Meroe started dancing in 1990 - inspired by dancers she’d seen on a Nile Cruise - since then she has done troupe and solo work, turning her hand to most styles of Arabic/Middle Eastern/North African dance. She was one of the original members of the Caravanserai Drum and Dance Collective, has performed in the stage show 'Sabrine', and performed at the Liverpool Arab Arts Festival; not only as a solo artiste but also as part of the Adara performance group.
She was a member of the Funoon Aljezzera Dance Company in 2012 and appeared as a guest dancer for the Funoon Alararbiya Dance Company in the show ‘Funoon wa Alwane’ at Liverpool’s Arab Arts Festival in July 2014.
Meroe teaches regular classes on Merseyside and is currently enrolled on the Advanced Dancer Course with The Drumzy Dance School.
Video links:
Casino Arabia 2011
Club Baklava 2014
Funoon wa Alwane 2014
Kebi
Kebi has been dancing for about 12 years. She was inspired to learn after seeing dancers when on holiday in Tunisia. She started attending classes and fell in love with the dance.
About 8 years ago she started to go to classes given by Meroe and was delighted to be invited to join Ya Raqs.
Kebi loves dancing as part of a troupe, both as part of Ya Raqs and whenever the opportunity is presented. While her heart lies in folkloric dance, she will also have a go at Modern Egyptian, Shaabi, Saidi and Baladi. Her proudest moment so far has been performing with Ya Raqs at the British Museum. She has also performed in other groups at the Liverpool Arabic Arts festival and has performed a solo at 'Casino El Layl' in Liverpool and 'Mabrouk', a Chester performance showcase.
Myriam
Myriam learned her first dance steps from her mother, who was a gitanos flamenco dancer, and went on to study dance at college. It wasn't until she was in her early adult life she found a cabaret style belly dancing class held in a community hall. She fell in love instantly with the dance and soon dedicated most of her time to it. Several years later she gained performance and teaching opportunities and became a professional solo performer. Upon becoming a member of Ya Raqs she has rekindled her love of sharing the gift of dance with her fellow troupe members and enjoys the folkloric styles. She enjoys performing with sagat (finger cymbals) and props.
Yasna
