Infusion Emporium 14 Featured Instructors

Amel Tafsout (Algeria/USA)

Born in Algeria, Amel Tafsout (‘Hopes of Spring’) is one of the finest and acclaimed dance artists of North African traditional and contemporary Maghreb Dance and has mesmerized audiences
worldwide.

Amel has dedicated her life not only to raising awareness about her dance culture but also to facilitating a dialogue and building cultural bridges between North Africa and the Western World. Fluent in five languages, Amel lectures, teaches, performs and conducts anthropological
research.

Tafsout is an educator, a scholar, an energy worker, an activist, a humanist and a published author. Her poems have been published in France and the US. Her articles relating to dance, cultural traditions and women of the Maghreb have been published in academic and popular magazines.

Inanna Iraqi Dance Festival in June 2018 in Estonia gave Amel an Award of acknowledgment and appreciation for her longstanding contributions in Arabic dance and its heritage.

In January 2025, Amel was invited to perform at the opening of the 45th African Film Festival in Portland, Oregon.

Elizabeth Strong (USA)

Elizabeth Strong is a San Francisco Bay Area dancer, choreographer, and teacher whose work focuses on the integrity and spirit of traditional dance forms inside of a contemporary framework. Elizabeth was a touring member of Bellydance Superstars, and was a founding member of Bellydance Evolution and of Beats Antique’s dance company with Zoe Jakes. A former principal member of Katarina Burda’s Aywah! Ethnic Dance Company, Elizabeth has traveled to Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Greece and Bulgaria to study closely at the source and is now considered one of the leading experts in the form. She performs with live music groups including Kugelplex, MWE, Brass Menazeri, and Fishtank Ensemble, and renowned world musicians including Faisal Zeidan and Rumen Sali Shopov.

Dan Cantrell (USA)

Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer known for his innovative and evocative film and theatre scoring approach, as well as his virtuosic playing abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw.  He holds a BFA degree from CalArts where he majored in Composition and Piano performance.  Dan is a self taught master of the accordion, excelling at Balkan, Romani, Eastern European, and Klezmer styles.   In recent years, Dan has performed and recorded with Tom Waits, Joanna Newsom, Beats Antique, Bono, Danny Elfman, members of the Klezmatics and Fishbone.  Dan’s broad ranging musical portfolio, including compositions for video games, cartoons, film, television, web broadcast, and self produced albums can be heard at www.bellowhead.com

Dan has also collaborated extensively within the medium of dance. He has composed and collaborated with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, San Francisco based ODC dance, Ballet Afzaneh, FACTSF, his wife Elizabeth Strong, UltraGypsy belly dance, as well as international touring shows such as Bellydance Superstars, and Bellydance Evolution.  He has created innovative dance shows such as Waxing Cinematic (A two act musical dance drama integrating shadow puppetry and projections), The Cabbage Sellers of Haities (a dance based theatrical musical based on Diaspora culture in 1920’s Greece in the emergence of Rembetico music) Miriam’s Well, and Madre (a theatrical setting of music and dance from Ladino roots).  Dan’s music can also be heard accompanying individual choreographers and performers such as Rachel Brice, Kami Liddle, Zoe Jaques, Miriam Perez, Mardi Love, Mira Betz, and Samantha Emanuel on stage and in film.