Belly Dance Life

Meet Passant Gemeay, a self-taught Egyptian bellydance teacher, choreographer & ladies-only performer. She has fiercely joined the world of dance. not knowing that it would become her ultimate passion in life. Having a great experience by attending classes and connecting with star dancers, she managed to have her own attractive style mastering all types of this art, and aiming to teach women w...

Mohamed Shahin is an inspirational instructor, world-renowned performer, and challenging choreographer of Egyptian Oriental Dance. A native of Cairo, Egypt, Mr. Shahin discovered his passion for Egyptian Dance at the young age of fifteen. Throughout Shahin’s childhood, he was fascinated by all forms of dance, and after receiving his degree as Mechanical Engineer, he was at cross road to choose bet...

Marta Korzun is an internationally recognized bellydance teacher from Ukraine. She is acknowledged for her unique teaching method and clear and concise explanations, and regularly holds training workshops worldwide. She started her career in 2006 by taking part in many competitions in Ukraine and abroad, including Cairo. She has been titled the Bellydance Champion of the World (2011), European Bel...

As much as dance brings happiness to your life, sometimes there are moments when you need to take actions and do some changes. Let’s listen to the stories of Luna of Cairo, Joana Saahirah, Anjelica Scannura and Aradia of Las Vegas on how they pivoted their lives and artistic adventures. Show Notes to this episode: Full interviews with our guests: Ep 17. Luna of Cairo: Is Belly Dance Life in Cairo...

Kareem Gad is an Egyptian master teacher, co-founder and co-director of Bell’Masry Dance Company based in Paris, France. Since childhood, his curiosity about art led him to discover and study the art of singing, music, poetry, percussion, acting and dance. He was a solo dancer, coach and choreographer at the official troupe of the Egyptian Ministry of Youth, solo dancer at the Egyptian National Th...

Morjana is a professional dancer, choreographer, researcher, teacher, as well as a percussionist (darbuka). She is currently based in Egypt, although she also travels extensively all around the world. She is a winner and award-recipient for many dance competitions, as well as a participant of several music projects in Cairo, including Estabena, a music project playing folk music from the Mediterra...

This episode includes Iana’s lecture that was recorded specifically for the new intensive at the Iana Dance Club “Archetypes of Egyptian Goddesses in Dance”. Feel like a goddess on stage with the help of Egyptian mythology! It's about your stage presence, and how the power of stories and myths can help you feel more confident, open and connected during your dance. Check the full intensive on Arche...

Today we are having a conversation with the team of Taqseem Institute of Cairo. Taqseem Institute is an integrated dance institute/lab with the main objective of providing increased access to culture (Egyptian Music and Dance), improve the environment where those expressions can thrive and contribute to social cohesion, targeting females; the segment most compromised in the sector of art. Aim...

Yasmina, sometimes known as 'The English Rose of Cairo', has over twenty-five years of experience in the field of Egyptian oriental dance. Originally from the UK she spent many years travelling and dancing her way around the Middle East before settling in Cairo in 1995. Here she performed with her orchestra for eight consecutive years, appearing at major Cairo venues such as Meridien Heliopolis, S...

Amie Sultan is an Egyptian belly dancer and classical ballerina. She was born and grew up in Singapore to an Egyptian family that was working extensively in South East Asia. Having established herself first as a successful ballet dancer, she has toured across the world dancing in Swan Lake, La Dame Aux Camellias, Jeune Homme Et La Mort, La Bayadere and Raymonda. In her quest to add a new layer to...

Eva Charkina is the winner of the DariyaM Cup 2018 in the category “Youth. Lovers.”, winner of the competition “The way to the stars” 2018, and many other Ukrainian and international dance events. She has a university degree in modern choreography from the Kyiv University of Culture. Currently living in Kyiv, Eva stays as an active dancer and teacher both in Ukraine and abroad. In this episode you...

We haven’t had many of best of compilation episodes this year so far, so it’s time to fix it! Let’s talk about the nutrition.. You will hear from Cassandra Fox, Jillina Carlano, Alla Kushnir, and Mercedes Nieto. Show Notes to this episode: Full interviews with our guests: Ep 15. Cassandra Fox: Healthy Does Not Have a Face Ep 31. Jillina Carlano: How Food Can Influence Your Dance Ep 40. Alla Kushni...

