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Christine Andrews, Olivia Kissel, Jennifer Imashev, Maria Hamer and our west coast contingent, Tamara Nelson
Influences
Gulabi, Latcho Drom, ballet choreographies, ice skaters, ballroom dancers, fish, autumn leaves, Martha Graham, jazz, trees, clouds, gymnasts, contortionists, sideshow, vaudeville, the 1970's and the turn of the century. Attack Theater, contact improv, and some of the most notable of bellydancers including: Jill Parker and Ultra Gypsy, Heather Stants and Urban Tribal, Rachel Brice and the Indigo, Suhaila Salimpour, Zoe Jakes, and manymany others.... who knows what our next influences will be.... LIGERS?
Sounds Like
a cross between giggling babies/ the thunder of a roller coaster/ eyelash kisses/ and that garbage eating god in Spirited Away that said "....eh"
Zafira with Raquy and the Cavemen (Tobias Roberson accompany)at Tribal Fest 7
Zafira at Cure Sallee Pennsic 36, 2007!
Zafira Dance Company's performances are opulent vignettes that combine Bellydance with contemporary and ethnic dance forms. The result is an ornate performance that blurs the boundary between old and new; performer and audience, earthy and elegant.
Guided by the mood of the music, Zafira draws the viewer into each piece by shaping rhythm and melody into gesture and form. Liquid movements, staccato accents and textured choreographies capture a timeless beauty that expresses both the sensuality and strength of the female form.
Zafira Dance Company members work together as a collective. Christine Andrews, Maria Hamer, Jennifer Imashev, Tamara Nelson and Olivia Kissel have been teaching and performing together since 1996. Their friendship and love of dance shines through in each performance. Each member is a contributing artist and brings something unique to the company. This collective approach allows Zafira to offer a unique and powerful dance experience like no other.
Zafira teaches and performs regularly in venues that range from intimate café settings to full-scale theater productions in Pittsburgh and at dance festivals around the country.
What people have been whispering about is TRUE! Strange sightings… Unexplained phenomena. . . scientific anomalies… Squonk Opera will be responding to the cover-ups with… ASTRO - RAMA!
With 3 stories of scaffolding and a 40 ft radio telescope, Squonk Opera will take you on a wild visual and musical celebration of the universe and our place in it.
Part symphony, part cacophony, Astro-Rama dares to go where no multi-media/theater/performance group has gone before.
Rising in scissor lift platforms and cherry pickers, Squonk will compose a proud message from our species, power up and transmit.
Stand with us, and the truth will be revealed.
Pittsburgh, PA at Schenley Plaza, Oakland October 15-18, 2008
Weather permitting, all broadcasts begin at 8:00 p.m., are outdoors and are FREE for all bipedal primates!
of your smile feel the gentile breeze rustle through my hair lavender buds sway their pungent aroma pierces my nasal passage the warm breath of the sun radiate my skin so the breeze does not chill warm me inside
the sparrows call to one another this plain of grass one lands on my shoulder beckons in my ear the cool brook that flows ahead
Hey ya'll!!! Remember me?? I am from Georgia, thus the 'ya'll!!!' Anyway, I met you guys at Southern Fusion Fest in Athens, and I still think you are some of the most innovative dancers on the scene today. I TOTALLY encourage you guys to check out Venus Uprsing - google it - aka World Dance New York. They are also some amazing, innovative dancers, and from their website, they seek like souls. Hope things are going well, and I would LOVE to see you perform again....and hopefully take a class?? Going to be back in the South anytime soon? Love you much!
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