“Megha” - Meg Gavin, Director

Megha began performing very early in life. She took her first dance classes at about the age of 4 and has been creating and performing ever since. Theatre soon caught her attention and that was her passion throughout her schooling years. It was in 1996 that she discovered American Tribal Style Bellydance and immediately shifted her focus to this art form.

In San Francisco, Megha studied ATS with the originator of the style from 1996 - 1998. Upon returning to the Southeast, she began teaching ATS classes in order to create a community of people to dance with. She was the first to offer these classes in this region and has continued teaching pure ATS for the last 10 years. She continues to teach and perform at sold out workshops across the country and around the world both individually and on the Tribal Pura tour with her teacher/partner, Carolena Nericcio.

In 2003 Megha completed teacher certification with Carolena Nericcio (creator of ATS and founder of FatChance BellyDance) and entered into an exclusive partnership with her. They now take their love and appreciation of this elegant dance style in its original form on the road to co-teach the technique and artistic vision created by Carolena over the last 20 years.

Megha directs the Birmingham, AL based Devyani Dance Company and runs Devyani Dance Center, home of her dance company and a hub of international and ethnic dance styles in Birmingham. Under her direction, Devyani has performed at countless festivals, weddings, corporate events and private parties over the last 9 years and has been nominated for multiple cultural and artistic awards.

For more information on Megha’s background and experiences or to schedule an interview or workshop please call Devyani Dance Center at (205) 956-3384.

Liz Malcom - Assistant Director and PR/Designer
FCBD Teacher Certification, April 2007

Liz was motivated to dance at the early age of five years old. Ballet, a few parade appearances, sporting an embarrassing bunny costume and dangerously twirling a baton was the extent of it all then.

Her inspiration was sparked again when, in 1995, Liz attended some bellydance classes with a friend and within six months she was performing traditional Egyptian Cabaret style with a focus in veil work. In 1997, Liz began training with Aiesha Banu who was new to Birmingham and specialized in shimmies, zils and balancing props, with a focus in Folkloric Style, specifically Saidi.

Liz was one of the three founding members of Zivah Saphirah Middle Eastern Dance Troupe which quickly grew to eleven members, including an all female band. Zivah Saphirah concepted many spectacular shows and fundraisers and hosted numerous workshops bringing renowned dance instructors and performers to Birmingham. Liz continued to direct, perform and teach with Zivah Saphirah until March of 2004.

In 1998 Liz saw FatChanceBellyDance and was struck speechless with it’s beauty and strength. Soon she pursued training in American Tribal Style bellydance and joined a second Birmingham troupe named Dancing Bellies. She visited San Francisco three times to study with Carolena Nericcio of FatChanceBellyDance and she studied with members of FatChanceBellyDance at Rakasah in San Francisco, California and at the first Spirit of the Tribes in Hollywood, Florida.

Upon Megha’s return to Birmingham in 2003, Liz began training again in American Tribal Style bellydance and was invited to join Devyani Dance Company early in 2004. Because of her background in troupe management and instructing, she was offered the honor of being Devyani’s Co-Director.

Liz was thrilled to of received her FatChanceBellyDance Teacher Training with Carolena in April 2007 and is currently teaching at Devyani Dance Center.

Deanna Freeman - Assistant Director
FCBD Teacher Certification, April 2007

For as long as she can remember, DeAnna has felt an enormous passion for the arts. At eight years old, she attended a performing arts school, Perrine Elementary, where she studied ballet and the dramatic arts. Her enthusiasm for dance, drama and music continued to blossom throughout high school and college, a time when she could be found making melodious music in the school band with her saxophone, flute or tuba, rooting the home team to victory with her cheerleading squad or stealing the show as the lead in a school play.

In 2003, DeAnna discovered the remarkable world of belly dance. She studied cabaret style belly dance under the instruction of Penny Thomas, of Zivah Saphirah, and later became a student of Petite Jamilla, who now tours with the Bellydance Superstars. DeAnna performed with Petite Jamilla’s troupe for almost a year.

In the Spring of 2004, while attending belly dance and doumbek workshops in Ft.Walton Beach, Florida, she met Megha. DeAnna fell head-over-heels in love with American Tribal Style belly dance. The very next week she enrolled in classes with Devyani.

