Uniting the classical dances of the middle east with the avant garde, the atmosphere of sacred indulgence has drawn capacity crowds eager to immerse them selves in the shadows of the silk road.
Enjoy live music, hypnotic dance performances and intimate bohemian atmosphere amidst the hanging lanterns of the lavish Fez Ballroom, as a sisterhood of dancers a the vanguard of a new movement lead the way through a dream orient.
A Los Angeles native, Sonia has become one of the most sought after dance instructors/performers today. At the age of 19, she commenced dance training while studying at her local city college. With a strong foundation in Classical Ballet, she has become well versed in a host of dance styles, equipping her with an extensive versatility, while influencing the development of her own unique style. Of Mexican descendancy, she looked to further discover her roots through music and dance by joining Los Angeles based, Ballet Folklórico del Pacífico. Her love and curiosity for cultural dance led her to tour with companies of various genres, featuring her as a featured dancer and contributing choreographer, most notably with the Bellydance Superstars, which put her on the map as a major exponent in Middle-Eastern dance. Sonia currently performs and teaches internationally, while continuing her dance research and education.
Sonia will also be offering an amazing workshop in Indian Classical Dance:
Hands of the Goddess: The Dance of Durga workshop in Portland, Oregon
you can view all of the info about the workshop here:
The as you knew it Gypsy Caravan Dance Company took a partial sabbatical for the year of 2011, With members doing other solo and troupe projects!
But wait! Paulette has geared up and hit the road again to Take Tribal Global!
She has been touring and teaching again, since Fall of 2011, and has vamped up the new Gypsy Caravan Dance Company, International! with new members Cinzia Di Cioccio, from Italy, Nina Martinez, from Australia, Amanda Richardson from Wisconsin, Hilary Giovale from Ariazona, and past Gypsy dancers Carol Vance, Gina Lee, and Karen Hunt, from Portland, Oregon. They are back with a new take on Tribal! Performing around the globe, they look forward to bringing you a combination of tried and true old school tribal, with Paulette’s wild and fun jazzy influences. With 4 new Tribal Technique DVDs out to inspire and challenge you, Paulette is on fire!
NagaSita is a Tribal Nouveau bellydancer based in Portland Oregon. Her youth in Hawaii performing with the Hula Halau gave her the perfect foundation for Tribal Bellydance, which she began practicing just after moving to Portland and simultaneously dedicating herself to Trika yoga at the Rudrananda Ashram. Now with more than 10 years of studies in yoga and bellydance, a certified level 1 Rachel Brice 8 Elements Initiate and Hatha Yoga instructor, she has become an ardently sought after teacher in the Pacific NW region. With her performance roots in the Serpentine lineage and her growing notoriety as a director and performer in the dark theatre troupe Bogville, family member of the Wanderlust Circus, founder and artistic director of the Tribal-Nouveau dance troupe APSARA and producer of the world renowned Eastern Nouveau dance showcase Salon L’Orient, NagaSita has emerged as a force of nature in the Bohemian underground. Check out her epic new co-produced vaudeville stage production The Mata Hari Hustle with Karolina Lux of Bellydance Soulfire and members of the Wanderlust Circus set to hit the road for their very first west coast tour this spring of 2012 which will be debuted at the Tribal Fest afterparty!
Sedona has been a natural performer all of her life. Since her first ballet performance at age 4, she has been gracing audiences with her dynamic and dramatic presence. Her passion for performance has been supplemented by years of intensive dance and theatre training.
She is a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the first and most elite acting academy in America. She has also attended Deidre Hawkins School of Dance and has apprenticed for the Koa Blue Dance Company in Maui, Hawaii.
Sedona has always connected with movement as a form of spiritual practice. In 1999 she began to practice Yoga and in 2002 became a certified and accredited Hatha Yoga instructor. Through dance and Yoga she has become committed to her own growth and expansion and has learned to always embrace change.
Her monumental discovery of Middle Eastern dance has helped rejuvenate and inspire her dancing spirit. Her heart and soul feel deeply connected to this ancient and sacred art, it has given her the perfect outlet to express her innermost self and her creative vision.
