Amura

Amura (Arabic for the moon) has been belly dancing for 30 years. She took her first class through a local community center in Alexandria, Virginia and was instantly hooked. She joined the Oasis Dance Troupe and performed at fairs in the Washington, D.C. area, including the Maryland Renaissance Fair. Her individual specialty in the troupe was dancing on glasses. She worked in Washington, D.C. as a legal secretary by day and danced at the Marrakesh Restaurant at night before leaving Maryland and moving to Los Angeles.

She began as a teacher at the Northern Virginia Community Center for the Mentally Retarded and taught "Belly Dancing for Fun and Fitness" through Anne Arundel County Parks and Recreation in Maryland. In California, she taught in a home for abused girls through Free Arts for Abused Children and at the Downtown Women's Center on Skid Row. The girls from the home formed their own troupe and performed at various events in the Antelope Valley.

Amura created her position as the dancing greeter at the Middle Eastern Culture and Dance Association's (MECDA) annual two-day event called Cairo Carnivale (now Cairo Caravan). She continued as the greeter for six years, dancing and greeting at the entrance for two hours each morning of the event. She served on MECDA's Board of Directors as an officer and chairperson for several years.

Amura performs cabaret style and gypsy style belly dancing. The latter has become her favorite because of the passionate guitar rhythms and violins added to the music. Gypsy dancing led her to her new passion of Gypsy Cob horses, that she first encountered and fell in love with at the Southern California Please Faire in 2010. She has been a volunteer at Happy Camp Cobs Ranch grooming mares and their foals ever since. Amura now dances with her tambourine attracting fair patrons to the horses and their performance with the Gypsy Travelers. She is currently working with a young horse to dance with her.

Articles on Gilded Serpent by Amura

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