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Sonya Hohmann founded Arabesque in 2004, herself an Award-Winning belly dancer, certified in Cairo Egypt 2006 (her 10th year of dedicated study), who was looking to offer the dance community a choice for open & honest sharing of this beautiful & sacred art through dance instruction for adults. She believes that dance lessons should offer quality instruction as well as fun. Sonya strives for good communication between instructor and student so that the student can be excited about their progress. Every single student is different & that is an important spice of life.
Choreography-The Discipline of Mind & Body. Arabesque classes focus on the individual, with technique over choreography in goal - Not just leaning a dance, but how-to dance. Classes begin with warm-up stretches & isolation training, instruction in the basic steps then move to more polished combinations followed by options for clean layering, in the more complex combination classes. Sonya begins by demonstrating the move or combination, then breaks it down into its parts. Students would then have the chance to practice the elements slowly without music or half-tempo, and finally up to speed with music. Individual attention is given to all students, with variations to accommodate differences in students if need be.
A lifetime student, Sonya is a firm believer in furthering her own education & experience by taking and teaching Seminars across the globe, believing we all have more to learn in this rich, cultured artform that brings expression, pride & dignity to hundreds of women each year.
For Sonya's Full Bio Click Here
Sonya on MySpace
Sonya on Tribe.net
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Eliza was first exposed to tribal bellydance when she attended a FatChanceBellyDance performance in San Francisco. Instantly drawn in by the mesmerizing and earthy movements, she began studying the dance form under the instruction and influence of Read My Hips' Artistic Director Stephanie Barto and Co-Founder Heather Stants (now director of Urban Tribal Dance Company in San Diego). Eliza was a principal dancer with Read My Hips from 1999-2004 and is one of the founders of the Chicago tribal bellydance troupe, Jezebelly.
Eliza's training in tribal bellydance began with American Tribal Style (ATS) and has evolved to the broader Improv Tribal Style (ITS) of group dancing that uses cues and other forms of communication between dancers to create fresh and spontaneous performances that are often peppered with spot choreography. Her intermediate tribal class at Arabesque focuses on the form and movements particular to ITS bellydance and emphasizes proper posture, fluidity, strength of movement, and technique. Eliza's class is for intermediate as well as for more advanced dancers who want to add tribal elements to their current repertoire.
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Naomi fell in love with dance during her childhood days learning to folk dance. She took ballet through grade school, experimented with jazz in high school and modern dance in college. The first time Naomi witnessed belly dancing was in a Moroccan restaurant and it was love at first sight. After much research, she found Serena Wilson and the legendary Ibrahim 'Bobby' Farrah in NYC and later, her most influencial teacher, Yosrey Shariff. Her 20's were to become a commited study period, learning as much as she could about the world of belly dancing (while getting a Masters in Social Work!) and was later given a dance name of Jeela.
Naomi moved to Tokyo for two years where she danced as Jeela for restaurants and private parties and upon returning to the US she continued to build her performing experience in Westchester, NY in similar venues. Certified by the AFAA to teach at gyms and dance studios, Naomi was teaching 7 belly dance classes in the New Jersey suburbs where she was encouraged by her students to produce a video.
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Jessy has been studying dance her entire life, including the disciplines of ballet, modern, flamenco, and jazz. She first discovered American Tribal Style Bellydance (ATS) in 1997 when she mentored locally with Stephanie Barto of Read My Hips. Jessy was one of the founding members of this troupe, dancing with them for seven years. In 2004 Jezebelly was born, which is her current dance troupe, founded along with Eliza and others.
Jessy's favorite parts of the tribal style of bellydance are the non-verbal communication that happens between the dancers (que) along with the spontaneity of improvisational dance performance. Her class focuses on ITS (improvised tribal style) beginner level moves and has a strong emphasis on technique, or how-to. Jessy also has an extensive history in the art of massage therapy, so her classes also concentrate on body awareness.
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2008 Midwest Bellydance Challenge 1st Place 'Tribal Fusion' and Peoples Choice Award-Winner - Marci Ann started belly dancing in 2001 and has since studied with Jasmin Jahal and Sonya. After seeing Rachel Brice and The Indigo, with their artistic esthetic and sinuous dance style, she sought out to learn the technique of Tribal Fusion. It has since been the focus of her life's ambition. She combines movements from American Tribal Style, Egyptian cabaret, and other ethnic influences, performing in various shows and benefits. With a passion for Eastern culture and adornment, fusing tribal esthetic and dance from different cultures, she has forged a unique dance style. Marci Ann has has also created her own line of "tribaret" costume, infusing both tribal and cabaret elements. Being the newest addition to Arabesque, Marci Ann is excited about bringing elements of west coast tribal fusion and the philosophies of first generation dancers.
Marci's MySpace Page
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2008 Midwest Bellydance Challenge 2nd Place 'Tribal Fusion' Award-Winner - Mae the Bellydancer is a gothic and tribal fusion dancer in Chicago. She has been dancing for 16 years and teaching for 4. She started out studying under Amaya's protoge Karen Sharma in Midland, TX studying Arabic cabaret, folkloric dances and Polynesian dance. 2005 she moved to Chicago and began her study/performance of tribal fusion bellydance. Performing tribal fusion to hard rock, she was embraced by the burlesque community & has performed with the Girlie Q Variety Hour, Fleshtones Burlesque, her own troupe Caoba, and co-produces the Varietease Cabaret at The Strawdog Theater. Focusing on posture, strength, body awareness, and that special duende, Mae would like to guide you to develop an etherial yet striking composure, while executing combinations that will captivate and bewitch.
MaeTheBellyDancer.com
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2008 Midwest Bellydance Challenge 2nd Place 'Student Soloist' and Peoples Choice Award-Winner - Although she’d been drawn to belly dance for many years, Lisha didn’t begin dancing until 2003 when she took her first class with Sonya. Lisha found that belly dance helped her develop more body awareness, grace and strength. Lisha credits Sonya with being her most important influence and inspiration in her dance career. She also greatly admires the work of Mahmoud Reda, Aziza and Yasmina Ramzy as dancers and instructors and has enjoyed multiple workshops with all of them. Lisha has also been a performing member of Sonya’s troupe Ro-He since 2005 and has been performing as a soloist since 2006.
Lisha has recently completed Hadia’s Level 1 Teacher Training, which has helped her gain more knowledge of the muscular system and how it works for us as dancers. She wants her students to understand how their bodies work so they can create the movements correctly and safely. Lisha hopes to inspire her students to challenge themselves and learn the basic movements of this art through simple combinations in a fun, non-competitive environment.
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