Aepril
Schaile is an American priestess of the Dark Goddess. Through
the ancient, and ever-evolving, art of Bellydance, Aepril
aspires to embody the archetypal Feminine shamanistically,
as both "force of nature" and "culture bringer".
Formally trained in American fusion/cabaret style bellydance,
Aepril's style of movement has developed from there into a
fusion of the gothic, the sacred and the experimental. With
a background in theater, Aepril's inspiration to dance flows
from an inner life developed, in part, during a long period
of voluntary solitude inhabiting the wild and magical New
England coast and wooded areas; as a natural shaman, she relates
to her audience with a blend of Tricksterish showmanship and
sacred mediumship.
A musician, Aepril brings her sense of sonic drama and timing
to her dance; when not moving to music as a dancer, Aepril
can be found writing and performing it with her death--folk/
piano-doom band Aepril Schaile and the Judgement. Aepril holds
and MFA and teaches classes in Portland, ME, and offers workshops
throughout New England; she directs the seaonal gothic bellydance
collaboration Exquisite Corpse.
For more please see: www.aeprilschaile.com
ARIELLAH~(
CA ) Ariellah
is considered one of this country's renowned tribal fusion
and gothic belly dancers. One of the original "1000 Goddesses",
this stellar performer was a founding member of the Indigo,
and has been featured in notable videos such as "Bellydance
Underworld" and the "Gothic Bellydance DVD."
Her unique style has led her to teach and perform around the
world, in festivals and workshops. We are honored that she
has again decided to join our cast of wonderful performers!
For more information, please see: www.ariellah.com
CHANDRADANCE ~ NYC ChandraDance
blends the work of ancient, modern, and unique dance and is
the culmination of years of dance and theater work for Joharra
and Cairo.
Joharra is a professional dancer, the founder of the
Pink Pearl Project, and the dance group ChandraDance.
In addition to her solo career, she has appeared in ensemble
productions with Serena and Dalia Carella's Dance Collective.
She was a soloist with Lori BeliLove and taught on the faculty
of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation.
Joharra majored at the Dance University of Colorado. Her dance
background includes Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Odissi, African,
Caribbean, Salsa and Belly Dance, as well as anatomy, kinesiology,
pilates, and yoga.
Joharra has made several film and television appearances which
include "Chanela", a documentary of the gypsies
in Spain, the Isaac Mizrahi show, and she is one of the featured
dancers in the DVD "The Art of Bellydance".
In addition to New York, she has taught workshops in Hawaii,
Puerto Rico and Spain.
Joharra also holds a BFA in design from Parsons School of
Design and has been designing for the KD Dance company for
10 years.
Joharra currently teaches Ballet and Belly Dance at Manhattan
Motion Dance Center and is a certified Pilates instructor.
Cairo has been
dancing since the age of 3 and has known she has wanted to
be a professional dancer ever since. Leaving home at the age
of 14 to pursue her career, Cairo attended the Walnut Hill
School, a performing arts boarding shool in Boston, and then
went on to train at the Alvin Ailey School in NYC. Her extensive
training includes jazz, ballet, hip-hop, modern, African/Caribbean,
dancehall, belly dance, and Odissi. She also holds titles
in several national dance competitions, including 3 golds,
a silver, and a bronze medal from the World Championships
of Performing Arts in Los
Angeles.
After graduating from Alvin Ailey, Cairo has been fortunate
enough to work with some of the worlds most renowned contemporary
choreographers. She has been featured in hip hop showcases,
A MAC makeup benefit, and with several modern dance companies,
including Early Moseley's Diversity of Dance.
Since studying bellydance with Joharra, Cairo began performing
bellydance as a soloist around NYC before becoming a member
of ChandraDance. ChandraDance performs a wide variety of ethnic
choreography around NYC and Puerto Rico.
CRYSTAL
~ MI Crystal
is a dynamic and powerful performer. She is experienced in
performing classical Egyptian Cabaret, folkloric dances of
the MiddleEast and North Africa, and various fusion styles
of belly dance.
Crystal has performed at private parties, weddings, Middle
Eastern
night clubs, and restaurants. She has also performed in many
larger
theatre and festival events. Crystal has performed on stage
with such musicians as Raquy and the Cavemen, Karim Nagi,
and Mary Zysk, to name a few.
