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Sapphire (Sharon Ross)
I started dance, as many girls did, in a ballet class when I was in elementary school. Although I do have a gap in formal training, in 2002, I discovered bellydance with a mommy friend. We went to class as a way to reconnect with our selves after having children.
From that class, I allowed myself to fall in love with Dance again, to do something just for me. I have taken classes both from my teacher and from guest teachers from around the world. I have ran practice sessions with my fellow students, lead technique classes, filled in for my teacher and formed a troupe.
​My love of choreography and encouragement of my dance-mates led me to teach classes. I have had the privilege to teach classes at CPCC in addition to my personally arranged classes.
Our Dance Lineage
Knowing your past informs your future. This list is not inclusive of all the instructors each dancer and teacher learned from and was influenced by. This is the main lineage.
Zarifa of Charlotte, NC
founder of the Sarab Dancers
Zarifa is the modern founder of the bellydance community in Charlotte, NC.
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She started teaching in 1999 in Charlotte and the founder of the Sarab Dancers. She brought Oriental Dance, also know as Raks Sharqi or commonly known as bellydance, to the Carolina Renaissance Festival with various dance styles from around the world.
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Zarifa shares her enthusiasm for the dance with her students and reminds all that this dance form especially helps women become more aware and accepting of their bodies, and build confidence that translates to other areas of life.
Cassandra Shore
founder of
Jawaahir Dance Company
Cassandra embraced Middle Eastern dance in the early 1970s, and in 1975, as a student of Jamila Salimpour, she began performing, quickly becoming one of the most popular and respected Middle Eastern performers in the San Francisco Bay area.
Cassandra's initial dance background was primarily in Wigman and Graham styles of modern dance with a flavoring of jazz, flamenco, and Tai Chi Ch'uan. These building blocks of dance styles drove her to explore ways to move Middle Eastern dance "beyond the museum." Her modern dance education contributed heavily to her unique vision of Middle Eastern dance and innovative ways to use it in choreography. Eventually, the outcome was original, theatrically-inspired choreography that blended traditional and contemporary Middle Eastern forms.
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Cassandra Shore opened The Cassandra School in 1978 in response to numerous requests for classes from women who saw her nightclub performances and were inspired to learn. She founded the Jawaahir Dance Company in 1989. She is the mainstay instructor at Oasis Dance Camps and Retreats held yearly in the US.
Jamila Salimpour
founder of Bal Anat
Jamila Salimpour is the originator of tribal belly dance in America. She is also the first one to solidify a format of terminology in belly dance still used today. Her format is taught and applied to dancers’ movements worldwide. Jamila has been an influential figure in belly dance for over 50 years. The creation of the dance troupe Bal-Anat evolved in 1968, when the opportunity to perform in an outdoor theme festival called The Renaissance Pleasure Faire challenged the imagination of American Belly Dance pioneer, Jamila Salimpour, to create a variety show which one might see at an Arabian Festival or Souk. From being a member of Ringling Brothers Circus in 1942 Jamila implemented that format in creating Bal Anat. As a belly dancer, Jamila Salimpour worked with many dancers including Algerian water glass dancers, Tunisian pot dancers, Male Tray dancers, magicians, and presented many varieties of entertainment. The Sword dance, Mask dance, and Snake dance were seen for the first time in Bal Anat. The resulting show became a show featuring tribal dances from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. The show inspired a whole generation of American Belly Dancers, giving way to the rise in popularity of the Tribal Belly Dance genre.