The Dark Side Studio

School of Belly dance and Creative Movement

It all began with a dream…

“I wanted to create a space that offered innovative and cutting edge content, with practitioners at the top of their field, with classes and workshops open to anyone who wanted to learn.”

— Audra Simmons. Founder & artistic director of The Dark Side Studio

I didn’t know in what capacity I wanted to dance, I just knew that I loved it and it made me happy. And though my first belly dance teacher taught me many things, I also felt that the norms and standards she and the more traditional belly dance community held excluded me, my over 30 year old child bearing body, and my tattoos. I wanted to learn, I wanted a chance, and so I created that experience myself.

In 2003, I brought Rachel Brice to Toronto for the first time to teach and perform. And over the next 12 years, I continued to sponsor instructors and performers I personally wanted to study with, requested content that reflected our lack of knowledge about Tribal Fusion and American Tribal Style, and their history, and began to develop my own style and brand of this new dance form. The list of instructors sponsored by The Dark Side are Carolena Nericcio (2007 & 2014), Rachel Brice (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012), Mardi Love (2007, 2008), Heather Stants (2012, 2014), Kami Liddle (2013), Ariellah (2008, 2009), Mira Betz (2009 twice!, 2012), Samantha Emanuel (2010. 2012, 2014), Suhaila Salimpour (2006, 2007), Tobias Roberson, and Ansuya.

I also studied extensively with Rachel Brice, Jamila and Suhaila Salimpour, and Carolena Nericcio in workshops, classes and private lessons at their studio’s and homes in San Francisco from 2003 to 2008.

Early in my career, I started to I spent a lot of time integrating the things I’d learned. Blending and mixing ideas from traditional, from tribal fusion, from my art training, from my training in piano and music theory, and from my own life. I did that as I created solo and group work. And as I did that, I found my own style emerging - a strange blend of old and new, of expression, of visual richness. And it was rough, and borrowed, and often raw.

For me, dance has always been about expression and has been very personal. I’ve expressed stories from my life, my feelings, my interactions with people. And I’ve also followed trends, and people, and ideas. But over the years, I’ve always returned to the personal. That’s where, I think, I’ve made my best work.