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Bay'la |
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About Bay'la |
| Bay’ Ia Bay’la started her career as a professional dancer and an actress in New York City at the age of 8. She performed in various television, variety, and stage shows, including a few guest appearances on the original “Mickey Mouse Club”, and the original Broadway cast of “Bye, Bye Birdie” when she was in her early teens. Studying tap, jazz, ballet and pointe, and acting, Bay’la attended the New York High School for Performing Arts (this is the school in which the show “Fame”, theoretically took place). In 1 961, Bay’la moved to California and proceeded to continue her education as a drama major at California State University, San Francisco while performing in as many shows as she could, including cast membership in the “Courtyard Players”; San Francisco Actor’s Workshop with the noted director, Jules Irving; and The Committee (the famed comedy improvisational theater). Her dancing jobs included a stint on the 70’s television variety show, “Shindig”, and at the Whiskey-a-Go-Go on Sunset Strip. In the later 70’s, while performing as one of the original members of the now celebrated Groundlings Theater (see the origins of Saturday Night Live) Bay’la was taken to see Cory Zamora dance in Fresno, CA. Bay'la was instantly lost in the art. Bay’la began to study and found that it “spoke to her heart”. She abandoned all other forms of dance to give her all to studying Middle Eastern dance and has been performing and teaching ever since. Her first teacher, and most likely the best, was Cory Zamora, who instilled in Bay'la the traditional and solid base for "classic Arabic Caberet" dancing. She continued to learn from as many teachers as she could. Bay'la believes that a student can learn something from everyone.....even the "least professional" dancer (even if it is what "not to do". Bay’Ia Zena has been belly dancing for well over 25 years now. She has won over a dozen titles in national competitions and for the past 11 years has been selected as a judge in the National Belly Dancer of the Year Pageant. She has performed all over the United States and various parts of the world, from “Earnest Hemmingway’s” Sloppy Joe’s in Key West to a cruise on Seattle’s waterways. From Café Mogador in Manhattan to being the house dancer at Cassandra’s Greek Taverna in Kona, Hawaii (where Bay’la and her husband live for part of each year). Bay’Ia is also an award winning costume designer (dance and theater costumes) and owns and operates her own also award winning catering company, Queen of Tarts. Bay’la has always been told that her “stage presence” and rapport with her audiences is unique and always “a delight to see”. It is this unique combination of theater, improv, dance and costuming skills that makes Bay’la most qualified to teach “Stage Presence” and the ability to “polish up your performance” and let your “soul shine through”. She has taught “HIP GLOSS”, a workshop for all of these skills, (and then some) all over the country, including the Desert Dance Festival and the Belly Dancer of the Year Pageant. Bay’la is available to come to your town for a day long workshop. This is a necessary addition to your dance education, whether you are a professional dancer, or just beginning your training. Having good dance technique and great costuming are wonderful but they are not enough. If you cannot project your performance past “the footlights”, if you cannot handle any of life’s mishaps during your performance, with grace, style and an ability to keep your audience comfortable and interested, it is all for naught. Bay’la Zena is currently teaching beginning, intermediate, and professional level dance classes at Zamora’s Middle Eastern Dance Studio in Fresno, California. . |
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