Meet the BlackSheep!

Below you will find the bios and photos of current members of BlackSheep BellyDance.
Kajira's bio is elsewhere on this site so is not included below. Enjoy "meeting the BlackSheep"!

Therese
Therese has been teaching for 22 years total. She taught as a Master SCUBA Diver Trainer for 15 years and certified over 100 students in various diving specialties such as Deep Water, Night Diving, Cold water Dry-Suit Diving, Medic First Aid, Photography, Enriched Air Diving, Rescue Diving, etc. She started Oriental Dance in 1999 and has never looked back. Attending multiple seminars every year, she fell in love with ATS. Finding no one offering Tribal in her community she started researching and studying several different formats. She decided Kajira Djoumahna’s was the best fit because of the perfect balance in the use of hips, directions and stage. After completing her Level 1 and 2 certification with Kajira she was invited to be a member BlackSheep BellyDance and participate with her sister sheep as a dancer in Kajira’s 3 new Instructional DVD’s. Therese is the founder of Daughters of The Dance in Springfield Illinois and has the only satellite school in Illinois for BlackSheep BellyDance Synchronized Group Improvisation. Among many performances Therese has appeared in the State Journal Register, was featured on the cover of Illinois Times and has performed for the musical production Kismet. The Daughters perform SGI regularly and are known for the joy and professionalism they bring to The Dance. Therese can be contacted at Therese@DaughtersofTheDance.com www.daughtersofthedance.com

Stefanie Masters
Stefanie Masters is the owner of Dance For The Soul, a holistic studio focused on healing the whole individual ~ body, mind and spirit. Stefanie is the creator and director of the DFTS Masters Method for Health, Healing & Living™ and The DFTS Format of Improvisational Middle Eastern Dance. She is an Award-Winning professional Belly Dance performer and has been featured in Time Magazine, Belly Dance, A Raqs Sharqi Magazine, Fuze Magazine, M Magazine, The Journal Sentinal and The Wall Street Journal. Stefanie offers a 15 month Teacher Training program, in her DFTS Masters Format. Stefanie is a professional dance instructor, performer, event producer & the director of her student troupe Sacred Moon Tribal of Wisconsin. With over 14 certifications in holistic movement and healing modalities, Stefanie brings a unique whole approach to her classes and seminars, with a focus on breath, posture, technique and positive thought.

In 2007 while working on a special project with the ladies of Trillium Troupe, Jennifer Nolan, Marie Kaplan, and Traci Roberts, Stefanie was introduced to American Tribal Style Belly Dance. She fell in love with the aspect of group improvisational choreography and began her search for a teacher. Kajira Djoumahna’s contribution to ATS, leading with both hips, in this style was optimal, in Stefanie’s opinion, to keeping balance in the body, as well as the heart.
Stefanie, after pursuing her own continued education, received certification in Kajira’s BlackSheep BellyDance SGI Format as an instructor in both Level One & Level Two, and is a proud member of BSBD Professional Troupe. Stefanie is the only Satellite School of SGI in the state of Wisconsin, and continues to work closely with Kajira, maintaining a high level of integrity and continuity for the format, allowing her to help her students delve deeper into the aspects of building a connection to each other, opening their hearts and ultimately allowing healing to manifest in the body and heart through the dance.

For more information on Stefanie Masters or classes and workshops, please visit her website at www.danceforthesoul.com or email her at Stefanie@danceforthesoul.com
Stefanie Masters C.M.T., R.Y.T.
Dance For The Soul
Middle Eastern Dance & Movement Therapies
262-689-1075
www.danceforthesoul.com
Stefanie@danceforthesoul.com

Nahaara
Nahaara discovered bellydance in Kajira's classroom, studying her
BlackSheep BellyDance format for SGI at the age of 16 in 2006.
Captured by the empowerment, beauty and sisterhood of the dance, it
became fuel for the greatest passion in her life. Right along with
the local Punk Rock scene, growing up, bellydance became another
"second home" and a place of spiritual refuge.

In 2007 Nahaara became a member of BlackSheep BellyDance, she felt
right at home, as she has always felt like a "black sheep" her
entire life. Being in the troupe through it's many incarnations has
taught her a new meaning to the term black sheep, it has become a
beautiful thing to be proud of and stand by always. She claims to
be "a BlackSheep first, and always!". In 2008 she earned her BSBD
Level 1 Teacher certification and was blessed with the opportunity
to be filmed in the BSBD Instructional DVDs. Although not currently
teaching, she hopes to someday. She loves to travel, near and far,
to perform and teach. It is her greatest dream to one day be able
to share this artform with people all over the world.

Nahaara also dances as a member of EvilEye BellyDance, another SGI
BD troupe created by Lori Tawasha and composed of BSBD Alumni. In
addition to EvilEye, she also performs as a soloist. Incorporating
her 2 loves (punk rock and bellydance), into a style that is her
own. Nahaara loves to perform in underground punk venues, sharing a
stage with some of her favorite bands. She currently lives in
Oakland, CA.

Lori
Lori Tawasha, Director of EvilEye BellyDance, and member of Suhaila Salimpour's Repertoire Ensemble has been bellydancing since 2001. Lori studied American Tribal Style bellydance with Kajira Djoumahna of BlackSheep Bellydance for 6 years and was af member of BlackSheep BellyDance for 3 years (2003-2006). Lori was a principle dancer and teacher, as well as Acting Director for the first year after Kajira moved to Maui. She was the first of Kajira's students to receive both a Level 1 and Level 2 Teacher Certification (2006-2007). EvilEye BellyDance, founded in 2006, is dedicated to perpetuating the spirit and art of synchronized group improvisational bellydance. Lori founded EvilEye BellyDance with the desire to test and expand the boundaries of American Tribal Style, keeping within the tradition of improvisation. Synchronized group improvisation is the most essential and defining aspect of ATS. Currently Lori studies bellydance under Suhaila Salimpour and her legendary mother, Jamila Salimpour, tracing the roots of ATS and developing herself as a dancer and instructor via Suhaila's challenging format. She is Level 2 certified in Suhaila's format. Lori designs unique custom dance bras which are three-dimensional collages mirroring the many layers and facets of Tribal Style Bellydance. Lori is fluent in American Sign Language and holds twp Certificates of Interpretation from the National Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf. Lori is available for workshops, classes and private instruction worldwide. She teaches her developing format of ATS which is based on Kajira's format for ATS, with additional combinations, hip work, foot work, cymbal patterns and variations.To contact Lori, email her at lori_tawasha@yahoo.com. Photo credit Taboo Media.