Art of the Belly Teacher

ART OF THE BELLY

DETAILED WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
DATES/TIMES
BIOS

IRINA

BIO
Kenzie is a second-generation belly dancer from Buffalo, NY. Kenzie’s journey into Middle Eastern dance began as a child when she would follow her mother, Faaria, to belly dance classes and performances just to watch. She began taking Faaria’s classes as a teen and quickly realized that this dance form was her calling. Kenzie earned her BFA in Dance from SUNY Fredonia and now serves as the assistant director of Oasis Dance Center in Buffalo, NY. Kenzie was honored to bring home the silver medal in the Professional category at the Euro Crown Competition in Thessaloniki, Greece (October 2016) and 1st place in the Professional Cabaret
category at the East Coast Classic Festival & Competition in Virginia (January 2017) In 2020, Kenzie was selected as a member of the European cast of Bellydance Evolution;The Jungle Book and performed in the world premiere in Hanover, Germany. She is thrilled to be teaching two workshops at Art of the Belly 2024!
Website: www.kenzie.dance
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/kenziebellydance
Instagram: @kenzie_bellydance

Webdesign & Graphics by Mickey Gibson

Kenzie

Irina

Jo Wall

KENZIE

JO WALL

AndAOne
Not sure where to start with cymbals? Struggling to find the downbeat? This workshop is great for beginners or intermediate cymbal players who are looking to start their cymbal journey or start fine tuning their musicality and cymbal playing. We still start with an introduction to Jamila Salimpours unique cymbal format and then integrate them into combos to get you moving and grooving in no time. Already feeling confident with your cymbals? Jump in and get some optional layers to challenge your dancing!

BIO

Jo Wall is New Jersey dancer with a home away from home in the DelMarVa area. She’s an extroverts extrovert who brings energy and feeling everywhere she goes. She’s a part of the Salimpour Online Institute and trains in multiple styles of dance, including Egyptian, Turkish, West African as well as studies in modern and contemporary dancing.

Jo studied regularly at The Drum and Dance Learning Center with Kim Leary for many years and has become certified as an Intermediate 300 level dancer under the Salimpour Institute and is working on her 400 Performance level certification. Her enthusiasm for training has taken her across the country and even across the world to sharpen her skills and hone her craft.

Known for her love of lifting- she brings quads as big as her personality to the floor and a love of body awareness as much as a passion for drills and cymbals. She performs regularly at local restaurants as well as private parties and teaches a variety of workshops through the tri-state area.

Modern Dance for Belly Dancers – All levels
Enrich the dynamic range of your dance and explore new ways to think about movement! While training in western dance forms is by no means a requirement for belly dancers, exploring modern dance concepts is a wonderful way to find new approaches to your dance.
Kenzie will lead you through a series of movement exercises and we’ll discover how these
concepts transcend dance style with two short combinations. No modern dance/western dance experience is needed for this workshop. All levels of belly dancers will benefit from the concepts presented in this workshop!

Old is Gold – Vintage Combos - Intermediate/Advanced level
Join Kenzie for a workshop that is focused on vintage styling! We will travel back in time and
explore angles, movement pathways and movement qualities that are reminiscent of Golden
Era and vintage belly dance, and put everything together into combinations inspired by some of
the most beloved stars from these time periods.

"Karma” - A Fusion Sword Choreography excerpt

In this sword fusion workshop, we will focus on unusual and dynamic techniques, meant to unite you with your prop as one through a series of elegant combinations, which will be put together into a choreography. We are going to focus on the creative movement possibilities that can be done before balancing the sword on the head as well as working to take the upper body off the central axis. With lots of gentle drills and optional layers, we will work on deepening and strengthening our technique, creating clean lines in space and within our bodies and improving our isolation technique. If you don't have a sword, most of the choreography can be executed with a cane - only a few moments are sword-specific.

"Femme Fatale"

A dark fusion choreography with a focus on strong technique, smooth, buttery transitions, emoting a powerful presence all while dancing on a dime! In this dance, we will explore power poses, clean lines and how to radiate energy while not taking up too much physical space. We will focus on detailed articulated isolations, with lots of optional layers, if you are craving a challenge.

"Make your Skirt Sing"

Join Irina for this workshop, focusing on fun fusion dance combinations that are centered on dynamic and exciting use of a skirt (must be able to stretch your arms out fully with the skirt continuing to cover your legs). Grab your favorite full-length skirt (or a veil that can be tucked into your hips) and join in to work on long lines, detailed articulations and fun flourishes with fabric. In addition to unusual skirt tricks we will also work on a few turning techniques, since spinning with the skirt is one of the most beautiful sights to behold.