Experience in the Middle EastMade first trip to Egypt in 1981. During many visits, lived with Arabic people, experiencing daily life in Egypt, and danced in Egyptian homes and at family weddings, resulting in a greater understanding of the people and their music. The people and the music are one. Returns regularly to visit Egyptian "families " and friends; attend dance performances in the nightclubs, and observe folkloric groups in Cairo and the countryside for continued growth as an artist. Experienced dozens of live performances of greats such as Nagwa Fouad, Soheir Zaki, Aza Sherif and Mona Said in Cairo that made a profound impression on personal stage presence, music interpretation, and ability to choreograph Near Eastern dances. Conducted two study tours to Cairo and Upper Egypt for dancers in 1990 and 1992. In addition, traveled to Morocco, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan to expand personal knowledge of Near East culture, music and dance. In May 1995, Katia traveled to Syria where she observed the National Folkloric troupe in Aleppo and studied folkloric dance. She also traveled to Jordan observing the dance of the people. In May of 1998 , Katia
traveled to Lebanon and Syria where she spent several weeks touring the country in search of the roots of its
folkloric dance and observed many dance performances. She repeated her tour of Lebanon and Syria in May of 1999 where she
studied Dabke in Baalbek.
In March of 2001, traveled to Aswan, Egypt to study
Nubian Dance with Director of the Nubian Folkloric Group located in Aswan. In March 2003 Katia returned from an extensive independent tour of the Oases of the
Western desert of Egypt studying the life, movements and handcrafts of the bedouins of the area. These
experiences she incorporates into her folkloric dance repertoire. In March/April 2004, Katia
made a trip to Tunisia exploring and studying to expand her knowledge of the people and to add to her
dance repertoire. She studied Tunisian Dance with the National Folkloric Troupe in Tunis. In January 2005, Katia made a another trip to the Western desert of Egypt visiting the southern oases and continuing her studies of the
knowledge of the desert cultures. 2010 Note: Katia's travels have continued anually in the Middle East and updates are coming soon. Dance
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