The Nawaar Dance Company is a Boulder, Colorado based dance company, specializing in American Tribal Style Bellydance (aka: ATS or FCBDStyle®). Our director believes the strength of this troupe is each member’s dedication to technique & professionalism and thru cultivating joy, support & community among it’s members. Each member of our dance company has had to work diligently to gain the technique & professionalism to allow them to pass the audition and become an official member of either our professional or student troupe. We are very proud of each of our members and celebrate the unique gifts they bring to our company. Let’s meet the members…
The Nawaar Dance Company
Principal & Student Members
Jennifer Secrist Goran
Director
2002- Current
Jennifer began her belly dance training in San Francisco in 1989 with well known American Tribal Style (FCBDStyle®) founder, instructor and performer Carolena Nericcio, director of FatChanceBellyDance®. Jennifer was immediately impressed by the presence and poise of the instructor and by the powerful, organic feel of the dance. Occasionally, Jennifer tried her hand (or hip, as it were) with other talented belly dance instructors specializing in Raqs Sharqi, but, she knew her first love was with the form and aesthetic of American Tribal Style. To this day she remains a loyal student of Carolena’s and still enjoys studying with her when in the Bay Area.
In 2001 Jennifer moved to Tallahassee, Florida with her family and began studying under Nancy Redig of InStep Studio, a dedicated and long time student of Morocco of New York (Aunt Rocky). Learning the classic forms of belly dance, Raq Sharqi, and gaining an outsider’s view of ‘California Tribal’ or ‘American Tribal’ (expressions coined by Morocco) was invaluable. A dialog began and a deep appreciation for each other’s dance was created. With encouragement from Nancy, Jennifer established the area’s first ATS® belly dance program and The Nawaar Dance Company was born.
Following work for her family, Jennifer moved to Boulder, Colorado in 2005. She quickly found Lisa Goodrich and began dancing with Desert Rain, Colorado’s very first tribal belly dance troupe, and enjoyed the dancing and camaraderie of these talented ladies. In June 2007, Jennifer, her Desert Rain troupemates, Lisa Goodrich & Anita Kear, along with former TribalTique founders Molly McClellan (current director of Vespertina) & Julia DiVerdi (current director of Sumatra), traveled to San Francisco to complete their GS Certification in ATS/FCBDStyle® with Carolena Nericcio. They were among some of the first dancers in Colorado to have been honored with this certification.
After 4 years of simultaneously performing professionally with Desert Rain and overseeing and occasionally performing with her own student troupes, she decided to take a break from Desert Rain and devote herself full time to The Nawaar Dance Company. Lisa Goodrich continues to direct Desert Rain and offers her own series of classes in Boulder. Jennifer & Lisa both still have a great time dancing with each other and can be seen eating cheesy pizza together and guest appearing with each other’s troupes from time to time. Jennifer currently directs and works full time for The Nawaar Dance Company.
Stephanie Maes
Principal Troupe Member
September 2010- Current
Steph was fascinated by Belly Dance since she was 12 years old. She tried to teach herself, following VHS tapes (that used to be a thing) that her mom bought her. In college, Belly Dance was offered as a credit, so, she signed up immediately. The teacher would bring in videos every few weeks, showing the different styles of Belly Dance. One day she brought in Belly Dance Super Stars Tribal Fusion. As soon as Rachel Brice, Zoe Jakes, and Mardi Love came on, Steph knew exactly what style of dance she wanted to learn. She researched the biographies of the women who inspired her, and noticed that the all had a background in ATS/FCBDStyle®. She looked for the closest teacher and found Jennifer Secrist Goran who was offering classes in Golden at the time.
Kristin Bruce
Principal Troupe Member
October 2012- Current
Back in 2008, Kristin’s roommate, Lena, decided she wanted to learn to belly dance. And Kristin, being a very good friend, went with her in a show of solidarity. After several classes of feeling like fools, they both decided they really liked it and should probably stick with it. Thus began her love of belly dance.
Kristin joined The Nawaar Dance Company in late 2012 to continue her practice and to try something new. She’s been dancing with the group ever since! She loves the dance form and often tells others that “these are my people.” She is so proud and honored to be part of the Nawaar team!
In addition to being a fabulous dancer, Kristin is also a talented photographer. She can be hired for individual and troupe/group portraits, weddings, professional events and more.
Merav
Principal Troupe Member
January 2013- Current
Merav’s middle name is Salome… for reals! We think she was born to be a belly dancer. Born in Miami from Cuban-Israeli descent, she always admired Middle Eastern culture and wanted to keep a connection to it. She decided one night to be brave and try a belly dance class. The class proved life changing and now she is embarking a lifelong serious study of belly dance.
