Belly Dance Life

Yaël Zarca is an internationally recognized Oriental dance artist and one of the leading figures of Egyptian dance in France. She discovered Oriental dance in 1999 and has since built a remarkable career spanning Parisian studios, major international stages, television appearances, instructional DVDs, and creative projects within the dance world. Known for her expressive, elegant style, Yaël blend...

Martina Tellini is an Italian professional belly dancer, teacher, and choreographer known for her dynamic, powerful, and natural style. Born in Florence, she began her artistic path with music, singing, and acting before dedicating herself to dance. Martina trained extensively with leading figures of Oriental Dance, including Randa Kamel, Tito Seif, Yousry Sharif, and Wael Mansour, and went on to...

Roxxanne Shelaby is a Southern California–based performer, teacher, and producer whose work is rooted in her Lebanese/Brazilian heritage and a lifelong immersion in Egyptian Style Oriental Dance. Raised in her family’s legendary nightclubs, Fez and Cascades, she grew up surrounded by live Middle Eastern music and dance, learning directly from iconic artists such as Feiruz Aram, Marie Silva, Sahra...

Fascinated by the arts since childhood, Nivetha Shree discovered Belly Dance at the age of 21 and has since trained with renowned teachers around the world. She holds certifications in DanceCraft – Key of Diamonds by Zoe Jakes and Krysalis – Invocation by Kami Liddle, and is an FCBD® Teacher, proudly leading the first officially recognized FCBD® Sister Studio in India. A Level 2 Yoga practitioner...

Snigdha Sachdev is a Delhi-based fusion belly dance artist and dedicated yoga enthusiast. A Biotechnology graduate with a master’s degree in Stem Cell Technology, she discovered her pull toward belly dance at a very young age. Her dance journey began with extensive training in Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, and Kathak—foundations she later blended to deepen her belly dance technique and develop her o...

Gracie Mandujano was born in Honduras, a land rooted in ancient Mayan traditions, and from an early age felt called to reconnect with life’s true purpose and the depth of her courageous spirit. Guided by yoga and dance, she returned to her physical body and divine power, dedicating herself to ancestral arts and becoming a healer and light worker. Her lineage eventually led her back to the ways of...

Esmeralda Colabone has dedicated herself to Arab dance and culture since 1999. From 2002 to 2014 she worked with Belly Dance Brazil and Lebanon’s famed La Maison de L’Artiste, becoming the agency’s youngest dancer at 19 and spending 12 years performing across the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, and Lebanon. She was the first Brazilian to tour the Maghreb and held one of Tunisia...

Leli Neeraja is a dancer and teacher who has dedicated over a decade to guiding others toward inner balance through movement. Her work is a continuous exploration of fusion between East and West, blending the grace of Indian classical dance with the expressive freedom of contemporary forms. She spends several months each year in India, deepening her study of traditional disciplines that help her e...

Suhaila Salimpour, of Sicilian-Greek and Kurdish-American heritage, is a second-generation belly dancer and a pioneering figure in the global dance community. A former house dancer at the legendary Byblos nightclub in Beverly Hills, she toured internationally for over a decade, performing across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North America. As the visionary creator of the first codified pedago...

Badriyah is a professional oriental dancer based in Belgium, dedicated to Egyptian classical and folkloric styles, modern fusion, and the Golden Age of belly dance. With over a decade of teaching experience, she offers regular classes at Shoonya Dance Centre in Ghent and travels across Europe to teach and lecture. A former lead and troupe member of Jillina’s world-touring company Bellydance Evolut...

Melissa Gamal is an award-winning dancer, instructor, and event producer based in Toronto, Canada. As the director of the Ya Amar School of Dance, Melissa is dedicated to providing comprehensive training in Egyptian dance, blending refined technique with a strong awareness of history and cultural context. Her work has taken her across North America and to Egypt, where she continues her studies to...

Virginia Danielson (PhD, Ethnomusicology, University of Illinois, 1991) is an associate of the Harvard Music Department and a visiting scholar at New York University Abu Dhabi. She is the author of The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song and Egyptian Society in the 20th Century (University of Chicago Press, 1997), the first English-language biography of the Arab world’s most celebrated singer...

Elen Oriental (Elen Chikhladze) is a Georgian choreographer and dance instructor from Tbilisi, specializing in oriental dance since 2002. Beginning her artistic journey at the School for Athletic Fine Arts and later the Department of World National Dances, she graduated with honors from the College of Choreography and the N. Pridonishvili School of Popular Dance in 2001. As President of the Intern...

