MEET THE LADIES BEHIND APSARA
Apsara is a performing bellydance troupe under the creative direction of Kaitlyn. They study various styles of bellydance and perform at local and regional events through North Carolina and beyond. Each member of Apsara brings her own unique energy, dance experience and talent to the troupe which adds a dynamic flavor to their performances. In addition to studying and performing with Kaitlyn, members regularly attend workshops, participate in bellydance related events.
Apsara is a performing bellydance troupe under the creative direction of Kaitlyn. They study various styles of bellydance and perform at local and regional events through North Carolina and beyond. Each member of Apsara brings her own unique energy, dance experience and talent to the troupe which adds a dynamic flavor to their performances. In addition to studying and performing with Kaitlyn, members regularly attend workshops, participate in bellydance related events.
Cher Burke
Assistant Director
Cher has been studying with Kaitlyn since her first class in Sept 2007. She is also an original member of Kaitlyn’s student troupe, the Apsara Dancers and acts as the Assistant Director. Cher found out about Kaitlyn from a news article in the Max Magazine portion of the Daily News. She had been looking for something to do in the evenings while her husband was working and was captivated by the photo of Kaitlyn on the cover. She read the article and put it aside but found herself reading it again later that evening. When she picked it up again in the morning, she figured some one was telling her something so she wrote down the phone number and contacted Kaitlyn that same day – the rest is history! Cher has taken workshops from Gina of Atlanta, Fahtiem, Blue Moon Dance Co., Mara of Cary, The Indigo, Hannan Sultan, Nahla Hamad of Greenville, Khalida Mahira, Bozenka, Myra Krien, Zafira Dance Co., Donna Mejia, John Compton, Zoe Jakes, Jill Parker, Ahava, Amani Jabril and of course, Kaitlyn. She continues to attend workshops with the enthusiastic support of Kaitlyn, as well as taking private lessons from Kaitlyn in Kaitlyn’s other passion, Indian dance.
With no previous dance experience at all, Cher had to force herself to attend that first class but has found great support, enormous love and valued friendships from her dance sisters and hopes she is dancing twenty years from now!
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Kim Fields
Dancer
A native of Jacksonville, NC, Kim first expressed interest in the art of bellydance in late 2003. However, with the lack of a local instructor, she studied tapes in her spare time. In 2007, while running a random Google search, Kim discovered that an introductory class to bellydance was being offered locally, by professional bellydancer Kaitlyn Lewis. Kim then took her first class, meeting others with the same interests. The following year, she joined Kaitlyn’s student troupe, the Apsara Dancers. Since then, she has had a blast performing, and hopes to expand her knowledge of the art.
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Gabriela Vasquez Sanborn
Dancer
Gabriela started taking belly dance lessons with Kaitlyn on her weight loss journey in 2008. She has always loved dancing and found that it was so much better than any other form of exercise. Growing up in Mexico, she was involved in dance competitions at 3 years of age winning state championships and dancing the “ballet folklorico”. She immediately fell in love with the art and started taking both cabaret and tribal classes with Kaitlyn. She joined the troupe but had to leave to take care of her family and medical issues in 2011. She couldn’t stay away and has joined Apsara again in 2019.
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Andi Eastwood
Dancer
Andi has never had any formal dance training. She first discovered Middle Eastern dance at a young age with the S.C.A. in Germany. It wasn’t until May 2001, while living in the Greenville, NC, that her passion for the dance inspired her to take classes with Donna Whitley. There she met and befriended her fellow class mates, with whom she became a member of the troupe “Mirage” and later a co-founder of the troupe “NAJ”. For 9 years, she studied exclusively with Donna, all the while taking workshops with a variety of instructors and attending local and regional dance events. It was in 2009 that she met Kaitlyn and began taking classes with her in October of that same year. Andi says, “After all these years of being involved in this art, I am still amazed everyday about the beauty of Middle Eastern Dance.”
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VIDEOS
Check out the ladies of Apsara and the rest of the dancers who have followed the journey