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Sonya Blacker 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
Arabesque Facebook Fan Page
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.
2009 Maqam Bellydance Challenge 2nd Place 'Tribal Fusion' Award-Winner - 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.
www.ElizaBellyDance.com
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Although she’d been drawn to Bellydance for many years, Lisha didn’t begin dancing until 2003 when she took her first class with Sonya. Lisha found that Bellydance helped her develop more body awareness, grace and strength, and credits Sonya with being her most important influence and inspiration in her dance career. Lisha also greatly admires the work of Mahmoud Reda, Aziza, Shoshanna, and Yasmina Ramzy as dancers and teachers and has enjoyed multiple workshops with all of them.
Lisha began dancing with Troupe Ro-He in 2005 and has been performing as a soloist since 2006. Although she enjoys dancing to non-traditional music occasionally, she feels more inspired by the rich music of the Middle East. The music and the dance are made for each other and Lisha hopes to inspire her students to understand this.
2008’s Midwest Bellydance Challenge named Lisha 2nd Place 'Student Soloist' winner and Peoples Choice Award-Winner, she also received Hadia’s Level 1 Teacher Training Certificate in 2008, which has helped her gain more knowledge of the muscular system and how it works for us as dancers. Lisha wants her students to understand how their bodies work so they can create the movements correctly and safely at any age. She hopes to inspire her students to challenge themselves to learn the basic movements and simple combinations in a fun, non-competitive environment.
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Jonsey had never seen a belly dancer when she walked into her first class at Arabesque. One class was all it took; she was hooked and has been studying various forms of belly dance continuously since 2005. An active member of the award-winning Troupe Ro-He since 2007, 2009 found Jonsey competing solo in the Maqam Challenge Chicago, winning both 1st place and people’s choice trophies in the student soloist category. She has studied extensively with Sonya and such a love of belly dance has lead her to study with a wide range of instructors in various belly dance styles such a Orientale, ITS, and Tribal Fusion. A teacher by trade, Jonsey firmly believes that learning never stops, and it’s never too late to learn something new, as her passion for belly dance has now led her to introduce others to all the beauty belly dancing offers.
JonseyBellyDance.com
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Christiana first discovered bellydance while attending a friend’s performance at a local suburban festival, but it wasn’t until 2007 when she took her first class at Arabesque Dance Studios. Immediately hooked, Christiana has continued her study of both Tribal and Orientale bellydance at Arabesque under the direction of her mentors, Eliza and Sonya.
Christiana enjoys performing for all types of audiences, especially those that are unfamiliar with bellydance. She has been a proud member of BellyRing since its formation under the direction of Eliza of Jezebelly. BellyRing is a tribal bellydance troupe that incorporates Improv Tribal Style (ITS) and choreography to create unique group performances. Her passion for bellydance has encouraged her to perform regularly with several other troupes. Since 2009, Christiana has been actively performing with Troupe Ro-He and Tandava Tribal Belly Dance, a self-directed ITS-troupe.
Christiana strongly believes in continuous learning and expanding one’s dance vocabulary, no matter what the dance form. Her mentors, Eliza and Sonya, as well Aziza, Mahmoud Reda, Mardi Love, Mira Betz, Rachel Brice and Zoe Jakes, have influenced her love of bellydance. Christiana has a deep admiration for each of these artists and has enjoyed learning from each of them. Christiana’s life-long passion for dance has led her to the study various dance forms throughout the years including hip hop, burlesque and 11 years of ballet, tap and jazz.
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Danery Barraza has been founder of Chicago Latin Dance since 2011. She is a very diverse dancer and performer with predominant Latin American Dance heritage and style. Creator of Salsa-Ton Fitness class, which was previously known by other names in the Latin American music fitness craze. Also a certified fitness instructor in group exercise, personal training, yoga and pilates, Danery's dance background is Colombian Folklore with a Bachelor's degree in Dance from Columbia College in Chicago. Since 2001 she is part of the Chicago Salsa Congress family and participates as both an instructor and as performer. As a lead choreographer for several local high schools and other private and special events throughout the city, her passion for dance and for maintaining tradition in Latin American dance makes Danery a perfect fit at Arabesque as a unique and creative dance educator.
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As a dancer, Neekole's drive for technical proficiency has led her to study with many outstanding instructors. With many years under the mentorship of Sabah she displays a style that combines the grace of ballet with strong hipwork. Currently she performs at various venues around the Chicago area and has recently toured with the Bellydance Superstars. Neekole believes that her fun approach to hard work will help develop her students' own creative potentials.
Neekole has been dancing since 2000 and has performed on both small and large stages locally and internatinally with Chellcy's Fringe Benefits troupe since 2005 as assistant director. Neekole is known as a diverse dance performer with creative attributes in spades, such as her skill with incorporating Hula-Hoop seamlessly into her classical-style Oriental dance.
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Alicia has been addicted to dance & performance since taking the stage for her first ballet recital at the age of 8, complete with sparkly leotard & pink tutu. The costumes may have changed a bit since then, but the love for dance in all its forms remains. Most recently touring in Costa Rica with the band Incus, she feels blessed at the many opportunities for travel & performance the movement arts of dance, firedance & yoga have brought her -- not to mention all the wonderful people she continues to meet along the way! Alicia is honored to have been a member of the Suhaila Dance Company & continues to be inspired by & learn from her mentors Suhaila & Jamila Salimpour, and Andrea Sendek. Though she practiced yoga for many years, it wasn't until she sustained a rotator cuff tear & found herself unable to move her arm that yoga began to play a central role in Alicia's life. Through restorative yoga practices, physical therapy& hard work she recovered from the injury & went on to attend yoga teacher training, inspired to share this powerful healing practice with others. As a teacher Alicia endeavors to cultivate a sense of warmth & fun, & seeks to give her students the tools to empower their own practice and mind-body connection, both on and off the mat.
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Ellen has been studying belly dance for over 10 years and dancing other styles for even longer. Her formal study began in Seattle with the Legendary Delilah. While in the Northwest she co-founded the troupe Raqs Serpentine and hosted monthly belly dance shows for over 5 consecutive years. Ellen has been influenced by many styles and teachers over the years, especially Tamallyn Dalall, Amy Sigil and Boogie McLaren. After leaving the west coast for Chicago she found the dance community at Arabesque Studios to be warm and welcoming. While Ellen enjoys traditional and newer styles of belly dance, she finds her style is an eclectic mix of what feels expressive and funky but most of all it’s an artistic exploration of whatever life brings her. She says,
"It is a great privilege to be able to share that [concept] with others on the stage and off. This is truly an ancient ritual that will live on as long as there are people on the earth. Belly dance has had so many names and the debate as to where it all began will go on forever. For me it is not so important to figure out who was really the first belly dancer, or mimic their costumes exactly. I am happy to recognize its diverse and ancient roots and allow my spirit to soar in the dance and do what feels good to me as a dancer and a woman. Delilah once said to me that "Belly Dance doesn’t come from Egypt or Turkey or wherever. It comes from women!" And so I realized that it comes from me. It is a holistic way of relating to the physical body that involves an increasing awareness on all levels: physical, mental, and spiritual. Dance unites every aspect of our being. It helps us to balance the harmony between the body and spirit. It does not negate the mind, but on the contrary affirms it and reconciles it with our sensual nature. This is a fundamental part of living and processing our experiences."
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