Laman Hendricks is an acrobatic gymnast, Azerbaijani and Caucasus folk dancer, teacher, and choreographer, as well as the Artistic Director and Founder of Dances of Caucasus. Born and raised in Azerbaijan and Turkey, she trained in classical ballet and folk dance at the Baku Choreography Academy while also competing as a member of Azerbaijan’s national gymnastics team and founding the country’s fi...

Keti Sharif is an Australian dance teacher, performer, and choreographer who lived in Egypt for two decades, directing the Sphinx Festivals and collaborating with legends Mahmoud Reda and Farida Fahmy. Creator of the A-Z Bellydance methodology—taught to over 6,000 students in 40 countries—Keti combines live Egyptian music, cultural dance traditions, and somatic movement to deepen musicality, artis...

Payal Gupta is one of India’s most sought-after master teachers of belly dance, celebrated for her structured classes, private lessons, workshops, performances, and intensives. Since 2008, she has trained over 10,000 students from all walks of life, earning recognition as a leading figure in the field. Coming from a culturally rich background where the performing arts hold deep value, Payal has be...

Rachel Brice is an internationally renowned dancer, teacher, and choreographer recognized as one of the key figures in the evolution of tribal fusion belly dance. A former member of the Bellydance Superstars and artistic director of The Indigo Belly Dance Company, she blends decades of experience in American cabaret, FatChanceBellyDance Style, and world dance traditions with her own distinctive ar...

Murat Tekbilek is a Turkish percussionist celebrated for his dynamic artistry and deep roots in Middle Eastern music. Growing up in a family of renowned musicians, he has performed since childhood and spent over a decade as the lead percussionist in his father Omar Faruk Tekbilek’s ensembles. Specializing in darbuka, def, and bendir, Murat has appeared on stages worldwide, from intimate belly danc...

Alex DeLora is an internationally acclaimed belly dance performer, teacher, and choreographer who has been sharing her art worldwide since 2012. Invited to more than 50 countries to teach, perform, and judge competitions, she is especially recognized for her unique technique and charisma in drum solo style. In 2020 she launched her first online program, Drum-Matic BellyDance, followed by the creat...

Sonia Ochoa is a versatile dancer, choreographer, and teacher with over 25 years of experience on international stages. Rising to prominence as a principal dancer with the Bellydance Superstars (2002–2010), she toured the world performing in renowned theaters and television shows under the direction of Miles Copeland. A lifelong student of movement, Sonia has traveled extensively through India, Eg...

Amera Eid is one of the leading figures who brought belly dance to Sydney and helped it grow across Australia. For more than 40 years, she has performed and taught around the world, sharing her love for the dance with students and audiences everywhere. She is also a talented fashion designer who created the first belly dance boutique in the Southern Hemisphere in 1987, creating stunning costumes f...

Shahdana is an international belly dancer from Argentina whose artistic journey began not with dance, but with music—studying piano and musical composition for nearly two decades, including performing in a tango orchestra. Her deep connection to music later found a new expression in belly dance, where Arabic rhythms became her primary focus. But it was a moment of emotional clarity—dancing to Piaz...

Jill Collins is a dynamic dancer, choreographer, and educator whose versatile career spans contemporary, theatrical, and Middle Eastern dance. She began performing professionally as a teenager and later earned her BFA in Dance Education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. After relocating to Los Angeles in 2007, she joined Jillina’s Sahlala Dancers, eventually becoming Artistic Direct...

Shreeprada (Shree) is a captivating Indian Tribal Fusion dance teacher known for her layered style, artistic depth, and commitment to creativity. With a background in Bharatanatyam and a Master’s degree in Textile Design from the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, she brings a unique fusion of movement and visual artistry to her work. Trained in printing, embroidery, weaving, dyeing, and knott...

Melli Sarina is a pioneer in the Tribal Fusion and Fusion Belly Dance scene with over 26 years of dance experience. Based in Augsburg, Germany, she discovered her passion for Tribal Fusion at sixteen after a transformative workshop with Sharon Kihara. Her signature style—known as “Liquid Fusion”—blends Zoe Jakes' DanceCraft-inspired technique with the fluid artistry of urban waving, creating a pow...