Sahra and The Ya Amar! Dance Company
share the vision of carrying on the beauty and artistry of
authentic Middle Eastern Dance with a theatrical aesthetic.
Ya Amar! formed in 1995
Ya Amar! Middle Eastern Dance Company was formed by Sahra C. Kent ("
Sahra Saeeda") in 1995 upon her return from six successful years of performing in Cairo, Egypt.
A world-renowned performer and teacher, Sahra felt the desire to focus her creativity in a different direction. She knew then that her next dream was to put authentic Middle Eastern Dance on the theatre stages of the Western world as well.
With a new choreographic vision accompanying a strong dance background Sahra has taken her dance company to highly acclaimed performances throughout California, the Western U.S., and Tokyo, Japan.
Locally in California, Sahra and Ya Amar! have had the honour of performing in The Nations of San Diego International Dance Festival, The First and Second International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance and The Carmel Performing Arts Festival.
Sahra and The Ya Amar! Dance Company share the vision of carrying on the beauty and artistry of authentic Middle Eastern Dance with a theatrical aesthetic. Their mission is to educate general audiences about Middle Eastern Dance through continued performance, demonstration and research.
On tour from Egypt
Ya Amar! accompanied “
The Sahra Show,” (an ensemble of Egyptian musicians, singers and dancers from Sahra's show in Cairo, Egypt) on their US Tour in 1996, including dates in the Escondido Performing Arts Center (Escondido, California), Winchester Theater (Las Vegas, Nevada) and The Robert B. Moore Theatre (Orange Coast College, California).
"Al Dunia" ("The World") Theater Performances and video
Together Ya Amar! and Sahra had the pleasure of performing
"Al Dunia" a self-produced theatre presentation of dances of the Middle East at the Curtis Theatre in Brea, CA and at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood, CA in 1999.
The video of these live performances of "Al Dunia" recieved the Giza Academy of Music and Legends of Dance award for best Live Troupe Performance video.
The Second International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance
Ya Amar! was deeply honored to perform in the Second International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance, 2001.
The conference brought Farida Fahmy and Mahmoud Reda from Cairo, Egypt to share their pioneering work. Ya Amar! performed Mahmoud Reda's "
Ya Gharieb el Dar" while a film of the original Reda National Folkloric Company (Egypt, 1979) was projected behind them in a multi-media tribute and introduction.
Ya Amar! also opened the Saturday night concert with "
Layali Zaman."
In "Layali Zaman" costume for Second International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance (left) is:
(Standing left to right) Katia Vitale, Seiko Alonzo, Roxxanne Shelaby, Pamme Turner "Malina Mosana", Sofie, Jeannie. (Floor left to right) Maxine, Sahra, Irani de Silva.
“Their performance was beautiful, a lovely tribute to the legendary work of Mahmoud Reda.”
Farida Fahmy, on Ya Amar! at the Second International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance. May, 2001
“... a love letter to Egyptian Dance.”
SAMEDA, (San Diego Area Middle Eastern Dance Association) on
Ya Amar! and “The Sahra Show” at the
Escondido Performing Arts Center May, 1996
Sahra has performed and taught Egyptian style Orientale and Folkloric dance on five continents.
Although trained in Ballet, Modern and Theatre Dance, Sahra found a depth of feeling and warmth of movement with the Arab-Americans she lived amongst most of her life.
From 1989 - 1995 Sahra resided and performed in Egypt, where she led an ensemble of musicians, singers, and dancers, performing over 1600 shows in Cairo alone. Since then, as a soloist, she performs in the large theatre venues throughout Europe.
Ms. Kent has degrees in Modern Dance, Cultural Anthropology and an MA in Dance Ethnology from UCLA. She is co-coordinator of the International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance (1997, 2001) and is president of Layali Yasmine Productions. Sahra has many publication, video, and choreographic credits worldwide.
Roxxanne Shelaby - Assistant Director
Roxxanne was the Assistant Director of Ya Amar! until she retired from the position in the summer of 2006. We wish her all the best in her soulful takims and happy inspirations!
Roxxanne Shelaby is fortunate to have grown up surrounded by Middle Eastern Arts. Her love of Middle Eastern dance flourished as a child, encouraged by her Lebanese father Lou Shelaby, owner of the renown "Fez" and "Cascades" supper clubs.
She began performing at the age of 16 at the request and under the leadership of Farida Fahmy (1st dancer of the Reda national dance company of Egypt).
Roxanne has been involved with Ya Amar! since its inception and has been performing with the group since 1996, including a featured solo in Tokyo, Japan (1999) where Ya Amar! performed alongside the Komatsu Dance Company in two sold out theatre performances.
