Khani Zulu Bio and Dance Background

Khani Zulu has been dancing since she was 4.  As a child, she trained in gymnastics, jazz and ballet.  She began teaching at age 14.  This led her to tour the U.S. with the Stars of Tomorrow at age 17.  She attended the University of Texas at Austin as a Modern dance major where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and performed with Jose Bustamante and Yakov Sharir of the Sharir Dance Company, Lori Wilson of Tallulah Dance Company.  After college, Khani was a member of the  Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre and choreographed several musicals for The Planet Theatre in Austin, Tx.  She was nominated “best choreographer” for her work on the musical “Lucifa” in 1997.  Khani also directed her own modern dance company, Utopia, from 1993 to 1997 in Austin,TX.

Khani found the world of Tribal bellydance several years ago through taking classes with Anahata and Elizabeth Mahina in Los Angeles, CA.  She was very much inspired by a new dance vocabulary and was very drawn to the folk and regional roots of the various styles that she has been exposed to.  Through intensive studies with many teachers but mostly influenced by Heather Stants of Urban Tribal and Amy Sigil of Unmata, she has found a way to bring together her past dance experience and her new found love of the Tribal Bellydance vocabulary in Tribal Fusion Dance.  Now fully immersed in the world of Tribal Fusion Bellydance, Khani is the co-director and co-founder of Medianoche Dance Co.  Seeing the potential of the Los Angeles belly dance community,  she has begun to produce local stage productions and charity fundraisers in Hollywood called, Zulu Lounge.  After just two very successful shows, Zulu Lounge, already has a huge following.  The most recent shows featured performers such as Zoe Jakes, Tina Guo, Unmata, Aubre, Sherri Wheatley, Medianoche Dance Co. and many more!

Khani’s goal is to reach all of the world with dance, and to especially bring awareness to the amazing community that is the Tribal Bellydance Community.
These are just a few highlights of Khani’s dance career:

• Performer with Andrea Aerial Dance Company, Austin, Tx. – a contemporary and modern dance company (1995-1997)
• Choreographer for The Planet Theatre Company, Austin, Tx. -- (1995-1997)
• Founder and Director of Utopia– a contemporary and modern dance company (1993-1997)
• Member of Nataraja – a tribal fusion troupe directed by Elizabeth Mahina Souza (2007-2009)
• Guest performer with She’enedra (2008-present)
• Co-director, co-choreographer, and primary dancer of Medianoche (2009-present)
• Collaborated and Performed with Heather Stants and Urban Tribal at The Massive Spectacular (2011)

Teaching background:
1986-1990  Beginning to Intermediate Jazz Dance, beginning ballet and gymnastics --Bingham Dance Studio, Midland, Tx.
1990-1992  Intermediate Jazz Dance and gymnastics--Miss Cheryl’s Dance School, Dallas, Tx.
1992-1996  Intermediate to Advanced Jazz Dance, beginning to intermediate Modern Dance--Dance Space, Austin, Tx.
2010-present Beginning to Professional Belly Fusion Dance, Los Angeles, CA.

Georgina (Gigi) Corkett Bio and dance background

When Georgina was hand-picked at the age of 7 to perform with the Bejart Ballet in a piece about Isadora Duncan, it gave birth to a lifelong relationship with dance. She has danced and performed for more than 25 years, starting at an early age with formal ballet training, progressing to lyrical, then modern dance, and finally arriving at Middle Eastern dance as an adult. In 2001, she started taking bellydance lessons and became a student of Alexandra King in 2003. Two years later, she discovered Tribal Fusion through Ayse Cereami. Currently, Georgina teaches weekly classes and is exploring the fusion of bellydance with modern and interpretive dance as part of her work with Medianoche. An important aspect of Georgina’s personal mission is to identify and preserve the origins of bellydance (and all its’ regional iterations) while at the same bringing exposure, recognition, and definition to the newly-cropped, modern styles of bellydance.

The last few years cover a wide breadth of performances , troupes, and styles of dance:

• Member of troupe “Bellydance Rocks” (2001-2003)
• Performer with Motion Theater Dance Company – a contemporary and modern dance company (2001-2003)
• Performer and volunteer with Arts 4 Humanity - an arts outreach organization which through the arts helps cultivate creativity and empower people with developmental disabilities and at-risk youth (2004)
• Member of Sisterhood Bellydance Collective (now known as Wild Routes) - a tribal fusion troupe co-directed by Ayse Cerami and Katie Kay (2005-2007)
• Member of Nataraja – a tribal fusion troupe directed by Elizabeth Mahina Souza (2008-2009)
• Guest performer with She’enedra (2008-present)
• Co-director, co-choreographer, and primary dancer of Medianoche (2009-present)

Teaching background:
Since 2005 Georgina teaches a variety of classes including: Fundamentals of Floorwork; Basics of Bellydance; Beginning and Intermediate-level Veil; Emphasis on Choreography; Emphasis on Performance; and the Art of Improvisational Bellydance. In addition she has taught workshops, directed her own troupe “Dahab”, choreographed pieces for cabaret, tribal fusion, and modern fusion-style bellydance, and collaborated with other dancers and teachers. She is especially proud of bringing community and the diverse styles of bellydance together through her bi-monthly, “Weathervane Arts” haflas since 2008.