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Lyndia studied Middle Eastern Dance with Chandani, then auditioned for Tundra Caravan Student Troupe and later became a member of ProTroupe. She has choreographed for both troupes and performed at numerous events! Lyndia served as Co-Director of Tundra Caravan Dance Troupe and served on the board of the Northern Lights Council of Dancers (NLCD).
Heather began dancing at a young age taking ballet, jazz, and tap classes. As a teenager she was able to participate in workshops gathering experience in multiple dance forms. Heather took her first Middle Eastern dance class from Souzana in 2008 at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. From there Heather continued taking Raks Souzana’s semester classes where she learned about the different Middle Eastern dance forms and their history. Heather became part of Tundra Caravan’s Student Troupe in 2012 and became a part of ProTroupe in 2014. Heather choreographed a Mash-up number (both Student Troupe and ProTroupe) for 2015 Cymbal Salaam.
Ron
Christina has a background in gymnastics and theater. She studied Middle Eastern Dance as a student of Raks Souzana, Joyce Young, and Robyn Russell. She also studied other dance forms as a student of Jay Howe. She has performed as part of class groups as well as with several dance troupes including Tundra Caravan Student Troupe & ProTroupe, Tribal Wallah, and Dance Revolution Crew.
Sydney studied Middle Eastern Dance as a student of Raks Souzana, then auditioned for Tundra Caravan Student Troupe and later became a member of ProTroupe.
Jessica Lamb has been performing since 2007. She was a performing member of Cold Fusion Tribal Dance, Tribal Wallah, and Crazy Shakes. She has taken instruction from many local belly dance instructors and has had instruction from Dr. Joshi in Pen, India for the classical Indian style of dance: Bharatanatyam.
Cindy
Khalila (Desiree Uzzell) has studied dance since the age of three, practicing Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Lyrical forms. She began Bellydancing in 2004 under the instruction of Jaleh in Seattle, Washington and instantly fell in love. Though she was a military brat, she managed to stay involved with the Bellydance community through performing, competing, and most importantly, always learning. She has taken workshops with some of her idols such as Jillina, Saqra, Nalini, Bozenka, and Rachel Brice. While Khalila identifies herself as a Modern Cabaret performer, she believes that all forms of this dance are inspiring and beautiful. She wants nothing more than to keep improving as a dancer in any way possible. She hopes to one day own her own studio and become a professional performer and instructor of this wonderful art form. Khalila served as Tundra Caravan's Technical Director 2013-2014.
Souzana (Susan Chapa), founder of Raks Souzana and co-director (2006-2013) of Tundra Caravan is a dynamic teacher and performer, specializing in both modern and classic Belly Dance. She offers beginning through advanced classes at Raks Souzana Studio, University of Alaska Fairbanks and is a guest artist for the esteemed Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival www.fsaf.org. Souzana has been dancing since the age of nine, and has studied Jazz, African, Ballet, Tap and Hip-Hop. In 1998, she began her study of belly dance at Kismet in Salt Lake City under the direction of Yasamina. She has since devoted her life to learning, performing and teaching this ancient art form. Visit Souzana's website at www.souzanadance.com
Dawnyella (Danielle) studied Middle Eastern Dance with Chandani and Souzana. In addition to performing with Tundra Caravan, Dawnyella also performed with Raks Amaal, Raks Souzana, and Wandering Wenches. She is also an amazing seamstress and made many belly dance costumes and accessories!
Chandani is the founder of Raks Amaal Dance Instruction, founding member of Tundra Caravan and was co-director/vice-president of Tundra Caravan. Chandani caught the "belly" bug about 15 years ago at a birthday party in Port Orchard, WA. She immediately got in touch with a local instructor, Ne-Kajira Jannan and started dancing every chance she got with The Amaal Dance Troupe. She danced with The Amaal Dance Troupe until moving to North Pole, Alaska. After taking a several year hiatus she decided to take classes from Zara to brush up on her dancing and learn some new things. She had friends out on Eielson AFB who wanted her to teach them the beautiful dance. She then began teaching at Ft. Wainwright and in Fairbanks as well as at North Pole Elementary in the After School Program. "Teaching the young girls will help build self esteem and confidence and is very rewarding" she said of her young students. Chandani is currently teaching all her classes at Dance Theater Fairbanks. Her style is more eclectic as she can't make up her mind as to what her favorite style is. Chandani has studied with master instructors Amaya, Suzanna Del Vecchio, Aziza, Morocco of NY, Margo Abdo O'Dell, Saqra and Eva Cernik just to name a few. Chandani is always learning and working to improve her own dance technique.
