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" For me, dancing follows a moral code-the dance should be an organization with a charitable vocation. By working so close to my body, my heart has a better 'ear'."
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| In 1918, Lilly Schlemon, an Assyrian woman, fled the perils of North Iran to find safety in a refugee camp in Baghdad before emigrating to France in 1922. Deserted by her husband many years passed before she met Paul Allegre, an elderly frenchman. The couple lived in the Middle East immigrant community of Marseilles where in 1944, at the height of the Second World War, Eliane was born during a bomb attack. It was in this community of people from Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Chaldea, that Eliane spent a childhood of days learning traditional dances and exploring an art form that is literally thousands of years old. As a young woman Eliane continued her studies with such illustrious masters as Ibrahim Farrah and Leilah Haddad. In India she studied the temple dances of Bharatnatyam and Kathakali. She continued to broaden her repertoire with Flamenco and Afro Brazilian. For several years she was Vice President of the Parisian school of dance, " Atelier Dance". Her journeys have taken her to India, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Israel, Iran, Senegal and Egypt. Eliane believes,"...oriental dance is the very essence of femininity. It is a hymn to the joy of life and a call to infinity and the language of love and the poetry of movement." |
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Today, Eliane has made Madrid, New Mexico her home. She is also a registered nurse working part time at the Veterans Hospital in Albuquerque, NM. In her spare hours she volunteers as a dance/movement therapist at nursing homes and adult day care centers around the community. Professionally, Eliane continues to perform at fairs, fundraisers, parades, local cafes and in local dance productions. She is on the board of directors for the New Mexico Dance Coalition and currently offers weekly classes in Middle Eastern dance ( aka oriental dance or belly dance ) in her studio at "Picture Rock Studios" between Cerillos and Madrid, New Mexico. Phone 505-474-0033 for more details on class schedules and fees. |
At the forefront of her creative endeavors is "Azadeh" ('freedom' in Farsi) the Middle Eastern Dance Troupe founded by Eliane Allegre. |
