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Mas Uda Middle Eastern Dancers |
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Meet The Mas Uda Dancers... ~See the Rent a Dancer and Bellydance Party info at the bottom of the this page~ Kashani, Troupe Director
Kashani
began dancing with Mas Uda Middle Eastern Dancers in 1989 and began
directing Mas-Uda in early 1992. Prior to that, she took
belly
dance classes from a variety of instructors and danced with other local
groups. She has taught beginning, intermediate and
performance
classes since 1992 in a variety of settings: wellness
programs at
workplaces, the YMCA, city parks departments, ballet schools, work
sites and at her private studio. She is a staff writer
(teaching
tips column) for the Belly Dancer magazine and staff writer (troupe
talk) for Jareeda. She was Jareeda’s featured
dancer for
September 2005. She is also a member of the Middle Eastern
Dance
Association of Canada.
Kashani is known for her interest in the culture and music of the Middle East and for including this in her teaching. She offers workshops in zills, in troupe management and many other topics and feels that knowledge of the rhythms is essential to learning the dance itself. She also hosts monthly rhythm circles and is the scheduler for dancers at The Great Cuisine of India restaurant in Olympia. Kashani LOVES to dance and really enjoys the camaraderie that develops among the dancers. For more info, contact Kashani at (360)459-3694 or berubej@comcast.net
Amira
Amira
is a
graduate of Gonzaga University's Exercise Science Program and is
currently studying toward her doctorate of Physical Therapy, so she
doesn't get home to dance with the troupe much. She is the
daughter of troupe director Kashani. She loves to dance to
drums!!
Originally from New York, Cindy has lived in nine states in the past twenty-five years. She started taking Jazz as an adult and fell in love with all kinds of dance. She has taken various styles including Ballroom and Latin as well as Middle Eastern Dance. Having moved to Washington recently, Cindy began dancing with Mas Uda in January 2007. She would like to thank Mas Uda for welcoming her and making her part of their family. She looks forward to many exciting adventures with her new found dance sisters.
Damali We miss Damali. Although she danced with us only a short time, she became a dear friend to many of us. We wish her well wherever her travels may have taken her. If life works that way, we'd love to welcome her back to our group.
Ginger started dancing in Oregon in 1993 when a class was offered through the parks and recreation department in her small coastal town. She immediately knew this dance, with all its beautiful and exciting movements, was for her and started performing shortly after. Due to family and work schedule conflicts, she took 10 years off and only danced in her living room, always knowing she would return when the time was right. In December of 2006, she moved to Washington and saw Mas-Uda dancers at the Ethnic Celebration and knew the time had come. She has enjoyed learning new names, new songs and new dances and looks forward to once again, being a part of that beautiful, womanly art called belly dance.
Janaan A busy student whose other pursuits include Irish dance, tennis, fencing and honors and advanced placement classes, Janaan still finds time for performance with Mas Uda. She enjoys dancing to live music as well as to pre-recorded and has developed many of her own choreographies. She also has a special 'knack' for creative costuming.
Ketzia
Ketzia is currently taking time off from troupe dancing - she is missed and we hope she will return again one day. Ketzia was a long time troupe member who enjoys making her costumes look fabulous. She is well-known in the group for her 'turban expertise' and has helped numerous dancers with head dresses. Her quick sense of humor, her thoughtful manner and her kindness is appreciated and missed by the entire troupe.
Kimana
Kimana joined Mas Uda shortly after watching their performance at Lacey Fun Fair in 2005. Kimana enjoys the camaraderie of the troupe and learning about the music, culture, costumes and dance. With no previous dance experience and being a ‘tomboy’ all of her life, finding her feminine-self has been challenging but awakening. She also enjoys being one of the troupe photographers and doing arts projects such as designing dance themed greeting cards. Kimana is also one of Mas Uda's 3 costuming consultants!
Lilith  Lilith is seen here, dancing at the 2005 Olympia Arts Walk Lilith
danced with the troupe for about 3 years, originally to counter balance
the
Linda
I have always loved dancing and long admired the freedom it provides. My first bellydance classes were taken in 2002 and I practiced and performed on my own until joining with Mas-Uda earlier this year. Bellydance drew me in with it's beautiful costumes, graceful and sensual movements, powerful rhythms and variety of performers. What attracts me most to bellydance is how it serves as a means of keeping in touch with my body, soul and the beauty within. Linda has recently moved out of the area and we'll
miss dancing with her!
Marhaba
Marhaba has studied dance for quite some time and currently takes class from various teachers in a variety of styles, including tribal. Marhaba enjoys taking as many workshops as she can and is also an avid quilter. She can be counted on to find whatever fabric or trim the troupe needs to complete a specific costume piece. She is a wonderful addition to our troupe, and we all want to raid her costume closet!!!
Rayya
Rayya is seen here, at Med Fest 2007 Rayya
and her daughter Razilee both began taking belly dance classes with Kashani in 2005. Rayya has
since taught beading workshops and has made many gorgeous accessories for her
costumes. She very much enjoys her time with the troupe both on
stage and off.
