Ahhhh...AhzsMaralda! The Mediterranean-latina in her blood stirred early as a child as she danced through her parents home pretending she was a gypsy. She began piano lessons at age 5, starred as Gilda in the Opera Rigoletto at age 8, studied drama and taught guitar as a teenager, traveled to Spain at age 18 on a quest to study Castillian Spanish at the Universidad de Valencia; and to fulfill a life long dream of finally meeting authentic gypsies! She continued on to be involved in music and the performing arts all of her life.
Bellydance was a heartbeat away and it was love at first site when she saw her first performance by a classical Egyptian dancer. As a result, AhzsMaralda has been performing classical American Caberet bellydance, Gypsy style bellydance, and bellydance with a latin/flamenco flavor for the past (7) years. She has immersed herself in the dance styles of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and has studied with icons of Middle Eastern Dance including: Carmen Amaya, Hannan Sultan (NC/Toronto), Khadayif (Tampa), Azmara (New York), Nourhan Sharif (New York), Kira (N. Miami Beach), Bozenka (Bellydance Superstars - Miami Beach), Alina Yllanes (Lotus Dance, Pembroke Pines, FL), Salomae (N. Miami, FL), Souhail Kaspar, (CA), Myriam Eli (Miami, FL), Mesmera (NYC), Dahlena (NYC) and various additional workshops accross the country.
Dance Credentials: President of the Kizmet Dance Foundation, Miami, FL; Founder of the Fayetteville Bellydance Meetup, NC; Organizer of the Key West Bellydance Meetup, Key West, FL, Dance Instructor for 3 years, Dance Performer, 7 years.
Professionally, she has a B.A. in International Relations, began her own business at age 26 which included special events, was the Director of Public Relations at the Orlando Jazz Fest, and chaired several committees for a variety of non-profit organizations. Most recently, with the intention to inspire the love of dance to those around her, she founded the Fayetteville Bellydance Meetup and the Florida Key West Bellydance Meetups, and brought the memberships from 1 to 138 members within a year. Her desire is to creatively and professionally inspire and enrapture her audiences, students, and clients.
The Story behind "AhzsMaralda's" dance...
(a translation from the original French)
"If this young girl were a human being, or a fairy, or an angel, it is which Gringoire, sceptical philosopher, ironical poet that he was, couldn't decide in the first moment, so great was he fascinated by this dazzling vision.
She was not tall, but she seemed it, so fine her figure was held hardily. She was brown, but one could guess that at day her skin must have that beautiful gilded reflection of Andalusians and Romans. Her small foot was also Andalusian, for it was all together confined and comfortable in its graceful shoe. She danced, she turned, she whirled on an old Persian rug, thrown neglitently under her feet; and each time that in turning, her radiant visage passed before you, her great black eyes sent lightning to you.
"Around her all gazes were fixed, all mouths open; and in effect, while she danced thus, to the buzzing of the Brasque tambourine which two round and pure arms lifted above her head, slim, frail, and lively as a wasp, with her bodice of gold without pleat, her multi-colored dress which puffed out, with her naked shoulders, her fine legs that her skirt uncovered at moments, her black hair, her flaming eyes, she was a supernatural creature.
"'In truth,' thought Gringoire, 'it is a salamander, it is a nymph, it is a goddess, it is a bacchi of the Menalean mountain.'
"At this moment one of the braids of the "salamander's" hair came undone, and a piece of yellow brass which was attached rolled to the earth.
"'Alas, no!' said he, 'it's a gypsy.'"
--Victor Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris
It is not 1482, and the fires of Victor Hugo's gypsy camp only exist in books or Disney films. However, the beauty, fluidity, and love of the folkloric dances of the Romani and Middle East still inspire and move dancers old and young today.
Join us and feel for yourself what young Gringoire was describing as you experience the joy and art of American bellydance, Romani dance, and middle eastern influenced oriental dance. Whether you take classes with AhzsMaralda to learn how to dance and twirl on your own or step together with us by having us perform at your events or fundraisers, you will be swept away to a happier place with AhzsMaralda and her "Vardo" - her friends, students, and professional associates in dance.
