BAMBA Founders And Belly Dance Teachers In Birmingham And Midlands
Our Belly Dance Patrons
Sandra teaches weekly classes, one of which has been held at the same venue every Tuesday for the last 27 years! She has been performing for almost as long.
Lorraine Frew (Loredana) has performed internationally, trained with many well-known artists, including Jo Wise and Hossam Ramzy, and even been a bellydance coach for the BBC.Janet Keates
Now semi-retired, Janet has taught bellydance to beginners and professionals for more than 15 years. She specialises in choreography and American Tribal Style Bellydance (ATS). Janet has danced in many troupes, most notably Khalgani, which she formed in 1995.
She was the first to bring ATS to the UK back in 1998. It has been a huge success, with Khalgani becoming the leading troupe for American Tribal Style in the UK. The troupe is still going strong today.
Janet says one of her most unusual events was teaching Coventry magistrates to bellydance in a court room on their Open Day. She has appeared on many TV and radio shows, including This Morning and Radio WM.
She says: “Though I’m very proud of my career in bellydancing, nothing can compare to the wonderful friendships I made along the way. That’s why I’m proud to be a patron of BAMBA.”
Janet can be contacted through her website www.hadassah.co.uk
BAMBA's Belly Dance In Birmingham Founders
Dawn O’Brien
Director and choreographer of Khalgani, the UKs first Tribal Bellydance troupe, she specialises in Cabaret and Tribal styles of bellydance and has pioneered the development of Cyber style. A sought after performer and instructor, Dawn dances and teaches at many UK festivals and corporate events and is a fully insured member of Equity. She has also been involved in many radio and TV projects. She is available for solo performances throughout the Midlands and as part of Khalgani. Check out this brilliant bellydance troupe at www.myspace.com/khalgani For more information, call Dawn on 0121 680 2744 or 07703031192. |
Debbie Williams
She has bellydanced in Harrods for Mohammed Al Fayed and on one occasion even performed for the Turkish Ambassador. She has taught many private and public workshops and corporate events. In the early days Debbie trained with teachers Janet Keates and Rita Barker, also attending many,many workshops then taking two years’ private tuition with Janet focusing on choreography and safety, as well as studying techniques of the dance and with other Belly dance teachers. She continues to add to her skills even more with regular trips to Cairo for private tuition. She also attends many festivals in Egypt. Debbie continues to teach four classes a week in the Midlands and often arranges workshops and haflas (bellydance parties). Debbie was one of the organisers of Birmingham’s first bellydance festival, held in July 2010. Debbie is also a member of Equity. For more information call Debbie on 0121 241 0728, or email her at debbiewilliamsjbw@googlemail.com or visit - www.birminghambellydance.co.uk Free online classes click tab at top |
A lifelong dancer, Dawn discovered Arabic dance in 1996 and began teaching and performing professionally in 1998.
Debbie has been dancing since 1995 began teaching in 2000. She’s had a great deal of experience as a solo artist and has performed at many restaurants and private events such as weddings, anniversaries and corporate events.BAMBA Original Founder Members
Diane Cox
She is available for corporate and private performances in the West Midlands area. Call Diane on 02476 307 385 or visit her website at www.qetesh.net Tracy Griffiths
Tracy dances solo under the name of Tahira and is available for all kinds of events in the West Midlands area. Call on 07920 085 443 or email Tracy at tahirah-dance@hotmail.co.uk Val Rainbow
She now teaches regular classes around the Stratford-upon-Avon area and also organises various events. Val is also artistic director of Miramar and the recently formed Shuvani Gypsy Bellydance troupe. For more information, go to www.bastetbellydance.co.uk or take a look at Facebook sites Bastet Bellydance and Miramar. There’s also a MySpace page for Miramar Bellydancers. Maureen Pemberton
Also a Flamenco dancer (since 1998) she keeps up with Flamenco dance training in Seville, Spain, once a year. She has studied various dance and cultural related subjects, such as Anatomy and Physiology, Nutrition, Women’s Health, Women’s studies (M.A) as well as aspects of Middle Eastern cultures, Literature, Arts and Music, Sociology and relevant teaching methods and styles for dance. She writes both creatively and factually about dance its histories, techniques, arts and cultures, so helping the students she teaches have a better understanding of the dance. For more information please contact: Claire Dutton
She now trains with Sheila Whites class and is also a member of the Salmacis Bellydance Troupe which performs at local festivals, events and private parties. She enjoys exploring the different styles of bellydance and regularly attends workshops and bellydance events to add to her skills. Contact number: 0121 604 5137 Nicola Coote
Contact number: 0751 101 1638
|
Maria D’Silva
Maria says: “Teaching bellydancing is my passion. I love the whole process, from teaching the basics to coaching and advising professional dancers.” If you would like to attend one of Maria’s classes or workshops, please visit: Phone Number: 07957 198 750 Barbara Street
