman Centre

for (abused) Women and Children in Athlone, Cape Town.

Thank you for your assistance and the community support!