The Company: Biographies
Kristina Cañizares
Director/Choreographer/Dancer
Descended from a long line of Cuban drummers, Kristina has rhythm in her blood. Kristina has studied and performed samba, Latin cabaret, salsa, rumba, modern, jazz, capoeira, and belly dance, including research in Cuba and Brazil. She was co-director of Ultra Gypsy Dance Company from 2001-2003, and has been a principal dancer for Ginga Brasil, Hot Pink Feathers, and Latin Cabaret Productions. In 2005 she was awarded the Ultimate Soloist title at the Hips of Fury Belly Dance Competition, and from 2004-2008 she has been a performer and collaborating choreographer for The Crucible’s celebrated Fire Operas and Fire Ballets, where she also teaches fire eating. Kristina is currently training in Mongolian contortion at the San Francisco Circus Center and she performs a belly dance-contortion fusion duet with world-famous contortionist Serchmaa Byamba.
The Ultimate Soloist winner, Kristina Cañizares, wowed the audience with her unique blend of Middle Eastern, Brazilian, and North African-inspired moves. Accompanied by a live drummer, she took the stage with energy and poise. Not only beautiful, she proved herself to be a dancer of great range, dynamism, and presence.
Diana Goodwin
Zaghareet Magazine Feb 2006
Scott Sterling
Musical Director/DJ
Scott Sterling aka Drumspyder, percussionist and producer, has pioneered the fusion of live drumming, electronic dance music, and multimedia performance for over a decade. A founding member of the SF circus/dance troupes AWD and Xeno, he is now a solo musician and DJ, and collaborates with other global fusion artists. His DJ sets are an expansive mix of body-rockin’ global soul, incorporating live percussion, original tracks, and laptop remixing with Afro-Latin house, Tribal, and Arabic fusion grooves. Also a visual artist, he paints in acrylics and digital pixels. In his spare time he practices yoga and ponders alchemical symbolism, mythology, and philosophy. You can visit Scott at http://www.myspace.com/drumspyder and view his artwork at http://www.scottsterlingart.com.
The music is magnetic. Master drummer Scott Sterling... generates a beautifully varied, irresistibly tuneful and richly eclectic soundscape.
Robert Hurwitt
San Francisco Examiner
Leah Christiana
Assistant DIrector/Dancer/Acrobat/Aerialist
Leah has been performing all her life with competition teams and several Bay Area dance companies. For three years Leah appeared as one of Football’s Fabulous Females, an Oakland Raiderette, where she was Rookie of the Year and Line One Captain. She holds a Bachelor of the Arts in dance from San Francisco State University, and is currently performing with various Bay Area circus troupes as a dancer, acrobat and trapeze artist. You can find out more here.
Aliena
Dancer
A lifelong dancer, Aliena captivates an her audiences with her seductive and joyous presence. She has a BA in Dance from San Francisco State University and performed as a principal dancer in many of California’s top belly dance companies including Gypsy Caravan, Hahbi Ru, and Suhaila Salimpour Dance Company. Aliena also has a 10 year solo dancing career, collaborating with numerous accomplished musicians You can find her performing and teaching belly dance around the Bay Area.
Shannon Gaines
Dancer/Acrobat
Shannon Gaines began her career in Southern California as a competitive artistic gymnast and later an elite level rhythmic gymnast. She went on to earn a B.S. in dance education from the University of Wyoming. She is co-founder and choreographer of the dance/circus group Vau de Vire Society. She also works as a professional dancer, stilter, roller skater, living statue, acrobat, fire performer, clown and flapper.
Rebecca Feller
Dancer/Acrobat
Rebecca began her dance career on ice, with eight years of figure skating. Since then she has studied numerous dance forms from ballet to belly dance. For three years she was a principal dancer with Suhaila Salimpour Dance Company, and has since gone on to perform adagio (acrobatic partner dance), roller skating, fire dance, and character acting with several dance and circus companies. Rebecca is also an accomplished costume designer with a degree from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Rachel Strickland
Dancer
Classically trained from the age of three, Rachel danced with the Union County Youth Ballet for seven seasons. She went on to perform and choreograph extensively for productions from full scale ballets to last minute cabarets in ballet, modern, belly dance, blues, and high-contact partner choreography in Asheville, NC. Now happily installed in San Francisco, Rachel is the dance coordinator and costumer for Temple Nightclub and is in training for aerial acrobatics at the Circus Center of San Francisco.