She is the founder and director of Unveiled Dance Company,with
which she frequently performs. Crystal and Unveiled Dance
combined forces with the Aegela Dance Company and Lapis Lazuli
of Toledo for a performance in September 2006. In April of
2007, Crystal made her début performance with Jamila
Salimpour's Bal Anat. Some of her performances and performance
venues have included: Unveiled 2006 at Tappan Theatre, Detroit
Zoo Summer Festivals, Somerset Collection, headlining People's
Dancing 20th Anniversary performance, Ann Arbor Labor Day
Connections Festival, Wayne State University, Summer Nights
Unveiled 2007 at Greenhills School Campbell Center for the
Performing Arts, The Place of Southfield, Studio 4, Ann Arbor
Art Fair, Dancing in the Streets 2006, Concert of Colors at
the Max M. Fisher Music Center, as well as several performances
though the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.
For more: www.unveiledbellydance.com
MOROCCO ~NYC
Morocco
(Carolina Varga Dinicu) is considered the leading performer
& authority in her field in the U.S., Canada and abroad,
evidenced by frequent invitations to teach master seminars
and perform in Germany, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Switzerland,
Finland, Australia, Israel, Malaysia, Egypt, England, Morocco,
Brazil and Italy.
She
was awarded two grants by the State Council on the Arts for
her choreography in 1972 and 1981 - first in her field to
be so honored and the only two-time recipient - 3 NYC Department
of Cultural Affairs Community Service Grants, 3 Summer Program
Grants, a Materials for the Arts Grant and an Arts Exposure
Grant. She was one of the first inducted into the AAMED Mideastern
Dance Hall of Fame as "World Class" for "International
proliferation of her art, her myriad of talent and for her
untiring pioneering in this, her chosen field of ethnic dance",
was named 1997 Instructor of the Year by IAMED, was voted
Best Dancer & Best Instructor + Casbah Dance Experience
was named Best Troupe of the Year 2 years in a row by Mideastern
Dancer magazine. Morocco was also voted Ethnic Dancer of the
Year in '97, Instructor of the Year in '98 & given the
Lifetime Achievement award in 2002 by Zaghareet Magazine.
In 2005 MECDA voted her their Humanitarian Award for her “body
of work” over a lifetime in furthering and enriching
Near and Mid-Eastern music and dance & in 2006 the Isis
Foundation gave her a Lifetime Achievment Award in Ethnic
Dance from the Near and Middle East.
Since 1964, Morocco
has written regularly for several publications in her field
and been reprinted in dance, medical and feminist publications
in the U.S., Germany, Sweden, Finland and Norway. She continues
her extensive performing career as a soloist and with her
dance company, including Lincoln Center, the U.N. (General
Assembly and Dag Hammerskjold Theater), Delacorte Dance Festival,
Columbia University, Statue of Liberty, Cooper-Hewitt Museum,
lecture/performances for the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs,
Asia Society and Museum of Natural History, in Moscow And
Leningrad (USSR), on Broadway ("I Had A Ball"),
her own TV Special: "Testspiele" (WDR#l/Koln, Germany),
1st Women's Festival of the Performing Arts, numerous U.S.
TV shows and films, *4* 5-Lecture Series at the Museum of
Natural History and innumerable clubs and ethnic/family celebrations.
Director/researcher/choreographer
of Morocco & the Casbah Dance Experience (Mideastern and
North African dance & music in concert), her award-winning
non-profit, tax-exempt dance company and school, which had
its debut at Lincoln Center in '78 and was the only dance
company to be presented five times at Riverside Dance Festival,
which also honored CASBAH by placing a tape of their '83 concert
in its permanent archive (1 of 4 shown at their '85 fundraiser!).
Morocco created the
Casbah Dance Experience to show the varied, fascinating ethnic
dance forms of the Mideast and North Africa to the general
public and give "a bit of home" to North Africans
and Mideasterners in the West. She's spent over 46 years trying
to find, recover, preserve and present them before they disappear,
due to modernization and/or fundamentalism. It's a valuable
heritage that must be saved from extinction!
Morocco collects all music, steps & styles possible of
each dance from many on-site viewings, questions & participation,
etc. and chooses a variety of the most typical steps &
figures, presenting them in choreography true to their origins,
while pleasing to the eyes & ears of the theater public.
