Bringing music to life

Bringing life to music

Eventually Aurel’s dramatic vocal performances were augmented with dance-infused popular music, creating a charismatic, one woman show quality that allowed her to perform in England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and throughout the USA. Aurel’s vocal repertoire morphed again as her exposure to different cultures around the world grew. Presently, Aurel’s songlist includes Italian, French, Spanish, Turkish and Arabic material. Find Aurel singing throughout New Englad with The Kubota PowerJazz Unit and The Hip Pocket Orchestra.

Aurel’s formal training in piano, voice, acting, ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance took place in private study and at the Empire State Institute of Performing Arts (New York), the Boston Conservatory of Music Dance and Theater and Berklee College of Music (Boston).  Belly dance instructors include The Daughters of Rhea (Melina, Piper, and Rhea of Greece), Karen Uminski, Lisa Tiernan, La Reina, Thalia, Amina Delal, Amira Jamal, Phaedra, Elena el Amar, Lucy of Egypt, Sa’diya of Texas, Karim Nagi, Delilah of Seattle, Shadia, Ahmet Luleci, Kay Hardy Campbell, Dunya, Katia, Nourhan Sharif, Tayyar Akdinez,  Bozenka and Yousri Sharif. Aurel considers her belly dance training to be ongoing and hopes to never stop learning.

With her trained artist’s sensibilities, life experiences, and a passion for cultures beyond her own, Aurel is a multifaceted, authentic artist reflecting the human experiences of joy, humor, yearning, trial and triumph to her audiences. Aurel brings music to life and life to music through every mesmerizing step and gesture.

Aurel’s musicality as a dancer flows from her career as a professional musician. Her father, a brilliant jazz pianist, and mother, a naturally gifted, harmonizing singer, nurtured their child’s innate creativity with classical piano lessons and liberal exposure to vocalists singing works from the American songbook, such as Gershwin and Porter. Aurel’s vocal prowess emerged with “the jazz standards” as the foundation of her repertoire and served as the impetus for eventually studying acting and musical theater including classical dance (ballet, jazz, tap and modern). Aurel’s spellbinding song interpretations have been featured at cabaret and dinner theaters such as The Starline Room, Stoughton MA, and in full scale theatrical productions such as Berlin on Broadway at Boston’s Government Center.

About Aurel

Aurel’s exquisite dancing has been featured at the grand opening of the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston, Foxwoods Casino's Arabic Hafli in Connecticut, 5-star weddings, elegant restaurants, and private parties including anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, bridal showers, church haflis, fundraisers and more. Illuminating a room in her sparkling, beaded costumes, Aurel thrills audiences with precise hipwork, glittering shimmies, dreamy spins, and the snake-like undulations that make belly dance forever fascinating. Aurel also teaches group and private lessons and produces shows at Ancient Art Studios’ belly dancing school where she is the director. Online belly dance boutique, www.Alimahscloset.com, is also under Aurel’s direction.