Andromeda

"A lyrical and melodious dancer with great musicality" - Princess Farhana

Andromeda is a soloist with interests in Egyptian Oriental and Fusion bellydance styles, particularly Oriental and Gothic Fusion.  She is also Director of Sapphire Dance Company and choreographer for Emerald Bellydance Troupe and the Terpsichoral format.

A dancer and teacher

I teach weekly classes and have done for 10 years.  I love to travel for dancing and learning, and I've organised many workshops, haflas and events, hosting and helping to host such awesome performers as Jim Boz, Sabrina, Illan, Darkstar, Fulya, Hossam and Serena Ramzy and Ozgen.

Egyptian dance is where I started and it's where I feel most at home, but I have always tried to balance authentic and respectful performance of Middle Eastern dance styles with fusions across other formats.  I've done cyberfusion bellydance since before I knew what it was called, and this year I followed the Tribal Fusion Education Programme with Alexis Southall.  I've also been learning Black Sheep Tribal Style with Kath for a few years and I'm an active member of her troupe Lapis Tribal.

In 2015, I achieved an ambition as a teacher when I was invited to deliver a workshop at Gothla UK, Europe's premier festival of gothic bellydance.  I taught "Purpose in Dance", my favourite dance theory workshop, focusing on why we go on stage and how we can better express our intention.  I give equal weighting to dance history and theory alongside technique and physical practice in my teaching, so I loved this opportunity to share that passion.

I love the scope that bellydance gives for drama, intensity and the unexpected, which is probably why I'm so drawn to the Gothic bellydance scene.  No shortage of drama there!  For the 2017 Gothla event, I was asked to take on showrunner responsibilities, since I'm a long-running supporter of the event, and I'm now on the organising committee.

My dance history

My dance experience began in Latin and ballroom before a sudden transition to Middle Eastern dance in 2002. Since then I have studied oriental and fusion styles with national and international teachers.  I have been teaching bellydance since 2006 and I'm qualified with the Josephine Wise Academy of Arabic Dance (Safe Teaching of Arabic Dance), and with Bex Priest's Ghoul School (Gothic Fusion).  

I used to appear on stage as Yomanda, but I never loved the name, so in the last couple of years I've moved back to Andromeda, which was my pen-name as a teenager.

Away from the stage...

I live in a beautiful spot in Snowdonia, North Wales, UK, with my husband, the musician Sword Swinging Robot.  I fill my time with costume making, choreography, music, cinema and my tiny garden!

I've always had a fascination with narrative technique and character development. In 2013 I completed an Open University degree covering creative writing, literature and communication psychology, and this year I've completed my first postgraduate course.  One day soon, I hope to complete my first novel, which has nothing whatsoever to do with dancing!