Samantha Emanuel
Samantha Emanuel
True to the original spirit of American Tribal Style, her improvised Tribal Fusion routines combine skills gleaned from her studies with the creators of the genre in the USA with a twist: her own signature style, elegant and classic, strong in carriage, always shifting, breathing, alive and fluid like that of liquid mercury.
Seeking inspiration from many fields: the tainted side of beautiful, the macabre, the twisted carnival side show, antique photographs from the Victorian era , the World’s Fairs of the 1800s, Pre – Raphaelite paintings, Jazz Age beauties and modern comic book characters … Being inspired to move and create by everything from an ethereal sea creature shifting through dark waters to the ivories of an old grand piano. Influences include the works of Alphonse Mucha, Kay Nielson, Giger, Alan Lee, The Brothers Grimm, Terry Gilliam, Marina Bychkova, Ruth St Denis, Carolena Nericcio, The Indigo Belly Dance Company, Loie Fuller and many many more.
Fusing Victorian costume aesthetics with olde world dance movement strangeness as well as a respectful modern take on Middle Eastern folkloric dances and professional versatility; her performance background is that of largely self taught, having only started her Tribal Fusion Belly Dance journey in 2005 with no dance dance training what so ever. Her ballet instructor saw to that by telling her she would never be a dancer (at age eight).
A free-spirited nomad by temperament – with eco-activist tendencies – she travelled through Europe for several years in vintage caravans and converted buses with her husband Oscar and faithful hound Spindle. Along the way she became an expert Fire Dancer, performing at many festivals. This developed into an interest in Martial Arts weaponry (Kung Fu). This in turn led to bellydancing, where in 2003 she was awe inspired by American Tribal Style, in seeing a Fat Chance Bellydance video and later a live performance in the UK. In 2005 after personal encouragement from Rachel Brice Samantha gave up her job labouring on a construction site and moved to North America for 3 years to train with master instructors in the field of Bellydance. In Feb 2007 Samantha became the only British member of Hollywood dance troupe The Bellydance Superstars and continues to tour the world performing and instructing intensive workshops. Samantha is a committed teacher as well as performer. Her accessible teaching style reflects the fact that she still considers herself to be a beginner student, always hungry for more training and new ideas, always refining basic techniques and fusing new inspirations from mentors both in and out of the bellydance scene.
Not only does she possess a natural agility, coordination, grace, and a sense of rhythm. with a deep feeling for music and a creative ability to express herself through movement but her skills as a self taught costumier (learned on tours through trial and error) ensure a range of detailed and unique costumes. Samantha is influenced by the genius works of Mardi Love, pioneer of many of the most popular elements in Tribal Fusion costuming. As an obsessive collector Samantha is always on the hunt, tracking down second hand vintage antique glass beads and textiles. In using Tribal costume remnants and old leather work, all with a story, given a second life, she creates a magical , elaborate wardrobe for the stages she shares with friends and mentors all over the world.
Samantha is happily based in Devon with Oscar and Spindle.
Seeking inspiration from many fields: the tainted side of beautiful, the macabre, the twisted carnival side show, antique photographs from the Victorian era , the World’s Fairs of the 1800s, Pre – Raphaelite paintings, Jazz Age beauties and modern comic book characters … Being inspired to move and create by everything from an ethereal sea creature shifting through dark waters to the ivories of an old grand piano. Influences include the works of Alphonse Mucha, Kay Nielson, Giger, Alan Lee, The Brothers Grimm, Terry Gilliam, Marina Bychkova, Ruth St Denis, Carolena Nericcio, The Indigo Belly Dance Company, Loie Fuller and many many more.
Fusing Victorian costume aesthetics with olde world dance movement strangeness as well as a respectful modern take on Middle Eastern folkloric dances and professional versatility; her performance background is that of largely self taught, having only started her Tribal Fusion Belly Dance journey in 2005 with no dance dance training what so ever. Her ballet instructor saw to that by telling her she would never be a dancer (at age eight).