Linda has a background in many dance forms and also taught at Dance Theater Fairbanks. She studied Middle Eastern Dance with Raks Souzana and performed with Tundra Caravan before continuing her professional dance career in California. She is also the founder of Crazy Shakes Dance Troupe.
Lara no longer rehearses and performs with Tundra Caravan but still serves on it's Board of Directors and acts as President. Lara began studying Middle Eastern Dance at age 12 with the subtle & elegant Rabia Banu (Robyn Russell) of Fairbanks. Her debut performance was at a fundraiser for Fairbanks Light Opera Theater in 1995. Lara has taken classes in many other dance forms before and since, but Raqs Sharqi is the dance form that has stolen her heart! Lara danced for many years with Rabia Banu’s group Noor Shimaal, and helped found UAF’s MEDCA (Middle Eastern Dance and Culture Association) while attending classes there, and is now part of the performing troupe Tundra Caravan. Lara continues to study and extend her knowledge of this beautiful dance form at every opportunity. In addition to teaching Raqs Sharqi classes www.alaskaawalim.com, Lara is also a certified instructor for the Dancing Thru Pregnancy and After Dance program. Lara is on a hiatus from dancing with the troupe but continues to volunteer her services to the troupe as a board member, treasurer, and with various other projects.
Elizabeth Humphries
Terri Massa has 20 years teaching beginning through advanced Middle Eastern dance, 6 years as director of a Middle Eastern dance troupe. She is the founding director of Tundra Caravan Middle Eastern Dance Troupe and current director of Cold Fusion Dance Troupe. She also is the creator of Power Hips, an aerobic class featuring Middle Eastern, Bollywood, and Latin Fusion dance moves. For more information on Terri, visit her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Zara-Noor-Middle-Eastern-Dance-121895054506121/
Jilazanne (Jill) studied Middle Eastern Dance with Raks Souzana, Joyce Young, and Lara Lotze. She's performed with many class groups as well as Tundra Caravan and Tribal Wallah. She specializes in theatrical makeup and adornment with multiple projects. Jilazanne is a founding member of Opal Scarab Dance, Quartz, and The Zanne Experiment.
"Great dancers are not born, they are made."
Melissa began dancing in 1994 and has been dancing off and on for 20 years. She has studied many styles including hip hop, jazz, kickline, lyrical, Egyptian belly dance, African, Flamenco, ballroom dancing, all Latin, Tahitian, and Hawaiian. She is also a licensed Zumba Fitness instructor (since 2009). Melissa was born the same day as the great Fred Astaire and enjoys one of his famous quotes:
Areta was born in Treviso (Italy). Since she was little she was always dancing around and on stage while her father was singing with his music group. At the age of 5, her parents introduce her to gymnastic artistic classes and she joined that for 3 years. After that she did 4 years of ballet - she was so in love with classical music! When she was 17, she fell in love with the Latin America rhythm and after ten years of dancing she decided to become a teacher and earned a degree in Caraibic dance. She worked in a disco club teaching Cuban Salsa. In 2001 she learned about Oriental Dance and joined Belly Dance classes for 3 years with *Fairouza*Middle Eastern Dance Association. After a long break to have 3 children, she was so exited to dance again and proud to be part of Tundra Caravan!
Belen began dancing in 2006 and has been dancing off and on for 10 years. She has studied Latin, Japanese traditional, country-western, and hip-hop dancing. She has also choreographed sweet 16s, Quinceaneras, and small dance groups throughout her years. She has performed in the Philippines, England, Texas, and Alaska.
Shondra first discovered her love of dance at the age of four. She took ballet and tap dance while living in Fairbanks, Alaska, as a child. In 2003, she watched her first Middle Eastern dance performance, and was fascinated with the style. Later, in 2013, Shondra took her first full class from Rak Souzana, who opened the door to a world of Middle Eastern dance. After returning to Fairbanks, and dance in 2015, Shondra has had the opportunity to study under Melanie Lindholm and Cindy Paauw. Her first performance in Cymbal Salaam was in 2015 with Tundra Caravan's Student Troupe.
