Maria is an award-winning professional belly dance artist based in Santa Clara, California. She is the house belly dancer at three popular bay area restaurants and a frequent guest at many Bay Area Arabic, Turkish, Moroccan and Persian public and private venues. Her elegant and cheerful dance style made her a sought-after performer in the Middle Eastern community. She has had the honor of performing for audiences in Turkey, Mexico, Russia and the United States.

Originally from Moscow, Russia, Maria fell in love with Middle Eastern dance while traveling in Egypt and Tunisia. Since moving to the United States, Maria has dedicated herself to the study of belly dance with her teacher, Sandra, who continues to be a major influence and inspiration for her.

Workshops with well known teachers such as Raqia Hassan, Tito, Aziza, Astryd Farah, Magda, Jillina, Sonia, Bozenka and many others have further enhanced Maria's dance style. She also regularly travels to Moscow where she uses the opportunity to study with famous Russian belly dancers.

Maria holds a degree in Economics and an MBA. Her other passions besides dancing include travelling, figure skating and visual arts.

In 2009 Maria won Belly Dancer of the Year Pageant.
Maria's Video

Khalilah is a professional bellydancer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She performs regularly at several Bay Area restaurants, as well as festivals, competitions and private events.
Khalilah's Video

Teaching and Performing at major festivals and events across the country and around the globe, tribal-fusion powerhouse UNMATA's high-energy brand of dance has packed the house and electrified audiences at venues of all sizes. Whether using fire, swords, or just the sweat off their own bodies, UNMATA always satisfies! Amy Sigil, Director.
Unmata's Video

Ayesha's Oasis Dance Company is a repertory Bellydance Troupe located in Medford, Oregon. The critically acclaimed company has astonished audiences everywhere with an attractive combination of technique and onstage personality. They have won many awards and specialize in intricate, precise Zil (finger cymbal) playing and innovative choreographies.
Ayesha's Oasis Dance Company Video

Back this year by popular demand, Verbatim is a tribal bellydance fusion troupe directed by Amy Sigil and based in Sacramento. Formed in 2004, and currently playing with the influences of bellydance, hula and hip hop; this group creates an exotic flavor on a rock 'n roll palette.
Verbatim's Video

Following her intense life-long fascination of bellydance, Fiji started dancing under the instruction of Chris Dahl after moving to the small town of Fort Jones in Northern California. With a strong foundation, and desiring even more of the dance, she was fortunate to have found Ayesha in Medford and began classes with the imagined goal of at some time being good enough to dance with Ayesha's troupe. Her dream came true when she was invited into Ayesha's Oasis Dance Company in 2006. Fiji loves to perform both solo and with troupe and now can't image life without the dance! She has earned the titles: "Grand Dancer 2009" as well as "Congeniality, Belly Dancer of the Year 2009", and "Goddess 2nd Runner Up, Bellydancer USA Competition 2009".
Fiji's Video

Winning both 2008 and 2009 Belly Dancer USA "People's Choice" titles, Maia Alexandra is a dynamic dancer with a flair for fun and best known for her on-stage charisma and technical ability. Dancing from a very young age, she has been a member of several professional troupes in the Rogue Valley and San Francisco Bay area, embracing styles as divergent as Jazz, Modern, Tap, and Ballet, as well as the art of Bellydance. Maia is a natural stage performer, and her enchanting style is beloved by audiences everywhere she entertains.
Maia Alexandra's Video

Idena loves being a woman, and finds belly dance the ultimate medium for expressing her feminine story! She has been a dancer and choreographer for various theater productions, and a member of Troupe Shalimar and Aiwa She Raqa of Ashland, Oregon. Asya was her first teacher (1995-1997) and since then she has enjoyed the privilege of studying with many of her dance heroes, notably the brilliant star Ayesha. She livens up many festivals and celebrations with her artistry and moxie.

Known to her friends as "Sammy, Yeah!" or "Dances with Penguins," Samiyah is an accomplished dancer who divides her time between home in Medford, Oregon, and working down at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, where she also teaches bellydance! In 1995, she began dancing with Ayesha and Troupe Mandala, now known as Ayesha's Oasis Dance Company, and has performed in three of their many 1st place achievements.

Deborah joined Ayesha's Oasis Dance Company in January 2003, after dancing with Yalla Habibi, Ayesha's second troupe, for a year and a half. Prior to moving to Oregon in 2000, Deborah danced with Sherry Brier's troupe, Mystic East, in Mill Valley, California for 8 years. She had the privilege of taking her first Middle Eastern dance classes in 1972 from Jamila Salimpour. Now, a veteran of 13 Rakkasah troupe performances and numerous other performances, Deborah loves the friendships and fun of dancing with the troupe. She has earned "3rd Place Duet" title at Belly Dancer USA 2010 and "1st Place People's Choice Goddess" title at Belly Dancer USA 2009.

Ayesha first began teaching and performing Bellydance over 30 years ago in California. Her main teacher was Karima, a former student of Jamila Salimpour. In 1979, she and Denise Mannion formed Troupe Mandala which went on to win numerous awards on the West Coast. In 2003 she reformed the troupe and changed the name to Ayesha's Oasis Dance Co., which went on to take first place in 3 major competitions. Ayesha is known for her intricate (and fast!) zil playing and she loves to try to stay ahead of the trends by creating innovative and exciting choreographies for her troupe.

Jewels' passionate appreciation of this ancient, traditional art form will leave you spellbound and mesmerized. Her varied background in ballet, tribal-style bellydance, Egyptian Raks Sharqi, American Cabaret and traditional Middle Eastern folkloric dances combine to make her dancing style truly her own. Bellydance has become her obsession, her joy, her lifelong passion. Her dancing infuses the soul with energy, pure joy and light.

In 2009, Jewels won Miss Emerald Rain Professional.
Jewels' Video

The Great Lavini and the Lovely Lotus combine magic, Victorian-themed costumes, and bellydance!

Fort Jones own Valley Girls are back again and ready to entertain. Paula Johnson, Sharon Stebbins, Karen Schrader and Director, Fiji (Deborah Alves).

Master percussionist Gordon Kamm on Devul, Dombecs, Riq, Def & Tar.