Gulabo Sapera brought Kalbeliya dance to the stage in 1981. For the last four decades, Gulabo has dedicated her life to this dance and used it as a vehicle to share the Kalbeliya community’s spirit with the world.
Following her international career as both a singer and a dancer, including the projects with the famous guitarist Thierry ‘Titi’ Robin, she was awarded with a Padma Shri, India’s highest artist recognition.
Gulabo is a teacher with a large and loyal student following throughout the globe. Her class is full of surprises of song and dance and words of wisdom. She is happy to continue her many years of teaching with her new online students.

I began my study of Kalbeliya dance with my guru, Gulabi Sapera, in 1999.
Since then, I dreamt of bringing her to the US to teach and perform. Kalbeliya World has made this possible on a virtual platform and I couldn’t be happier. My dance background is mainly in folk dances from around the world, particularly Turkish and Middle Eastern/Arabic. Currently, I perform with three dance troupes:
“The Hamer Sisters Bellydance” (with Jennifer Anya Castelli and Maria Hamer), “Starry Moon Dance Company” (with Joanna Abel and Maria Hamer) and “Evil Eye” (Maria Hamer’s student troupe). There’s a deep joy that Gulabi’s dance evokes. I’m profoundly grateful to her for sharing it with me.