Liz Azi's Classes
Biography
Liz Azi is an award winning professional dancer based in Denver, Colorado. Her movement specialties include several styles of Raqs Sharqi, known in the United States as “bellydance”, theatrical and folk dances stemming from diasporas of the MENAHT** region, and Transnational Fusion.
Liz Azi has performed and taught at dance conventions and festivals all over the United States and abroad. She has toured both regionally and internationally with Blue Star Turkish Folk Dance Troupe performing a variety of traditional Turkish folk dances and with Disco Iskandar, a feature length dance show based on the psychedelic craze that hit Turkish and Middle Eastern folk music in the 1970s. She has also been a cast dancer in Zoe Jakes' House of Tarot, is a current member of Sadie's Empress Dance Collective, and is a featured dancer in cabaret, vaudeville, and dance shows all over the country.
In 2017, she obtained her Masters of Medical Anthropology degree after researching the history of how the dance known as “bellydance” came to the United States and how participating in that dance culture may impact women’s relationships with their body and healthcare choices.
Her dance background was founded upon a decade of theater and musical education, and includes dance mentors such as Lisa Zahiya, Aziza, Sadie, Khadijah, Zoe Jakes, and Donna Mejia. She continuously studies with top dancers of both American and Middle Eastern dance styles, as well as regional folk dances, Indian classical dance, and circus and vaudeville movement traditions. Her continued education has brought her to study dance in several countries, including Turkey and Egypt.
Liz takes a thoughtful, yet playful approach to teaching movement. She strives to make dance education accessible to multiple learning styles and employs a somatic approach to connecting body and mind while sharing academic perspectives on the contextual experience.
Sugar and Spice
Many feel that the glitzy style of American Cabaret or Modern Egyptian and the dark, slinky genre of Fusion are worlds apart.
In this workshop, we will learn how to slow down to the max and captivate our audience with simplicity and slink. From slow belly work to dramatic posture to simple looks, we will explore how to command the stage with the power of slow. Sometimes, less is more!
Based on her foundational dance training in American Cabaret, her studies in Modern Egyptian Raqs Sharqi and her unique Fusion style, Liz will teach some combos that showcase the uniqueness of each style, as well as some moves that blur the line between these genres of belly dance.
This workshop is perfect for dancers trained in one genre that are curious about the others, as well as dancers that have cross trained in multiple styles that are looking to seamlessly blend movement vocabularies.
Cost $75
Anatolian Funk/Turkish Psychedelica
Anatolian Rock and Funk was a music craze in Turkey from the 1960s to the 80s that combined elements of traditional folk music, rock and roll, and psychedelica.
Come learn all about this incredible genre of music as well as how it impacted dance!
In this class we will learn some funky combos to some classic Anatolian Rock music that are inspired by the sounds and dances of the 70s in Turkey.
Cost $75