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Bellydance Evolution presents:

Swan Lake

May 23 & 24, 2026
El Portal Theater & Evolution Studios - North Hollywood

Jillina Carlano

Meet the Artistic Director

Founder and Artistic Director of Bellydance Evolution, Jillina Carlano is an internationally acclaimed choreographer, educator, and performer with over 30 years of experience. A former Artistic Director and Main Choreographer for the Bellydance Superstars, she has performed in over 700 shows worldwide. In 2009, she founded Bellydance Evolution, now touring internationally with groundbreaking theatrical productions that fuse Middle Eastern dance with world movement styles.

Jillina has earned numerous awards including Best Dance Company and Dancer of the Year from the International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance, appeared on Dancing with the Stars, and was the first American invited as a featured performer at the prestigious Ahlan Wa Sahlan Closing Gala in Egypt. In 2016, she founded Jillina's BDExperience, an intensive training program and theatrical production series elevating dancers worldwide. Whether directing a world-premiere production or coaching one-on-one, Jillina's artistry and passion continue to inspire dancers and audiences across the globe.

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Paul Dinletir

Meet the Composer

Born in Beirut and shaped by jazz, classical, and global musical traditions, Paul Dinletir is the creative force behind some of the most emotionally charged music in modern cinema. As co-founder of Audiomachine, his scores have driven the trailers for Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Dune, and the Olympic Games. For Swan Lake and BDEx: Alice in Wonderland, he builds an original score from the ground up — music that moves between worlds just as the stories do, anchoring a battle between light and shadow in sound that feels both ancient and cinematic.

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The Company in Los Angeles

Jillina Carlano

Queen Jelilah

Jillina Carlano is the Founder and Artistic Director of Bellydance Evolution, an internationally acclaimed choreographer, educator, and performer with over 30 years of experience. A former Artistic Director of the Bellydance Superstars, she has performed in over 700 shows worldwide and earned numerous awards including Dancer of the Year from the International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance. She founded BDE in 2009 to create world-touring theatrical productions that fuse Middle Eastern dance with movement traditions from across the globe.

Clara Rust

Odile

Clara Rust is a Welsh dance artist whose work blends contemporary dance and fusion bellydance. A graduate of the London Contemporary Dance School, she has performed internationally with companies including National Dance Company Wales, Ballet Cymru, and Bellydance Evolution. She is also co-founder of The Glanio Collective.

Florencia

Princess Amira

Florencia is an Oriental dance instructor and performer from Argentina who teaches internationally and is currently on faculty at Sahara Dance School in Washington DC. She has performed with both BDExperience and Bellydance Evolution productions including Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book.

Naima Sultana

Ensemble

Naima Sultana is a performer and instructor based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a lifelong passion for Middle Eastern dance. With foundations in ballet and jazz, she performs across a range of bellydance and ballroom styles and has toured internationally with Bellydance Evolution since 2015.

Shannon D'Souza

Odette

Shannon D’Souza is an internationally recognized dancer, choreographer, and director known for her versatility across hip hop, jazz, ballet, contemporary, Polynesian, Bollywood, and bellydance. She has performed and choreographed for artists including Bruno Mars, Sia, Elyanna, and Jhené Aiko, and is a resident choreographer for Bellydance Evolution.

Noémie Küng

Azara

Noémie Küng is a Swiss performer, choreographer, and teacher working at the intersection of contemporary dance and Oriental Fusion. She has toured internationally with Bellydance Evolution in Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book, and in 2024 founded Cie Corsalta, an interdisciplinary performance company based in Switzerland.

Adriana Lezama

Princess Layla

Adriana Lezama is one of Mexico’s leading Oriental dance artists, with over 20 years of international teaching and performance experience. Organizer of Mexican Raks Fest and a longtime member of Bellydance Evolution, she has appeared in Alice in Wonderland, Fantasm, and The Jungle Book.

Nefabit

Ensemble

Nefabit is an award-winning dancer, instructor, and director of Northwest Bellydance Academy in Spokane, Washington. Known for her bold theatrical style and emotional performances, she has toured with Bellydance Evolution since 2021.

Kapua

Prince Tariq

Nicholas “Kapua” Arrivas is a multidisciplinary performer specializing in Polynesian dance, hip hop, contemporary, and freestyle improvisation. His credits include Cirque du Soleil’s The Beatles LOVE, Disney, and performances alongside artists such as Usher and Major Lazer. Kapua has been a featured artist with Bellydance Evolution since 2017.

Laura Zaray

Princess Tahia

Laura Zaray is a Helsinki-based dance artist, choreographer, and instructor specializing in Oriental dance and MENAHT folkloric styles. Founder of Zaray Dance School and director of the Zaray Dancers, she has taught and performed throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Ana Rosa

Ensemble

Ana Rosa (Ana Mazlum) is a dancer, choreographer, and founder of The Bellydance Studio in Tampico, Mexico. With extensive international training and a Master’s degree in Ethno-Contemporary Dance, she has appeared in BDExperience productions and Bellydance Evolution’s 10th Anniversary production.

