A life-long dancer & musician, Bhrigha (pronounced “Bree-uh” please, the “g” is silent) is a professional performer & continual student of world music and dance, while pursuing her own signature performance styles. Known for her GypsiKelt fusion, she blends & breaks the rules of Tribal & Classical bellydance with a Celtic Gypsy spirit, fusing elements of Romani, Irish, Flamenco, Samba, & Middle East styles. Her newest fusion, Tribical, explores the darker side of modern bellydance, with a sultry subculture, Gothic Goddess, urban-shamanistic twist, both as a soloist and with her new troupe Immortalia. A lively & engaging performer, Bhrigha is an audience favorite, providing memorable entertainment, creating original & unique dance art that is lightly choreographed & largely improvised, following her motto of “Bellydance Your Bliss!”
A theatre background infuses Bhrigha with a dramatic stage presence, compelling her unique & unexpected music choices. She is known for her chameleon-like ability to create complete characters within the dance, including Dracula’s Daughter, Marilyn Monroe as a bellydancer, Biker Bellydance (featured at Daytona’s Bike Week and Portland’s Tribal Quest), Mardi Gras/Carnival, Moulin Rouge/Can Can, and anything else her maniacal mind dreams up.
As a bodyworker, music and rhythm are an integral part of Bhrigha’s approach to holistic health. Bhrigha discovered the healing power of Classical Pilates to recover from a bad car accident and quickly became a devotee of this core conditioning system, attaining 3 certifications in Mat & Apparatus with Power Pilates®, “The Harvard of Classical Pilates Education.” The healing benefits of Pilates led her to develop & trademarked Bellates® (Pilates for Bellydancers) as a way for students to improve their posture with this unique cross-training class & forthcoming online class series.
In Orlando, FL, Bhrigha began performing Classical Orientale bellydance professionally in 2000, & soon added ATS, Tribal Style, & World Fusion. Since 1995, she has studied extensively and performed, coast to coast with many of the modern-day masters of these arts. A background in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, & improvisational styles helped shape a natural ability for Egyptian/Lebanese, Folkloric, Irish, Flamenco, & Romani Gypsy too. Her first bellydance teachers were former Ibrahim Farrah dancers in NYC, so Bhrigha’s style also has an exciting East Coast flair. She directed her professional performance company in Florida – the GypsiKelts Drum & Dance Clan from 2002-2007 and co-directed Florida’s award-winning Shredd! Theatre Troupe from 2004-2007.
In 2007, Bhrigha ran away from weather trying to kill her in FL to join the Gypsies in Portland, OR, where she is active in several communities, is a popular runway & print model, has developed a reputation for being a badass of bellydance, plots her take-over of the world one hip twist & bat of her eyelashes at a time, and hangs with her critter kids on a farm in rural WA.
In her free time, she volunteers at Wolf Haven International in Tenino, WA and is an avid wolf advocate, working to save wild wolves, improve the lives of captive wolves, & provide educational outreach to dispel the “big bad wolf” stereotype, because even wolves need love too!
