6:30
pm: Doors open for Show, Barking Legs Theater, Chattanooga, TN
7
pm: Gems of the Oasis 3rd Annual Student Show! Enjoy Oriental Belly Dance,
including Egyptian, Turkish, and Fusion Styles.
9:30
pm: Underground Oasis Experimental Fusion Belly Dance and Performance Art
Show.
Show
featured Merrybellies student troupes, Gems of
the Oasis, Mermaids, and Graveyard
Dollies... Dancers from beginning to advanced levels who take classes
with Jillanna, and who make her endeavors worthwhile.
Performances
also included solos and
duets by students, Jillanna, and special guests, Mahsati
Janan (Ashville, NC);
Zuhra (Atlanta;
founder of Atlanta Danse Orientale Society ); Troupe Hyetti (Knoxville); Debka
(Knoxville; see BIO below); and our featured guest & workshop
instructor, Gina
(Atlanta; see BIO below). These
are professional dancers, with excellent skill & beauty. Their talents
are multi-faceted. Its an honor to share the stage with these amazing women!
Gina
www.ginaraks.com
Originally
from North Carolina, Gina received her B.F.A. in Dance & Theatre Arts
from East Carolina University.
A
former dancer in the Siegfried & Roy Show, Gina retired from Las Vegas
production shows and began her love affair with Oriental dance.
Gina
has since studied with notable American, Arabic, and European Oriental
dancers.
She is inspired by these artists as well as by her own ballet and
jazz dance background.
Gina
can be seen in the IAMED “Belly Dance O Rama” dvds #1 and #2 and is
currently teaching and performing in Atlanta and the Southeast.
Debbie
Ashton (“Debka”)
hails from Knoxville, TN. She will perform solo and with her troupes, Desert
Dancers and Oasis Dancers.
Debbie
Ashton has her B.S. degree in physical education and an M.S. in dance from
the University of Tennessee. For 30 years, she has taught both movement
education and dance.
She
is a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, a Pilates Instructor, a
nationally-rated Level 2 Ski Instructor who teaches in Vail, CO, at the
biggest ski school in the world, an Aquatic Therapist, a Watsu Specialist
and, for over 15 years, she owned Dance-A-Gram and gave over 3,000
performances. Forms of dance she has taught are ballet, jazz, tap, modern,
ethnic, folk, flamenco, aerobic, ballroom, and disco.
Debbie
has studied belly dance with top instructors throughout the world, including
Dahlena, Ibrahim Farrar, Jillina, Aziza, Zahra Zuhair, Rachel Brice, and
Amir Thelib. The first belly dance teacher in Knoxville, Debbie began
teaching at the University of Tennessee in 1975.
Vendors: Sha'ni's Eye Kandy and Originales by Faye.
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