Morocco opened the door for Mideastern Oriental dance in museums,
schools, at Lincoln Center, SUNY-Purchase and as a valid,
valuable concert form. Research has taken her to Morocco,
Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran,
Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan,
Tadjikistan, Kirghizia, Georgia, Armenia, Greece, Yugoslavia,
etc.
Morocco continues to perform, teach, research, write and lecture
and hopes to keep on "till 6 weeks after I'm dead"....
For more, please see: www.casbahdance.org
ROMKA
( Washington DC ) Romka
is Washington DC's premier tribal fusion duo, Belladonna and
Mavi. These dynamic dancers mingle the ancient and modern
to create a new and captivating performance experience. In
festivals, and their own DC Tribal Cafe, Romka dances along
the edge of tribal and fusion belly dance through skilled
fusion of global dance forms and cultural elements.
For more, please see: romkadance.com
SARAH JOHANSSON LOCKE ~ NYC Sarah
Johansson Locke is a performer, choreographer, and teacher
whose work is inspired by her experience with several forms
of ethnic and contemporary dance, theater, yoga, and somatic
modalities, as well as her training and interest in cultural
studies, international folk art traditions, and the visual
arts. She has been involved with projects ranging from site-specific
installations and street theater to international arts festivals
and large theater productions, both across the U.S. and in
Europe. Sarah began studying tribal bellydance in 1994 on
the West Coast and was a member of Gypsy Caravan before returning
to NYC to develop her own style of tribal fusion as an alchemy
of her wide ranging theater, dance, and movement experience.
She is the Artistic Director of Alchemy Performance, a company
whose current projects include Alchemy Dance Theater, the
Alchemy Tribal Collective, and collaborations with artists
in all media. She is also a facilitator of PURE (Public Urban
Ritual Experiment). Sarah currently teaches dance and yoga
and performs regularly throughout NYC and across the country.
For more: www.alchemyperformance.com
SERA WITH Solstice
~ NYC Sera
is a performer, Instructor, and choreographer of Belly dance,
based in New York City. Sera's primary form of creative expression
is through Tribal styles of belly dance. Her movements are
rooted in Tribal Fusion Bellydance, drawing from ballet, Modern,
Jazz, hip-hop, and ATS tribal to make a blend of what she
calls East Coast Tribal. Sera is a full time teacher, and
performer at various venues in New York City, director of
Solstice, a bellydance Ensemble, and has created an instructional
belly dance video entitled "East Coast Tribal".
A former member of three nationally respected dance troupes,
Bellyqueen, Raqs Sahara, and the Silk Road Dance Company,
former artistic director of Transcendance Tribal and a founding
member of DC Tribal. In 2005, Sera's dancing was greatly influenced
when invited to India to teach dance as a means of
healing and empowerment to young women who had been rescued
from sexual abuse. Sera strives to push the boundaries of
definition of belly dance, and seeks to cultivate environments
and events which encourage dancers to use bellydance as a
tool for artistic expression. Solstice
is an ensemble of Bellydancers from New York, directed by
Sera,who use Bellydance in combination with electronic music
to present complex choreographies which speak of bold feminine
expression. Their highly choreographed peformances are rooted
in Tribal Fusion style Bellydance, drawing from ballet, Modern,
Jazz, hip-hop, cabaret and ATS tribal to make a blend of what
they call East Coast Tribal. They can be seen in an instructional
video, entitled East Coast Tribal, produced by
World Dance New York.
For more, please see: www.seradance.com
SERPENTINA
~ NYC Serpentina
are the dynamic fusion partners Joanna and Orkideh.
Both began dancing early in their lives in ballet classes,
but for both ladies, the major love affair with dance began
around 2000. Joanna studied with Serena Wilson; Orkideh studied
with Safiya.
They began dancing together via a tribal dance workshop in
October 2004 with Sarah Locke and Susan Frankovich; this workshop
later evolved into the eight-piece troupe, the Alchemy Tribal
Collective.
After numerous performances with the Collective, Orkideh and
Joanna performed as a duet at an outdoor faire. They continued
to develop their own style, fusing their background in traditional
bellydance with tribal fusion, Classical Persian and Indian
dance styles (bhangra, Bollywood and kathak.)