Taryn’s love of dance began at the age of five when she started attending tap dance classes at the Janet Lang Dance Studio in Rochester, Minnesota. She continued to study tap for thirteen years, and has since studied various dance forms including Latin, hiphop and Middle Eastern. Taryn has performed with numerous dance groups including the John Marshall Rockettes, the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Dance Team, and the Michigan Tech Hiphop Crew, before moving to Alaska in 2006. Taryn was first introduced to Middle Eastern Dance upon moving to Fairbanks when she found the thriving belly-dance community. She began taking classes from local instructor Lara Lotz and was instantly hooked. Since 2008 she has studied Middle Eastern Dance primarily from Souzana (Raks Souzana Dance Studio) and has also studied from Joyce Young, Angela Ekstrand, and visiting instructor Moria Chapell. Taryn has been a member of three Fairbanks Middle Eastern dance troupes including Tribal Wallah, Cold Fusion, and Tundra Caravan, who she has been dancing with since 2009.
Tamara
Shelly loves dancing Latin and swing. She was introduced to belly dancing from good friends and attending summer events. She recently joined Tundra Caravan’s Student Troupe and hopes to expand her experiences with various styles of dancing.
Tiffany
Angela studied Middle Eastern Dance with Raks Souzana, Joyce Young, and
Moria Chappell. She performed with class groups as well as Tundra Caravan, Crazy Shakes, and Tribal Wallah. She also taught a Tribal Fusion class.
Sonsuza first tried a 3 month class Middle Eastern Dance in Texas in the 70's with Mahal, and with Sirrom in the 80's for 3 months. She then found her way to Alaska, dancing with the troupe Tundra Caravan (formerly known as the Daughters of the Midnight Sun) for the last year. She combines traditional movement with fusion and American Tribal opting for the fast and unusual, whether with a sword, veil or gypsy skirt. "I think the dance is very diverse - it can range from being very sensual in motion, conveying the emotion of the music to a vibrant, robust celebration." Sonsuza is currently serving in Iraq as a civilian contractor. We look forward to her return.
Jessenia no longer dances with Tundra Caravan but still served on its Board of Directors until 2013. Jessica was introduced the middle eastern dance community in the fall of 2005. She was at the Tanana Valley state fair, recovering from a concussion, and wallowing in self pity, when she saw the leading ladies of Tundra Caravan performing group routines and solos. She was greatly impressed by their grace and talent, and wanted to learn how to dance too, all in all making an awesome comeback from her misery and concussion. Call dance her therapy. Jessenia took jazz, hip hop and ballroom dance in high school, which served a decent background for belly dancing. She has studied with most of our local instructors, enjoys performing with her sister dancers, and somehow found time to moonlight with fellow local dance organizations-Cold Fusion Tribal Dance, and Tribal Wallah. However, she had to take a temporary dance sabbatical due to a different belly dance-she and her husband had their first baby! She plans on resuming dancing again shortly, after welcoming baby Gabriel into the world. (FYI-boys can dance too!) Jessenia has also done some theater work, and enjoys costumes and stage makeup.
Barbara Braley: Founding member of Tundra Caravan
Barabara Perkins
Emily
Heather Maas
Mariana
Mary Haley
Nicole first became interested in belly dance after seeing the cover of a Neena and Veena belly dance video at Borders. Her first instructors were Magdalene and Della of Omaha, NE. Nicole moved to Alaska to study volcano seismology at UAF in 2004. Shortly after arriving in Fairbanks, Nicole began taking classes from Terri Massa and continued until Terri moved out of the state in 2005. In 2006, Nicole auditioned and was immediately selected for Tundra Caravan's first student troupe. Nicole's grace and natural dancing abilities caught the attention of the other troupe members and a short time later she was invited to join Tundra Caravan as a full troupe member. Nicole has been taking classes with Souzana since 2006 and continues her dance education by attending workshops with world renowned master instructors whenever possible.
Sara Ray: Founding Member of Tundra Caravan
Victoria
Amoy Sebastian
Jennifer Wornath
Penny
Andrea Taylor was an honorary member of Tundra Caravan 2012-2020. She served as sound engineer, IT specialist, and supportive spouse of director Melanie Lindholm. Andrea donated time, talent, and equipment to Tundra Caravan; she is greatly missed.
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