Mosaic Dance Theater Company:

      Samara began dancing professionally in her teens, and has become one of the most celebrated and sought after Arabic dancers of today.  A protégé of the late master Ibrahim Farrah, she performed with his internationally acclaimed Near East Dance Group in some of the most prestigious concert arenas in the US, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, New York’s Town Hall, Theatre of the Riverside Church, and the Spoleto Festival.  In addition, she has performed with some of the most famous singing stars of the Middle East.  Samara was a 1998 inductee into the American Academy of Middle Eastern Dance Hall of Fame.  Samara is engaged regularly as a soloist in Middle Eastern nightclubs and special events in New York City and throughout the US.  She is a popular seminar leader, conducting dance workshops across the US and abroad, and is on the dance faculty of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Extension.  As special guest artist, she has performed in Mexico, the Caribbean, Paris, London, China, Japan, West Africa, Jordan, Greece, Turkey, Russia, and throughout the Middle East.  Samara has appeared on television,  including the MTV Awards where she danced with Christina Aguilera.  A trained actress, she has appeared on the New York stage.  Recent  choreographic credits include Mosaic’s The Fisherman and The Djinni (2006), Visions of the Near East (2005), Celebration (2003); the New York world premier of Banat el Emir or The Dancing Princesses, in which she also performed; and Caravan to Cairo, critically acclaimed in its presentation at the NY International Fringe Festival, which tours to schools as part of arts-in education programming.  As a professional model, she worked in the US and in Europe in runway, print and fashion.

     Morgiana Celeste Varricchio is a classically trained actor, a storyteller and a dancer, as well as the founder of Mosaic Dance Theater Company. Her works have been commissioned and performed internationally, in New York, and at regional and stock theaters throughout the U.S., including such venues as Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Museum, Paper Mill Playhouse, the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, the Nashville Institute for the Arts, the New York International Fringe Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.  An accomplished writer and producer, she has adapted and/or written for the stage, produced, performed, and toured in: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Lincoln Center, NYC); Gypsy Tales (New York International Fringe Festival); Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scotland); Banat El Emir (Greenwich Street Theatre, NYC); and for Mosaic Dance Theater Company, Ubar, The Lost City of Brass, The Fisherman and The Djinni, and Land of The Pharaohs.  In addition to her numerous acting credits, she worked as a production assistant for several Broadway productions, was an artistic consultant for the late film star Anthony Quinn, and is privileged to list on her resume the remarkable experience of working for five years at the Dallas Theater Center (TX) during its leadership by the legendary Paul Baker.  Morgiana also teaches classes and workshops in Middle Eastern dance, and conducts workshops for storytelling and story theater.  She holds an MFA from Trinity University and a BA from Lehigh University. 

      Adriana Rosa has taught and performed Middle Eastern dance for over 20 years. She was a featured member of L’Orient Danse Troupe and has performed in a variety of venues including carnivals, festivals, theatres, restaurants, and television in the US and the Caribbean.  Also a student and performer of Hawaiian dance, Adriana holds a BA from Hunter College and an MA from Columbia University.

      Nina Brewton, a Mosaic company member since its original production in 2003, has had extensive training in ballet, jazz, modern dance and Dunham technique (African dance), having studied at the Clark Center for Performing Arts where she was awarded a two-year full-time dance scholarship. As a performer of the Polynesian dances of the Pacific for many years, Nina toured professionally with three Polynesian dance companies.  She aspires to be a master teacher of Hawaiian dance and culture, and travels to Hawaii each year continuing her studies in a 5-year graduate program under the guidance of Kumu Hula (master teacher) Mapuana de Silva.  Nina studies Middle Eastern dance with Samara, and has performed at special events, in theatrical productions and Middle Eastern venues in the New York area.

 

      Dianna Dwyer’s love for Middle Eastern music and dance was sparked when she worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia in 1991. Dianna, a native New Zealander, began her study of dance in the USA, and made her first stage appearance in 1996. She has participated in professional shows in Washington DC, Baltimore, New York, Honolulu, and New Zealand, and was named the Duchess of Dance and the Peoples’ Choice winner in the 2003 East Coast Belly Dance Classic Competition.  Dianna has studied under master teachers Samara, Faten Salama of Egypt, Artemis Mourat, and Yasmin, both of Washington DC area. She has attended the Nile Group festival in Cairo for the past three years fostering her desire to continue her studies in the art of Middle Eastern dance. Prior to relocating to the NY-metro area, Dianna had been employed as a regular and featured dancer at Casablanca restaurant in Alexandria, VA since 2002, and danced at many other venues in the DC area. Dianna became a member of Mosaic in 2009.

      Ayana Alexis was born in Trinidad and came to the US when she was ten years  old, studying gymnastics during her teenage years.  Ayana’s focus on her movement studies shifted to the practice of yoga, which she has been pursuing for the past six years, being recently certified through the Yoga Alliance. Ayana began studying Middle Eastern dance in 2006, and began her apprenticeship with Mosaic during the 2009 spring season, making her theatrical debut in the company’s premieres of Ubar, the Lost City of Brass and Raks al Saiid.  She has performed in several metro-area venues including Cecil’s Jazz Club and the Lafayette Grill.  In addition to her regular classes in Middle Eastern dance with Samara and Morgiana, Ayana studies modern dance and ballet.

      Kendra Dushac began her training at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. She has a BA in Dance and Gerontology from Slippery Rock University and prior to that she studied Dance Education at Kent State University.  Kendra is certified in Pilates Matwork and Tahya Technique, her  introduction to Middle Eastern dance. She has performed with the Verlezza Dance Co., Ursula Payne, LE Therapy Salsa Dance Co.,The UN Culture Project, Bodiography Contemporary Ballet, Princess M'hoon Cooper, Teena Custer and Sue Hewitt.  In addition she has taught various dance styles in studios in Pittsburgh, PA, Wilmington, DE and in Cleveland, OH, where she also taught for the Cuyahoga County Board for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.  in addition to Mosaic she performs with Checkit!Dance, a modern dance company.
 

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