The Fantasha Dancers are a beautiful mix of professional and amateur dancers combining Middle Eastern and American Belly Dance.
Founded by Tasha, a talented and timeless beauty who has delighted audiences from the Poconos to Egypt, Tasha has been a professional dancer and teacher for over 30 years. With her expertise and unique abilities, she has formed a dance troupe that will captivate audiences, both young and old.
The Fantasha Dancers are a family oriented troupe that will delight any generational group. They have performed at local Haflas, restaurants, Spring Caravan, The Rakkasah Festival, The Easton Farmer’s Market, Easton Heritage Day, and numerous veterans events.
The troupe is available for public and private events in a a family friendly atmosphere.
Visit the EVENTS page on this website to see when the Fantasha Dancers will be performing next.
Larrah has been dancing on and off for 12 years, first studying with Valerie Rushmere in Philadelphia, then Jessikah and Michelle DeVine of
Little York, NJ, and currently with Tasha at Easton Yoga.
An extremely fluid and graceful dancer, Larrah has performed with the Fantasha Dancers since the troupe’s conception, and is also a member of Embers & Emeralds gypsy fusion belly dance troupe in Easton, PA. In the past, she has performed as a supernumerary for the Philadelphia Opera. She’s also a skilled equestrian, and has shown her Arabian horses in everything from rodeos to dressage.
Larrah is intrigued with modern
tribal fusion, and has unleashed her creativity by pairing non-traditional musical genres with blended styles of belly dance. She especially enjoys music heavy with drums and dark overtones. Her most recent choreography, “Mahadeva”, combines belly dance with Indian Bharatanatyam dancing to create a bold, powerful piece about war and redemption. This piece was featured in “Tasha’s Arabian Nights” as the Angel of Death. She hopes to delve more into biomechanical fusion, steampunk, and trip hop styles in the future.
Larrah was drawn to belly dancing, saying “it allows for the ultimate expression of movement and soul through dance”.
Alimah discovered belly dancing in 2001 when she lived in Orlando, Fl. Alimah loves to dance and has studied adult jazz, adult tap, country line-dancing, as well as hula dancing. Belly dancing is a top hobby, but she also loves to cook, bake, and read. Alimah
has a brown belt in Taekwondo (Korean Martial Arts). She works full-time for a telecommunication company and lives in Easton, PA with her husband and two toddlers.
Naimah (derived from the Arabic name, “Naim” meaning ‘benevolent’), has b
een belly dancing for seven years. She began dancing with Fringe Benefit from Central NJ, and has since danced with Tahya in the Lehigh Valley area of PA before finding a home as a Fantasha Dancer. She has danced her entire life beginning with ballet and jazz as a child. She continued to study gymnastics and cheerleading before settling on belly dance as her chosen form of dance
expression. Naimah has performed at countless local fairs, belly dance events, and private functions throughout the North/Central NJ and Lehigh Valley, PA regions.
Karmina: I was born in Mexico City, a big city with hundreds of places to learn what you want and to improve every single day. After getting married, I moved to New Jersey, leaving my family and friends behind. My new target: adjust to a new life and look arou
nd for the things I love doing.
I love dancing and singing too. I was part of a choir in Mexico, and we had the great opportunity to sing at Bellas Artes and at El Colegio Militar, two very important places in Mexico City.
A long time ago, I learned to dance to the beat of the Hawaiian and Tahitian rhythm, and since then I fell in love with dancing. In Mexico, I performed in different places such as elderly homes, private sports clubs, schools, and private events.
Then, when I moved to New Jersey, I got the chance to learn modern dance and jazz at the Raritan Valley Community College. As part of the learning we had to perform on stage at the college.
Dancing to me is really relaxing. I enjoy the music, I like the moves and the body expressions. How my hands say things and
how the body moves to the rhythm of the beats, I love dancing and I love music.
Belly dancing is something that was in my mind since long ago but it’s been only two years that I signed up for classes. Before that, I practiced at home with some DVDs and videos. One thing I love about dancing is that you can create your own style, your own moves, and your own feeling. When learning, you get a little bit of it and mix it with a little bit of you, and there you go, a new creation. Belly dancing is a sensual way of expression, and when you adopt is as your own, what you get is your own way of body expression.
I love being part of the Fantasha Dancers.
Mariella has been dancing since the age of four, including tap, jazz, and ballet. She lost her love for dance for several years, but then six years ago was lucky enough
to find belly dance with Tasha, which brought back her love and desire for dance. She is also grateful and lucky to have found such a wonderful community of women to share her love of belly dance with. Mariella is also a certified fitness instructor and teaches classes such as yoga, pilates, belly dance, zumba, spinning, and step.
Mariella is married and lives in New Jersey with her husband and two boys. She also loves cooking, scrapbooking, outdoor activities, and spending quality time with her family.
Tatiana has been dancing faithfully for five years and has a passion and enthusiasm for the art of belly dancing. She loves every minute
she has the opportunity to dance. Belly dancing was something that always interested her, and she has found an undying passion for learning as much as she can. She has been married for 26 years, has a daughter and a son, and works for a patent attorney in Washington, NJ.
Alura has only been belly dancing two years, but has been performing for audiences since childhood. A “choir girl” for life and a classically trained mezzo-soprano, she has been dancing on and off for most of her life. She has been a student of Filipino fold dance, Polynesian dance, Ballroom dance, and African dance. Alura is thankful to have found in belly dnce a great joy, an effective medium for expression, and such a welcoming community of wonderful women. She looks forward to being a student of this dance for life
Emily has been belly dancing with Tasha at Easton Yoga for 4 years. It is the only form of dance she has ever been trained in, and absolutely loves it! Working full time, and doing some free lance graphic design work don't allow for much free time, but she loves to devote whatever time she can to belly dance. Although challenging, belly dancing is very freeing and gratifying. Being able to dance with Fantasha has been one of the greatest experiences thus far.
Dancing has been a lifelong passion for Naia, having trained briefly
in ballet, jazz, and lyrical styles before moving on to study swing and ballroom dancing soon after college. She finally discovered belly dance in 2004 and hasn't looked back since! Naia began her studies in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania with Tahya and performed with Troupe Bannat Tahya. Here she also met her best friend, Naimah, and soon found her way to Easton, PA where she joined the Fantasha Dancers in January 2009 and began studyi
ng with Tasha.
Although Naia's main focus in training has been cabaret and folkloric styles of bellydance, she is also drawn to American Tribal Style and fusion bellydance. Through the years, Naia has also taken master classes with a number of artists: Aszmara, Dalia Carella, and Grant Smith - to name a few. She is also adept at dancing with props such as veil, sword, and cane.
With an effervescent and magnetic persona onstage, Naia hopes to bring as much joy to her audience members as she feels in her heart when she dances. Naia believes that belly dance offers a lifetime of sisterhood, indulgence in femininity, artistic expression, and creativity and looks forward to many more years of exploring the music, culture and movements involved with this unique art form.
New Additions to the Troupe
Sharon Avivah
Annie
Fantasha Twins
