Zoe Jakes
A versatile and extremely well-rounded performer, Zoe Jakes has developed a style all her own, and is a popular touring instructor, her workshops regularly selling out.
Katarina Burda (an original member of Bal-Anat) is her first teacher and influence, and Zoe was a company member of Katarina’s troop Aywah! along with Mira Betz, also one of Zoes teachers and inspirations, and the talented Elizabeth Strong. She went on to perform with the Suhaila Salimpour Dance Company (with whom she is a lifelong student), spent a few years learning how to get in peoples faces in Extra Action Marching Band, and immersed in americana Vaudeville with The Yard Dogs Road Show. A proud Member of The Indigo Belly Dance Company, Zoe holds Mardi Love and Rachel Brice as her teachers and inspirations. Currently
Zoe Jakes is touring with her band Beats Antique, a group that has 6 albums and hundreds of live shows under their belt. Zoe designs and makes many of her own costumes and co-produces tracks with Beats Antique, also adding set designer and stylist to her body of work.
Zoe Jakes has the desire and opportunity to bring belly dance to the masses, having performed at Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonneroo in front of thousands of people that don’t know belly dance from an elephant. It is her passion that Belly Dance can get a wider recognition and respect, and her classes reflect that with a focus on strong technique and long term motivation.
