Spirits of Fire
Lee
Almost five years ago, Lee privately organized a belly dance class for herself and some friends on a whim. She still shakes her head in amazement at how hard she fell for the music and the movement - and what was coming down the road because of it. She has studied traditional Oriental dance with remarkable local performers, but found her passion in the steely urban, sometimes vaudeville fusion grooves of the east and west coasts. Once a darkling, always a darkling, Lee is particularly devoted to gothic belly dance (it's rumored the Dark Side has cookies). She is also the Creative Director of a little gothic production company and a hardcore blogger on the subject of life and living.
Lesley
From ballet and tap to jazz and hip hop, there was no way Lesley was ever going to sit still. Swept into the beauty and strength of belly dance five years ago, her interest and training have turned to Tribal Fusion. She has traveled broadly and studied extensively with Rachel Brice and Suhaila Salimpour and is pursuing advanced certification in the Salimpour method. Additional workshops included bhangra and Indian temple dance, and a new love of eastern combinations and stylizations was born. Lesley has recently launched the Bohemian Underground, offering tribal/urban fusion classes in the Twin Cities area (after much pleading and begging from the locals).
Saahira
Don't let her elegant postures and luxurious Oriental Cabaret moves fool you; Saahira is a firecracker. Turn your back for one second, and the legendary stomach flutters of this New Zealand native give way to a beehive and fringe pants in a sassy Latin fusion number that would make Jennifer Lopez blush. Saahira has studied traditional Oriental dance as well as folkloric dance for many years, but is game for any challenge - whether it be a gypsy skirt choreography to a Balkan drinking song or a Bollywood extravaganza. A brilliant costume designer and animal rights activist, Saahira is also a professional photographer with a growing national and international reputation.