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The Pearls of the Valley Troupe Biographies |
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Tammie Rea brings a singular passion and wide breadth of experience to her work as a performer and teacher of Middle Eastern or Oriental Dance. Ms. Rea took her first Middle Eastern dance classes while living in Wiesbaden, West Germany, in 1977. Thus began a life-long pursuit of study and performance. Following her initial exposure Tammie has studied with many Master Teachers. In the mid 1980’s while living in the San Francisco area (Baghdad by the Bay), Tammie had the opportunity to study with the late De Ann Bonham, founder of the groups Light Rain and the Dream Dancers. This proved to be a fertile period as she was performing regularly at the El Sultan restaurant. In 1994, Tammie organized and sponsored a two day workshop/performance featuring Master Teachers Morocco and Tarik abd el Malik along with several other top Pennsylvania performers. Tammie Rea’s pursuit of excellence in Middle Eastern dance is ongoing as she continues to take workshops and private instruction. Tammie is the Artistic Director of The Pearls of the Valley, a Middle Eastern dance ensemble performing Tunisian, Turkish Rom, Saidi folk dancing from upper Egypt, along with Oriental Fusion and Raks Sharki (Egyptian Style Cabaret). She is also the founder of The Tammie Rea School of Dance with ongoing classes in Middle Eastern dance. Tammie exudes an obvious love for her art and continues to study North African and Middle Eastern dance and music. Bringing this ancient form of dance to the general public and enlightening them as to its rich past and exquisite beauty, along with erasing preconceived ideas about it, remains her fervent goal.
Tarí (Teri Stanley)
Teri Stanley (Tarí) "discovered" Middle Eastern dance by seeing Tammie Rea perform. She started taking classes with Tammie and was quickly hooked. Tarí enjoys dancing a variety of Middle Eastern styles and recently performed her first solo choreography at Rakkasah in October with the help of Tammie and the Pearls. She also enjoys attending workshops and learning new styles, as well as learning about the history and culture associated with Middle Eastern dance. Tarí's favorite accomplishment with dance thus far is dancing and performing through eight of her nine months of pregnancy with her first child. She enjoys the costuming aspect of the dance as well; the stunning maternity dance dress Tarí wore at the First Night performance (shown in the left hand picture above) was designed and made by Tammie Rea. Tarí finds dance to be an exciting way to get good exercise, stay healthy and bond with other women! She looks forward to many more years of dancing!
Amsah Noor (Megan MacBride)
As a college senior, Megan decided with some friends to take a "bellydancing" class offered at her university. Under the tutelage of Alexia in Princeton, NJ, she fell in love with the dance and the music. Though her friends moved on to other pursuits, Megan decided to stick with the dance. Upon moving to the State College area to pursue graduate studies in chemistry, she continued her dance education with Tammie Rea. Initially plagued by stagefright, Megan has grown to love performing and now enjoys doing both large shows as well as dancing for the community at parties and events. She has now been dancing for over five years and plans to continue for many more. Megan also serves as the webmaster for this site as well as for Middle Eastern Dance in Central Pennsylvania.
Marita (Marita Magda)
Our newest Pearl.
Kim (Kim Reigle)
For several years Kim has taken dance for fun and as a good form of exercise. Her background is primarily in jazz with a little bit of tap. In an effort to expand her dance repertoire and try something new, Kim decided to take Tamra Tahira's introductory level dance class at Penn State University. Middle Eastern dance was a different workout than other dance forms, and it definitely toned and strengthened more than just the belly! Needless to say, she continued on to the intermediate level learning zills and veil. During the summer of 2003, Kim was asked to join the Pearls, and with her acceptance, that made the troupe five strong. Kim's first performance was at Rakkasah East in October 2003. She recently performed her first solo at during the show following Angela Prato's workshop appearance in State College.
Former Member Fikriyyah (Barbara Price)
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