Abu Zous
Abu is a member of the Roses of the Realm troupe at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. He plays multiple Middle Eastern percussion instruments at events specializing in classical Middle Eastern music from Egypt’s golden age and popular wedding zaffas. While playing for over 25 years he has per formed with many bands and well known artists from across the country and world.
He loves his 2 cats, enjoys camping in the mountains and performs because he wants to bring joy to others.
Mahala
Mahala Alinah is one of the members of the Mirage a Trois music group. Mahala has loved music from a very young age. Her percussion based journey began in middle school and as time passed she became more interested in classical percussion and world music.
In college, Mahala enjoyed performing in West African drum and dance, Taiko, and Indonesian/ Balinese gamelan ensembles along with percussion ensembles and drum line. Mahala also has a passion for facilitating human potential through drum circles. Mahala is a global trainer and certified drum circle facilitator for Village Music Circles and facilitates drum circles in the greater Charlotte area.
When she’s not playing with Mirage a Trois, you’ll find Mahala exploring the aerial arts, practicing some of her other favorite instruments (ukulele, guitar, or piano) painting, or drawing.
Other fun facts about Mahala Favorite anime: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Hogwarts House: Gryffindor Patronus: Beagle Favorite Aerial apparatus: Sling/ hammock.
Dante
Dante hailed from the city of Tamriel, a place of towering stone and deep division. He was raised in its lowest quarters, where broken streets mirrored broken promises, and survival required quick hands and sharper wits. From a young age, Dante learned how to move unseen, how to listen more than he spoke, and how to take only what was necessary.
He was arrested and accused of crimes far greater than any he had committed: grand thievery, impersonation of the head of the city council, and—worst of all—conspiring to incite a rebellion. The charges painted him as a revolutionary figure, and his final days were set.
On the day of his execution, he stood in chains, bruised but unbroken, lifting his gaze not in fear, but defiance. A caravan entered the city gates—bright banners, flowing fabrics, and rhythmic drums announcing the arrival of the Roses of the Realm, a renowned traveling troupe known for their artistry and storytelling through dance. Their performance drew every eye. Movement and rhythm filled the square, captivating the crowd and unsettling the guards.
As the troupe learned of Dante’s fate and the truth behind his actions, they made a choice.
Through clever distraction and precise timing, the Roses of the Realm orchestrated a daring rescue. When the music reached its crescendo, Dante vanished from the scaffold—chains cut, guards misled, the square left stunned.
In the years that followed, he traveled with the Roses of the Realm, no longer a fugitive alone, but a member of something greater. He became a devoted steward of their art, learning the language of rhythm and movement. He has mastered instruments of the bellydance craft—the tabla and the doumbek.
The Roses gave Dante more than freedom. They gave him a family bound not by blood, but by dance and shared rhythm. In return, he pledged his loyalty—not as a savior or symbol, but as a keeper of the beat that carries the Roses of the Realm story forward.
Arsala
The resident bowed-string expert, Arsala, combines elegant cello playing with an unyielding contempt for pomp and circumstance. Drawing on a rich background in Western Classical, folk, and world musics, they synthesize these styles into one voice on the stage.
Hailing from the “Tom Dula country” of western North Carolina, Arsala has received formal music training since the age of 5. They are classically trained in cello, violin, piano, and voice, and are also proficient on the hammered dulcimer. Arsala is a regular performer across central and western North Carolina, and has made multiple appearances at the Vero Beach International Music Festival.
Outside of music, Arsala is an avid Dungeons and Dragons player, disc golfer, and baffler of polite society.
Adam
Not one to trumpet about his achievements.