Gothla.UK

Ariellah

Ariellah is an international modern, belly dance performer and instructor. She has an extensive 12 year dance background that includes strict classical ballet training with the Royal Academy of Dance from London. She has studied and performed belly dance for the past nine years. She began her training with Janine Ryle of Danse Mahgreb and as a founding member of The Indigo with Rachel Brice. Most recently Ariellah began training in classical Indian Odissi dance, studying in India at the Shakti School of Dance. Her style infuses many genres of dance, all with a modern dark flavour that is uniquely her own. She is featured on the first of its kind "Gothic BellyDance" DVD and has also released her first instructional DVD.

Morgana

Born in Madrid (Spain)

Degree in Digital Sound Post-Production. Dancer and Choreographer since 1994.
Co-founder of Excalibur Dance Co. and Director of Nieblas de Avalón Dance School.

At 7 years old, began practicing karate (Shotokan and Shito Ryu), and in the 2003, fencing and wu-shu at Serrato Superior School (saber and sword techniques). She initiated her modern and contemporary dance training in 1991, receiving a grant for winning an important dance contest, and was soon accepted into Ditirambo-Studio’s dance company. In 1992, she started taking hip-hop and funk classes under Javier Pérez and continues to this day. That same year, she won the silver medal in the modern dance ‘soloist’ category at the Dance Competition of Madrid. In 1999 she joined the dance company of choreographer Angélica Solana, director of the Spanish Aerobic and Funk Federation, participating in and placing 4th in the world funk competition.

In 1993, she began studying jazz technique with Eva Sanz and Begoña Jiménez at Karen Taft Dance Center, where she would perfect her skills over the next 4 years. It was also this year when she co-founded Excalibur Dance Co., for which she currently serves as choreographer.

In 1998, she began her studies in Middle Eastern dance. Her first teacher was Fathy Andrawis (choreographer of the Egyptian National Ballet) who taught her Egyptian and folkloric styles. She also studied props such as cane, veil, and Isis wings. In 1999, she was initiated into American tribal style, and using this as a technical base, she specialized in tribal fusion and gothic style. Currently, she is developing her own personal style, in which she combines Middle Eastern dance technique with the technique of modern dance, the discipline of martial arts, the expression of mimic and theater, and an aesthetic influence ranging from Chinese and Japanese culture to science fiction, to the Victorian Era.

Morgana has complemented her dance studies with a variety of courses, most importantly: ballet with Tatiana Stepanova, tap-dancing with Barry Burges, tango with Leo and Eugenia and Julio and Veronique (3 years), gypsy dances with Myriam Szabo, Indian fusion with Gauri (Germany), baratha nathyam with Daniela Riva, percussion with Mark Bell of Helm (USA), Afro-Cuban dance with Amaury Reinoso, and expression and interpretation at Orfeo School.

In 1993, she began teaching jazz and funk, and in 2001 Middle Eastern dance classes, finally opening her own school, “Nieblas de Avalón,” in 2006. It is the pioneer school in tribal fusion and gothic style in Spain, and is also the first school in the country offering 5 levels of “unofficial” Middle Eastern dance training (classical, tribal, fusion, gothic and advanced).

Morgana has participated as a guest dancer in the Solace Live Tour 2007 (Madrid and Barcelona) and at the festivals: GOTHLA 2008, 2009 in Leicester (UK), TribaGoth 2009 in Gothenburg (Sweden). From 2006 to the present, she has been a dancer and instructor at tribal fusion and gothic and martial arts style workshops and seminars throughout Spain and the rest of Europe (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Poland).

Princess Farhana

Acclaimed international dancer Princess Farhana has performed, taught and written about Oriental Dance and Burlesque for nineteen years. She has appeared in Egypt, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, all over The United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada, and across the US. Named “Favorite Oriental Dancer 2006 & 2008” by The Zaghareet Magazine, Princess Farhana has been featured in numerous motion pictures, videos, television shows and dance documentaries, as well as many instructional and performance DVD’s. Trained in the Egyptian style ( by Raqia Hassan and Zahra Zuhair, among others) she is also known for her high-concept , theatrical fusion performances and dazzling stage presence. Her warmth, enthusiasm and adventurous spirit - on and off stage- captivates audiences and students alike.

