Sarah Thorsen: 3rd Level Student Teacher

In 1998, Sarah attended a Dancing the 21 Qualities of Tara workshop that so inspired her that she has been singing and dancing Tara’s praises for 12 years. Sarah’s history with Tara Dhatu, the founding organization of the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara, has been a wonderful journey. She has invited Prema and Anahata to lead weekend workshops many times in Atlanta, where Anahata provided heavenly music and Prema led the teachings and choreography. She also has attended the annual Tara Camp in Kaua’i, Hawaii, where all student-teachers gather to receive teachings and connect with other Tara dance leaders from all over the world. In September 2009, she and Deanna Palumbo offered a public dance offering at East Lake Commons.  She was joined by Mekare from Winston Salem, NC, also a 3^rd level teacher, and Amy Lee, a 1^st level teacher from Carrollton, GA.  The 8 dancers felt a powerful surge of energy and connection and joy. Currently, Sarah is committed to enrolling 19 women to create, learn and share a complete Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara in Atlanta in 2010 to bring benefit to many.

Sarah Thorsen has a diverse history in dance, ceremony and healing. Her dance background includes modern, belly, contact improv, African and sometimes  she is a leader for the Dances of Universal Peace.  Sarah has been in the healing arts for over 23 years practicing massage therapy, Clinical Hypnotherapy; specializing in quit smoking sessions, phobias, childhood trauma, stress management, and other issues. Initiated as a priestess of the Goddess in the American Goddess Tradition, 1995, by her teachers, Shasta Zaring and Morgan Benedict who were of the Fellowship of Isis lineage, and who also had training in the Native American Twisted Hair tradition. Sarah combines all of her dance, ceremonial and healing background with Tara’s wisdom, compassion, and power in her teaching as a 3^rd Level Student-Teacher and invites you to join the Tara Dance Sangha of Atlanta to spin the golden spiral of healing for all beings.

Deanna Palumbo: 2nd Level Student Teacher

Deanna was first introduced by Sarah Thorsen to the Tara Dance in 2000, thorough an introduction evening of a weekend workshop with Prema and Anahata.  Drawn to the moving meditation and teachings, Deanna continued to explore the experience through monthly Tara Dances.  She helped to build the Tara Dance community in Atlanta by organizing the group list, documenting the Mandala Dance and eventually co-leading with Sarah.  She has also been regularly attending the annual Tara Camp in Kaua’i, Hawaii, enriching her experience and honing her leadership qualities.  Currently, Deanna is committed to building the Tara Dance Sangha of Atlanta to present the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara in public offerings.

Deanna has natural dancing ability; dancing for joy, sacred dance, ecstatic, swing, contra dance, zydeco and waltz.  She also has had musical ability since childhood, where she attended a music school in Philadelphia to play piano and sing in madrigals.  Currently, she is often drumming, dancing and singing.  Beyond the Tara Dance Sangha of Atlanta, Deanna works in the administrative field, volunteers with the Chattahoochie Country Dancers, is an energy healer and leads a spiritual healing group in Atlanta.

Anahata Iradah: Creative Director of Traveling Light

Prema Dasara:  Spiritual and Creative Director of Tara Dhatu

"I must have danced out of my mother’s womb,” says Prema, who began formal ballet training at the age of three. She soon abandoned the formalities to dance on her own, like her idol Isadora Duncan, as a personal expression in nature. She dipped in and out of western expressions of dance but did not return to formal classes until she went to India in 1976 and became a student of Ramani Ranjan Jena, a master of the Odissi style of Classical Indian Temple Dance.

During the six years she spent in India she worked as an editor for the Theosophical Society, immersing herself in the study of comparative religion. To compliment her dance training she studied Classical Indian Music, She studied Sanskrit to deepen her understanding of the Hindu Culture.

In 1983 she settled in Hawaii where she became a student of the Tibetan Buddhist meditation master, Lama Sonam Tenzin. He encouraged her to continue her sacred dance work which culminated in the creation of the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara, a group ritual based on the profound mind training practices of Tibetan Buddhism.

She has traveled the world since 1986 teaching this dance and the accompanying meditations. She has been invited to present the ritual to many of the most accomplished lamas including His Holiness the Dalai Lama who proclaimed the dance, “wonderful”.

Prema continues to create dance rituals. For inspiration and authenticity, she studied Charya, the ritual dance of Nepali Buddhists, a style based on Odissi movement but dedicated to Buddhist practice. She studied Tibetan Lama dancing at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, and sacred Balinese dance from the Queen of Peliatan in Bali.

Prema teaches with humor and clarity. She leads anyone who participates in her work into an experience of their own potential, and teaches simple, clear methods of developing this wisdom in their day to day life.