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   2009 Photographs by Ken Stein. Hair and Makeup by Masae Satouchi. |
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt. Kaeshi Chai was born in Brunei and brought up in New Zealand and Australia. She co-founded the New York-based dance company Bellyqueen with Amar Gamal in 1998 and has been it's primary leader since 2005 overseeing artistic vision, recruitment and choreographies. Kaeshi also co-founded PURE (Public Urban Ritual Experiment) [www.puredance.org], a healing dance and music community, which has rapidly spread into many branches all over the US and internationally and has been PURE's main facilitator since 2006. Kaeshi has performed and taught in many countries including the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Carribean, Australia, South America and throughout Asia. In 2002, she performed 5 shows a day to live Arabic music at Aladdin's Desert Passage in Las Vegas. In 2003-2004, she was part of the first professional touring bellydance company in the world, the Bellydance Superstars and held the position of dance captain for the 2004 US & Canadian Spring tour. She has performed at Central Park's Summerstage, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Folie's Begere in Paris, Bloomsbury Theater in London, Teatro Smeraldo in Milan and has made television appearances on Conan O'Brien as well as BBC's Blue Peter. In 2006, she made history as the first US based dancer to teach a workshop in mainland China. From 2007-2009, she toured 6-13 dancers representing Bellyqueen Dance Theater through the United States 3 times, Canada 3 times, Western and Eastern Europe and Japan. This makes Bellyqueen the second most active touring bellydance company in the world next to the Bellydance Superstars. In 2009, she was honored to be the featured soloist in Turkish dancer Ahmet Luleci's Collage Dance Ensemble Psiphas / Rituals shows. Recently, she was invited to team up with the one and only Jillina for a new dance project. In between her extensive travels, Kaeshi co-hosts a weekly Wednesday night happening in New York's east village called "Djam Under JeBon" showcasing international and local talent, with live band, Djinn. She can be seen in the following DVDs: "Bellyqueen: The Bellydance Experience", "American Bellydancer"; "Bellydance Jam" by Bellyqueen; "Live in Paris at the Folies Begere"; and "Crazed: The Bellydance". In her spare time, Kaeshi studies Mandarin through ChinesePod, enjoys foot massages, and drinking Soy Chai Lattes. kaeshi@bellyqueen.com ................................................................................................................................................. In early 1996, she started her bellydance training under the guidance of
Jeannie Kasis and Terezka Drnzik from Sydney Australia. She continued
on in the US, Egypt and Turkey studying with many top dancers (see below.) Her three main mentors that continually inspire her in philosophy, business and vision include Tamalyn Dallal, Dalia Carella and Jillina. Other Training Kaeshi is an AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) certified instructor, and was also certified by ACHPER (Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation). She completed an anatomy and kinesiology intensive with Amy Matthews from LIMS (Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies,) pelvis anatomy workshop with Sherri Winston, Strength Training certificate with Australian fitness expert Ashley Jones, has undergone Tamalyn Dallal's Middle Eastern Teacher's Training 3 times, Suhaila Salimpour's Level 1 Certification, Laura Shannon's Sacred Circle Dance Teachers Training Intensive, and will soon complete Fat Chance Bellydance General Skills with Carolena Nerricio and Dancing Thru Pregnancy Pre-Natal Certification. One of her greatest joys in life is to share her love for bellydance with others by teaching. Please check out the Bellyqueen class schedule to find out about her on-going dance classes in NYC. Outside of Bellyqueen and PURE, dance companies Kaeshi has had the pleasure to be part of include: Ahmet Luleci's Collage Dance Ensemble (2009), Elly Shu's Chinese Dance Company (2004), Bellydance Superstars (2003-2004), Dalia Carella Collective (2001-2002), Ranya Renee's Maqamikaze Dance Company (2000), Shoshana's Dance Company (1998-1999), Chinese Youth League (1988) Kaeshi
practises Yoga and Qi-gong meditation on a regular basis and is inspired
by buddhist and taoist philosophy. She also believes in supporting worthy causes, and has been the official sponsor to two children living in the Dominican Republic since 2006. You too can easily become a sponsor through Children International to help care for 3rd world children by making monthly donations to cover medical care, education and clothing. Kaeshi graduated with honors from a 4 year degree in Visual Communication Design from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia and is an award winning designer and illustrator. Please read Kaeshi's
favorite poem as well as another beautiful poem written by Lisa Sarasohn, "I
call myself Belly Queen". |