"The Oriental Café Podcast"

Welcome to episode #50 of "The Oriental Café" podcast with our guest, Judy Reda, the first foreign oriental dancer in Egypt. In this episode, Judy tells us about the life of the first professional foreign oriental dancer in Egypt in the golden days. We talk about her relationship with musicians, the cultural shocks, and the wonders of an adventurous dancer´s life. She tells us about an infamous st...

Bem-vindos ao   episódio "O Poder da Dança Feminina e da Individualidade", um bónus do podcast "The Oriental Café", gravado em Português, com a convidada Paula Lena Karima , a fundadora do Movimento NeoBaladi. Neste episódio, falamos em profundidade sobre o Feminino, as Danças Árabes e do Norte de África, Shokry Mohamed e outras referências da Dança Egípcia, o Poder da Comunhão e da Dança ent...

Welcome to episode #49 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast hosted by Joana Saahirah. 🎤🎧✨In this episode, I share guidance on how to create a fabulous Egyptian Drum/Tabla Solo. 🎤🎧✨To listen to our Podcast on the usual audio platforms (Spotify & Apple Podcasts), follow this link: https://www.joanasaahirah.com/podcasts/the-oriental-cafe-podcast 🎤🎧✨Subscribe to our Podcast Newsletter and be th...

Welcome to episode #48 of "The Oriental Café" podcast, the 1st in our 3rd season, with our second-time guest, my husband, Miguel, hosted by yours truly, Joana Saahirah🎙️🌞 In this episode, we go deep into Music and Intimacy, two of our favorite subjects. 👉🎶 Musical References mentioned in this episode: UB40 Peter Tosh Frank Zappa Guns n´Roses Black Sabbath Led Zeppelin Pearl Jam Sepultura Jimmy...

Welcome to episode #47 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast by Joana Saahirah. 🎤🎧✨In this episode, improvised and recorded in exile, I tell you about how it felt going through cyclone Kristin, a weather disaster that destroyed a good portion of Portugal; and how to master the Art of Resilience. 🎤🎧✨To listen to our Podcast on the usual audio platforms (Spotify & Apple Podcasts), follow this lin...

Welcome to episode #46 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast with Raphael Cormack, hosted by Joana Saahirah. Raphael Cormack is an author, Assistant Professor of Arabic at Durham University, researcher of Middle Eastern Culture and Language, and a traveler. In this episode, we discuss the West´s fascination for the East - and vice versa -, the possibility of true connection between different cultures, hi...

Welcome to episode #45 of "The Oriental Café" podcast by Joana Saahirah 🌹 🎤🎧✨In this episode, I discuss the pressures of beauty standards and ageism in the field of Egyptian Dance, aka belly dance. True to my nature, I tell the truth and drop a few bombs on your lap. With love. To inspire, provoke, and maybe, just maybe, awaken you. The pressure to look a certain way or never getting old affec...

​Welcome to episode #44 of "The Oriental Café" podcast with Dr. Tamer Yehia Aziz, hosted by Joana Saahirah. ​ In this episode, I receive Dr. Tamer Yehia Aziz, a respected Egyptian dancer, teacher, and scholar, a passionate advocate for his country, art, and culture. We talk about a wide range of themes, including the differences between Oriental Dance and Belly Dance, Anthropology, Egyptian Folklo...

Welcome to episode #43 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast hosted by Joana Saahirah. In episode #43 of "The Oriental Café" podcast, I, Joana Saahirah, your passionate host, share guidance on how to create your unique dance style, your personal dance language within the universal language of Egyptian Dance (aka belly dance). 🎤🎧✨To claim your Free Resources on Egyptian Dance & Self-Empowerment, fo...

Welcome to episode #42 of "The Oriental Café" podcast with Jadranka Trickovic-Mohr, a psychologist, curious soul, and a passionate advocate for Egyptian Dance, hosted by Joana Saahirah. In this episode, I talk with our brilliant guest about psychology, the transformative power of Egyptian Dance - aka "belly dance" -, the wonders of cultural shocks, the challenges of embodiment, self-esteem, and mu...

Welcome to episode #41 of "The Oriental Café" podcast by Joana Saahirah🧿🌙✨ In this episode, I share the principles of Egyptian Dance - aka "belly dance" - Technique. What you need to know and develop if you wish to call yourself an oriental dancer. From the most obvious principles to the ones nobody has ever taught you - principles that´ll allow you to experience the true magic of Raqs Sharqi....

Welcome to episode #40 of "The Oriental Café" podcast with Dr. Mo Geddawi, a legend in the field of Egyptian Dance (aka "belly dance"), hosted by Joana Saahirah. In this episode, I pick Dr. Mo´s amazing brain and ask him about his exceptional career as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher; his beginnings in the "Reda Troupe" and what we learned from Mahmoud Reda in those early years; which star, i...

