Photography by Brad Dosland - TabooMedia.com

Biography

Elizabeth Strong grew up in a tradition of dance and music. As a young girl she was inspired by the music and dancing of the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Her amazingly emotional and personal style has captivated audiences in the Bay Area and abroad. Elizabeth believes that the heart is the source of dance and that dance is an expression of our relationship with life and culture. A life-long dancer, Elizabeth formally began studying and performing Middle Eastern dance in 1996 at the age of 18.

Her love for Middle Eastern dance compelled her to seek the source in North Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey. While living in Istanbul in 2000, she met Roman (“gypsy”) men and women with whom she studied the Turkish Roman dance form, most notably Reyhan Tuszuz and Reyhan’s daughter, Meltem. She has recently returned from her third visit abroad wherein she continued her study of Roman dance, and “Oriental” or bellydance.

Elizabeth joined Le Cancan Bijou  dance Troupe in 2003 and became part of the Mad Sal's Music Hall Revue at the Charles Dickens Christmas Fair in 2004.
Performing in both groups has given her the
opportunity to stretch herself creatively, and has
been a source of much joy and satisfaction.

Elizabeth currently makes her living performing and
teaching dance throughout the United States. Her
current passion includes working with professionals
from multiple disciplines to create and perform pieces
that are heart-felt, stylized and unique.

Teachers and inspirations include Madge Strong, Pamela Trokanski,  Helené, Rossah Katarina Burda, Suhaila Salimpour and Jamila Salimpour, Mira Betz, Rachel Brice, Suzan Tekbilek, Sahara Saeeda, Jill Parker, and Jon Compton.

T

Teaching

Elizabeth's teaching specialties include Turkish Roman, Bellydance, floorwork, isolation, balancing with props, and strengthening. Elizabeth's education as a dancer has been unique in that she has been trained through both Western, formal technique, and in the Old World style of following by simply watching and imitating. She tries to use both methods in her teaching, allowing the feel of the form to become familiar to her students, while guiding with explainations about important details, from muscle control to cultural background.

Most of all, Elizabeth strives to create a learning environment that is joyful, nurturing, and fun, as well as educational.