Sedona has just returned to Portland from a 3 month retreat at the Shakti School of Dance in Rajastan INDIA, and she will be performing her very first Indian Classical Dance piece in America at Salon L’Orient “Rites of Spring”.
Karolina is a professional belly dancer from the San Francisco Bay Area, currently residing in Portland, Oregon. She is a versatile artist, performing with a variety of traditional, theatrical, and fusion groups, such as Belly Dance Soul Fire, Sinn Savvy Burlesque, and representing belly dance in contexts as diverse as Moroccan restaurants, grand theaters, to vaudeville tours, and burlesque revues. Karolina has over eight years of experience performing, choreographing, competing in, and teaching many styles of belly dance on DVDs and in festivals, tours, and schools across the country. She has studied with some of the greatest classic dancers, and also is excited to push belly dance to new experimental realms in her ongoing exploration of tribal belly dance and fusion performances. Karolina has danced (and sang and played along with her trumpet) to music ranging from traditional Middle Eastern music, Mediterranean groove, to hip-hop, jazz, and blues. Karolina is available for hire as a Middle Eastern belly dancer, tribal fusion belly dancer, or vaudeville Belly-esque fusion belly dancer.
You can catch her on the road with The Mata Hari Hustle this spring 2012
Koreen started her journey of bellydance in Arcata CA, of 2001. Her first teacher and inspiration was Denise Blase (formerly of Fat Chance Belly Dance and Urban Tribal). She then discovered the unique and unpressed style of Jaya Krupp where she danced with the troupe Astarte. Koreen then moved up the Redwood Coast to Crescent City where she studied and taught as well as founded the troupe Tribal Waters. Koreen has had many different teachers from many different styles ranging from Mira Betz, Amy Sigil, Kami Liddle, Ruby, Jim Boz, Tempest, Marjhani, Aubre HIll the list goes on… and there is still so much more she is awaiting to discover and learn. Koreen has now gypsied to Portland where she is currently dancing with APSARA and Gypsy Roots!
KATY SWENSON
(of APSARA)
Hailing from the lush Capital of Oregon, the best you might be able to do in describing Katy
Swenson’s dance style is to call it, “Eclectic Fusion Belly Dance.”
From the beginning of her dance career, Katy has been focused on finding her own personal and
ever-evolving belly dance style in both movement and aesthetics. After dabbling in
numerous forms of
fusion, American Tribal Style, and various traditional styles of Belly Dance, she couldn’t choose just
one when the defining moment came for her to proclaim her method. Known for her intriguing stage
presence, borderline-contortionistic movement and luscious belly work, the blanket term, Eclectic
Fusion Belly Dance would have to suffice.
From the hills of Portland, Oregon, to the streets of Santa Cruz, California and tucked-away
places in between, Katy has danced in a colorful array of public and private events, performing as an
improvisational soloist, and as a core member in the troupe Apsara, directed by Nagasita. Katy is ever-
grateful to share her art with audiences and students, and to continue learning from others in order to
add to her continually expanding magpie-like collection of shiny dance bits and pieces.
APSARA are a Tribal-Nouveau dance troupe based in Portland Oregon. Core members include: NagaSita, Koreen and Katy. Fringe troupe members are Ursula, Susie Q, Tabra, Sushila, Anneke, and Amy. Together, these muses embrace the sacred in dance to delight and inspire audiences through an opulent display of ritual theatre. Apsara’s of ancient lore are the enchantresses of the celestial court ~ born from the sea to dance in the heavens. Beguiling shapeshifters who are always dancing to their hearts content. Holding true to the Tribal vision, APSARA promotes the feminine bellydance community in its purest form as a sisterhood and sustainable artform.
APSARA have had the honour of performing with DAVID STARFIRE at the FILLMORE SF, opened for The Indigo’s LE SERPENT ROUGE, and danced with world renowned musicians STELLAMARA, they are the house troupe for Portland’s legendary Eastern Nouveau showcase SALON L’ORIENT while also frequenting many tribal bellydance events in the Pacific NW region.
