About
Internationally-renowned Cassandra Shore is recognized as one of the world’s foremost performers of Middle Eastern dance. With early background in the Wigman and Graham styles of modern dance, Cassandra embraced Middle Eastern dance as a student of San Francisco’s Jamila Salimpour in the 1970s. From the outset, her artistic intensity, her sensuous mastery of the form’s technical complexity, and her lyrical grace and musicality set her apart from other artists.
Attracted by the opportunities she saw in the Twin Cities’ rich arts environment, Cassandra returned to Minneapolis in 1978, where she founded The Cassandra School in response to high demand from women who saw her perform and were inspired to learn.
Cassandra began her cultural immersion in earnest when she traveled to Egypt in 1981. There, she deepened her learning through scholarship and by studying dance with the masters. Today, she continues to travel regularly to Egypt and throughout North Africa, as well as to Turkey, Greece, and areas in the Arab-speaking Middle East, dancing, researching, studying and increasing her recognition as a master of the form. She has worked with some of the world’s most acclaimed Middle Eastern teachers and choreographers, including Mahmoud Reda, Director of Cairo’s Reda Group, and former Egyptian Undersecretary of Culture; Mohammed Khalil, Director of the National Folklore Group of Egypt; Vivian Hamamjian, former Caracalla Ballet dancer in Beirut; Ragia Hassan, choreographer to Egypt’s top dance stars; and Ibrahim Farrah, Director of the Near Eastern Ensemble, NYC, the first professional US performing company in Middle Eastern dance; among others.
Cassandra’s background in modern dance, with a flavoring of Jazz, Flamenco, and Tai Chi Ch’uan, drove her to look for ways to move Middle Eastern dance beyond a “museum” form, and to create original choreography that showcases this exciting work as a vibrant living art form, steeped in generations of traditional learning, and resonating with new times and new cultural experiences. She was inspired and encouraged when she saw other artists moving in this direction, and in 1989 she founded Jawaahir Dance Company (JaWAHheer, meaning “jewels”), dedicated to cultural authenticity, artistic excellence, and a spirit of exploration that blends traditional and contemporary Middle Eastern dance.
Today, Cassandra Shore has earned worldwide acclaim as master teacher, star performer, and visionary choreographer in Middle Eastern dance. She was honored in 1996 and 2004 to be chosen as the only non-Arab dancer to perform at the Maharajan al-Fan, the annual festival of Arabic arts staged in New York City and the Brooklyn Museum. In 2013 she choreographed and performed for Simon Shaheen’s new composition, “The Call,” in Vancouver. She is Mr. Shaheen’s “choreographer of choice.” Cassandra teaches and performs nationally and internationally in Helsinki, Los Angeles, London, Houston, Cologne, Vienna, New York City, Miami, and a long list of other cultural centers. She is in residence annually at Oasis Dance Camps in Morocco or Luxor (Egypt), Seattle, St. Simons Island (GA), and Traverse City (MI).
Here at home, The Cassandra School reaches hundreds of professional and amateur students at three Twin Cities locations, offering classes in technique, choreography, performance skills, and Arabic language and cultural studies. In her Jawaahir Dance Company performances, Cassandra collaborates