


| Zehara Nachash (pronounced Zay-Ha-Rah Nah-Kah-Sh) a.k.a. The Snake Lady, is a Boston-based belly dancer, snake charmer and side show performer. Zehara has studied various forms of dance since childhood and in 2003 she began her study in more traditional styles of belly dance. A long time lover of old Side Shows, Circus’s and Vaudeville, Zehara began to learn the “old trades” of Circus Side Shows and added fire eating, fire dancing and glass walking to her belly dance performances- bringing her unique brand of “side show” belly dance to audiences across New England. Having owned reptiles most of her life, Zehara decided that adding some slithering dance partners into her routines would be a natural addition. She began performing with snakes in 2005 and now owns several beautiful legless dance partners! She has been mentored by Bahijha of the Studio of Dancing Serpents as well as Serpentessa of Temple Belly Dance in NY. Zehara makes an itty bitty appearance in Serpentessa's DVD, “Embody Your Inner Serpent.” In March of 2008 Zehara was invited by Scratch of The Boston Baby Dolls to perform as their variety act. Zehara was the organizer of the Belly Dance Benefit for Jane Doe Inc, (2005-2008), the Boston Belly Dance Meetup (2005-2007), and Chairperson for the North East Belly Dance Association's Boston Chapter (2008- 2010). She is currently the Troupe Director of The Daughters of Eden & Troupe Alankara and the proprietress of "Kalliope's Karavan: An Evening of Side Show Delights and Vaudeville Theatre"(2009), a show which brings together side show, circus and vaudeville acts from across the New England area. Zehara is also currently a member of the duo, "The Girls of Magic," performing along side female escape artiste Alexanderia The Great. Zehara has also performed at the "Strange Girls Side Show" with the John Strong Side Show at The Brockton Fair. Zehara's performances have been labeled everything from mystical, mesmerizing and a cross between Fred and Ginger meet Belly Dance. She currently teaches belly dance and snake dance classes in West Roxbury, Needham, Andover and her home studio in Roslindale. |
| Snake Bytes: West Roxbury Transcript: 2007 The Boston Globe: 2006 Roslindale Transcript: 2007 The Boston Globe: 2008 BNN-TV "All About Arts": 2005 "Bottoms Up" with Ashley Bottoms: 2009 |
| Leadership: Chairperson, North East Belly Dance Association-Boston Chapter: 2008-2010 Troupe Director The Daughters of Eden: 2007-Present Troupe Director, Alankara: 2009-Present Organizer, Founder: Belly Dance Benefit for Jane Doe Inc. 2006-2008 Proprietess: Kalliope's Karavan An Evening of Side Show Delights & Vaudeville Theatre 2008-Present |

