:.  About Zola  .:

:.

An international dance artist, traveller, performer and teacher, Zola’s love for dance has led her  to study with masters around the world.  She collaborates with inspiring artists,  dancers, musicians  and mystical characters in many lands while running her traveling school of sacred dance.   

The power of dance to heal and uplift the human spirit beyond walls of any kind keeps her fiercely committed to dance as a practice, art & discipline.

SInce childhood, Zola has always loved to dance. After receiving encouragement from her first dance teacher, she began to learn contemporary dance forms, explore internal movement , choreograph her first dances and assistant teach children’s classes at her teacher’s invitation. At age 11, when a friend of her family demonstrated Sufi whirling to her, she vividly remembers her first experience whirling, until she fell down in dizzy, euphoric bliss as the world spun around her.  Later when she discovered West African dance, she became fascinated by cultures whose use of ecstatic, healing, trance-inducing dances are a vital part of community and culture.  At age 19, Zola dedicated herself to learning the ancient practice , discipline and philosophy of yoga and moved to an ashram for one year, leaving all possessions and ties behind.  After receiving a scholarship to study at Mills College (1998), she received her bachelor’s degree in  Dance and Psychology.

Zola’s training in Middle-eastern, Persian/Central Asian, Afro-Brazilian, tribal belly dance, Congolese, West African, ‘gypsy’ (Romani), flamenco and contemporary dance during her 10 years in the cultural mecca of the SF bay area, gave her a broad education.  She also studied modern, Afro-haitain, ballet & choreography while a student at Mills College.  Later Zola’s invitation into esteemed California-based Dance Company Ballet Afsaneh guided her understanding, practice and performance of Classical Persian, Central Asian, and Sufi-inspired dances of the “SIlk Road & Beyond.” 

Invited to participate in a ritual led by the legendary Starhawk in 2000, Zola danced with fire for the first time in front of of hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the winter solstice, initiating her into this ancient practice.  Later while traveling through Guatemala in 2004, she met a group of fire dancers who gifted her a tool to dance with fire and continued to inspire her in many ways.

Then in Brazil, while learning a unique  & powerful contemporary style of traditional Afro-brazilian dance  under master teacher Rosangela Silvestre in Salvador da Bahia (2005), Zola had the opportunity to be a guest in  traditional Candomble ceremonies,  (rituals in which entrancing dances & rhythms are used in worship).  Later, on the other side of the world in 2006 while living in India, Zola met a family of the Khalbelia caste, also known as the ‘gypsies’ of Rajasthan.  This family treated her as a sister, teaching her mesmerizing dances of their tribe and eventually invited her to perform with them throughout Rajasthan.  At this time, Zola was led to Odissi dance master, Guru Padma Charan Dehury, who initiated her as a temple dancer in the revivalist devadasi tradition.  Since their meeting four years ago, she has undergone rigorous training under his watchful eye every year during intensive immersions.

While living in the mythical hills of Sacramonte (Andalucia, Spain 2009), Zola learned flamenco dance from several legendary maestras in traditional cuevas (caves) where many gitanos (or gypsies) still live.  Here in this cultural melting pot where Jews, Muslims and Christians lived in peace for the longest period in history, the fiery gitano dance penetrated her to the bones.  

In addition to Zola’s training in world dance arts, her study of various healing techniques and her work with women healing from sexual trauma has given her insight into the relationship between dance, sacred tradition & healing.    In 1999, Zola conducted a three-month dance project at a clinic for women called SAGE (Standing Against Global Exploitation) to bring healing movement to women who are survivors of sexual exploitation, violence and prostitution.    She also trained extensively and received certification in pilates, dance medicine, yoga and massage, running a professional practice for 8 years offering these modalities as well as dance courses.  Her work as a movement therapy specialist alongside physical therapy doctors in a clinical setting, where she saw many patients healing from chronic pain,  also deeply informed her understanding of human anatomy, movement, psychology and the body.

Currently Zola is teaching at her traveling dance school and performing throughout India until May 2010.  Afterwards she will be traveling, teaching and performing while searching for the site for her envsioned Insitute of Sacred Dance, Music & World Culture.  Please see the Vision page for more detail about the Institute.