APSARA’S full troupe of all 9 women will be performing an epic new dance unlike anything anyone has ever seen before….
Swingtime, Catalyst Arts, and Wanderlust Circus Present: THE MATA HARI HUSTLE … What happens when two singing belly dancers, a swing dance duet, a juggling sword-swallower, and the nation’s premier emcee extraordinaire take to the road? A traveling tale of bowlers, shimmies, garters, swords, and intrigue! Welcome to the headquarters for the May-June 2012 tour of The Mata Hari Hustle! This six-person vaudeville revue based in Portland, OR, will take to the road mid-May 2012, to spend four weeks dazzling audiences along the West Coast with a variety of sensational acts.
With Special Musical Guest:
LUTHER BANGERT
ON SITAR
Luther Bangert first began studying classical Hindustani sitar while undertaking a university study abroad program in Mysore, India, in the fall of 2008. Shri Saroj Mukherjee, a disciple of Ustad Halim Abdul Jaffer Khan, creator of the Jafferkhani Baaj, was appointed as Luther’s teacher. As Luther selected sitar for the intensive study portion of the program, it was required to learn strongly enough in two months time to give a thirty minute performance at the Mysore Rotary club. Upon return to the United States, Luther continued to practice on his own, and in August 2010 returned to Mysore to undergo a further six month intensive study with Saroj Mukherjee. Luther has performed the Jafferkhani Baaj style of Hindustani sitar in India, and in many venues in the United States, opening for musical performers and shows of large variety.
And Hosted by the Incomparable
NOAH MICKENS
(of The Wanderlust Circus, Mata Hari Hustle and Bogville)
Noah Mickens is a theatrical director, circus ringmaster, scrap metal percussionist, compere, butoh dancer, event producer, songwriter, hype machine, and bon vivant. Once labelled “the impressario of the underground”, he has founded and performed in such diverse performing troupes as Wanderlust Circus (with Nick the Creature), Bogville (with NagaSita), Societas Insomnia (with David Heifetz), The 999 Eyes of Endless Dream (with Dylan McPuke and Samantha X), and Nequaquam Vacuum (with Tyler Armstrong); as well as such one-shot productions as A Midsummer Night’s Dream (a butoh adaptation, with Mizu Desierto), Day of the Zombie (a rock opera, with Zombie Dan Abbott), and the forthcoming Queen of Knives (an opera, with Eric Stern). As a musician, Mickens has focused on singing and on the creation of improvised music using found objects, most particularly scrap metal. In addition to his own ensemble, Nequaquam Vacuum , some of the ensembles he’s played with include Soriah, Pretty Art Narcotic, The Steve MacKay Ensemble, Danse Perdue, Z’EV, Implied Violence, Sikhara, The Hop-Frog Kollectif, Moe! Staiano’s Moe!kestra!, and Damo Suzuki’s Network. Beginning with the independently-produced 36 Invitsibles series at The Jasmine Tree tiki lounge; his curatorial and organizational Work has included serving on the board of directors for 2Gyrlz Performative Arts and The EnterActive Language Festival; a U.S. node of the international Radon collective; creative director of Someday Lounge during its early period (and before); and in-house booker for Rotture, Branx, and The Hippodrome. He’ll take you off like a Saturday.
SALON L’ORIENT ~ SPLENDORS OF THE SILK ROAD REDISCOVERED
March 29, 2011 at 4:24 am
[...] SALON L’ORIENT にて踊ります。（↑クリックするとインフォメーション見れます。） 決断が遅くてフライヤーには間に合わなかったんですが(＾＾；)サイトでチェックできます。 大トリには、Rachel Brice！国内外で活躍するダンサー達のShowを是非、お楽しみください。 日本での震災により、家族や友人とのやり取り、Japan fundraisingイベント等の手伝いに集中したいので、なかなかBlogを書けませんが、私は元気です。 ベガスでのTribal Massive SpectacularにMira Betzと 出演した際の裏話や、 新しく出来たRachelのスタジオ”Datura”に行った話しなど、いろいろあるのですが、また落ち着いたらUpしますので待っていてください。 [...]