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Elevation 2015 Teachers

Billy Woods

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Billy travels extensively spreading peace through his music. A recording artist and nationally known drummer and instructor, Billy’s teachings, music and soulful heart have won him friends and fans across the lands. Also a Qi-Gung practitioner, Billy teaches and leads Qi-Gung classes across the US.

As Wandering Abbot of Spirit Gate temple (Shen-men Gaun) Billy is touring and spreading the word that “the time of greed is over.”  www.BillyWoods.com

Cera Byer

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Cera is an accomplished dance-maker with 20 plus years of experience choreographing for performing artists such Amanda Palmer, L10, and Eli Marrs, as well as for film, fashion shows, and musical theater productions. Director and choreographer of Swerve Dance Company, Oakland, CA, Cera’s work has been called “Raw, emotive, and extremely original,” by Raw Magazine.

Cera earned her B.A. in Dance Performance & Choreography from SF State University, has received residencies from San Francisco’s Garage Theater, had her work commissioned by the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and taught workshops in composition and dance in more than a dozen countries.

She takes a people-centric approach to dance, deepening her understanding of cultures through music, movement, body language and the study of many world dance forms. She creates from the assumption that we are all more connected than we are separate. www.CeraWithAC.com

Elizabeth Ashner

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Elizabeth, mistress of double swords, has been teaching tribal fusion belly dance for more than 12 years. She loves inspiring her students and seeing them transform through the strength and artistry born of disciplined, joyful practice.

Elizabeth is founder and director of Colorado Tribal Belly Dance and Muse Studio, Golden, CO, where she teachers weekly classes and leads three performance groups. She is currently studying with Rachel Brice and is a recognized Rachel Brice’s 8 Elements Phase 2: Cultivation practitioner. She is also certified in ATS General Skills and Teaching under Fat Chance Belly Dance.

As the hostess and founder of the Elevation Belly Dance Extravaganza, she continues to be inspired by, in awe of, and extremely grateful to this amazing global tribal dance community. www.ElevationBellyDance.com

Jackie Salzillo- Yoga

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Vinyasa Yoga

Jackie creates an entertaining and motivational atmosphere so her students enjoy exploring the boundaries of their practice. Her definition of a successful class is a class in which students, laugh, smile and deepen their love of yoga.

She completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Asana Studio in December 2012 and teaches vinyasa yoga at Muse studio in Golden, Colorado. She fuses her passion for music with her love for yoga, by experimenting with various types of music for her classes — from classical, hip hop, alternative and rock ‘n roll to trip-hop.

Jackie’s classes are designed for all levels of students. She provides modifications and prop instruction for beginners as well as variations for more experienced practitioners, allowing each student to make the practice their own. When Jackie’s not teaching or practicing yoga, she hiking or mountain biking with her three dogs.

Lacey Sanchez

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Lacey is the founder of Florida Tribal Dance. She teaches tribal belly dance classes, conducts workshops and directs three dance troupes.  Her students appreciate her positive energy, ability to make learning fun and her meticulous breakdown of movements.

She completed the General Skills Certification by
Fat Chance Bellydance in June 2009. She completed the requirements for 8 Elements Initiation by Rachel Brice in April 2012 and 8 Elements Cultivation by Rachel Brice in August 2013. Lacey has studied many classical dance forms including ballet, jazz, modern and ballroom. She is also well versed in performing classical Cabaret Belly Dance.

Lacey and Florida Tribal Dance hosts two annual events: “A Tribal Garden” in the spring or summer and “Night Blooming Tribal” in the autumn. The events celebrate the students, troupes, and extended family of Florida Tribal Dance. www.FloridaTribalDance.com

Laura Bouche- Yoga

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Ashtanga Yoga

Laura’s love for the Ashtanga Tradition was born in Zurich, Switzerland under the instruction of Michael Hamilton. Love at first breath!

Her teaching style strongly focuses on the flow of breath, detailed alignment and adjustments, imparting the soothing and therapeutic effects of yoga and Zen meditation to make the practice fun and accessible to students of all levels.

In addition to teaching at Muse Studio, Golden, CO, Laura continues her Ashtanga studies under the guidance of prominent teacher Richard Freeman via the Essentials and the Advanced Intensive Teacher Trainings in Boulder.

Meg York

Award winning Meg York has performed and taught music for more than 30 years. She is a seasoned pit orchestra player for music theater, circus arts, and improvised movement accompaniment. Comfortable with Early Music to Avant Guard, she plays with many world master musicians and has traveled extensively for music and dance.

Meg is a Jefferson County Certified Music Teacher, and teaches out of Muse, in Golden, and Belmar Lakewood Cultural Center. She has a BA Classical Clarinet Performance Degree from the University of New Mexico, where she also honed Early Music Performance and Flamenco skills.

