Alex & Victoria Arizpe
Uptown Productions

Patricia Astorga
Sabor Mexico

Robin Rettig Carlson
Dance Force Productions

Gary Connor
Wyld Styl

Kenneth Epting
Exclamation Dance Company

Harrison Guy
Urban Souls Dance Company

Monica Hand
Ocular Expressions

Reetu Jain
Samudra Fusion Dance Company

Barbara King
Barbara King’s Dance Company

Shakira Massood-Ali (Debbie Scheel)
Solange

Amber Thornton
Bay Area Ballet & Theatre

Shakira Massood-Ali (Debbie Scheel)
Solange

Shakira is currently the Artistic Director of Sirrom School of Dance as well as the Director of Solange Because her maternal grandparents were from Syria, Shakira was attracted to the dance as a way of retaining her roots. She began her dance career in 1977 in Kansas City, Missouri, studying with Zaina Ali for seven years. Throughout her dance career, Shakira has studied with over 40 instructors in the field of belly dance from all over the world. Shakira is certified by the National Association for Teacher Certification in Middle Eastern Dance.

The fact that the dance is always changing, growing, and expanding keeps Shakira interested. One fact that she stresses to her students is for them to be creative. Many dances performed today are fusions of one or more cultures, but the technique inherent in each of these cultures and a great respect for the culture itself allows us the ability to be able to create a believable fusion. SOLANGE, Sirrom School of Dance and all other belly dance schools and performers in Houston, the United States and around the world are the keepers of this dance. Its past and its roots are in the rich soil of the Middle East, but its future is being held in our hands and we must treat it with the respect it deserves.

Amber Thornton
Bay Area Ballet & Theatre

Tesia Truitt
Planet Funk

Sophia Torres
Psophonia Dance Company

Adrian Walter
Tartanic

Shawn Welling
Planet Funk

Janie Yao
Dance of Asian America