Sonya Taft

    Sonya has been dancing all her life, but found bellydance in 1997 and hasn't stopped studying it since.  She loves all the variety in the different styles of bellydance, and tries to incorporate any and all of it in her fusion style. She is a founding member of Belaharr, integral to the drumming and dancing of the troupe.  She has appeared in venues all over Austin for the past 10 years.

     Sonya recently starting teaching at
The Studio In Motion.
 Her classes focus on American Tribal Style, but also include general techniques that can be applied to any
of the styles of bellydance. 

    Sonya is past president and vice president of the
Austin Bellydance Association,
where she currently serves as event coordinator.  As Event Coordinator she tries to create as many performance opportunities for the members as possible, which creates opportunites to educate the community about this ancient and beautiful artform. Her most recent ABA production was held at Dougherty Arts Center, which featured 17 of Austin's best dancers performing improvisational solos.

Quadira has been peforming belly dance for 11 years.  She is a member of Troupe Eshta,
and has performed with Belaharr since its inception.  She has performed widely with Eshta at Green Muse, Renaissance Festivals, and several ABA events.  As a soloist Quadira has performed at Mirage,  Casa de Luz, Cafe Mundi and other Austin venues.  As a member of Eshta Quadira has helped conduct workshops all around central Texas, and was a finalist for Cirque du Solei in 2003.  She has also appeared at Desert Passion Theatre and Lucila Dance Productions.

Alana Shea

 

Alana has been dancing all her life, since she was 3, tap, clogging, salsa, jazz, and hip-hop.  She has been performing belly dance for four years; in El Paso with Desert Wind, and now in Austin.   She has performed at several venues in town, including Alborz Persian Cuisine, Phara's, and ABA events.  She taught belly dance in Mazatlan, Mexico, with the group Ametista. She has also appeared at Desert Passion Middle Eastern Dance Theatre and Lucila Dance Productions.

 Yamina

    

Yamina was introduced to bellydance in 2001 around the campfires of the SCA.  She has studied various styles of bellydance including Suhaila Salimpour technique, Tribal Fusion Bellydance, and Cabaret.  In 2002 Yamina began integrating fire as an enhancement to her performance.  Yamina is an Ararat dancer and has performed at many of their events.  She also performs frequently at SCA events, Austin local shows, and fire bellydance with Baruzula at the Enchanted Forest.