Xanadu Dance Studio
Join us the Saturday of Memorial Weekend for our All-Levels class! ($15/class)
Inspiring You To Dance Like Yourself
We are here to help you discover a love and respect for this dance form and guide you to learn to "dance like yourself". Our studio is a safe and welcoming environment for everyone, whether you have never danced before or have danced for years. Come join the Xanadu community and build friendships through dance!
The studio was founded in 1973 by the late Kathryn Ferguson. She had an illustrious career traveling the world as an American Belly Dancer. The Kathryn Ferguson Dance Technique is based on cultural integration. It is a blend of traditional Mideastern Dance with a dash of Western drama.
Meet Your Instructors
Bonnie
Having studied under Kathryn Ferguson, Ava Fleming, and Kristin Cunningham for over 15 years, Bonnie is a skilled dancer and instructor. She is known for her strong technique, creative combinations, and dynamic performances. She dedicates her time to continuing her dance education by taking classes from instructors throughout the United States and Egypt.
Terra
With over 10 years of studying this dance form under Kathryn Ferguson, Terra has developed a unique style that is beautifully influenced by the Ferguson Technique. She is known for her fluidity, musicality, and her improvisation skills. She has also studied musical theater and continues to further her Raqs Sharki education through classes and workshops.
All of our instructors studied under our founder, Kathryn Ferguson, and have taken classes and courses from world renowned instructors and performers of Raqs Sharqi and other mideastern dance forms. They have also studied Egyptian dance ethnology through Sahra Saeeda's Journey Through Egypt program. All Xanadu instructors have Level 2 JTE Certification.
Our instructors are also members of the Xanadu Dance Company , allowing them to teach and perform Kathryn 's unique " Xanadu style" of classic Middle East dance.
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Edie
In 2002, Edie began taking classes with Kathryn Ferguson at the Xanadu Dance Studio. She felt an immediate connection with the music and dance and has since studied the dance in its varied forms to find a respectful and accurate understanding of the nuances within MENAHT culture, arts, and music. She has been a member of the Xanadu Dance Company since 2016 and is a teacher with the Xanadu Dance Studio.
Michelle
She discovered a love for this dance form 7 years ago, while studying under Kathryn Ferguson. She has been training in dance for over 20 years and has studied musical theater & cinematic dance (Western and Bollywood styles), Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Modern. Michelle has developed a style influenced by movement theories from the forms she has studied and is known for bringing a theatrical presence to the stage.
The Xanadu Dance Company was formed from Kathryn Ferguson’s Xanadu Performance Troupe after her passing in April of 2017. All of the current members studied directly under Kathryn, some for more than 10 years. The sole purpose of the troupe is to represent her legacy and vision. As such, the troupe only performs Kathryn Ferguson’s unique choreography.
The Xanadu Dance Company
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Our Founder
Kathryn Ferguson
After studying fine arts at the University of Arizona, Ferguson went to Spain to learn flamenco dance. She ended up in Morocco, where she discovered belly dancing, an art form that would take her around the world. Tucson was always home base, and she founded Xanadu Dance Studio in 1973.
She had an illustrious career traveling the world as an American Belly Dancer. She started teaching classes and dancing in Tucson, in a Moroccan club and restaurant called El Jebala. In 1985, she studied dance five weeks in Cairo, with Shoki and Faten Naim. Throughout her career, she danced all over the world and most of the fifty states. She traveled several times each year, for over a decade, to Europe--Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, performing and teaching workshops. She has also taught in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Istanbul, and Mexico.
The Kathryn Ferguson Dance Technique is based on cultural integration. It is a blend of traditional Mideastern Dance with a dash of Western drama.
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