Razilee Razilee started taking classes from Kashani along with her mother Rayya. She has enjoyed her time with the troupe, although she is now taking time off following the birth of her son. He is a joy and the troupe jokingly refers to him as "little Zorba", since Razilee was learning our "Zorba" dance before he was born. We hope Razilee will return to dance with us again before long!
Sahira Rose
Sahira
Rose has been studying
belly dance for over three years. While in college she was in search of
an activity that could fill in some free time and offer the chance to
get fit and meet new people. After taking a belly dance class she
became absolutely obsessed with it.
Sanura
Sanura came to belly dance from the world of ballet. She joined Mas Uda in 2003 when she saw them after a ballet performance at the Lacey Fun Fair. She enjoys the sense of freedom and grounded-ness of belly dance. Sanura also loves the thrill of performing and the bond that it creates between the dancers. She sees belly dance as one of the few places to find positive female energy in our modern world, and feels lucky to have so many strong, independent women in her life. Sanura is also Mas Uda's new (fledgling!) web mistress. She is excited to have the opportunity to fill this role in the troupe.
Shoshanna
Shoshanna has been with the troupe for about a year now, having previously taken dance in Northern California with Fatima al Wahid. Shoshanna enjoys the performances and other activities of this busy troupe. She loves the costumes and is especially enamored of more tribal style costuming. Shoshanna is also one of Mas Uda's 3 costuming consultants!
Soroya Soroya fell in
love with the beauty of WA and wonderful summer weather.
She now spends at least 6 months each year here at her home
in a 55+ adult community.
Tajah Taja has taken class from a variety of instructors including about 2 years from Kashani. She and her friend Zara are the co-directors of Raks Saar-Rah, in the Centralia area. Taja occasionally performs with Mas Uda, although most often she is performing with Raks Saar-Rah. She loves dancing and enjoys her time with both troupes.
Triskell
I have been doing folk
dancing for nearly six years, and in the last years I have felt
increasingly drawn to very feminine and sensual dances from e.g. Turkey
or Armenia. I thought Middle Eastern dancing would be a good way to
pursue this interest a bit further, and right then one of my folk dance
colleagues brought a Mas Uda flier to our class... Well, wasn't that a
sign? I started taking lessons from Kashani in September 2005, and soon
what was supposed to be an addition to my folk dancing became much
more. After seeing the troupe perform at this year's Ethnic Celebration
Festival, after dancing with them for the first time at the
Candlelighters event in April, and most of all after realizing what a
great community of beautiful, brilliant, warm-hearted women I have
found, I guess I can say it for sure: I have been infected with the
belly dance virus!
I
have only lived in the States for two and a half years, so I
am infinitely confused by American pop culture references during our
classes. I, in turn, confuse troupe members' pets by speaking to them
in my native Polish.
Yeliz
Yeliz has been belly dancing since spring 2006, and a member of Mas
Uda since January 2007. She has tried a number of sports and activities
over the years, but nothing stuck, including an unsuccessful 2-month
stint at jazz dance in 4th grade. Until now.
Belly dance has brought together several interests: sewing/crafting, being physically active, and music performance. Having played the clarinet throughout school has paid off (!), helping with timing and memory. Yeliz is happy to serve as one of the troupe costume consultants and to help our fabulous web mistress Sanura with Internet publicity.
Zara-Neva
Zara-Neva has belly danced since the late 1970's. She enjoys teaching "women's dance", encouraging students to liberate and develop their dancer within. She currently teaches at Centralia College and The Flying Tiger Exercise Arts Center in Centralia. She is co-director of Raks Saar-Rah and a member of Mas Uda Dancers.
Zatarra
Zatarra
is a former member and served as the Mas-Uda Web Mistress for several months. She took Kashani's beginner class a few times
before moving on to the intermediate, where she started to perform.
While new to dance, and still shy about performing, she has an innate love for the culture, music, dance, and costume. She grew up doing Rendezvous (Fur Trappers/Mountain Men era recreation) with her family, which gave her an appreciation for "ethnic" costumery, and a sense of "how can I accomplish Z with only X and Y?". While not
professing to be an expert of anything in particular (or anything at all, for that matter!), she still loves to figure out what to do to add to her ever-growing closet of costume pieces.
She has moved North, out of the Mas Uda area and we miss her, while wishing her well in her future endeavors. She hopes to return to her dance sisters within the next year or two. 
Zemira Zemira has
danced with Mas Uda longer than any other member and enjoys
her time with the other dancers, especially dancing with
her daughter who is also a troupe member.
Special Occasion? Rent a dancer! You can rent a dancer or dancers
for birthday parties and other special occasions. Make
your next celebration unique and memorable with live
bellydancing. See dancer profiles above! What sort of party is a belly
dance party? For more info, contact Kashani (360)459-369 |
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Copyright
1999-Present Questions or comments about the website? Email Sanura |
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