Belly dance helped her become more in tune with her body & serves as a way to balance out her spinal disorder. She hopes to share her personal experiences and knowledge with others who are also going through the same thing. Merav has been dancing since 2010. She has so far danced for 3 troupes & performed solos on stage and in restaurants. She joined The Nawaar Dance Company in 2013 as part of her pursuit to study transnational fusion. She feels that Fat Chance Belly Dance Style® is the root and history of what has become American belly dance! Merav hopes that one day she can take constant trips to the Middle East to learn more. When she is not obsessed with belly dance, she is writing, playing video games, eating cupcakes and learning how to sew and how to speak Arabic and Hebrew.
Rebecca Buchholz
Principal Troupe
December 2014- Current
Rebecca is a Scientist with a side-passion in Dance – she has been sampling many styles since she was 6 years old including Hip-hop, Jazz, Swing, Salsa and Balinese Dance. During her PhD years, she discovered FCBDStyle/ATS® in Wollongong, Australia. Rebecca crossed the Pacific Ocean in 2014 to Boulder, Colorado, and quickly found The Nawaar Dance Company.
Rebecca loves the way this dance form builds connection between dancers, during both learning and performing. The dance-form is a conversation between dancers on stage and is unique every time you perform.
She is looking forward to learning all that the ATS/FCBDStyle® has to offer.
Jennifer ‘Dr Jenn’ Abarca
Student Troupe
November 2010- Current
Jennifer (known as Dr Jenn among her dance mates) began dancing with The Nawaar Dnace Company in November of 2010. She has had a long time passion for belly dance and has studied with a variety of teachers in the front range and beyond.
Originally from Northern California, Jennifer moved here with her family. She is a fantastic gardener, mother, scientist and human being. We are proud to have her dancing with us.
Lena Allen
Student Troupe
November 2014- Current
Not only has Lena always enjoyed watching others dance, she often played the part of a “belly dancer” when attending events like the Renaissance Festival with her group of young friends. She loved the costuming and jewelry and figured if she’s going to dress like a belly dancer, she should learn the dance officially. With a little research she found a local dance class focusing on the classical Egyptian cabaret style of belly dance. Lena thoroughly enjoyed dancing this style for a few years, along with her good friend Kristin.
When Kristin started taking classes with The Nawaar Dance Company, along with another friend Lori, Lena was soon to follow. Everyone is beautifully in sync, yet still expressing their individuality, and it’s not even choreographed? Amazing!
Lena quickly fell in love with the community, beauty, and structure of ATS/FCBDStyle®, and of course the big skirts!
Melina Fritzler
Student Troupe
February 2018- Current
Melina has been a dancer since she was a small child. She loved the liberating feeling of dance and would often be the instigator to get a group of family or friends up and dancing.
Some of her other passions are herbalism, Naturopathy, contemplative studies and the anything in the arts (Life should be lived as artistically as possible, right!?) After a life changing event, Melina decided to she wanted to study belly dance. She quickly became enthralled with the nuances of the movements and layered technique taught within The Nawaar Dance Company.
In addition to the team and communal feeling of working together in an improvisation dance format, Melina found the dance to have a feeing element that allows one to play with the flow of the dance in the moment. She was thrilled that The Nawaar Dance Company is open to extra creative concepts around story boarding/themes, costuming, makeup and more.
What a joy to find a movement outlet that combined her many artistic and team building passions! She looks forward to continuing to express herself with this talented group of dancers whilst learning and growing more in the years to come.
Jessie Anderson
Student Troupe
May 2014- Current
After watching a performance at the Arvada Center at the tender age of 7, Jessie convinced her mom to allow her to take ballet classes. Mom found a way to make it work and thus began a lifelong obsession with dance and costuming.
At the age of 12, life happened and she had to give up ballet. It would be another 15 years before dance would come back into her life thru college ballroom and modern dance classes. Jessie fell in love with dance all over again.
Fast forward to 2014, Jessie is getting married. Unlike most humans, she decides she needs more to do in addition to wedding planning. Having been wanting to learn belly dancing for several years, she asked around for recommendations. Her friend, Kristin, convinced Jessie to try out the troupe she was dancing with in North Boulder. From there Jessie was introduced to us and the world of FCBD®Style/ATS. She has been hooked on this style ever since.
8 years and a couple of major life events requiring a brief hiatus, the goal of joining the Nawaar Dance Company has been achieved and there is only more amazing dancing to come!
Emily Mullis
Student Troupe
May 2019- Current
In the chaos that has been Emily’s life, belly dance was the first thing that stuck. She first took an interest back in 2013 when she was preparing to travel to Istanbul to get her English teaching certificate. Casually, but with great interest, she taught herself the dance by watching many different types and learning through various teachers on the internet. It wasn’t until moving to Colorado that she decided it was time to take it seriously. Thanks to inspirations such as Rachel Brice, Zoe Jakes, Mardi Love, and a collection of others, Emily knew this style would be her stepping stone into the dance world and The Nawaar Dance Compnay has proven to be a wonderful place of learning and growth. Dance is a window into other cultures and that was what drew Emily to it. She is fond of history, culture, art, and creative activities.