A free-spirited nomad by temperament – with eco-activist tendencies – she travelled through Europe for several years in vintage caravans and converted buses with her husband Oscar and faithful hound Spindle. Along the way she became an expert Fire Dancer, performing at many festivals. This developed into an interest in Martial Arts weaponry (Kung Fu). This in turn led to bellydancing, where in 2003 she was awe inspired by American Tribal Style, in seeing a Fat Chance Bellydance video and later a live performance in the UK. In 2005 after personal encouragement from Rachel Brice Samantha gave up her job labouring on a construction site and moved to North America for 3 years to train with master instructors in the field of Bellydance. In Feb 2007 Samantha became the only British member of Hollywood dance troupe The Bellydance Superstars and continues to tour the world performing and instructing intensive workshops. Samantha is a committed teacher as well as performer. Her accessible teaching style reflects the fact that she still considers herself to be a beginner student, always hungry for more training and new ideas, always refining basic techniques and fusing new inspirations from mentors both in and out of the bellydance scene.
Not only does she possess a natural agility, coordination, grace, and a sense of rhythm. with a deep feeling for music and a creative ability to express herself through movement but her skills as a self taught costumier (learned on tours through trial and error) ensure a range of detailed and unique costumes. Samantha is influenced by the genius works of Mardi Love, pioneer of many of the most popular elements in Tribal Fusion costuming. As an obsessive collector Samantha is always on the hunt, tracking down second hand vintage antique glass beads and textiles. In using Tribal costume remnants and old leather work, all with a story, given a second life, she creates a magical , elaborate wardrobe for the stages she shares with friends and mentors all over the world.
Samantha is happily based in Devon with Oscar and Spindle.
Sherri Wheatley
Sherri, aka. Cherchez La Femme has been a student of dance since the age of five with diverse experience ranging from ballet to gymnastics, jazz to modern. Her passion for Middle Eastern dance began in 1999 when she began studying with the internationally celebrated Heather Stants, director of the influential Urban Tribal Dance Company. She soon became a full member performing with the company regularly at private events and bellydance festivals across the US.
Sherri is distinguishable in her unique serpentine stylization, an interpretation that stylistically embodies a cross between bellydance and contortionism. She is also an extremely versatile dancer and can morph from one extreme physical state to the next in an instant.
In addition to performing as a soloist, Sherri finds creative inspiration in collaboration with other performers. Her dedication, professionalism, and superb artistry has given her the honor of working with Desert Sin, a critically celebrated experimental bellydance theatre company, Atash Maya Dance Company, Elysium Dance Theatre, and as guest artist with the incomparable Lucent Dossier Experience Vaudeville Circus and most recently with Los Angeles based performance collective, Zen Arts.
Having relocated to Los Angeles from San Diego in 2005, Sherri continues to study dance in various incarnations and teaches tribal fusion classes and workshops both locally and abroad. Sherri performs internationally and has been featured in several internationally distributed DVDs the latest of which is an instructional/performance DVD Tribal Fundamentals released through the Bellydance Superstars.
When she is not working on the latest Cherchez La Femme (her own company) or collaborative project, Sherri can be found performing as Slither with The Living Garden or as a “buxotica” with Lucha Va Voom.
www.sherribellydance.com
Sherri is distinguishable in her unique serpentine stylization, an interpretation that stylistically embodies a cross between bellydance and contortionism. She is also an extremely versatile dancer and can morph from one extreme physical state to the next in an instant.
In addition to performing as a soloist, Sherri finds creative inspiration in collaboration with other performers. Her dedication, professionalism, and superb artistry has given her the honor of working with Desert Sin, a critically celebrated experimental bellydance theatre company, Atash Maya Dance Company, Elysium Dance Theatre, and as guest artist with the incomparable Lucent Dossier Experience Vaudeville Circus and most recently with Los Angeles based performance collective, Zen Arts.
Having relocated to Los Angeles from San Diego in 2005, Sherri continues to study dance in various incarnations and teaches tribal fusion classes and workshops both locally and abroad. Sherri performs internationally and has been featured in several internationally distributed DVDs the latest of which is an instructional/performance DVD Tribal Fundamentals released through the Bellydance Superstars.
When she is not working on the latest Cherchez La Femme (her own company) or collaborative project, Sherri can be found performing as Slither with The Living Garden or as a “buxotica” with Lucha Va Voom.
www.sherribellydance.com
