About us.....
Karavan Instructors

jessica 

sara 

Jessica graduated from Texas State University with a degree in Dance Education.

As assistant dance director at Roosevelt High School she choreographed and taught various dance routines and dance elements related to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills(TEKS). She also taught hip-hop classes at Gold's Gym and modern dance classes at Synergy Studio & Karavan Studio.

Jessica began Belly Dancing in 2006 and has been teaching Belly Dance choreographies and technique classes at Karavan Studio since 2014. She continues her professional development through classes and workshops from other dancers to expand her knowledge and improve her technique.

Sara is both a visual and performing artist based in San Antonio, Texas. In just over a decade of dedication to Middle Eastern dance, she has developed her signature style characterized by a curvilinear fluidity and soulful expression.

Known for her talent with zils (finger cymbals), Sara has performed at countless public and private events including weddings, birthday parties, surprise parties, celebrity galas, Fiesta and sporting events. Sara can be found performing weekly as one of the principal dancers at Mina and Dimi’s Greek House.

Sara did not become interested in dance until 2003 when she was looking for a new form of exercise. After learning a few basic steps from videos, she pursued formal training in Middle Eastern Dance with master instructor Karen Barbee Adkisson of Karavan Studios in 2004. Today Sara continues to study with Karen and many other world renowned Middle Eastern Dance professionals.

Karen Barbee Adkisson began studying Belly Dance at the age of 10. Decades later and after years of professional performance, Karen has developed a teaching methodology for this dance form based on technical precision, soulful innovation, and cultural respect. Having begun her study of Belly Dance during the 1970’s, a period of limited explanations, she developed her own. With degrees in Accounting and Computer Science, Karen’s analytical tendencies, training and skills have assisted her in developing methods and curricula that are extremely popular in the western world.

Through her years of performing and teaching, she has traveled the United States, Europe, Central and South America, Asia, and several countries in the Arab world.

A pioneer in online Middle Eastern dance instruction, Karen has introduced and populated a library of online instruction that simulates her established studio; offering classes in dance technique, combinations, choreographies, improvisation, and music studies.

Karen founded Karavan Studio in 1988 and has operated the studio in San Antonio, Texas ever since. She has directed numerous staged productions of Middle Eastern Dance, studied and performed in Egypt and Lebanon, and continues to collaborate and work with some of the most highly acclaimed musicians in the business in an effort to provide the most inspired and comprehensive dance training to students at every level.

Since 2013, Karen's passion project has been "Project Band" - the one-of-a-kind curriculum that she developed out of her decades of experience working with live Arab music.