Telephone Princess Farhana (Pleasant Gehman): +1 (323) 460-4890

Darkstar

Darkstar is a London-based tribal and dark fusion belly dancer and teacher. She performs and teaches through out the UK and Europe and is well known for her creative choreographies and strong stage presence. She has studied intensively with tribal stars such as Ariellah, Samantha Emanuel (Hasthorpe), Kami Liddle, Carolina Nericcio and Mira Betz.

Her 2009 performance highlights include The Bellydance Superstars Tribal London pre-party, Dark and Triballicious in Gothenburg, Bellydance Congress, FireWater, teaching and performing at Fantasia and Gothla 2009

She has also been teaching relentlessly both privately and for a large London dance school and 2010 looks set to be just as busy as she looks to once more raise the bar for UK dark Fusion. For more information visit her website.

Nadia Corazon

Born in Madrid (Spain)

Belly and gypsy dancer, teacher in Nieblas de Avalon (Morgana's school) and violinist.

Began her Middle Eastern dance training with Patricia Passo en 2001, participating in different courses such as veil work (Lebanese and Egyptian style), zils, tambourine, cane, sword-dancing, candles, and styles such as Indian fusion and Gypsy dance.

In 2003, she trained under Eva Chacón, specializing in Egyptian and Baladi style dance and zils, as well as studying flamenco dance under Laura Buitrago.

She complements her studies attending workshops and seminars with different teachers: Shokry Mohamed, Raquia Hassan, Cristiane Azem, Ana Saeeda, Sonia Sampayo, Nigma, Myriam Szabo, Sharon Kihara, and Mardi Love. In addition, she has studied jazz and funk with Carlos Alves (Karen Taft), Morgana, and Javier Pérez. Since 2006, she has been training at Nieblas de Avalón Dance School: tribal style, tribal fusion, gothic style, floorwork, and props with Morgana.

Fulya (Lynn Chapman)

Fulya has been teaching bellydance for 10 years and is now in demand at events Europe wide. She is one half of the Kookie Kaftan bazaar which she runs with her sister Julie and is the founder member of The Bellydance & Burlesque Collective which run theatre shows and workshops in the Midlands.

Despite teaching many different bellydance styles she prefers to perform her own style which she calls "Eclectic Vintage Bellydance Fusion".

Christine, aka HRH Lucretia of Raqsmacabre

Christine went to her first bellydance class over 10 years ago, and was lucky enough to have as her teacher Kay Taylor who runs Farida Dance.

Through her work with Farida, Christine has had many opportunities to study and observe this dance form all over the UK as well as in Egypt, Turkey and last year San Francisco, where she and Kay danced with JimBoz at the Rakassa festival. Except you wouldn’t have recognised Christine and JimBoz as they were both inside Christine’s favourite dancer – The Great Desiree – an authentic Egyptian dancing horse who now lives and works in the UK, dancing with Farida, Christine and Tarab Dance Company.

Desiree is also a bit of a goth and loves to raise money for animals, she danced and collected money at the Whitby Goth New Year weekend in 2006, in aid of local animal charities.

Christine’s favourite authentic styles are Baladi and Saidi, especially stick. However her real love is mixing Arabic moves with alternative music and Arabic techno remixes. She teaches regular classes and has held fusion and techno workshops at Ford Castle and JOY. Raqsmacabre started as a bit of a joke at a themed hafla where her troupe performed to Rob Zombie’s Living Dead Girls, since then she has been inundated with pleas to teach folks ‘the zombie dance’.

A fan of goth since its early days – Sisters, Siouxsie, Cure, Bauhaus etc, a regular Whitby goth weekender for many years, and a lover of horror films, having appeared in two locally, this is a great opportunity to put together things she loves - dancing, music, performing, horror and maybe above all – dressing up!

Her style provides a lighthearted slant on dancing from the darkside.

Raqs Macabre

Molly Mitchell

‘Unsinkable’ Molly Mitchell

Molly is a lifelong dancer, artist, and scholar who brings an interdisciplinary approach to belly dance. Since 2001, she has studied, taught, and performed a wide range of belly dance styles in ensembles and as a soloist, and has been recognized for her dynamic approach to choreography.

