Bios
As the daughter of a tai chi teacher, Amber began exploring the creative process of body awareness early on. Since the age of 3 she trained in an array of styles including jazz, ballet, figure skating, tango and salsa. However, it was in 2004 that she discovered bellydance while working with an alignment specialist, as a way to alleviate back pain. This discovery reignited her passion for dance, particularly fusion bellydance. As a bellydancer Amber has performed, trained and instructed around the world in countries such as Mexico, Argentina and Uganda, which has added great diversity to her movements and styling. Amber is passionate about finding ways to challenge conventional norms about femininity through dance. This has led her to perform regularly as a fusion bellydancer with Luciterra, and as a burlesque dancer under the alter ego persona of Delilah Dare. As Delilah Dare she performers regularly with the live Jazz burlesque collective Pandora and the Locksmiths. Amber has also performed fusion bellydance across Canada with the critically acclaimed band Tambura Rasa. Amber feels blessed to have found such strong and supportive women through dance and is truly honoured to get to work with such inspiring dancers and musicians.
Laura Albert doesn't remember when she first fell in love with dance, but the pictures of her as a wee tyke in a leotard are adorable. From childhood onward her movement training consisted primarily of contemporary dance, jazz, ballet, and yoga until that fateful day when she took her first bellydance class and could no longer sleep at night. Her work as a dancer overlaps with her passion for social justice, and she is deeply inspired by integrating art, process, and social change. For Laura, this dance is an expression of empowerment and celebration. Laura co-teaches Luciterra's weekly conditioning, technique, and repertory classes in East Vancouver.
Laura began her training in Fusion Bellydance with Lava in 2006, and trained and performed with Lava’s troupe, the Sisters of Alchemy, until 2010. She has completed certification intensives with her teachers Suhaila Salimpour (Level 1 certification) and Carolena Nericcio (General Skills certification), and continues to train with both of them as often as she can. Outside of her work with Luciterra, Laura also collaborates with the critically acclaimed Gypsy-Jazz fusion band Tambura Rasa as a solo dancer, and with the eclectic artist collective the Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret. She has been performing up and down the west coast since 2008, and has toured from the Yukon to California. Other performance highlights include the Vancouver Fringe Fest, the Dawson City Music Festival, Shambhala Music Festival, Basscoast, In The House Festival Vancouver, and Tribal Fest.
With her suitcase filled with gypsy treasure, make-up, hairspray, and dance costumes, Naomi Joy Gallagher has made the successful transition from actor to dancer. After working in both film and television in New York and Vancouver, she discovered the intensity, drama, and mystery of belly dance, a form where she weaves dramatic character into physical movement. She is drawn to the edginess and dark seduction of Tribal Fusion combined with physical strength and precision. Naomi has a deep passion for the mind-body connection and currently teaches yoga and pilates around Vancouver.
Naomi’s passion for belly dance ignited in 2007, when she began studying fusion belly dance with Lava. Although Naomi is new to this artistic expression, she has a history of performance experience. She graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC. She has completed multiple Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Teacher Trainings and continuously enriches her yoga teaching with regular workshops. Naomi has performed on various Broadway stages, The New York Fringe Festival, Tribal Fest, In The House Festival Vancouver, Shambhala Music Festival, Bass Coast, Sistahood Celebration Festival.
When Gillian Cofsky discovered bellydance as a teenager in 2002, she found a form that felt both intuitive and exhilarating from the first beat. Having minimal dance training before that point, she has since dove in head first and dedicated herself fully to continuing to grow as a dancer and expanding her movement vocabulary. She is a founding member of Luciterra; her proudest accomplishment to date, and an adventure that has transformed her life. In Vancouver, Gillian co-teaches Luciterra’s weekly dance classes, as well as Bellyfit®. As a performer and instructor of bellydance and Bellyfit®, she finds true joy in building community and helping to connect people through movement.
Gillian’s ATS and fusion bellydance training began in 2005 with Samantha Emanuel and 2006 with Lava and she performed with Lava’s troupe, the Sisters of Alchemy, until 2010. Gillian holds certificates in Carolena Nericcio’s General Skills and Teacher Training, Bellyfit® Instructor Training and Master Instructor Training, and BCRPA’s Group Fitness Instructor Training. Gillian has been performing as a solo artist since 2004, and with Luciterra since the beginning in Spring 2009. Performance highlights include The Duncan Garage Bellydance Extravaganza, In the House Festival, Tribal Fest, BassCoast Project, and Shambhala. She can be seen on 2007 instructional TV series, 'Shimmy', in the 'Bellyfit® Earth' instructional DVD, and teaching bellydance on www.myyogaonline.com.
Photos by Brendan Lally
