Elizabeth Strong
FRI 3:30p - 5:30p ~ Musicality & Combinations
SAT 3p - 5p ~ Strengthening, Layering, and Floorwork
BIO: Elizabeth Strong grew up in a tradition of dance and music. As a young girl she was inspired by the music and dancing of the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Her amazingly emotional and personal style has captivated audiences in the Bay Area and abroad. Elizabeth believes that the heart is the source of dance and that dance is an expression of our relationship with life and culture. A life-long dancer, Elizabeth formally began studying and performing Middle Eastern dance in 1996 at the age of 18.
Her love for Middle Eastern dance compelled her to seek the source in North Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey. While living in Istanbul in 2000, she met Roman (“gypsy”) men and women with whom she studied the Turkish Roman dance form, most notably Reyhan Tuszuz and Reyhan’s daughter, Meltem. She has recently returned from her third visit abroad wherein she continued her study of Roman dance, and “Oriental” or bellydance.
Elizabeth joined Le Cancan Bijou dance Troupe in 2003 and became part of the Mad Sal's Music Hall Revue at the Charles Dickens Christmas Fair in 2004.Performing in both groups has given her the opportunity to stretch herself creatively, and has been a source of much joy and satisfaction.
Elizabeth currently makes her living performing and teaching dance throughout the United States. Her current passion includes working with professionals from multiple disciplines to create and perform pieces that are heart-felt, stylized and unique.
Teachers and inspirations include Madge Strong, Pamela Trokanski, Helené, Rossah Katarina Burda, Suhaila Salimpour and Jamila Salimpour, Mira Betz, Rachel Brice, Suzan Tekbilek, Sahara Saeeda, Jill Parker, and Jon Compton.