Guest Artist
Deborah Brooks
( 2010 resume)

Deborah Brooks studied ballet in the Bay Area with Richard Gibson and Roberta Meyer and received a BFA in dance from the North Carolina School of the Arts.   She has performed ballet and modern dance with Carlos Carvajal’s San Francisco Dance Spectrum and the San Francisco Opera Ballet, gymnastic dance with Mussawwir Gymnastic Dance Ensemble, and contradance on the American  Friendship Dance Tour to Helsinki, Leningrad, Moscow, and Tbilisi.  Her most recent career was as one of the world's tallest belly dancers.   Her stage name, Zarafa ("giraffe" in Arabic), was suggested by an appreciative audience member, who insisted it was a compliment to her gracefulness.