About Dalia Carella, Artistic Director
Dalia Carella is a world-renowned Near/Middle Eastern Contemporary Dancer, Choreographer, Instructress and Global Fusion Artist. Audiences from around the world have applauded her mystical and innovative dances and choreographies that are taken from the tradition of the countries she is representing. Ms. Carella has delved deeply in the studies of dances from the Near and Middle East including Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, as well as North Africa including Morocco and Algeria. Her dances are both traditional and contemporary with a spiritual essence behind each and every movement that she creates. Some of Ms. Carella’s new works represent both traditional and contemporary movement and range from sacred rituals to ethnic contemporary theater pieces as well as Cabaret Theater inspired by the 1920s and 30s.
Her dance background also includes studies in Flamenco, Indian/Bollywood/Bhangra, African, Samba, Salsa, Bomba and Plena from Puerto Rico as well as jazz and ballet. Ms. Carella also created her signature dance form in 1985, "Dunyavi Gypsy (Roma) Dance", for which she is known throughout the world. The core of Dalia’s Dunyavi work is extensive research of the Romany trail, focusing primarily on the Roma dances of Spain, India, Turkey and most recently, movements from North Africa. Dalia has also been performing and teaching a second style of Gypsy Rom dance, “El Mundo”, that is evolving from her continuing studies of Middle Eastern, Andalusia and Latin dance influences.
Francis Mason, (WQXR Radio, New York) wrote: “Dalia Carella is an accomplished artist. Watching her brought back memories of the power of the eastern dance of Ruth St. Denis early in the century and the inspiration that gave to another American girl, Martha Graham. She brought back the grace and mysteries of the East. A final solo based on Turkish, Spanish and Indian Gypsy dances had us all cheering!” Lisa Jo Sagolla from Backstage wrote: “Dalia Carella has star power. Performing a highly original fusion of Middle Eastern, modern, and other world dance forms, she bewitches her spectators, while seeming to excite herself, with a sizzling allure that is almost frightening.” Eva Yaa Asantewaa from the Village Voice wrote: “Few dancers exude as much joy as Carella, a ravishing woman of singular confidence and dramatic expression whose role models must be Ruth St. Denis, Katherine Dunham, and Ava Gardner.”
Dalia’s performance credits are as follows: a one woman show at both New York City’s Lincoln Center’s Out-of-Door Series and the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio: The Group Opera Company of New York City in both Carmen and La Traviata as both dancer and choreographer; Second Stage; Nicolas/Louis Choreospace, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Yale University with Elena Lentini and Company; The Southern Theater in Minneapolis, MN; The Ford Theater, Los Angeles, Festival of Woman Improvisers and Festivals in New York City sponsored by Met Life. In 2005, Dalia was invited by the University of Kentucky to be a guest choreographer. She choreographed The Collective’s dance epic "Salome" from her Ruth St. Denis Rep for their Sept. Fall Concert. UOK also performed it at the University of Columbus, April 2006. In 2006, Dalia performed along with Nubian Moon Daughters with Composer Cal and the Peekskill Symphony Orchestra for the PBS "Master Series" Special, which was presented on national TV in March of 2006. Ms. Carella also received rave reviews from the New York Times in 2007, for her dancing and choreography for a 12 week run of an Off-Broadway play, "Desert Sunrise", written by Misha Shulman at The Theater for the New City. In 2008, Dalia will be performing with the Desert Sunrise Cast in both Egypt and Israel. Her numerous concerts and teaching tours have led her throughout the United States, Canada, Egypt, England, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Portugal.
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Listen to interview with Dalia Carella (MP3 - 38 minutes)
(The following audio interview was recorded live and on location at Dance New Amsterdam, NYC.)
ref: link to original Dance New Amsterdam page and mp3 file: http://greatdance.com/podcast/new-york-city/world-dance/
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