Karida Zahava

You’ve read about her in the Illinois Times as the most popular bellydance teacher in Springfield, Illinois! A costume artisan who also does everything from the building of tents to the remodelling of studios; her students describe her as “just plain scary” when referring to her range of creative talents....; As the teacher who started all of the other bellydance teachers in town on their path, this is THE lady at the heart of the surge of growth of bellydancing in Springfield, Illinois!

Karida Zahava has been performing and teaching the art of Middle-Eastern Dance since 1983. She is a past member of The Zerdali Dancers of Paducah KY, M.E.D.E. of Carbondale, IL, and the Tikva Naam Dancers of Champaign, IL . She is well-known in central Illinois as the founder and director of "Troupe Zahava!", and as the sponsor of the annual "Summer's End Dance Workshop and Showcase". 

Karida's specialties include Turkish Orientale, Egyptian Raks Sharki, American Cabaret, Folkloric dances of Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, and the large production numbers of Bollywood musicals. She enjoys the entire process of teaching, working with a patience and understanding of students' assorted learning needs. Seeing the light in the eyes of a student when the body begins responding to the music of the soul is the reward that makes every day special for this teacher. Trained by a multitude of professional instructors from around the globe, Karida brings vast knowledge to the classroom evey day, knowledge both of dance movement and of the cultural insights that put the dance into context from its home in the very cradle of civilization.

Karida approaches bellydance as a true dance artform, equal in every way to ballet, jazz, tap and other popular dance arts. Training is directed at both the fun and the serious aspects of turning women into true artisans of the dance.

Weekly classes with Karida are available at Karida's School of Orientale Dance, as well as weekend workshops by special arrangement. Karida has taught in Germany and in China, as well as at workshops in the USA.

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Dance performance is as much "theater" as technique. A truly great dancer needs to spend at least as much time on the aspects of costuming, makeup, blocking, stage presence, etc. as she does on her movement training. Show sponsors too, who want to put on a dynamic presentation, must consider the theatrical aspects of the stage as much as they do the performers who will appear on it. Lighting, sound, set decoration, stage management, as well as logistics are all part of the equation.

Kari Dotson, holder of a BA in Technical Theater and a master costumer, is available to teach seminars and workshops on all of the "backstage" aspects of putting your best face forward in your dance presentation. Topics are especially tailored towards "working on a shoestring". Additionally, Kari is a trained videographer with computer video editing capabilities, available to professionally tape and publish your dance shows onto DVD format. Inquiries into hiring her for your next workshop are welcome.