Dance Biography (Extended)

Ballet Beginnings
Amanda trained in classical ballet for almost 20 years, beginning at the age of four. Her first and most influential teacher was Nila Horton, former soloist with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, UT. She also studied with Ginger Gunn (Salt Lake City, UT) and Janzy Limpert (Stanford, CA). During later years, Amanda dabbled in jazz and modern dance as well. Amanda's mother worked for many years at Ballet West, which allowed Amanda to attend numerous performances of and to volunteer behind the scenes at a world-class professional company.

Middle Eastern Dance in Santa Barbara
Amanda began studying Middle Eastern dance in 1991 and has been a dedicated student and accomplished performer of Middle Eastern dance -- in its many varieties -- ever since. Her first teacher in Middle Eastern dance, Alexandra King of Santa Barbara, CA, taught American-style Bellydance from a musical/rhythmic orientation which formed a strong basis for Amanda's continuing education in Middle Eastern dance. Amanda trained with Alexandra for six years.

Amanda performed for five years with Alexandra's dance troupe, Seher. Among many other venues, Seher performs regularly with the UCSB Middle East Ensemble, a 60-member musical ensemble in the Ethnomusicology Program at UC Santa Barbara (Dr. Scott Marcus, director). This experience exposed Amanda to a wide range of Middle Eastern dance and musical styles -- Egyptian, Lebanese, Turkish, Greek, Moroccan, Assyrian, and Persian, to name but a few -- which continue to inspire her to this day. Amanda's time with Alexandra and the Middle East Ensemble sparked an on-going desire to explore further reaches of non-Western cultural dance styles and to present them with cultural sensitivity and as much authenticity as possible.

While living in Santa Barbara, Amanda also had the opportunity to study extensively with Ansuya and Judeen.

In December 1996, Amanda had the honor of performing a solo Oriental dance set with the UCSB Middle East Ensemble.

In early 1997, Amanda co-founded with a group of friends a folkloric/Oriental troupe called No Man's Nomads, which performed at the Santa Barbara Renaissance Faire, Rakkasah Belly Dance Festival in Richmond, CA, Desert Dance Festival in San Jose, CA and other events in Santa Barbara.

Bay Area
In late 1997, Amanda completed her Ph.D. in Materials Science and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area for work. At that time, she began studying with Dunia and soon thereafter with John Compton and Rita (Rebaba) Alderucci as well.

During 1998, Amanda danced with an Arabic music and dance troupe called Sikah, founded by Hala Fauzi. Sikah performed at local Arab cultural functions in the Bay Area.

In Fall of 1999, John and Rita invited Amanda to join their Middle Eastern folkloric dance troupe Hahbi'Ru, with whom she has performed ever since. Hahbi'Ru performs regularly at Bay Area Renaissance Faires, corporate events, and dance festivals, and Amanda is often featured in Hahbi'Ru shows as a solo sword dancer.

In addition, since 2004, Amanda has performed frequently with Danse Maghreb, a San Francisco-based company under direction of Janine Ryle, whom she met in John and Rita's classes. Danse Maghreb is dedicated to the presentation of Algerian dances, particularly those of Algeria's berber population, the Kabyle.

Throughout her years in the Bay Area, Amanda has sought opportunities to expand and present her solo dance experience as well. To that end, Amanda performs as a solo Oriental dancer at numerous Bay Area dance events -- Rakkasah, Desert Dance Festival, Friday nights at Straw Hat Pizza in San Jose, MECDA haflas and more -- and periodically as a featured dancer at Kan Zeman Restaurant in Palo Alto.

Turkish Dance
In spring of 1998, Amanda took a workshop in Turkish Romani dance from Elizabeth (Artemis) Mourat and discovered a style that fired her artistically like none other. Since then, Amanda has sought as much instruction in Turkish dance -- Romani, Oryantal, and folk dance -- as she can find. To that end, she has taken workshops with Elizabeth Mourat, Suzie Tekbilek, Dalia Carella, Eva Cernik, Tayyar Akdeniz, Ahmet Luleci, and Elizabeth Strong.

