The Gilded Serpent presents...
Sabah
Sabah began her dance career working with various professional ballet companies starting in Chicago and spreading throughout the United States. This led her to pursue a degree in dance from Columbia College only to find a new love in the dance world – belly dance. By her second year in College, Sabah switched from a dance major to a cultural studies major in order to further study the culture behind belly dance. Sabah began to study Arabic and the various dance styles of the Middle East and North Africa. Her instructors in Chicago have included her mentor Teri Souri, Sadya, Nazaree, Katrina Cantone, Dahlena and her daughter Angelina, and her inspiration: Amal from Morocco.
Sabah has traveled to Egypt numerous times to expand her knowledge of Egyptian dance while studying abroad at the American University in Cairo. Sabah was the first foreigner to be invited on tour with the Egyptian folkloric group of the University directed by Kamal Naeim. Sabah has studied under many of the master instructors of Egypt including Hallah Moustaffa, who not only became her costume designer, but also her mentor and creator of the Oriental ballet which includes belly dancing in pointe shoes.
Sabah has attended two of the Ahlan wa Sahlan Festivals run by Raqia Hassan and received a contract and license to work as a professional dancer in Egypt. She performed regularly as one of the solo raks sharki (belly dancer) at the Nile Pharaohs, along with dancing at weddings and private parties. In addition to Egypt, Sabah has traveled to Morocco, Tel Aviv, and Iceland to continue belly dancing. In Iceland, Sabah is an annual guest teacher and performer at Kramhusid.
Sabah specializes in improvisation to live music and can be seen performing in various places in Chicago on a regular basis. Her venues have included regular weekend performances at: A La Turka, Our Night: Layalena, Souk, Barbra Yianni, and Pazzo’s in the NBC tower. She has also had the privilege of performing at the House of Blues, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, and for the Chicago Bears, Bono from U2’s birthday party, among hundreds of other private parties, cultural events, and weddings over the years. Sabah also teaches ballet, pointe, creative movement, and belly dance with live drumming in Chicago and the nearby suburbs. Recently Sabah has performed with the Bellydance Superstars at the Park West in Chicago and is a candidate to join the company for their May 2006 tour.
E-mail: ChicagoSabah@yahoo.com