Silvia Brazzoli is a professional dancer, instructor, yoga teacher, painter, and pizza lover based in Italy. She found her biggest love for oriental dance at the age of 18. Since then she has been dancing and teaching professionally all around the world. The growth of a dancer is a never-ending journey and Silvia is constantly researching, traveling and training in oriental dance and other dance s...

Native Egyptian Nada El Masriya grew up belly dancing fully immersed within the rich cultural and historical environment of metropolitan Cairo. Her first formal dance training began early, with her high school’s folkloric troupe. At Cairo University, Nada earned a degree in Egyptian Law, minored in the History of Egyptian Culture and Dance Traditions. At early age Nada began her intensive training...

Oleksandra Kovalova is a professional dancer, teacher, choreographer, and certified judge. She is a director of oriental dance school Amberly based in Zhytomyr (Ukraine), and an organizer of the big international festival Yalla Bina. Oleksandra is a winner of Nile Group competition, as well as a mentor for her award-winning students. After living and teaching classes in Germany during past year, s...

This episode includes Iana’s lecture that was recorded specifically for her recent Mahraganat intensive at the Iana Dance Club. Since Mahraganat has a very particular mood, this style may feel uncomfortable for many dancers. Diving into such topic can be a great opportunity to train your acting skills, loosen up emotional boundaries related to shyness, and get out of your comfort zone. In addition...

Yunseo is a young talented belly dancer from South Korea. She is the award recipient of the Midas Goldentouch Bellydance Competition, Reina Oriental Dance Festival, Elkaff Festival, Malaysia World Oriental Dance Art Festival, and many others. Her beautiful unique style blends elements of traditional belly dance mixed with contemporary and other non-belly dance genres. In this episode you will lear...

Anusch Alawerdian is an Armenian oriental dance performer, instructor and choreographer. She has been interested in dance since she was little, taking up several dance courses like ballet, folk dance and jazz. At the age of seventeen Anusch fell in love with the oriental dance style and traveled the world in search of the best dance instructors to teach her the art of bellydance. She opened her ow...

Linda Hathor began her studies in belly dance in 1998, in Paraná (Brazil), and since then, she has dedicated herself professionally to this art as a dancer, teacher, choreographer and director of the Hathor Group of Oriental Dances. In 2003, she received her professional registration by the Union of Artists of Paraná . For several consecutive years she remained among the first places in the Nation...

This is a continuation of our special series ‘Student Voices’ where I share my conversations with the members of the Iana Dance Club about life, dance and training. Some of participants are belly dance beginners, some are professionals, but all of us have one thing in common: we all remain being students of dance. :) Today you will hear three interviews at once! Enjoy these inspiring conversations...

Meher Malik is a famous belly dancer from Delhi, India, although she grew up in the Middle East, where she lived for 17 years. She moved to India in 2006 after finishing her schooling and went on to study fashion design at NIFT, Delhi. A few months into the course, Meher realized it was dance that was her true calling. She received huge recognition after her performances on India's Got Talent. In...

Nisaa (Heather D. Ward) is a Middle Eastern dance instructor, performer, and researcher based in St. Louis, Missouri. Nisaa’s mission is to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the complexity, diversity, and beauty of Middle Eastern dance forms. As a researcher, Nisaa focuses on the history of Egyptian dance and its professional practitioners. Her investigations into the transition f...

Hayam Sokar is a midlife transformational coach, born and based in Egypt. She is a certified Neuro Linguistic Practitioner accreted from the American Board, and certified practitioner of Accessing Personal Genius from ISNS, as well as PEAT Processor. She helps women to find clarity in life, go through midlife crisis, re-evaluate who they are and who they want to become, and discover truths about t...

This is a new solo episode with Iana! Last months I had my ever first Vipassana course, and I’d like to share some lessons that I had to remind myself during that 10-day meditation course. They perfectly apply to the process of dance training too, so I hope you will enjoy and use them in your own practice. Show Notes to this episode: Follow Iana on Instagram , FB , and Youtube . Check out her onli...

Nataliya Goncharova has a university degree in Education, and is experienced in working with kids. Her students are champions of Ukraine, winners of the Belly Dance World Cup and many other prestigious awards. Nataliya co-organized the Dance with Stars Ukraine project, providing free online classes for Ukrainian belly dance students (many of whom are children), while also gathers donations from no...