PHOTO: The Dancer's Eye/May 2012 Tribal Fest®
Kajira Djoumahna has been teaching BellyDance for nearly 20 years, and specializes in her own BlackSheep BellyDance (BSBD) Format for Synchronized Group Improvisational Tribal Style (SGI), as well as the Moroccan Guedra Blessing Ritual whom she credits Morocco of NYC as her primary teacher.
Kajira is the Founder and Teacher of BSBD and its earlier incarnations, as well as hundreds of other individuals and troupes around the world. Currently, in the fall of 2012, BSBD has members in 4 US States & 5 countries! Most members have their own troupes where they live, and travel with Kajira as much as possible to perform and assist in workshops. Kajira and BlackSheep BD feel this format and the way it is taught is a vehicle for healing on so many levels. “It’s much more than a series of steps.”...
Before she taught, she was a student directly under Carolena Nericcio of FCBD® for 8 years and a member of her performing troupes at that time (1992-2000). During that time Kajira had the honor and distinction of being the first person Carolena sent to represent herself and her FCBD® ATS® Format in a weekend workshop, held in FL around 1998! Kajira took lessons from Carolena and TerriAnne on how to teach had video critiques of her early classes by Carolena, since there were no teacher training programs at the time.
Simultaneously Kajira studied under - and instigated - the formation of the first classes in the SF Bay Area taught by Suhaila & Jamila Salimpour for over 2 years, with TerriAnne now of Joweh R.A.W. for many years; as well as numerous studies over several additional years in Turkish Rromany & Oryantal, mostly under E. Artemis Mourat. Her mentors for American Cabaret are TerriAnne and Delilah, with whom she co-created “Inanna, Salomé and the 7-Part Cabaret Routine” weeklong events held at Isis Oasis in CA during the early 2000s.
Kajira’s taught in 8 countries, most several times, as well as across the US and holds Level 1 & 2 classes in her KD/BSBD Format for SGI at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, and still travels the world to teach on average once or twice a month!
She lives with her husband Chuck and 2 cats. She also performs solos that vary in style, but are always some sort of fusion (with the exception of Guedra Blessings and Turkish dances).
She is also a perpetual student and in July 2012 attended Rachel Brice’s 8 Elements Program, Phase One: Initiation, and Passed! She’s won two awards for Teaching (IAMED & Zaghareet!) and one for Lifetime Achievement in Middle Eastern Dance & the Arts from the Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition and Show, and has had the honor of judging several bellydance competitions and a standing offer to return anytime due to her well-rounded bellydance education in all styles of the form.
She looks forward to judging again at the BDUC for the Tribal and Universal categories, as well as for her second time for the first online competition ever, The Ultimate Belly Dancer, and for more competitions in the future. She feels she is a fair, impartial yet very knowledgeable judge and always take the time to offer each competitor constructive critiques so that they may improve (which is the reason most dancers enter competitions).
She co-produced along with her husband, Chuck, Tribal Fest®, “the One, the Only, the Original.” In 2012, dancers from as many as 26 countries made the trek to Tribal Fest® and 23 countries were represented on stage!!! TF has won 4 awards for Favorite Event. (Zaghareet! Magazine’s Golden Belly Awards.)
Kajira and BSBD have 5 instructional DVDs plus a Practice Companion DVD. Her first DVD made “Top 25 DVDs for Belly Dancers” by Shira.net and was the only Tribal one to make the cut. Her book “The Tribal Bible: Exploring the Phenomenon That Is American Tribal Style Bellydance” has just been re-released as an eBook while she writes new chapters catching us up on the “Tribal Fusion Revolution©” that she’s seen evolve here on the TF Stage and in the SF Bay Area. These new chapters will be made available separately in the future, as well as added on to the original book for those who will need the whole thing.
Most of all, Kajira loves teaching and can’t wait to dance with you! J
Kajira can be found on YouTube as BlackSheep BellyDance and Kajira Djoumahna and on Facebook as Kajira Djoumahna and Tribal Fest California.
See "Our friends" page for Kajira's link!