Enchanted Darkness: The Masquerade

Time/Date:
August 2, 2008
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Dinner: 7 p.m.
Show: 8 p.m.

This years theme is a Masquerade and we highly encourage our audience to dress up to fit the theme. This is a semi-formal event.

Cost:
$15 in advance (cash, check, cc)
$20 at the door (cash or check only)
*please bring a goods or monetary donation for the Child Crisis Center*

Pre-Purchase:
Dance Designs
929 Raynolds
El Paso,TX 79936
915-564-5626
*$2 service charge per ticket*

Or online here.

If you pre-purchase your ticket(s) please bring a valid ID to the show for verification of purchase.

All major CC/Debit cards accepted (pre-purchase only)

ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS!!

Location:
El Paso Scottish Rite Temple Theater
301 W. Missouri
El Paso, TX 79901

Gala Performance

This years gala show will feature the talents of

Ariellah,

Bio:
Ariellah studied classical ballet extensively with the Royal Academy of Dance of London for twelve years, beginning at age three. After a break from dance that included graduating from UC Davis and two years in the Peace Corps on Africa's Ivory Coast, she returned to the United States eager to learn the dance of her Moroccan ancestry.

Trying her hand at belly dance had been a lifelong goal, and was a natural extension of Ariellah's dance career and life experience. Her pursuit of belly dance began with the Folkloric style of Janine Ryle, who studied with San Francisco belly dance institution Hahbi'Ru. Ariellah eventually became a part of Janine's troupe, Danse Maghreb in which she performed mostly Algerian Berber dances. With Ariellah's roots grounded firmly in the culture and tradition of North Africa, belly dance was a natural fit for her. Janine encouraged her desire to learn from as many sources as possible, and suggested that she take classes with Rachel Brice, who is currently one of the most sought after belly dancers in the world and is currently touring internationally with The Bellydance Superstars and The Indigo. Ariellah began studying Tribal Fusion belly dance with Rachel Brice in early 2002 and became a founding member of Rachel's Indigo Belly Dance Company in 2003.

Sashi (of Ascend Tribal),

Bio:
Sashi is a talented performer, instructor and choreographer based in Orange County, California. Sashi has been a student of dance for sixteen years. She began studying African Haitian and West African dance while a student at San Francisco State University. She went on to further her experience of African dance by studying Congolese and West African drumming. In the years following, Sashi found Middle Eastern dance to be the style she was most drawn to as it spoke to her Semitic roots and aesthetic interests. She has studied many forms of Middle Eastern dance including American Tribal Style Bellydance, Tribal Fusion Bellydance, Gothic Bellydance, Egyptian and Lebanese Cabaret Bellydance, Israeli and Turkish Debke, Saidi, and Nubian Folkloric dances. She is most recognized for her alluring and dynamic performances of Gothic Tribal Fusion Bellydance and Improvisational Tribal Fusion Bellydance. Her provocative and ritualistic performances convey her talent for expressing herself through her dance. Inspired by the “Spirit of the Dance”, Sashi views bellydance as the honoring of the divine feminine by creating spiritual and physical unions through movement. This is evident as her ability to cultivate the energy that the dance evokes is translated to each audience member with a look, a gesture, a presence that is unmistakably unique to Sashi and the dance. You can see her perform solo or in collaboration with internationally acclaimed performance troupes in many venues, settings and shows. Information on her upcoming performances, workshops, tour dates and collaborations can be found at www.ascendtribaldance.com

Marjhani,

Bio:
Marjhani has been bellydancing for 7 years and teaches weekly out of Fontana and Upland, Ca. She has taken the knowledge and skill she learned in this style of dance and has married it with her love of the Death Rock/Gothic/Industrial movement. Having been in the “scene” since she was 14 years old, Marjhani brings us the “real deal” in Gothic Bellydance. Having learned much of her dance style over the years in various clubs such as: Helter Skelter, Stigmata, Club Metro, Release the Bats, Club Skandal and most recently Night Shift. Marjhani engages her audience with a new look at an all too familiar dance style. Let Marjhani “Deliver” you from the “norm” and take you into a world of dark beauty and charm.

Marjhani is available for classes and performances.

You can contact her at:

marjhani@yahoo.com

or (909)327-8069.

Saz'hrah,

Bio:
Saz'hrah has been performing and instructing professionally for over 13 years. She has become one of the most in demand performers and choreographers in the El Paso, TX and Juarez, Mexico area. Saz'hrah is choreographer, costume designer, actor, dancer and choreographer for Shakespeare on the Rocks, a nationally recognized professional Shakespeare company founded and directed by Hector Serrano. She has proven that bellydance can be taken seriously among the performing arts community and beyond.

Saz'hrah's style is characterized by her passion for her Romani roots and the goth aesthetic. She loves to bring theatrics and a little bit of the unexpected to every performance. Saz'hrah can be found at local bellydance events as well as concerts, private parties, art galleries, fire shows, hookah lounges and much more.

and many more extraordinary dark and dramatic belly dance artists from Mexico and the US at the historic El Paso Scottish Rite Temple Theater. A full dinner will be provided with each ticket purchase. All proceeds (after expenses) will be donated to the Child Crisis Center of El Paso.