Serpentina has performed in New York City, various spots in
New Jersey and Philadelphia and will be featured in the upcoming
gala, Night of 1001 Goddesses.
More info: www.serpentinatribal.com
SINA~ ( CA ) Sina
began her love affair with dance sometime in the year 2000
and since then, has studied it in its various incarnations:
flamenco; Bharata Natyam; Kuchipudi; Odissi; Persian court
and folk dances; Tango; Lebanese Debke; Raqs Sharqi; American
Tribal Style bellydance; Nubian, Algerian, Turkish, Saaidi,
Khaleegi, Kurdish, Moroccan, and Tunisian folkloric dances;
Sufi whirling; hip hop; jazz; contact improv, modern; and
most recently, ballet. She believes that dance is an unending,
interdisciplinary subject, and feeds photography, sculpture,
yoga, pilates, poetry and her fascination with world cultures
into her dance. She dances with Urban Tribal Dance Company
and Desert Sin, is an acclaimed choreographer, and she has
also launched her own production company, Malice Dreaming
Productions, under which she produces theatrical dance shows
in the Los Angeles area.
For more please see: www.malicedreaming.com
CHOVEXANI ~ NYC The
maidens of dark, theatrical, and unorthodox Middle Eastern
based dance were the original idea of Zan Asha. For more info
on ChoveXani, click HERE.
With
the idea of creating a feeling of ancient and mysterious landscape
through dance, ChoveXani's members convened from darker, pagan
and/or ethnic backgrounds suitable for the troupe.
ChoveXani's emphasis on dark dance eventually expanded to
create it's own dance choreography, and strove to embrace
a more theatrical scope. This includes events organization
and artist collaborations. Most notable of these: the first
ever New York City experimental showcase (Urban Oasis, 2004),
the first and only monthly featured Experimental Gothic Showcase
in New York(Shadows of the Harem, 2006), the first ever Gothla
(Tempest workshop and Gothla, 2005) which originated the term
"gothla", The Halloween Extravaganza: "Victorient:
Tales of the Macabaret." and the upcoming "1001
Goddess" and "Wonderland" tours.
~~~
WITH YOUR HOST: The Mistress McCutchan
Back by popular demand, last year's host rocked the house,
so why wouldn't we have her back? This lady does it all: editor
of Morbid Outlook, webdesigner, performer....and she's guaranteed
to provide witty and wild banter for our night...plus, we
MIGHT have her dancing in this year's lineup....so watch closely
for her throughout the night. www.morbidoutlook.com
SPECIAL MUSICAL GUESTS: EastWinds Tribal Drumming
We are honored that the talented Jeff Webb and Casey Bond
will beproviding the masterful drumming for this event. With
decades of experience, unbelievable musicality and technique,
and a dash of bravado, who couldn't be captivated? Watch for
their end of show special segment. They will also have copies
of their CDs for sale. For more: www.chovexani.com/eastwinds
MUSIC FOR INTERMISSION: Maduro We
were lucky to be befriended by this musical genius from the
start. We were shocked that such a talented dude was also
down to earth. His steady demeanor betrayed the firey, insane
beats that would resonate with electronic wit and ferocity.
His "Twilight Sessions" was composed specifically
for 1000 Goddesses. See (and purchase) his other brilliant
works at: www.maduromusic.com
****ALSO: Lovely
Ariellah
has come all the way from California, and will be teaching
a WORKSHOP the DAY before Night of 1000 Goddesses as part
of the N1000 Weekend! For more information on her workshop,
click HERE
Aepril
Schaile is an American priestess of the Dark Goddess. Through
the ancient, and ever-evolving, art of Bellydance, Aepril
aspires to embody the archetypal Feminine shamanistically,
as both "force of nature" and "culture bringer".
Formally trained in American fusion/cabaret style bellydance,
Aepril's style of movement has developed from there into a
fusion of the gothic, the sacred and the experimental. With
a background in theater, Aepril's inspiration to dance flows
from an inner life developed, in part, during a long period
of voluntary solitude inhabiting the wild and magical New
England coast and wooded areas; as a natural shaman, she relates
to her audience with a blend of Tricksterish showmanship and
sacred mediumship. 
Ariellah
is considered one of this country's renowned tribal fusion
and gothic belly dancers. One of the original "1000 Goddesses",
this stellar performer was a founding member of the Indigo,
and has been featured in notable videos such as "Bellydance
Underworld" and the "Gothic Bellydance DVD."
