TEACHER BIOS
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AMY SIGIL

Amy Sigil has been studying Tribal Fusion Belly Dance for 18 years, and has dedicated & inspired dancers from around the world by never compromising from her vision. She teaches internationally, as well as locally in her home town of Sacramento, where she is the owner of Hot Pot Studio and the Creative Director of UNMATA.
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She is the creator of ITS (Improvisational TEAM Sync), a dance vocabulary language where dancers from all corners of the globe can come together and dance spontaneously, creating something amazing right in the moment of her ‘lead and follow’ technique.
www.unmata.com
ASHLEY LOPEZ

Ashley López is an internationally touring artist and instructor. She has performed and taught in over 25 countries worldwide. Ashley holds a bachelor of music in vocal performance/opera and is an 8 Elements™ Datura Style dance teacher, a Registered Yoga Teacher, and a certified Pilates, cycling and fitness instructor.
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An ever-evolving artist, she has trained extensively as a musician, dancer and contortionist. As an instructor, she enjoys teaching virtually any fitness format but currently is expanding her training in nutrition, lifestyle design, mindfulness and emotional intelligence techniques in order to expand her skills as a fitness, wellness and lifestyle coach.
EBONY QUALLS

Ebony has taught and performed in multiple cities throughout Asia, Canada, Europe, South America and the United States. She has toured internationally with the world famous Bellydance Superstars and Bellydance Evolution and has performed in and choreographed for Zoe Jake’s House of Tarot. She is most honored to be a guest instructor on Rachel Brice’s Datura Online, the leading website for belly dance instructional videos.
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Ebony’s playful spirit flavors both her performances and her approach to teaching belly dance since 2003. A combination of strong technique, musicality, and innovation are the foundations of her colorful dance presence. Ebony teaches and performs both traditional raqs sharqi and her own dynamic fusion belly dance style, which is fueled by her background in both oriental and urban dance genres.
Along with her love of dance, Ebony is in love with teaching. A founding instructor of Sahara Dance – Washington DC’s Center for Middle Eastern Dance, her students describe her as “approachable” and her classes as “fun” and “challenging”. She teaches weekly classes in both traditional and urban fusion formats and has choreographed for Raqs Sahara, Sahara Tribal, Raqs Caravan West and Raqs Caravan East. Newcomers to belly dance are Ebony’s favorite students, as they are a major source of inspiration to her.
Ebony continues her own regular dance studies and has trained with world-renowned master instructors from traditional raqs sharqi and tribal fusion circuits.
https://ebonyqualls.com
JILL PARKER

For more than three decades, Jill Parker has honed a masterful delivery method that truly facilitates breakthroughs for dancers of all skill levels. She is a generous teacher with a rare gift for demystifying this sensuous form by meticulously and effectively breaking down complex movements to their essentials and making the technique, nuances, and fluent embodiment accessible.
Originally hailing from San Francisco, and now based in New York, Jill teaches and dances internationally offering classes, worksh and private lessons between tour dates. She fosters and emphasizes an atmosphere of fun, well-being, and community in all of her classes.
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Jill Parker is known the world over as a pioneer in the fusion and folk bellydance genres. She is a lifelong student and lover of bellydance.
Jill influenced the thriving fusion bellydance scene that flourished during the 1990’s and 2000’s in San Francisco. She was an original FCBD member and later founded her own professional trail blazing dance theater company that birthed many of today’s great fusion dancers.
Fusion bellydance would not be the same today without the decades long influence Jill Parker has had on the industry. She was one of the first Fusion dancers to embrace theatricality into her group performances, breaking the envelope of what costuming, music, themes, staging, and bellydance were “allowed” to explore. Her contribution to Fusion and Folkloric bellydance is imeasureable.
Jill teaches and dances internationally offering classes, workshops, and private lessons between tour dates. She fosters and emphasizes an atmosphere of fun, well-being, and community in all of her classes. https://www.jillparkerdance.com/
JILLINA CARLANO

