Cassandra Shore began performing Middle Eastern dance in 1975, and her intensity, musicality and technique quickly set her apart from the average performer. She has made over fifteen research trips to the Middle East, exploring North African countries as well as Turkey and Greece in her search for cultural understanding, authentic techniques, and inspiration. In addition, she has studied with many fine teachers and choreographers of Middle Eastern dance, including Mahmoud Reda, director of the Reda Group, Cairo, Egypt, and former Under Secretary of Culture; Mohammed Khalil, director of the National Folklore Group of Egypt; Vivian Hamamjian; former members of the Caracalla Ballet, Beirut; Ragia Hassan, choreographer to Egypt’s top dance stars and former member of the Reda Group; Jamila Salimpour; Ibrahim Farrah, director of the Near Eastern Ensemble, NYC, the first professional US performing company in Middle Eastern dance. She was a featured instructor at Raqia Hassan's Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival in Cairo in 2005. In 1978,

Ms. Shore opened the Cassandra School, which now offers classes in Minneapolis and Bloomington, from beginning to professional levels, in technique, choreography, performance skills, dance conditioning, and Arabic language and culture studies. She formed Jawaahir Dance Company in 1989 as a vehicle for her unique choreographic vision and commitment to live music at the annual concert series. Since then, Jawaahir has been recognized for its ground-breaking repertory of traditional, modern and fusion works of Middle Eastern and contemporary dance.

Today, Cassandra is known as a master teacher, star performer, and creative artist in the field of Middle Eastern dance. Her work has been rewarded with grants, commissions and awards. She offers workshops, concerts and master classes worldwide, teaching and performing regularly in locations such as Finland, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Egypt, Morocco, and throughout the United States and Canada. For more information on Cassandra’s work, please see her web site at www.jawaahir.org