Viri Reyes

Maya

Viri Reyes is a celebrated dancer, choreographer, and educator from Querétaro, Mexico. Founder of Levana Studio and the Aaminah Ballet Bellydance Company, she has performed with Bellydance Evolution since 2015 in productions including Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book. She currently serves as Tour Manager and Co-Director for BDE and BDExperience.

Kata Maya

Princess Badra

Kata Maya is Director of Theatrical Fusion at Aalim Dance Academy in Oklahoma City and an award-winning performer known for her dynamic stage presence and theatrical style. She has toured with Bellydance Evolution in multiple productions and originated the role of Baloo in The Jungle Book.

Destiny Marie Hernandez

Ensemble

Destiny Marie Hernandez is a multidisciplinary dance artist and a 12th-generation descendant of the Payaya Clan of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation. Her background includes jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, contemporary, and Indigenous dance traditions, and she performs internationally as a company member of Bellydance Evolution.

Los Angeles Opening Act

Sonia Ochoa
Sekhmet Dance Company
Sahlala Dancers
Pandora Dance Company
Olga Shamiram Dance
Ning
Mandala Dance Works
Georgette's International Dancers
Jizzelle's Dance Company
Aubre Hill
Latin Mirage Dance Company

Guest Choreographers

This production would not exist without the extraordinary artists who brought their distinct voices, traditions, and gifts to its creation. To Shannon, Kapua, Sabah, Noemi, Clara, Viri, Pinky Saleem, Mohamed Kazafy, Sara, Flor, and Emilie Gumy — thank you for trusting the vision and making it so much richer than it could ever have been alone. Each of you brought a world onto this stage. We are deeply grateful.

Welcome to Swan Lake

Message from the Director

OH MY GOODNESS, we are HERE!!

I have to be honest with you — Swan Lake has been living in my head for a long time. When you take on something this iconic, something that the whole world already knows and loves, the question isn't just how do you reimagine it — it's do you dare? And the answer, for me, has always been YES. Because that is what Bellydance Evolution was built to do.

This is our seventh production. SEVEN! And I can tell you that nothing — nothing — has pushed me and our artists the way this one has. To take a story this beloved, strip it down to its bones, and rebuild it from the ground up with new characters, a new world, new movement languages from across the globe, and an INCREDIBLE original score by the one and only Paul Dinletir... it has been the most creatively alive I have ever felt.

None of this happens without the most extraordinary team of choreographers, designers, and performers who trusted the vision and gave everything to bring it to life. I am SO grateful for every single one of them.

And you. Thank you for being here tonight. Thank you for choosing live performance. Thank you for being part of this family. I hope this show makes you feel something you didn't expect.

With SO much love and gratitude,

Jillina Carlano Founder & Artistic Director, Bellydance Evolution

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Our 
Story

About Bellydance Evolution

Bellydance Evolution is a world fusion dance theatre company founded and led by choreographer and artistic director Jillina Carlano. Built on the belief that bellydance is one of the most versatile and underestimated art forms in the world, BDE has spent nearly two decades pushing the boundaries of what dance theatre can be — weaving movement traditions from across the globe into full-scale theatrical productions with original scores, elaborate costumes, and stories that demand to be told. From Immortal Desires to The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland to Dark Side of the Crown, each BDE production has toured internationally, performing for audiences in more than 20 countries. Swan Lake is our most ambitious work yet — and we're glad you're here for it.

Costume Designers

The visual world of Swan Lake lives in the hands of our extraordinary costume designers. To Aygul, Stacey McPartlin, Kata Maya, Saray Designs, Aida, and Kumu Kehau — thank you for the countless hours, the research, the artistry, and the love you poured into every piece. You dressed a world. What the audience sees tonight is a testament to your craft and your dedication, and we could not be more grateful.

Coming Up Next.....

Company Leadership

Jillina Carlano — Artistic Director
Paul Dinletir — Executive Director
Lauren Boldt - Managing Director
Sabah — Production Director
Viri Reyes — Co-Director
Shannon D'Souza— Co-Director 
Lucio Magazian - Projection Artist

Thank you to the El Portal Theater

To the management, ownership, and crew of El Portal — thank you for welcoming us home. We are so grateful to share this world premiere with you.

 

El Portal Theater

 

Originally built in 1926

5269 Lankershim Blvd

North Hollywood, CA 91601

www.ElPortalTheatre.com

 

Owned by Gary Goodgame & Bernard Kaufman

management - Jay Irwin/Pegge Forrest

Box Office: 818-508-4200

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Our Sponsors + Supporters

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