Her unique style has led her to teach and perform around the
world, in festivals and workshops. We are honored that she
has again decided to join our cast of wonderful performers!
ChandraDance
blends the work of ancient, modern, and unique dance and is
the culmination of years of dance and theater work for Joharra
and Cairo. 
Crystal
is a dynamic and powerful performer. She is experienced in
Morocco
(Carolina Varga Dinicu) is considered the leading performer
& authority in her field in the U.S., Canada and abroad,
evidenced by frequent invitations to teach master seminars
and perform in Germany, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Switzerland,
Finland, Australia, Israel, Malaysia, Egypt, England, Morocco,
Brazil and Italy.
Romka
is Washington DC's premier tribal fusion duo, Belladonna and
Mavi. These dynamic dancers mingle the ancient and modern
to create a new and captivating performance experience. In
festivals, and their own DC Tribal Cafe, Romka dances along
the edge of tribal and fusion belly dance through skilled
fusion of global dance forms and cultural elements. 
Sarah
Johansson Locke is a performer, choreographer, and teacher
whose work is inspired by her experience with several forms
of ethnic and contemporary dance, theater, yoga, and somatic
modalities, as well as her training and interest in cultural
studies, international folk art traditions, and the visual
arts. She has been involved with projects ranging from site-specific
installations and street theater to international arts festivals
and large theater productions, both across the U.S. and in
Europe. Sarah began studying tribal bellydance in 1994 on
the West Coast and was a member of Gypsy Caravan before returning
to NYC to develop her own style of tribal fusion as an alchemy
of her wide ranging theater, dance, and movement experience.
She is the Artistic Director of Alchemy Performance, a company
whose current projects include Alchemy Dance Theater, the
Alchemy Tribal Collective, and collaborations with artists
in all media. She is also a facilitator of PURE (Public Urban
Ritual Experiment). Sarah currently teaches dance and yoga
and performs regularly throughout NYC and across the country.
Sera
is a performer, Instructor, and choreographer of Belly dance,
based in New York City. Sera's primary form of creative expression
is through Tribal styles of belly dance. Her movements are
rooted in Tribal Fusion Bellydance, drawing from ballet, Modern,
Jazz, hip-hop, and ATS tribal to make a blend of what she
calls East Coast Tribal. Sera is a full time teacher, and
performer at various venues in New York City, director of
Solstice, a bellydance Ensemble, and has created an instructional
belly dance video entitled "East Coast Tribal".
A former member of three nationally respected dance troupes,
Bellyqueen, Raqs Sahara, and the Silk Road Dance Company,
former artistic director of Transcendance Tribal and a founding
member of DC Tribal. In 2005, Sera's dancing was greatly influenced
when invited to India to teach dance as a means of
Serpentina
are the dynamic fusion partners Joanna and Orkideh.
Sina
began her love affair with dance sometime in the year 2000
and since then, has studied it in its various incarnations:
flamenco; Bharata Natyam; Kuchipudi; Odissi; Persian court
and folk dances; Tango; Lebanese Debke; Raqs Sharqi; American
Tribal Style bellydance; Nubian, Algerian, Turkish, Saaidi,
Khaleegi, Kurdish, Moroccan, and Tunisian folkloric dances;
Sufi whirling; hip hop; jazz; contact improv, modern; and
most recently, ballet. She believes that dance is an unending,
interdisciplinary subject, and feeds photography, sculpture,
yoga, pilates, poetry and her fascination with world cultures
into her dance. She dances with Urban Tribal Dance Company
and Desert Sin, is an acclaimed choreographer, and she has
also launched her own production company, Malice Dreaming
Productions, under which she produces theatrical dance shows
in the Los Angeles area.
The
maidens of dark, theatrical, and unorthodox Middle Eastern
based dance were the original idea of Zan Asha. For more info
on ChoveXani, click 
We
were lucky to be befriended by this musical genius from the
start. We were shocked that such a talented dude was also
down to earth. His steady demeanor betrayed the firey, insane
beats that would resonate with electronic wit and ferocity.
His "Twilight Sessions" was composed specifically
for 1000 Goddesses. See (and purchase) his other brilliant
works at: www.maduromusic.com