How to become a Self-Confident Goddess with unbeatable faith in yourself - as a dancer and a person, on stage and in life🌞💪💋 In episode #39 of "The Oriental Café" podcast, I, Joana Saahirah, your passionate host, share a few powerful strategies for real and long-lasting self-confidence. I draw from experience, study, and observation. And I share what really works - the deep, fluff-free guidance...

In episode #38 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast, I invite Allegra Aleya Pena, an oriental dancer, healer, and multi-passionate entrepreneur, for a real, bullshit-free, down-to-earth, empowering conversation. We talk about the savage and fascinating world of professional "belly dance" in Egypt, the true meaning of survival and thriving, what makes an exceptional oriental dancer, how to navigate life´...

Welcome to episode #37 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast, hosted by Joana Saahirah, on how to create an extraordinary belly dance performance. In this episode, I draw from more than 25 years of career in the field of Egyptian Oriental and Folkloric Dance - what people tend to call "belly dance" - and share guidance on how to create an irresistible dance performance. 🎤🎧✨To claim your Free Bonus Res...

Welcome to episode #36 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast by Joana Saahirah. In this episode, we receive Leyla Amir, the first foreigner who danced professionally in Egypt; a fierce advocate for the art of Egyptian Oriental Dance - aka "belly dance" -, a brilliant businesswoman, and one of the most elegant artists I´ve ever seen. In this episode, we discuss how it was to perform in Egypt in the 80´s a...

The books and the movies every "belly dancer" - oriental dancer is the correct term - should read and watch. In episode #35 of "The Oriental Café" podcast, I, Joana Saahirah, your host, share my passion for books and movies and what I consider the basics of education for "belly dancers" (oriental dancers is the correct term). 🎤🎧✨To claim your FREE PDF "Joana Saahirah´s Recommended Book List" ,...

Welcome to episode #34 of "The Oriental Café" podcast hosted by Joana Saahirah. In this episode, I invite a fierce, original, and super talented dancer - that´s the fabulous Elena Chikhladze. We met at work, at festivals around the world, and I was immediately in love. Elena is everything I love and respect: pure talent and professionalism, integrity, courage, and originality. I mean...what´s not...

Welcome to episode #33 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast, hosted by Joana Saahirah, on the many lives of a professional oriental dancer (aka "belly dancer"). In this episode, I´m drawing from a successful 25+ year career in the field of Egyptian Oriental & Folkloric Dance - in Egypt and the International Circuit - and share the many facets and chapters of that career and what I´ve learned from ea...

​ Welcome to episode #32 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast by Joana Saahirah. In this episode, we receive Maya Youssef , a Syrian musician and composer based in the United Kingdom and master of the qanun🌺🪘🎼 In this episode, Joana Saahirah invites Maya Youssef to discuss Tarab, Maqamat, Taksim & the Magic of Arabic Music & Dance; what it was like to grow up in Syria; the value of Mistakes;...

Welcome to episode #31 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast, by Joana Saahirah. 🎤🎧✨In this episode, I expose the loss of the soul in Egyptian Dance - aka "belly dance" - and how we can bring that soul back. The soul of the dance and our soul.     I point out a few elephants in the room - a dance trend based on competition, aggressivity, stress and anxiety, ego overload, meaningless and exce...

How to sell your Egyptian Dance services like a professional; the joys and challenges of living in Egypt; why tapping into your Masculine Polarity may be the most urgent thing you need to do right now - to move the needle in your dance and life -; and much more. In episode #30 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast, I, your host, Joana Saahirah, invite Katie el Shaarany, a former dancer and eternal lover...

Welcome to episode #29 of "The Oriental Café" podcast hosted by Joana Saahirah. 🎤🎧✨In this episode, I tell the truth about becoming a successful professional oriental dancer in Cairo, Egypt, the Mecca of Egyptian Dance - aka "belly dance". 🎤🎧✨Without sugar-coating it, I share: 1. The first steps I needed to take to launch myself in Cairo. 2. The shocks and reality checks I went through. 3. H...

Being a male "belly dancer" in a world of women; the art and preparation behind an exceptional dance performance; and how to erase prejudice with love. This, and more, is what you´ll find in episode #28 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast with our special guest, the talented dancer, Arturo Casco. Arturo Casco is a professional Oriental Dancer and Instructor, Life Coach, and Sage. His dance style and ap...

Welcome to episode #27 of "The Oriental Café" Podcast, by Joana Saahirah. 🎤🎧✨In this episode, I expose the polemic subject of tradition and modernization in Egyptian Dance - aka "belly dance" - and how that confuses and limits the experience of dancers. 🎁To check our Free Learning Resources - on authentic Egyptian Dance & Personal Empowerment -, follow this link: https://www.joanasaahirah....