New York Performing
Artist Company presents:
Banat el Emir or The Dancing Princesses is a fanciful story theater presentation of words, music and dance. Told in the tradition of the Tales of the Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Banat el Emir is inspired by the perennial favorite The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
Seen through the eyes of an omnipresent Storyteller and four on-stage Arabic musicians, the tale springs to life through the characters of the two princesses and the courageous gypsy girl who rescues them from their enchantment, these three roles being played by three Middle Eastern dancers.
Featuring a cast and orchestra of international performers, an original score of Arabic music, evocative choreography of classical Middle Eastern dance, and lush storybook costumes Banat el Emir is pure magic for the entire family.
For more photos from Banat el Emir, click here.
Celeste
Varricchio has performed and directed in New York City, at regional and
stock theaters throughout the US, in roles of all types of theater
ranging from classical drama to musical comedy. She
has worked as production assistant for several Broadway productions. She tours her one-person shows
and storytelling workshops to school and universities, festivals and
major arts institutes both in the US and abroad. An accomplished Middle
Eastern dancer, she performs under the
name of Morgiana in clubs, restaurants and at special events. A
recipient of the Greer Garson Theater Arts Award, Ms. Varricchio holds
an MFA from Trinity University, San Antonio, TX and a BA from Lehigh
University, Bethlehem, PA.
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 at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the
Kennedy Center, New York’s Town Hall,
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.
She is engaged regularly as a soloist in Middle Eastern nightclubs
and special events in New York City and throughout the US, and is a
popular seminar leader, conducting dance workshops across the US and
abroad. As special guest artist, she has performed in Mexico, the
Caribbean, Paris, London, China, West Africa, Jordan, Greece, Turkey,
Russia, and throughout the Middle East. 
Ghazal
Rohani was born in Iran and grew up in Germany where she studied with
Mojgan Azanni of Persia’s Farhang-o-Honar troupe. Moving to
Hong Kong, she performed numerous shows for major companies and hotels,
established her own entertainment company specializing in
corporate theater and art productions, formed the dance ensemble,
Dark Eyes and Oriental Moods, and taught. Now based in New York
she has been a featured soloist with the esteemed Yousry Sharif Egyptian
Dance Ensemble, and has been a
protege of the late Ibrahim Farrah, an icon in this dance form. She
was a featured performer in his last New York concert. Her solo
performances include traditional specialty numbers as well as fusion and
signature pieces. An international performer and teacher, her audiences
and students have included many high caliber celebrities. 
Jenna
began her dance training at
the age of four, and continued her study of ballet, and modern
dance through college. Beginning her studies in Middle Eastern dance in
1991in Berkeley, CA, Jenna traveled to Turkey, to continue her
dance training and spent a year learning the Turkish language and
culture. Relocating to New York, she continued her study of Oriental
Dance with Anahid Sofian, and with Serena. She has been teaching at
Serena Studios since 1998. She worked with fusion
singer and dancer, Jehan Kamal on her Ballet Exotiqa: A
Mystical World Beat Experience. Recently, Jenna appeared on HBO’s
Sex and the City. She performs in Manhattan as a
solo artist and with her performance trio, 
Maurice
Chedid studied at the Lebanese Conservatory of Middle Eastern Music. As
a member of the Lebanese Folkloric Group, he toured internationally for
four years and has since played the oud and sung in a variety of
nightclubs in Lebanon and throughout the world. Mr. Chedid has recorded
over twenty song and dance pieces and appears regularly at Cedars of
Lebanon in Manhattan, and major Arabic nightclubs in the New York
City area.
Michael
Hess has played violin and viola professionally for more than 25 years.
He attended the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He studied viola in Paris and went on to play with the Virginia State
Symphony. Middle Eastern music performances include the Mogador Group,
the Lincoln Center Institute production of Ali Baba and the Forty
Thieves, Smyreneiki Kompania and several Jewish ensembles including
Alhambra, an internationally known Judeo-Spanish group. He works with numerous Oriental dancers and
dance troupes and at top nightclubs in New York.
Richard
Khuzami has been involved with music since the age of ten, with
particular emphasis on the music of the Mediterranean. Mr.
Khuzami has worked with numerous theater and dance companies in New
York, on tour throughout the world and is a member of the Omar Faruk
Tekbilek Ensemble. International appearances have included the
Architectonica in Athens, the Intercontinental Hotel Egyptian Festival
in Colombia and Venezuela and a tour of Spain with the Elias Quartet
(sponsored by His Majesty Juan Carlos of Spain). He is President and producer of
Dahdoo Productions presenting world music artists on tours throughout
the US. 
Cailin
Heffernan most recent
work includes: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
(choreographer) and Billy Bishop Goes to War
(choreographer / assistant director) at Capital Repertory Theater; staged
reading The Fall of Sejanus at Manhattan Theatre Club,
produced by SDCF and Mind the Gap Theater (director/adaptor); La
Commedia at Theatre 3 (director/ choreographer/ adaptor); and Love in a Thirsty Land by Alan Glass at
Jewish Repertory Theatre (assistant director). At Expanded Arts, she directed Honorable
Mention and Zip. At Naked Angels she
choreographed Dr. Valentine’s Delirium Waltz, starring John
Turturro, Sarah Jessica Parker, Marisa Tomei, and Tovah Feldshuh. She received a 2000 SDCF
Observership fellowship, and two consecutive Capezio
Young Choreographers of America awards. Member of SSDC.