Belly Dance Life

Tetiana Tesliuk is a professional bellydancer from Kyiv, winner of competitions in Ukraine and Europe, “Orientalisimo World Cup Champion” 2021. She also won over a dozen of ONLINE competitions in JUST 2021. Tetiana absolutely adores drum solo style, and creates unique drum solo choreographies! Because of the war she currently stays in Germany, but she is open for online classes, individual choreog...

Munique Neith is a Brazilian dancer of Arabic descent and one of the most prestigious master teachers in the world. Currently, she lives in Barcelona, Spain, and she is the first master owner of two Oriental Dance Schools in the country with more than 800 students and the biggest school in Europe exclusively for bellydancing. She participated as a dancer in the Netflix series The Crown in one of i...

Angella Kim is an internationally renowned and award-winning belly dancer from South Korea. She graduated from Dongguk University of Arts with a degree in theatre and first began her journey in Oriental dance in 2005. In 2008 Angella established her AFOD company in Beijing, China and began developing her teaching system, which is now used in over 24 provinces in China and more than 180 cities. Fro...

NEW episode with a selection of the best parts dedicated to the healing power of belly dance. You’ll hear from Anna Schkade-Siytangco, Aszmara, Amel Tafsout and Cassandra Shore. Show Notes to this episode: Full interviews with our guests: Ep 135. Anna Schkade-Siytangco: Gaining Confidence & Overcoming Fears Ep 159. Aszmara: Dance Gives Us Inner Strength Ep 103. Amel Tafsout: The Healing Power...

Mahaila El Helwa is a renowned Brazilian instructor, performer and choreographer of Oriental dance.  She is known for her unique style and precise technique. In addition to her work in Brazil, Mahaila has taught workshops and performed in many countries throughout the world. She improves her dance with great masters of oriental dance and travels constantly to Egypt to improve her dance....

Dr. Audrey Cottet is an academic researcher in the Physics department of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. She has over twenty years of expertise in theoretical physics, with a focus on condensed matter physics and quantum physics. Outside the lab, Audrey is a Middle Eastern dance and percussion student. She has learned how to player finger cymbals with Hassan Abdel Khalek and Nicolas Derolin...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Prianca where she shares her belly dance transformatio...

Diana Gnatchenko is a professional oriental dancer from Ukraine recognized around the world. She is the winner of multiple international competitions, guest teacher and judge at the most prestigious events worldwide. Her dance tours took place in countries such as Ukraine, United States, Italy, China, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Korea, Chile, France, Malaysia, Sweden, Poland, Serbia, Brazil, Colombi...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Shani Brown where she shares her belly dance transform...

Victoria Teel is an award winning belly dance performer and instructor. In 2010, she was chosen along with 24 other dancers to participate in the world’s first ever belly dance reality show, Project Belly Dance. She placed among the top six contestants, earning her spot in the Final 6 instructional DVD released in March 2011. Soon after Project Belly Dance, Victoria joined Miles Copeland's Be...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Sandra Van Baaren where she shares her belly dance tra...

Born in Berlin, Germany, Beata Cifuentes started dancing at the age of six. Already as a child she attended her weekly ballet lessons with great persistence. Her decision to interrupt medical studies, as well as an intensive three-year course at Berlin’s Academy for Performing Arts, led her to discover oriental dance. She was fascinated by Arabic music when she heard the legendary singer Um Kaltho...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Wendy where she shares her belly dance transformations...

Warda is a professional national and international award-winning bellydancer. She has traveled to Egypt over thirty times to research and train and has won awards by top Egyptian professionals for her dancing. Warda is the director of the Shahrazad Dance Company , and has written ‘The Origins and History of Bellydance’, along with Egyptian Professor Dr. Hassan Khalil. She is a mentor and teacher o...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Lilia where she shares her belly dance transformations...

We often make grand plans but fail on showing up and performing them. Or sometimes we do show up but don't put 100% of our energy into the task. This relates to dance training too, especially if we are talking about practicing on your own. How to be more accountable and stop finding excuses of being too busy, or too tired, or simply postponing for later?  Show Notes to this episode: Find info...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Tita where she shares her belly dance transformations...

Amar Lammar was born in Mexico City. Since a young age she showed interest in art, especially dance. At the age of six years old she began her studies of Polynesian dances followed by a short period of ballet together with Mexican folklore. At the age of 11 she got into Afro-Caribbean rhythms but finally discovered and pursued her studies of oriental dance at the age of 13.  Her internat...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Tita where she shares her belly dance transformations...

Semsemah has created a unique, innovative and modern belly dance style and became one of the most famous dancers of her generation. She knew how to develop a modern style while preserving the Egyptian soul. Artistic director of the Sesame Association, she regularly organizes events related to oriental dance (tours to Cairo, shows, training, festivals). She hosts the annual show "Bent El Balad" bri...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Aleesa where she shares her belly dance transformation...

Nataša Kočar is a certified oriental dance teacher and choreographer, and the co-founder and head of the KUOD Bayani dance company,  She has a degree in geography and sociology from Ljubljana’s Faculty of Arts. Her dance education started at the age of 12 at one of Slovenia’s top dance schools, including 2 years of overall dance training and 4 years of jazz ballet). At the beginning of the ne...

This is a special weekend 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. :) Enjoy this inspiring conversation with Dimitra where she shares her belly dance transformatio...

Leila was one of the most popular working dancers in Cairo for 13 years.  While in Egypt she performed for parties, dignitaries, and weddings in Egypt and throughout Europe and the Arabian Gulf. She also danced continuously for Nile cruises, in the best hotels and concerts on television.  Leila is also a well-known actress and model and is a recognizable personality throughout the Middle...

Gitza is a Mexican dancer, internationally renowned teacher, choreographer and artistic director, who started practicing Middle-Eastern dances in 2006. She is currently the director of the Gitza dance school, and the Raqs Sahira dance company. Her vision for belly dance is influenced by psychology and dance therapy. With these disciplines, she has developed tools for teaching dance in a creative a...