As Vice President of Musical Missions of Peace, Meg promotes events and fundraising for Cameron Powers. MMP hosts events world wide to promote cultural preservation and music therapy for refugee communities, especially populations displaced by war.
www.MegYork.com

Mira Betz

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Active in theater, dance and the performing arts for more than 20 years, Mira Betz is a sought after dancer, choreographer, costumer, and teacher.
Her multi-faceted career is a testament to her passionate artistry and desire for continual growth.

Mira began her training in Middle Eastern dance as a young teen, studying primarily with Katarina Burda for more than 10 years, developing a solid foundation of contemporary, traditional, and ritualistic dance forms. She has also studied Jamila Salimpour and Suhaila Salimpour and traveled abroad to live and study in Morocco.

Mira received her B.F.A. from the California College of Arts and Crafts. Her dance background includes training in Salsa, Modern, Jazz, and Flamenco. www.MiraMania.com

Moria Chappell

Tribal Fusion Bellydance Superstar, Moria Chappell, travels worldwide performing and teaching the beautiful art of tribal fusion bellydance.  Popular teacher and acclaimed performer, Moria currently directs The Bellydance Superstars and has performed in over 30 countries worldwide.  her style, both feminine and fierce, commands an intensity and precision that epitomizes tribal fusion isolation and individualism.  Moria began her bellydance training in 2000 on the East Coast of America, later joining performance companies on the West Coast before global travels launched her onto her current world stage.  Since 2008 Moria has developed an intensive study of South East Asian dances including Odissi East Indian Temple Dance, Dai Southern Chinese Dance, Cambodian Apsara Dance, Dun Huang Northern Chinese Dance, and Javanese Solo Dance.  In conjunction with Hula and other Polynesian Island Dances, North African and Middle Easter Dance, Moria is currently researching the links of ancient dances that informed and were formed by ancient sacred and temple dances. www.moriachappell.com

Rachel Brice

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Rachel fell in love with belly dance when she saw the famous Hahbi’Ru in the early nineties. When she saw gorgeous, proud men and women with strong carriage and charisma adorned with spectacular antique tribal jewelry, facial tattoos, and rich textiles, it changed the way she saw beauty.

While studying dance in college, she studied American Tribal Style® Belly Dance, African Haitian, Flamenco, Modern Dance, Kathak, and Odissi Classical. She was also in Jill Parker’s Ultra Gypsy, the first Tribal Fusion troupe. She also began to dance with Mardi Love, one of her biggest aesthetic influences. Rachel also toured for Bellydance Superstars for five years. Rachel continues her belly dance studies with Carolena Nericcio, creator of American Tribal Style®, and her yoga practice with Gary Kraftsow.

Rachel is the founder of Indigo Belly Dance Company, Datura Studio, Portland, OR, and Datura Online. She and her partner Sol Crawford also founded the production company Little Scarab. Together they’ve created a belly dance training program called the 8 Elements™ Approach to Belly Dance. www.RachelBrice.com

Sera Solstice

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Sera Solstice is director of Solstice: a belly dance company which uses extensive full-body movement, intense multi-layer hip work within pop’n lock elements, tied together by deep emotive power and story-telling flow. Although she challenges dancers to find deeper expression in their movements, Sera is known for her hard-driving, highly technical classes.

Sera is founder and director of Solstice, a belly dance community in New York City that uses belly dance as a means for building self-empowerment, expression, and creativity. She is director/choreographer of the Solstice Ensemble, and has performed and taught throughout Europe, South America, and Asia.

Sera is a former core member of Bellyqueen, The Silk Road Dance Company, and Raqs Sahara.  She credits the foundation of her technique, form, and discipline was by means of her intensive formal apprenticeship with Rachel Kay Brookmire (of DC’s Sahara Dance). Sera’s Choreography has been described as “complex, content-rich, sublime, haunting, psychedelic, technically superb, at the forefront of evolution of belly dance as an art form.” www.SolsticeTribe.com

Silvia Salamanca

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Silvia is an internationally acclaimed performer and instructor
from Mallorca, Spain. A life-long dancer, she graduated at the age of nineteen as a major in ballet and performed professionally as a modern dancer in major Europe festivals with the contemporary dance company of the University of Barcelona.

She started her career as a belly dancer in 2001, when she realized the enormous benefits that this art-form brings to women in both body and soul. Silvia discovered tribal fusion in the USA and combined it with her own cultural roots — Spanish gypsy and Arabic. Through her work in the field of Zambra Mora (Spanish gypsy-oriental dance fusion) Silvia gained international recognition and performs and teaches in major festivals world-wide. She was the headliner for Belly Dancer of the World in Germany, twice and was featured as the local talent for Bellydance Superstars shows in Houston, TX.

Silvia is the director of Shunyata Belly Dance, a nationally awarded
tribal fusion company and a proud member of Urban Gypsy, Houston’s
premiere ATS troupe. www.SilviaSalamanca.com