Molly joined Deshret Dance Company in 2007 as a principal dancer and over the past year has worked closely with Ariellah as Deshret’s assistant director. In addition to performing with Deshret, Molly teaches classes on tribal fusion and Deshret Tribal Style, a group improvisation format she created and continues to evolve in dialogue with the company.

In 2009 Molly earned a dual MFA/MA in Visual and Critical Studies from California College of the Arts, where her thesis work explored group improvisational practices as a challenge to the cultural stigmatization of belly dance in Western art.

Rea Silviah

Experimental and Dark Fusion Bellydance

My love story with Bellydance, in all its forms, starts in 2002. After a few years of Cabaret Style, I am struck by the power and intensity of Dark /Gothic Fusion Bellydance, and in particular I follow the divine Ariellah when she teaches workshops throughout Europe.

Between 2007 and 2009 I take the chance to study with dancers such as Samantha Emanuel, Kami Liddle, Heather Stants, The Uzumé, Unmata, both in Italy and abroad.

My most recent discoveries are the Suahila Salimpour method, an unbeatable tool for improving technique, and Yoga, necessary to increase flexibility anch strenght.

As a character in a Tarantino movie, I believe that “Everybody's got their talent”. Each one of us has got an inner uniqueness, that needs to be expressed in our life, and in our dance.

“The Dark Side of Bellydance” is the one I find closest to my feelings, that gives me the freedom to bring my message to the world.

Emma Chapman

Emma is one of the few full time professional bellydancers in the UK. She is a dynamic, captivating performer who specialises in the modern Egyptian style of bellydance.

Based in Cambridge, she has been teaching regular classes since 2005 and gained her JWAAD Diploma in 2006.

Elin Kåven

Elin is one of Norways best known tribal fusion dancers. She has studied tribal fusion dance in Australia, Canada and England. She has danced in private events and festivals in Oslo, England, Finland and Sweden, and has been seen on TV in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Elin started practising belly dance in 2004. Not long after, she took her first Tribal style classes in Melbourne, Australia where Rachel Brice amongst others was giving workshops. 

After six months of training, she came back to Norway, and in the Spring of 2007 she started teaching tribal style at the same school she started in; “Madam Qadam Orientalske magedansskole” in Oslo.  

Elin is from a small town in the north of Norway. Tribal style made her able to mix her own background from the Saami culture into her dancing. She does this by using Saami-inspired costuming and Saami music. (Saami people being the indigenous people in the north Scandinavia and north Russia.) She has danced on stage with many famous Saami artists and is known for her elfish, earthy expression inspired by myths, nature and her grandfather, a famous Saami shaman. Elin is also a music artist, and her dancing is a natural part of her concert performances.    

Amethystine (Beverley Spracklen)

Bev Spracklen, aka Amethystine, is a Yorkshire based teacher and performer.

Bev became a student of yoga in 1992. From this time she began to search for a dance form to complement the discipline, eventually found bellydance and by 2005 had finally gravitated to the darker side of tribal.

Bev was invited to join Four Hundred Roses tribal folk fusion troupe in 2006, with whom she still performs regularly at folk and bellydance events across the north of England.

Bev has since founded gothic tribal fusion dance troupe Tanzhexen who performed regularly throughout 2009, including an open stage performance at Gothla UK.

Bev enjoys tribal and tribal fusion and likes to draw from the established cannon of moves and combos to develop her own style.

Bev’s philosophy is that tribal fusion needn’t be the preserve of lifelong professional dancers, since it is possible to simplify and modify the dance form to make it accessible to anyone who is at least prepared to put in a little bit of work.

Bev enjoys the holistic creative process of musical choice, choreography and costume making that bellydance provides.

Tree Russell

Tree has been dancing for 11 years.  She started dancing at ritual pagan celebrations and it seemed natural for her to develop towards the tribal belly dance fusion style after being inspired by the Indigo Dance company from the States some years ago.

She has continued to acquire training over the years often travelling to the States and to Europe to take workshops and lessons with some of the finest in the tribal belly dance field.

Tree is constantly looking for new ways to make her dancing more creative and challenging.  To this end, she continues to push the barriers sometimes including her circus school skills into which she incorporates fire fans, fire sword and the occasional live snake into her choreography!

Tree is also a hair and makeup artist and designs and makes bespoke costumes and jewellery. She teaches in southwest London and performs solo as well as with her troupe Spiral Tribe.