Pomegranate Studio: Seeds of Gratitude

As part of a new “Thankful Thursday” series, we’re shining a light on people we are very thankful for by showcasing their work and their contributions to the Havana Habibi community. It is only fitting that for our first entry, we feature the wonderful Myra Krien of Pomegranate Studio, a festival teacher from the very first Havana Habibi Festival.

Myra explains that before the first Festival, teachers were encouraged to bring gifts for the participants. “I had brought DVDs and items from my clothing line, Persephone. When I arrived at the festival and gave out my pieces there were not enough for everyone. They seemed so disappointed, I was heartbroken,” she recalls.

Myra Krien’s Persephone Clothing donated these hand-made t-shirts for the participants of the 2018 Havana Habibi Festival. Photo by f22 Studios.

From that experience, Myra vowed to make enough of something to bring to each person the next time she participated in the Festival. As the 2018 Festival dates approached, she tells us how she convinced volunteers from her dance company to cut all the t-shirts out and then Myra and her stitcher made them. In the end, Myra and Pomegranate Studio donated 125 handmade t-shirts from her Persephone Clothing Company to the 2018 Festival.

Myra Krien is such a wonderful contributor to the bellydance community. Located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she is a multi-faceted entrepreneur with a dance studio, a clothing line, and an after school program called Pomegranate SEEDs®. The program was established by Myra in 2001 to present to youth the finest instruction in Middle Eastern Arts along with programming that promotes self-discovery and self-actualization, provides mentorship at a very high level and prepares young women for Independence. Myra just announced that she was awarded the prestigious Mayor’s Art Award from Santa Fe.

We are so grateful for all of Myra’s contributions to the Festival and encourage you to visit her website www.pomegranatestudio.org for information on how you can support all of her many endeavors.