This is a first for Belly Dance Oz - a profile for a retired teacher/performer! However, although Jasmine has retired from the stage, she's still very active on the bellydance scene.
Based in Perth, more recently she's become widely known around Australia with the introduction of her Bellydance Soul cards, a 44 card deck and guidebook which is "a powerful tool for self acceptance, reminding women of their beauty wisdom and magnificence". Tied to the cards is a whole new concept in belly dance parties for women, the Soul Sister Parties.
For professional belly dancers who dance at hen's parties or other women's celebrations, the Soul Sister Party offers a chance to take the experience to a new level. A training course is available - details at Jasmine's website, The Harem Lounge.
Safa is a welcome addition to the vibrant Perth belly dancing community. Originally from Canada, she has taught and danced all over the North American continent and developed her own unique style of fusion belly dance based on her studies in West African dance, hip hop, classical Egyptian bellydance, and modern tribal fusion.
She's now teaching at Victoria Park in Perth. You'll find details of class times, costs, class outlines and more on her website at www.khafif.com/safadancer.
These two clips show two very different sides of Safa!
Emma Basc has 25 years' dance experience, 10 of them in belly dance. She has performed in Australia, England and Turkey and has been teaching belly dancing for 7 years.
Emma's teaching style is like her personality - all about fun. Audience participation is a big part of the way she performs and laughter is a big part of the way she teaches. "We laugh for an hour a week and the bonus is that at the end of the term you have learnt a dance!"
Like most belly dancers, Emma used to dance under a stage name (Alika). She now uses her real name, for a reason some of us may identify with: "I soon found out that when I'm performing it's one of the few times I can truly be me, so out went the stage name and I now perform proudly under the name of Emma!"
Emma's Mad Camel Bellydance school is based in Gosnells, WA. Find all the details on her website, Madcamelbellydance.webs.com
Russya has been belly dancing for over 20 years and has performed all over the world - Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Poland, England, Singapore and now in Perth, Western Australia.
I haven't studied with Russya myself, but looking at her experience as well as her qualifications in Yoga, Pilates, drama and dance, it's obvious that she would have a wealth of knowledge to impart. She doesn't teach beginners, but her Stage Performance Training course sounds fascinating. Each module can be taken individually, or you can sign up for the whole course.
For more information and to contact Russya, visit her website.
Soreya's belly dance school is based at the Beleza Samba School studios in Fremantle. She specialises in world fusion belly dance.
I see so many dancers using Isis wings badly - it's nice to see them handled well in this clip of Soreya at the Mind Body Spirit Festival in Sydney 2008:
You can see more of Soreya in action and contact her by visiting her profile at Tribe.net - which, by the way, is becoming a kind of Facebook for belly dancers, especially the Tribal ones (for obvious reasons)!
For details of her classes, visit the Beleza Samba website. Here is a clip of her students in action:
Azzurra (aka Vikki Pretorius) teaches between Bunbury and Burekup, Western Australia. Her extensive knowledge of belly dance and African dance fuses into an earthy style which is well expressed in this video.
Dawn White is a teacher at the Sheik to Sheik belly dance studio in Fremantle. I'd love to know more about this lovely belly dancer - students, comments please!
