Frédérique (The Lady Fred) is a worldwide avant-garde theatrically based belly dancer, artist, instructor, pioneer, and creator / director of both: Silent Sirens Theatre™ and the Black Heart Ballads™.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Frédérique’s ethnicity is rooted in Syrian, Armenian, French, and Italian. Her family immigrated to the United States, fleeing from the civil war and tired of traveling from country to country throughout the Middle-East arriving on American soil when she was only 2 years old.
She began studying American Tribal Style Belly Dance (ATS) in February of 1997 with Amy ‘Luna’ then shortly after with director & phenomenal dancer Jill Parker where she stayed until December of 1999 and left to delve into creating something new.
With nothing to lose, Frédérique established herself through originality; branching out through the integration of urban underground lifestyle and tribal belly dance. After more than a decade long journey of experimentation and self-realization, she unexpectedly never trained with another belly dance instructor again. Outside of the ATS training she had from Luna & Jill, her movement and dance style is self-developed and authentically her own; it is because of her foundation in ATS however that she owes her improvisational skills.
Frédérique is known for her overall avant-garde theatre style and is responsible for introducing the use of new genres of music (dnb / dubstep / classical / scores) to tribal belly dance starting as early as 2000. With her innovation and coalescence of sound editing, she continues to push the boundaries in the set mixes she creates and raises the bar in stage presentation in the tribal belly dance world. She also has an early start in influencing the union of vintage stylization with the use of antiques for costuming embellishments used widely in tribal belly dance today as a staple to the tribal fusion genre.
Frédérique’s performances are based on vignetted theatre inspired narratives and have made an enticing impact on her audiences as well as motivating her peers. Her detail oriented instruction has an emphasis on the technique of movement while explaining the ‘why’ behind what she instructs along with promoting individuality and defining one’s passion through movement. This fashion of instruction has her teaching domestically and internationally while inspiring current and next generation belly dancers to explore their artistic abilities and express themselves through movement.
This innovation comes from her impulsive artistic momentum which has enabled her to fully realize and accomplish her visions. In the words of Oscar Wilde, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.”
Previous & Present Day Involvements:
- 1997 – 1999: Ultra Gypsy (troupe / principle dancer)
- 2000 – 2004: Romani (troupe / creator / co-op)
- 2004 – 2004: Belly Groove (duet)
- 2005 – present day: The Lady Fred (soloist)
- 2007 – 2008: Barbary Coast Shakedown (troupe / principle dancer)
- 2010 – present day: Silent Siren’s Theatre (company / creator / director)
- 2011 – present day: The Black Heart Ballads (troupe / creator / director)
Current Training:
- Ballet
- Hollywood Jazz
- Traditional Belly Dance