In 2003, Amanda joined Stanford's Turkish folk dance troupe, Yore Folk Dance Ensemble. She had the great honor of joining Yore for its performances at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival in June, 2004. She was also honored when Yore asked her to present a solo Turkish Oryantal piece for their full evening of Turkish dance in March, 2004: Anatolian Spirit, the Journey of Dance.

Amanda has traveled to Turkey twice to study dance on tours led by Eva Cernik and Helene Eriksen. Eva's tour in May 2001 comprised a three-week trip around major sites in Turkey and offered numerous Oryantal and folk dance shows, Oryantal workshops by dance stars Sema Yıldız and Birgül Begay, and Romani workshops with Serpil Murtezaoglu, PhD., a teacher at the Turkish State Music Conservatory. During this first tour, Amanda had the honor and thrill of joining Birgül onstage at the Orient House Nightclub for a Romani-style women's duet. On Helene's tour in April 2005, Amanda experienced a broad range of Turkish music -- classical, fasıl, Roman, Sufi, among others -- and had wonderful opportunities to study with Reyhan Tuzsuz, a delightful Romani dancer, and Nihal Ökten, a folk dance professor from the Istanbul Teknik Universitesi. This tour also provided the chance to observe Turkish dance among its natives: at bars and restaurants, in folkloric dance group rehearsals and performances, and even at an Alevi party.

In January 2006, Amanda was honored to be chosen to present a solo of Turkish Romani dance at the SF/Bay Area MECDA chapter's annual Gala Show, Passages: A Journey through Dance in Palo Alto.

Travels and Training
In addition to trips to Turkey, Amanda traveled to Egypt in summer 2004 to attend and study dance at Raqia Hassan's Ahlan wa Sahlan Festival. Among highlights of the festival were taking a master class from one of the last remaining Ghawazi dancers, Khareya Maazin, watching Egyptian dance star Dina perform at the Opening Gala, and observing the universality of raqs sharki as presented by dozens of festival attendees from over 30 countries. Another highlight of the tour, which was led by Lucy Smith of Scheherezade Imports, was seeing the exciting Al Tanoura, the Egyptian Whirling Dervish show, at Cairo's Citadel: Egyptian folk dance and music at its very finest.

Most recently, Amanda visited Armenia in May 2005. Amanda's love of Armenian dance, particularly Armenian classical dance, started in a weeklong workshop with Helene Eriksen in 1999. On the 2005 tour led by Tineke van Geel of the Netherlands, Amanda had the opportunity to study Armenian dance with Ashot Asajian of the Sayat Nova Dance Academy in Yerevan. One of the most beautiful memories of the trip was watching the talented dancers from this academy -- all perhaps 15 to 18 years old -- rehearse a 50-minute suite of classical and folk dances. Their grace, poise, and youthful energy were inspiring.

Amanda expands her knowledge with workshops and master classes whenever possible. She frequently attends the Mendocino Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp, which always offers a world-class faculty of dance teachers and the opportunity for immersion in Middle Eastern music and dance for a week each year. Over the years, Amanda has studied many ethnic dance styles and learned from many additional teachers who have inspired her: women's Khaliji dance from Saudi Arabia, Afghani women's dance, Georgian and Uzbeki classical dance -- all from Helene Eriksen; Lebanese dabkah from Hassan al-Harfouche and Gaby Shiba; Persian classical and folk dance from Dr. Robyn Friend and Laurel Victoria Grey; Azerbaijani classical dance from Gürbüz Aktaș; Algerian berber dance from Amel Tafsout; Tunisian dance from Leila Haddad, Aisha Ali, and Malia de Felice; among many others. She also takes master classes with top Oriental dancers whenever possible, including Aziza Sa'id, Fahtiem, and Suzanna del Vecchio.

Halanda Studio
In 2006, Amanda joined forces with long-time friend Hala to open a studio dedicated to offering dance styles from around the world. Halanda Studio officially opened on May 14, 2006 with an afternoon of dance performances that reflected the international scope that Amanda and Hala wish the studio to present: dances from Egypt, Turkey, India, Mexico, Argentina and beyond. Amanda plans to host a number of workshops at the studio, offering the best of Near Eastern dance instructors.