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Joanie ✳ President ✳ Barnard College, 2012

Joanie first discovered Middle Eastern Dance six years ago, when she begrudgingly accompanied a friend to a bellydance class.  She soon became enamored of the music and dance, and subsequently studied intensively under DC-based dancer Najwah.  Last winter, Joanie was honored to be selected as a featured competition winner in the NYC edition of Jillina’s “Bellydance Evolution” show.  She also recently won both First Place and People’s Choice at the 2011 Eastern Regional Bellydance Championship.  In addition to bellydance, Joanie studied Irish Step dance for 7 years, and has dabbled in modern, jazz, ballet, flamenco, traditional Indian raas/garba, kathak, and bharatanatyam.  See her in action!

Jen ✳ Vice-President ✳ Barnard College, 2012

Born and raised in a family of Balkan music and folk dance fanatics, Jen has been moving to groovy Slavic tunes from the womb.  At age 3 she began her "proper" dance training with tap, jazz, and ballet, and by age 12 decided to focus exclusively on Ballet and Russian Character Dance.  She continued to dance throughout high school attending summer ballet intensives at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, the Princeton Ballet School, and the Joffrey Ballet School.  In fall 2009, Jen finally decided to try "legitimate" bellydance.  She has also discovered an affinity for all things Bollywood and gets her weekly fix as Vice President and Choreographer of Columbia Dhoom.  Read her bellydance blog!

Maria ✳ Co-Publicity Chair ✳ Columbia College, 2013

Maria is a junior at Columbia College, hoping to major in something only mildly useless.  She has been belly dancing from the ripe age of nineteen.  Before deciding to sell her soul to shimmies and hip drops, Maria was semi-invested in other forms of dance such as ballet, modern, lyrical, tap, and jazz.  Aside from being luscious and all around a fabulous belly dancer, Maria is also endlessly witty and known campus-wide for her easy-going charm.

Yuan ✳ Graduate School of Architecture

Yuan is an urban planner from the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). Originally from Wujiang, China, Yuan enjoys playing Ping-Pong, badminton, and loves to sing and play her Er-Hu (traditional Chinese musical instrument, the two string fiddle).  She believes that dancing is the perfect way to mix hobby and work-out, and is fond of all types of dances, though hip-hop, jazz, and bellydance are her favorites.

Isabella ✳ Barnard College, 2012

Isabella was born and raised in the wonderful island of Cyprus. She began dancing at the age of six, and since then dance has become a daily form of interaction in her life. She is currently a dance major following a career in her beloved field – ballet, modern, jazz, and belly dance. She believes that through dance she can express herself better than in any other way.

Stasia

Barnard, 2010

Kristine

Barnard, 2009

Valerie

Columbia College, 2009

Juliana

Columbia College, 2009

Celina

Columbia College, 2008

Vera

Columbia College, 2008

Emilia

Barnard, 2008

Kate

Columbia College, 2007

Yang Han ~ www.yangphoto.net

Melissa ✳ Columbia College, 2011

Melissa Ann Im, originally from Happy Valley Oregon, is a senior at Columbia College studying Sociology and Business. At the age of 8 she began training in traditional Cambodian dance, both classical and folklore. In Oregon she taught her Cambodian peers folklore dances and arranged performances for the group. At Columbia Melissa has been a member of Dhoom, the Bollywood competition dance team, and is now a member of CU Bellydance and Sabor, the only Latin dance team at Columbia.

Olivia ✳ Treasurer ✳ Columbia College, 2013

Olivia has been dancing since the age of four when she had her first ballet lesson.  In addition to ballet, she has experimented with jazz, tap, improv, modern dance, hip-hop, salsa, and, most recently, bellydance.  She began her bellydance career when she was 16, joining the Academy Bellydance Society in her junior year at Phillips Exeter Academy and going on to become Co-Captain and Choreographer her senior year.  During her first year at the University of Michigan, Olivia performed with the Arabian Dance Ensemble.  She is excited to continue her passion for bellydance with CU Bellydance.

Sheila ✳ Columbia College, 2013

Sheila started performing at the age of 12 with her older sister in a bellydance troupe called Deviant Dance, but learned to roll and flutter her belly at the young age of 5. She dances everywhere she goes and in fact the only reason she has such a delicious belly roll is through years of practicing at inappropriate times, including during class. Sheila is unsure about what she wants to do with the rest of her life, but is positive that bellydance will always be a part of it.

Giulia ✳ Co-Publicity Chair ✳ Columbia College, 2014

Giulia, a sophomore at Columbia College, was born in Rome, Italy but grew up in Washington D.C. She studied classical ballet at the Washington School of Ballet for ten years before exploring other styles including jazz, modern, and belly dance. In high school she was a member of Dance Fusion Jazz Project, a youth dance company at her studio. She also occasionally performed with the Middle Eastern dance company, Raqs Jameel. Apart from dance, Giulia also loves photography and visual arts. Though she is still terribly confused about her major, she is considering Sociology and Middle Eastern Studies as well as many, many other things.

Juliana ✳ School of Continuing Education, 2012

Juliana Darwiche has been a dancer and performer since she was 5 years old. As a child she studied ballet, jazz and tap, and grew up in her mother's bellydance company, Flowers of the Desert, based in Los Angeles, CA. Juliana has been a professional bellydancer for the past 4 years and has trained in Egypt, Hungary, and all over the United States. While pursuing her Bachelor of Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles, Juliana was the 'Director of Dance' for UCLA's United Arab Society. She now joins Columbia as a graduate student and a proud member of CU Bellydance.

Alura ✳ Artistic Director, Continuing Education

Lauren (Alura) began studying Classical dance at the age of four.  She discovered her love for dance while studying at Binghamton University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Management, and since then has studied many forms including Jazz, Samba, Salsa/Mambo, African, Hatian, and Middle Eastern Dance.  She decided to focus creatively on Middle Eastern dance in 1999.  She has performed as one of the original members of the Dalia Carella Dance Collective and currently performs with PURE and the Columbia University bellydance troupe.  She is currently a post-baccalaureate student at Columbia.

Faith ✳ Columbia College, 2010

Sara ✳ Columbia College, 2008

Co-founder

Co-founder

Alumni

And welcoming:

Ashley, Cecile, Michelle, Sam, Sasha & Zoe!