Sandra is involved internationally in every aspect of bellydance from performance, instruction, competitons, DVDs, music videos, modeling, and community outreach. Sandra is a popular entertainer in Arabic nightclubs in the San Francisco Bay Area, and also travels to perform for audiences world-wide. Her natural musicality and understanding of Arabic movement and culture combined with a playful sensuality keep her in high demand. Since Sandra began performing in 1993, she has danced for audiences on 4 continents. She is currently the house dancer at Chatanoga Persian Club in Santa Clara, the oldest Middle Eastern Supper Club in the San Francisco Bay Area and an institution among San Francisco's Persian Community. You can catch a live show on Fridays and Saturdays on the San Francisco Peninsula, or watch for Sandra's upcoming performances in 2011-2012, including engagements in Spain, Cairo, and Oaxaca, Mexico. |
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Sandra teaches weekly day and evening classes for Yoga Source in Palo alto and for the city of Menlo Park. She also travels around the globe to help students learn advanced technique for Middle Eastern dance. Known for her clear and communicative teaching style, Sandra's experience with multiple dance forms along with years spent working in authentic Arabic and Persian nightclubs, helps her give students a professional polish with traditional style. Sandra began her study of bellydance with Nanna Candelaria while a student at UC Berkeley and continued studying and performing with Nanna through her graduate work at Stanford. Sandra's understanding of Arabic belly dance is enriched by studying ethnic dance forms from many cultures, including Flamenco and Classical Indian and Classical Persian dance. Sandra spent 6 years pursuing the study of classical Indian Baratha Natyam, most recently with Shreelata Suresh's Vishwa Shanti school of Indian dance . Sandra studied classical Persian dance with Lorna Zilba and performed with her LifeDance Theater company and studied Classical Persian and Central Asian dance with Ballet Afsaneh. To keep things groovy, Sandra keeps up her jazz/funk/hip-hop skills with Lisa Navarro at Dance Visions in Palo Alto, along with traditional ballet technique with Eric Bourman at Western Ballet Academy. |
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In addition to her popularity as a dancer and teacher, Sandra is also a well known model, appearing in Arabic and Persian print and television ads as well as Nike's ad campaign to promote alternative forms of exercise throughout Asia. She is currently featured on 22 CD covers of Arabic and Bellydance Music. |
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Sandra graduated with a bachelors' degree from UC Berkeley and a Masters from Stanford University. Although she greatly enjoyed her time as a field geologist in Argentina and Central Alaska, her desire to devote herself completely to Middle Eastern Dance became too strong. Nevertheless, she reconnects with the outdoors as much as she can on hikes and camping trips with her two Swiss Mountain Dogs, Enzo and Ari. | |||||||
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