Arabian Nights Performance : March 29, 2008 @ 7:30pm
Performances by: The Shimmy Sisters : Leilainia, Nicole Adelaide and Gallegos y Baile Flamenco : Linda Gallegos

El Paso’s native daughters, Leilainia and Adelaide Marcus, better knows as award winning-belly dance troupe, The Shimmy Sisters, return to visit the Sun City as they perform at the UTEP Dinner Theater on Saturday, March 29, 2008. We invite you to embark on a cultural journey through dance, music, and the mystique of their belly dance style they term Cabaret Collage.

The Shimmy Sisters will be joined by several El Paso/Juarez friends-- Lorriane from Dance Alive, Flamenco by Linda Gallegos y Baile Flamenco, Kareesha Willow and the Divine Desert Dancers, Bella Fusion, Anala, Saz’hrah: Gypsy Fire Fusion, Bellydance from Juarez: The Bellydance Institute, and many more, for a night of enchanting dance.

AMAZING WORKSHOPS: March 29, Saturday.

WORKSHOPS: 9:45 - 4:30 : all workshops 90 min.s
9:45 - 11:15 Yoga for Dancers - All Levels
11:30 - 1:00 Bellydance taught by Leilainia - All Levels
1:15 - 2:45 Bellydance Combos taught by The Shimmy Sisters - Level 2
3:00 - 4:30 Flamenco taught by Linda Gallegos - All Levels

**Workshop discription and teacher bio below. **

PRICES:
Show $15 plus service charge
workshops $25 ea. plus service charge

Pay by March 15 take $5 off. Coupon Above.
Coupon Applys for one or all the workshops individually redeemable only at the box office.

Purchse tickets through: Utep Box Office or Ticket Master.

WORKSHOP INFO

9:45 – 11:15 am Yoga for Dancers with Leah Diore

The proper foundation will build a beautiful and stable temple.  As a dancer, your body is a temple.  Yoga can provide stability, balance and strength to your temple.  In this workshop you will learn some of the basic asanas or poses in yoga and how to practice them in a way that will benefit your dance and the health of your spine.  Yoga teaches how to initiate movement from breath and how to focus one’s energy into space.  Taking these principles into your dance will create a more focused movement vocabulary that embodies intention.  This class is formulated specifically to belly dancers who wish to move into backbends properly or for dancers who are looking to hone in on keeping their bodies aligned while showing off hip and rib isolations.  There is also a section of meditation that helps focus the mind/body connection when trying to remember choreography at a muscular level.  Join us for a great time that will serve as a key building block in the beautiful art of dance.

Biography for Leah Diore

Leah realized the importance of yoga for dancers while she was in college as a dance major.  She had practiced yoga since she was a child and supplemented her dance education with yoga classes and workshops.  Upon graduating from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada with a BA in dance, Leah became a certified yoga instructor and began to teach yoga while living in Las Vegas.  In 2003, Leah relocated to Louisville, Kentucky and co-founded SILK Belly Dance and Studio SILK.  Leah produced, choreographed for and danced in numerous belly dance and modern dance productions in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana while continuing to teach belly dance and yoga.  Leah developed and taught a class called “Yoga for Dancers” and added yoga-based exercises to her belly dance classes as well.  Currently Leah resides in El Paso where she performs and teaches belly dance and instructs a variety of yoga classes.  For more information on Leah and her class schedules please email her at leahdiore@yahoo.com.

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11:30 – 1:00pm – Bellydance with Leilainia: Using the dance to get into your body. (Instead of using the body to get into the dance.)

Leilainia’s workshop is great for all levels of dancers beginners to advance. She takes the principles of Yoga to create a balanced posture that will not only help your performance but also your day-to-day life. She takes dance out of the studio and into your everyday life.  She uses the energy principles of Qigong to create the spontaneous improve that is life on stage.  This workshop will help you get into your body in a new comfortable way that will create balance and stability.

Biography for Leilainia:
Leilainia is a second-generation dancer. She combines Egyptian Cabaret, Gypsy and Tribal belly dance to create a new visual allure to her performances. She performs and teaches internationally. She currently has 7 classes and over 100 students in San Diego. She co-founded the fusion and traditional belly dance troupe “The Shimmy Sisters “ with her Sister Adelaide, which has won various awards such as Ultimate Troupe Hips of Fury and People’s Choice Bellydance Troupe of the Universe. Middle Eastern Dance is her life’s passion and she is excited to share with you on March 29!
Leilainia has studied with international belly dance stars such as De Ann Adams, Amaya, Sandra Catena, Bert Balladine, Judith Ann Marcus, Rachael George, and Mesmera.
For more info and photos go to Leilainia's website: www.leilainia.com

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1:15 – 2:45pm Belly dance with the Shimmy Sisters: Duet Combos with The Shimmy Sisters

*Bellydance movement knowledge required*
Come Solo or with a dance partner!
Isolation Technique, Fun Duet Choreography perfect for Duets or troupes.
Bring water, a smile and hip scarf.

Biography for The Shimmy Sisters :
 The Shimmy Sisters are a professional belly dance troupe based in San Diego, Ca. directed by Leilainia and Adelaide. The sisters style is a unique blend of belly dance forms they term as Cabaret Collage. They fuse traditional Middle-Eastern dance with styles of modern, salsa, African, Indian, ballet and hip-hop, to bring out the essential elements of who they are. 

They meld their talents and passions to elicit a more personal response from the audience. They work alone and together learning to connect with and touch the audience in new ways allowing the viewers to forget where they are and simply experience the moment. They are an electricity of inspiration; dancing with their whole heart and letting the performance flow out of them. Their contagious energy led them to become the Ultimate Troupe Winners of “Hips Of Fury” 2006 and People’s Choice Bellydancer of the Universe 2007.

“They were born into a culture of creativity by their dancer mother and artist/musician father. The sisters were taught technical belly dance moves and Arabic rhythms, but more importantly, they were taught that this serene dance is an art form generated from the heart and ultimately done for ones self.
The Shimmy Sisters teach and perform internationally.

Dance, is not only what The Shimmy Sisters love and do, it is who they are.

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3:00- 4:30pm Fiery Flamenco  with Linda Gallegos
All Levels
Learn the ancient flamenco dance that so embodies the fiery gypsy spirit -- basic footwork, gypsy dance moves and combinations.

Biography for Linda Gallegos :
Linda Gallegos is a flamenco dancer with years of experience and a passion for the art form. Linda studied under reknowned international teachers and is a performer, choreographer and director of her dance company, Gallegos y Baile Flamenco. She is known throughout the region for her performances of Flamenco and Spanish dance with professional companies, including being a soloist and guest artist.