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Yolanda is a professional dance artist and dance
instructor in the San Jose / San Francisco Bay Area.
She performs a variety of dances
from the Middle East incorporating the use of sword, tray, cane, veil and
traditional zills (finger cymbals). She has created and taught both
choreography and improvisational dance. Yolanda has performed all over the
United States including Boston, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and as
far away as Puerto Rico.
Yolanda teaches Middle Eastern Dance at the
East Palo Alto YMCA
and the
Palo Alto Family
YMCA.
She is a certified instructor in the Dunia
"Traditional Old World Bellydance" and one of the
Dance Masters of Bellydance!
Yolanda had the pleasure of
performing as a guest dancer with the
Bellydance
Superstars on Valentine’s day, 2004, at the Edge in Palo Alto California.
This wonderful dance concert featured some of the most incredible Middle
Eastern, Fusion and other styles of dance ever to appear on one stage.
Yolanda and her daughter,
Lu
Lu, traveled to Egypt to
attend the
Ahlan Wa
Sahlan Festival and sightsee.
They had the opportunity to study with Raqia
Hassan, Dina, Dandash, Mona El Said, Farida Fahmy,
Faten Salama and Mahmoud Reda.
Yolanda will add a page chronicling their adventures soon.
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1st Place Winner
Grand Dancer of the Year 2010
May 29 – 31, 2010
The 37th Annual Belly Dancer of the Year Pageant
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Second Place Winner
Star Cabaret Category
“Enchanted Camelot” Competition
Sponsored by
Sirens Insanity
October 1, 2005
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Third
Place Winner
Entertainer of the Year
10th Annual Wiggles of the
West
July 8-10, 2005
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First Place Winner
Grand Diva
“A
Night at Casablanca” Competition
Sponsored by
Sirens Insanity
October 3, 2004
Yolanda has primarily
studied with
Dunia of San Jose, CA. She has also had the opportunity to study with other
outstanding figures in the Middle Eastern Dance community such as
Izora,
Morocco,
Shareen el Safy, Bert Balladine
and
Amina. This brings a wide variety of styles to
her repertoire, including Raks Sharki, Modern Egyptian, American Cabaret,
Traditional Ethnic, American Tribal Fusion, Gypsy and Flamenco influenced Middle
Eastern Dance.
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Yolanda is also an award winning dancer, she was
the First Place Winner in the Grand Diva Category, at the “A
Night at Casablanca” competition, sponsored by
Sirens Insanity on
10/03/04. In the First Annual People's Choice Award, she was 2nd runner up overall, Best
Costume and Palace (favorite) Dancer, by Audience Vote. She was also a
finalist at the
Bellydancer of the Year Pageant, sponsored by Leea Aziz. Television appearances include an interview and
dance performance for both “Speaking of Menlo Park” and Telemundo.
Yolanda was also the President of the
San Francisco Bay Area Middle Eastern Culture and Dance Association
Chapter for 2003 and 2004. Vice-President for 2009. Before that she was Vice-President for 2001 and 2002. She along with
Izora,
Zemira, Nashwa Ahlam,
Leyla
Lanty and Jenza was one of the founding members of the
SF/BA MECDA chapter which
started in 2000. Currently she is the Web Mistress for the SF BA MECDA web site.
She is a member of the DDF
Planning Committee and was a member of Nile Spice - A Dance Company, Desert
Dance Festival's premiere dance ensemble. With Nile Spice, she performed not
only at DDF's famous Extravaganza Show, but also at many Art and Wine Festivals
and restaurants. She has also had the privilege to dance with Sittat al-Ghawazee,
directed by
Izora of
Santa Rosa, CA who also directs the group Raks al-Shaqrawaat and Zuhur
Al-Sahara.
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