Goddess Motion

RHEA

An icon of Oriental dance, Master of the exciting Greco-Turkish style!  Rhea has captivated students and audiences worldwide with her magnetic personality, spellbinding stories, maverick spirit and dynamic dance technique, which blends principles of ancient Greek dance with modern Turkish cabaret.

Rhea journey in belly dance began with her teacher and mentor, JAMILA SALIMPOUR.  Rhea became one of the first sword dancers in Jamila's legendary troupe Bal Anat in 1968.  thanks to Jamila, Rhea was the first dancer in America to take the balancing of a sword into the context of cabaret performance.

Rhea went on to dance, teach and perform in the San Francisco Bay Area when interest in belly dance had reached it zenith, bringing up her two young daughters in the heart of the art.  In 1977, Rhea left the US to explore the various sources of bellydancing in the Middle East.  After seeing the then reigning stars of the day, Zohair Zaki & Nagwa Fouad, and dancing in Egypt herself, Rhea settled in Athens, setting up a small studio a la Isadora duncan at the base of the Acropolis.

In Greece, she is regarded as the country's premiere expert in Oriental Dance and regularly featured on television and in magazines.

Melina

Melina of Daughters of Rhea ( Melinda Pavlata, Phd ), is a modern-day bohemian renaissance woman.  She is a second generation belly dancer.  Her mother, rhea, is one of the world famous belly dancers who was a student of the legendary Jamila Salimpour.  Melina is an artist & aerialist, choreographer, teacher, writher as well as a Medieval French literature scholar.

She is co-founder of the belly dance company Daughters of Rhea, the European family circus company Cirque Passions and the ALS Therapy Development Institute.

Melina made her debut on stage at the age of 2 with a costume pinned to her diapers.  She has performed with a tray of burning candles on her head since she was 7 years old.  Today, Melina is the only belly dancer in the world to BALANCE A SWORD ON A DAGGER CLUTCHED IN HER JAWS.

http://www.ancientartstudios.com/newsletter/Winter2009/AncientNewsWinter2009.pdf

http://www.daughtersofrhea.com