DeAnna was honored and thrilled to be invited into Devyani Dance Company’s professional troupe in fall 2004 and since then has had the pleasure of performing in numerous shows around the United States. A few of these performances include Spirit of the Tribes (Ft.Lauderdale), TribalCon (Atlanta), TribalQuest NW (Portland) and a three city tour with Raquy and the Cavemen. She was also honored to appear in FatChanceBellyDance and Devyani’s Tribal Basics Volume 7 – Creative Steps and Combinations

In spring 2007, she received her General Skills and Teacher Certification from Carolena Nerriccio, ATS creator and founder of Fat Chance Belly Dance in San Francisco, CA.

DeAnna is currently an instructor of American Tribal Style belly dance and an assistant director of Devyani Dance Company.

Michelle Amaral

From a young age, Michelle has been heavily involved in athletics; the first disciplines to pique her interest were tennis and volleyball. She served as an intramural volleyball team captain throughout elementary and middle school. Eventually, Michelle discovered gymnastics and trained in this area for four years.

It was during high school that Michelle became enamored with dance and explored this interest by performing and also choreographing numbers with her school’s dance team. In college, she incorporated ballroom dance into her repertoire, studying the foxtrot, waltz, and tango; her classes also included swing dance, salsa, meringue, cha cha and rumba. At this time, she also became quite proficient in clogging. Michelle additionally has experience in ballet and modern dance styles.

Following in her mom’s footsteps, Michelle became involved in Egyptian style belly dance. She was later introduced to Tribal style belly dance and began studying under Megha Gavin at Devyani Dance Studio in September 2005, while continuing her study of Egyptian style under Irene Rimer.

Currently, Michelle is elated to be a member of Devyani Dance Company since her invitation in August 2007. She has had the opportunity to dance in numerous local and national productions such as the Devotion Show, alongside sister troupe Fat Chance Belly Dance, in San Francisco. Additional performances include Tribal Con, an annual belly dance event in Atlanta and a three-city tour with Raquy and the Cavemen, a Middle Eastern music group. Michelle also studies flamenco with Irene Rimer and has performed in several local shows.

Michelle also writes about dancing, and has not only published in Jareeda maga zine, an international belly dance publication, but has also graced the cover! She has also written for Synchronicity, an online magazine from the Alabama Dance Council.

Robin Hayward

Like many little girls, Robin got an early start with tap, jazz and ballet classes. Later, those got replaced by cheerleading and baton twirling, and later still, by a stint in the military and life in general. She never expected to have the joy of dance rekindled as an adult. While taking cabaret style bellydance classes and workshops, she encountered Megha and a love of American Tribal Style was born.

She believes ATS to be the most powerful, moving and inspirational activitie she’s ever done. She became a student at Devyani Dance Center in March 2005, and was very proud to join Devyani Dance Company in November 2008

Wendi O’Kelley
FCBD Teacher Certification, April 2007

Wendi began studying American Tribal Style bellydance “unofficially” in 2000 by studying the FatChanceBellydance tapes and attending Megha’s classes during frequent visits to New Orleans. She began her “official” training in the Fall of 2003, when Megha moved back to Birmingham.

She has been a member of Devyani since the spring of 2004. She is also a proud mother of two boys, and a high school teacher.

Marci Turner-Holcombe
FCBD Teacher Certification, April 2007

Marci found her passion for American Tribal Style Bellydance in late 1998 after attending a performance of her friend Megha in Birmingham, AL. Shortly after, Marci & Megha ended up moving to New Orleans at the same time where Marci was able to begin studying ATS.

After returning to Birmingham in 2000 Marci continued on her own and again had the opportunity for formal training when Megha returned to Birmingham in 2003.

Marci is honored to have danced professionally with Megha in April 2004 and with Devyani at its formation in May 2004, until her move to the DC area in 2005. While in DC Marci continued her studies, achieving the FCBD Teacher Certification. She was also a founding member of the FCBD Sister Studio troupe Sammati Dance Company.

Marci returned to Birmingham in July of 2007 and is once again honored to be part of Devyani.