MELINA'S
ABRIDGED PERFORMANCE HISTORY
Cirque Passion
Melina (Melinda Pavlata) is co-creator along with world-renown
5th generation Czech circus artist Alexandre Sacha Pavlata of
Cirque Passion, an
intimate one-ring cabaret-style circus that features dance,
circus arts and aerial acts. Cirque Passion delighted audiences
at the Baltimore Museum of Art with "Reve," a romantic trapeze
duet (see photo at right). In addition to regularly touring with
Circus Flora, Cirque
Passion has performed at the Red Bull Art of the Can Exhibit
opening at Boston's Artists for Humanity Epicenter, at the
Boston Center for the Arts
HUBBUB! gala, throughout Europe including Paris and Athens,
Greece, and for the Charleston, S.C. nonprofit organization
Darkness to Light. Cirque
Passion recently performed at the St Louis
COCA's gala for Mikhail
Baryshnikov and other delighted audience members. They toured to
Auckland, New Zealand with the Flying Wallendas for Dean
Lonergan's "McDonald's Cirque Rocks!" stadium extravaganza and
will tour to Taiwan and Puerto Rico in late Fall 2006.
Circus Flora
Melina
is an aerialist, dancer and theatre choreographer for
Circus Flora, a one-ring, European-style circus. She played the
role of Little Egypt for the “Ruvna” Show in St. Louis (1996) &
Norfolk, VA (1997), dance as
the Allegory Hope for the “Pegasus” show in St. Louis (1998) and
Irving, TX (1998), and was the Juggling Dancing Girl who teaches
the elephant how to belly dance in
“Farewell to Flora” show Phoenix, AZ (2000-1). Most recently she
danced with stallions in the ring as the "Muse of the East" at the
Spoleto Arts Festival in South Carolina and in St. Louis, MO. In
June 2005 she played the "Silent Daughter" in the production of Tzigan. She danced in the ring with horses and took to the air
with Sacha as they performed their acclaimed aerial ballet on the
trapeze (visit
www.cirquepassion.com for the pictures).
Tavernas/Cabarets:
Athens,
Greece (Age 7 through present). Athens by
Night Taverna, Kalokairinos, 1001 Nights, Sahara, Vrahos, Musikes
Skies, Axum, Palia Athina, Kritikos, Giovetsakia, Zeus Taverna,
1002 Nights, Axum Restaurant.
Boston,
MA (Wellesley College Days & Present) Karoun’s
(1989-present); Layaleena (present) Averof (1989), Middle East
Restaurant (1989-90) Shahrazad Restaurant (’90-‘91).
Philadelphia, PA (Grad School Years) Middle
East Café, Painted Bride Art Center show with ethnic fusion band
“Jaffna” .
San
Diego, CA (Post-PhD Year by the Sea 1998-99).
Marrakesh (La Jolla), Greek Village (Carlsbad), Greek Town,
Armenian Café, Kebob House, Zorba’s, Greek Palace.
San
Francisco Bay Area (From age 2 dancing with
costume pinned to diaper to present). Parthenon (Walnut Creek), El
Morocco (Pleasant Hill), Zorbas (San Jose).
Recent
Festivals & Special Shows (abridged)
Founder & Creative Director of the
ALS Therapy Development Foundation’s
Belly Dance
Fundraising Extravaganza. Melina &
her sister Piper have raised over $300,000 for Lou Gehrig’s
Disease Research.
Baltimore
BellyPalooza.
Co-created by Daughters of Rhea productions, this annual event
features seminars with Melina,
Piper, Rhea and guest artist instructors as well as an evening
show at the Baltimore Museum of Art. View a multi-media montage
of our 2006 production "Belly Dance Magic," on the
Baltimore Sun website.
Rakkasah East 2000, 2001 & 2002 in Somerset,
NJ. (www.rakkasah.com)
Three Arrows Cooperative Society, Putnam
Valley NY (2001). Danced in collaboration with Phil Marsh,
Melina's father and folkster guitarist extraordinaire.
Rhea's Athenian Haflis at Axum,
Greece's premier Ethiopian restaurant and venue for Rhea's middle
eastern dance
happenings.
Mediterranean Night @
Wellington School in Belmont. April 3, 2003. Performed to the
wonderful live music of Karim Nagi Mohammed & Mal Barsemian for
elementary school students, their siblings and parents.
Brownie's Girl Scouts
meeting. Melina brought finger cymbals, sword dancing and a Greek
language lesson to the Brownie Scouts in Belmont on Thursday
February 26th, 2004. Brownie Renee Eurdolian insists it was "the
best meeting EVER."
Misc:
On Thursday September 12th, 2002, Melina
participated in a one-night-only production of "From the Horse's
Mouth" at the Springold Theater Center at Brandeis University.
From the Horse's Mouth, an evening-length theatre/dance
piece conceived and created by Tina Croll and Jamie Cunningham,
has produced unprecedented and exhilarating results wherever
presented. First done in 1998 at Joyce Soho in NYC with only
modern dancers and choreographers, subsequent productions became
more diverse by including dancers from other disciplines and
styles such as African, Flamenco, East Indian, Japanese, tango,
jazz, ballet, belly dance and Broadway.
Saturday October 12th, 2002. Melina and
her Daughters of Rhea Dance
Ensemble performed at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA before
the screening of Tunisian movie SATIN ROUGE.
February 7 & 8, 2003.
Melina debuted her new choreography "Walk Like an Egyptian," a witty take a l'orientale
on the 80's pop song in "East Meets West: Arabia American
Style," an ensemble show produced by Johara and Snakedance
productions.
August 2004: HIP, HIP, HOORAY! Melina, Piper and Rhea perform at the Baltimore Museum of Art in "Belly
Dance Magic,"
a gala show produced by Daughters of Rhea, recently reviewed by
Elaine in the gilded
serpent. Featured Melina's debut as an aerial circus artist in
her romantic trapeze duet "Reve" with Sacha Pavlata of Cirque
Passion and Circus Flora. Standing Ovation! Visit
www.cirquepassion.com
for more info.
February 2005. Melina and
Daughters of Rhea dancers Johanna, Panayiota and Sara danced for
St. Jude Medical Research Fundraiser at the Wang Center for the
Performing Arts.
.
Pictured Left to Right: Daughters of Rhea
Dancers
Sara, Melina and Soraya Nahzlu.
Photo by Allison Durham.
saturday february 26th
Melina &
sacha of cirque passion
performed their sensual aerial ballet duet and sacha's cloud swing
solo @
red bull art of the can exhibition
opening at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter.
..and the list goes on. Check back for
updates... I'm always doing something!
