Meet the Panelists, from left to right above!

Marjhani is a pioneer of Dark Fusion, specifically Gothic Fusion Style. She started bringing Gothic Belly Dance shows to Gothic Nightclubs across Southern California and has taught and performed in multiple states and countries. She has been belly dancing for over 23 years and has been Goth dancing since the late 80’s!

Viral TikTok star, teacher, performer, and more, Kamrah is known for his dark fusion, creativity, “killer” isolations, and theatricality. He currently teaches and performs all over the world, headlining festivals throughout the USA and internationally. Early in his career, he found Gothic Belly Dance and became obsessed. Now, Kamrah is doing research and conducting interviews of Gothic belly dancers in order to write a book about the history of Gothic Belly Dance.

Faaridah, studio owner and instructor at Atlanta Fusion Dance and Executive Producer of the annual Essence of Belly Dance festival in Atlanta has been performing a variety of dance styles for over 20 years and is also a licensed Zumba Instructor. She is the Director of Atlanta’s premier performing company, Amarya Dance Company, and AFBD’s Lotus Fusion Dance Ensemble, as well as a founding member of Rafi’ah Dance Company and the Georgia Salimpour Collective.

Drake von Trapp is a fusion belly dance historian, researcher, teacher, and performer, recognized for his pioneering research on male belly dancers in the U.S. He holds a BA and MA in Dance, a post-master’s in Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies from Texas Woman’s University, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Performance Studies at UT Austin. His biographical and analytical work on male belly dancers and fusion belly dance history has sparked generative discussions about fusion belly dance lineage, gender, and masculinity.