   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. In 1998, she co-founded Bellyqueen, a professional New York based world dance company, in 2004 PURE (Public Urban Ritual Experiment), an international community of dancers musicians dedicated to creating positive change, and in 2010, the Rising Sirens, (student troupe), and in 2011, the Flying Apsaras (temple Goddesses).
Kaeshi has performed and taught all over the world including the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Carribean, Morocco, Bali, 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 with Natacha Atlas, at Central Park's Summerstage, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, BAM, Folie's Begère 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 with 6-13 dancers as Bellyqueen Dance Theater, traversing the United States 3 times, Canada 3 times, Western and Eastern Europe and Japan. In 2009 and 2010, she was honored to be the featured soloist in Turkish dancer Ahmet Luleci's Collage Dance Ensemble Psiphas / Rituals shows. She was also invited by the amazing Jillina to perform as Pandora for her Bellydance Revolution project.
In between her extensive travels, Kaeshi co-hosts a weekly Wednesday night event 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: "Bellydance NYC: The Ultimate Fusion Experience", "Bellyqueen: The Bellydance Experience", "American Bellydancer"; "Bellydance Jam" by Bellyqueen; "Live in Paris at the Folies Begère"; and "Crazed: The Bellydance". In her spare time, Kaeshi studies Mandarin through ChinesePod, enjoys foot massages and exploring the world. 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 specializing in the following styles (see below.) Her three main mentors that continually inspire her in vision include Jillina, Tamalyn Dallal and Dalia Carella.
Bellydance Styles Kaeshi has Trained With
Other Movement Styles and Music 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 taken 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, Fat Chance Bellydance General Skills with Carolena Nerricio and Dancing Thru Pregnancy Certification. One of her greatest joys in life is sharing 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 in which Kaeshi had the pleasure of participating in include: Jillina's Bellydance Evolution (2009), 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
practices 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 sponsor to a child living in the Dominican Republic since 2006 through Children International to help care for children in developing countries 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". You can e-mail her at kaeshi@bellyqueen.com.
|