Barbara is also a principal member of Khalgani, American Tribal Style troupe, and Khalgani Devils of Fusion - both run by Dawn O’Brien. An experienced dancer comfortable dancing to improvised or choreographed pieces, Barbara has danced at many shows, haflas, festivals, Artsfest, club nights, hen parties and demonstrations she has appeared on DVDs and even danced on the radio! For more information contact Barbara Street on: Sheila White
Three years ago, encouraged by Debbie, Sheila began teaching and performing. Sheila is available for workshops, corporate work, restaurant bookings, hen parties and charity performances (expenses depend on distance travelled) in the West Midlands area. For more information email Sheila at sheilapwhite@btinternet.com Lisa McKain
Lisa not only studied dance but also learning classical Arabic language and the intricacies of Arabic music. She has been fortunate enough to perform with some of the great musicians such as Ibrahim el Minyawi, Medhat Shaheen, Sheikh Taha and Joseph who were fundamental to belly dance as we as western dancers know it today. Lisa started dancing when she discovered an ‘Egyptian Folk’ class run by Rita Barker in 1995, and has been hooked ever since. Rita specialised in the Raq Sharqi style but used many of her influences from the other dances she teaches such as Ballet, Tap, Contemporary, Jazz and Salsa to form her own unique style that helps her students build a solid foundation. Always keen to explore all aspects of Arabic dance Lisa has attended workshops in Arabic Drumming, Alexander Technique, Tribal, Classical, Folk, Baladi, Dancing with props and many Oriental and Cairo style belly dancing classes. For more information please contact: Tania Spain
|
Diane has been dancing and teaching bellydance for many years. She currently teaches four classes a week at Warwick University and in Earlsdon.
Tracy initially trained with Lorraine Frew, since then she has taken regular workshops with Heather Burby and other respected bellydance teachers. She teaches four classes a week in Bromsgrove and Droitwich Spa.
Val has been dancing for 15 years and teaching for over 10 years. Her first teacher was Linda Markey. She has also studied with Rita Barker and Lynne Chapman, and has continued to add to her skills by attending workshops with teachers including Yousry Sharif, Jillina and Kay Taylor.
Teaching since 2004, Maureen started belly dance in 1998 with Janet Keates and is now training with Dawn O’Brien (pioneer of Cyber Fusion Style) and dances in her ATS troupe Khalgani. She studies a wide range of styles, including Cabaret and Saidi (with and without stick), Rom dance, Tribal Fusion, ATS (American Tribal Style Belly dance). Maureen is keen to learn new styles and travels to a wide variety of workshops always with an eye on improving and extending her dance repertoire.
Claire first started learning Bellydance 6 years ago, attending classes run by Debbie Williams, and fell in love with the feminine expression of the dance.
Nicola fell in love with Bellydance since coming to Debbie Williams class and is committed to improve her skills by practicing and attending as many classes and workshops she can. She is also the co-ordinator for 'Mehraba', students of Debbie's new troop.
Recognised internationally as one of the leading teachers in Egyptian Dance, Maria is highly sought after for her teaching and performances. She has been the featured guest teacher and dancer for numerous Arabic dance events in England, Scotland, Wales and overseas.
Barbara started belly dancing 15 years ago. Originally trained by Rita Barker in the Raqs Sharqi style, she has attended master classes taught by Diane Cox and currently studies with Dawn O‘Brien. To broaden her experience Barbara has attended workshops covering many different styles of the dance and been taught by such famous dancers and teachers as Lorna Gow, Randa Kamel, Heather Burby and members of the Belly Dance Superstars. Barbara has explored Egyptian, Turkish, North African, American Tribal Style and Tribal Fusion styles of belly dance.
Sheila started bellydancing seven years ago with Debbie Williams as a fun way to keep in trim. The more she learned the more she loved this wonderful art form, so attended workshops with a variety of teachers with a view to expanding her knowledge.
Lisa has a wealth of experience of Arabic dance and has performed as both a troupe and a solo performer. She has performed at several weddings including both Turkish and Arabic, restaurants, parties, festivals, concerts and a number of charity and corporate events. In 2005 she started organising events with Terri Hardy. Terri was the first to host Egyptian dancers and teachers in the UK amongst, which were Aida Noor and Medhat Fahmy former dancers of the world famous Mahmood Reda troupe.
Tania is one of the original steering committee for Bamba and the Birmingham belly dance festival (the other two being Lisa McKain and Debbie Williams)
Patrons: Sandra Newey, Lorraine Frew, Janet Keates | Founders: Debbie Williams, Dawn O'Brien
Fellow Founders: Maria D'Silva, Val Rainbow, Diane Cox, Barbara Street, Lisa McKain, Maureen Pemberton,
Sheila White, Jacqui Bryan, Tracy Griffiths, Nicola Coote, Claire Dutton