Mahisha, Santa Fe, NM-formally of Colorado Springs, CO

              Mahisha is a national and international performer and instructor. She has been dancing and performing for over 50 years. She has extensive expertise, knowledge, education, in the Middle Eastern dance styles and is well-known both nationally and internationally.

 Mahisha's style and humorous, dynamic mode of teaching have made her a much sought after instructor and performer through the years.  Her love of dance has been what has seen her through many of the lessons faced in life. Mahisha has found that an active and renewing knowledge of one's self fosters a sense of belonging on a universal level as well as a sense of inner peace and well-being.

Midnight Mirage, Ogden, UT, dancers Jamileh and Calypso

Dance has always been a passion in Jamileh's life, training in jazz, tap and ballet, and since 1993 has extensively focused on Middle Eastern Dance training.  Jamileh performs regularly at many special events and has been featured on “E” television at the Sundance film festival, Senior Olympic Games, and the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. Jamileh competes regularly as a soloist and as a member of the Midnight Mirage Dance Company and has been awarded numerous titles at nation wide belly-dance competitions.

           
             Calypso, at the 2001 Double Crown Belly Dance Competition,  won the alternative music category, and along with Jamileh, was named Duet of the year, as well as capturing the title of Egyptian Dancer of the Universe 2003 at the Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition in California. She has been a guest artist for numerous events including an exclusive Sundance Film Festival Celebration hosted by "E" entertainment television, Ballet West's 2001 fundraising dinner, and the 2000 and 2001 Utah Senior games. Calypso incorporates her previous dance training with her Middle Eastern dance, giving Raks Sharqi an exciting modern twist.

Samira Il Naia, Boise, ID

Samira is the director, instructor, and choreographer for Cairo Fusion.

In 1997, her background of various dance forms led her to her true love, studying and performing bellydance with SiDonia Om Dunia and the Beli Danse Academie. Samira  began dancing at the professional level in 2000 as an independent soloist and premiere dancer of Nada Brahma, an eclectic Boise-based band and has frequently collaborated with Portland, OR band Brothers of the Baladi, and on occasion with Jeremiah Soto of Solace.  In 2004, Cairo Fusion was born and since then, dance has taken on a whole new meaning to Samira, she finds no greater pleasure than sharing the stage with her girls!  In solo performance, she seeks to demonstrate the importance of audience participation while specializing in the art of progressive belly-dance fusion, improvisational dance, and the essential dancer/live musician connection

Shimmy Shakti, Twin Falls, ID, dancers Christina Gonzales and Jenna Harder

Christina Gonzalez became a Studio Evolve certified Yoga Instructor in 2002 with Paul Olsen and Elianna Dunlap. Christina taught public yoga classes at Falls Ave Fitness and Gold’s Gym. In 2005, Christina was deeply honored to be asked to join her Instructor, Paul Olsen, to co-instruct the Evolve Yoga Teacher Trainer Program. The Evolve Teacher Trainer Program took nine individuals through a 100 hour intensive. She also teaches beginning Belly Dance, co-directs Troupe Shimmy Shakti, and is co-owner of Studio Shimmy Shakti.

Jenna Harder became an Evolve certified Yoga Instructor in the spring of 2004.

Jenna is a deeply compassionate, intuitive, and fearless woman who teaches yoga from the soul. Recently she was able to attend an intensive workshop with Manju Jois. In addition to teaching Gentle Yoga, Jenna teaches beginning Belly Dance, co-directs Troupe Shimmy Shakti, and is co-owner of Studio Shimmy Shakti.

Unmata, Sacramento CA, dancers Amy Sigil and Rachel

DeCant

Amy Sigil is owner and director of Hot Pot Studio in Sacramento, CA, home of UNMATA.  For the past decade, Amy has been developing, teaching, and performing modern belly-dance fusion and her distinct vocabulary of Improvisational Tribal Style. She danced as half of Haruspicy Dancecraft for several years, and then formed the professional fusion troupe UNMATA in 2003.  UNMATA has brought home awards such as Belly-dance Troupe of the Year 2004, Belly-dance Troupe USA 2004, Ensemble of the Year 2005, and Tribal Fusion Group of the Universe 2007. 

Amy and UNMATA teach workshops and perform nationally and internationally at events such as The Spirit of the Tribes, Northern Migration, Tribal Fest, Tribal Quest Northwest, TribalCon, and Tribal Café.

Rashel DeCant Works for the USDA at the Western Human Nutrition Research Center on the UC Davis campus as a Project Coordinator and a Support Scientist for Kevin Laguero. Rashel dances fulltime with Amy Sigil at Hot Pot studio and is a member of Unmata, a professional troupe that travels the world. She teaches the intro to belly-dance classes at Hot Pot Studios.