Jillina has devoted her life to dance. With a background in Middle Eastern, Folklore, Jazz, Ballet, and Hip Hop, she creates a colorful Middle Eastern fusion repertoire that has inspired collaborations with some of the world’s leading instructors and performers. Traveling extensively to create productions and teach seminars that embody her unique style of dance and dance education, Jillina also advocates a local dance community, owning the creative hub, Evolution Dance Studios in North Hollywood, California. Whether on stage, coaching one-on-one, or teaching a group of 1,000 students, Jillina’s vibrant ability to connect with people on and off the dance floor continues to influence dancers and entertain audiences worldwide.
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HISTORY
In 1999 Jillina established her own dance company, Jillina’s Sahlala Dancers, currently LA’s premier Middle Eastern and world-fusion dance entertainment company. From 2003-09 she served as Artistic Director and Main Choreographer for the Bellydance Superstars, performing with them in over 700 shows across a dozen countries. Highlights include the main stage at Lollapalooza, The Follies Berger in Paris, The Queen’s Theater in London and Theatre Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco.
In 2009 Jillina created Bellydance Evolution with the goal to take Middle Eastern dance to a higher level. Bellydance Evolution has appeared in over 20 countries and was a featured company at the Mawazine festival in Morocco, performing for the Queen of Morocco. In 2016 Jillina & Bellydance Evolution were commissioned to produce “Le Voyage de Scheherazade,” a multi-national, multi-discipline collaboration between Moroccan, European and American Oriental and ballet dancers with the Orchestra Philharmonique de Maroc.
Jillina has won numerous awards from International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance and the Giza Academy, including Best Modern Egyptian Dancer, Best Instructional Video, Best Dance Company and Dancer of the Year. Jillina has appeared on several television programs, including, “Dancing with the Stars” & “Tsukiri,” a widely-viewed show in Japan. She has co-produced 12 instructional DVDs, now offered in five different languages and distributed by Universal Records. In the summer of 2009 and 2010, Jillina was the first American to be invited as a featured performer in the prestigious Closing Gala at Ahlan Wa Sahlan in Egypt.
In the United States, Jillina owns Evolution Dance Studios located in North Hollywood, California. The studio provides rehearsal space to some of Hollywood’s top artists, including Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, and choreographers from “So You Think You Can Dance,” and serves as a focal point for the Los Angeles Dance Community.
“My passion for dance is driven by a deep desire to connect physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually with the creative artist inside each of us. After 30 years of performing and teaching, I continue to find deep reward in sharing the art of bellydance through coaching, choreography and production.”
KAMI LIDDLE

Kami Liddle is a solo dance artist born with a passion for movement. She began taking ballet and tap lessons at the age of four and over her lifetime of dance study has become one of the most famous fusion bellydancers in the world! Teaching and performing for decades, she has shared her love of dance with countless students around the globe.
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Kami’s style is what she calls a modern fusion of an ancient dance. Although she is primarily a tribal dancer, she pulls from the various styles of belly dance that she has studied, as well as modern, hip hop, jazz, and bhangra dance. Her goal is to always be a student of dance and to constantly expand her repertoire.
She joined Bellydance Superstars in 2005 and is a contributing choreographer, as well as having been the director of the Tribal Superstars thru 2012. Most recently, Kami started her own troupe, Gold Star, and has been collaborating with Bay Area band Junk Parlor.
www.kamiliddle.com
SADIE MARQUARDT

Sadie Marquardt is a global Bellydance sensation. She has spent the last 10 years traveling the globe conducting workshops and shows in hundreds of cities across 40+ countries. She is the most-watched Bellydancer on YouTube with over 30 million hits on just one video alone. Sadie is an inspiration and icon to her students and fans around the world and serves to empower people through the captivating art of Oriental Dance (Bellydance). She has produced dozens of bestselling instructional videos. She has represented the art of Oriental Dance in front of millions of viewers on the hit show “America’s Got Talent.”
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Sadie lives in Denver, Colorado. She loves spending time in nature, hiking, camping and adventuring with her family. Aside from dance, Sadie has a deep passion and commitment to living and creating a holistic, sustainable lifestyle and world. She loves to combine her passions in her retreats; bringing the power of nature, dance, music, conscious living and human connection together.
When she is not busy traveling the globe she can be found teaching her award-winning bellydance classes and workshops as well as performing locally in Colorado.
www.sadiebellydancer.com/
ZOE JAKES

A versatile and extremely well-rounded performer, Zoe Jakes has developed an instruction style uniquely her own, and is a popular touring instructor, with her workshops regularly selling out rapidly. Her passion is for Belly Dance to get wider recognition and respect, and her classes reflect that with a focus on strong technique and long-term motivation.
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Currently Zoe Jakes is touring with her band Beats Antique, a group that has six albums and hundreds of live shows under their belt. Zoe designs and makes many of her own costumes and co-produces tracks with Beats Antique, along with adding set designer and stylist to her body of work. With multiple years and disciplines of belly dance under her belt, she has also studied Jazz, Ballet, Tango, Popping, and Indian dance.
Zoe Jakes is pursuing her desire to bring belly dance to the masses – performing at Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo put her in front of thousands of people that didn’t know belly dance from an elephant. Zoe always includes her own Tribal Fusion aesthetic, as well as the many dance forms that have influenced her art the most.
www.zoejakes.com
THE MEGA MASSIVE
WORKSHOPS
STAGE SHOWS
PHOTOGRAPHY