Sylvia Yssei began her dance training in 2000 with Jazz, and throughout the years she included Flamenco, Spanish, Classical and Contemporary dances in her training. Later she discovered bellydance, and eventually Tribal Fusion dance and Ori Tahiti (Tahitian dance). Both became a powerful means of expression for her in a complementary, but at the same time very different ways. Along with her dance explorations, she studied Psychology at the University of Barcelona, which has definitely helped her to learn the basics of Pedagogy and the dynamics of learning, as well as to understand her students in an active and holistic way.

In this episode you will learn about:

• What is Kundalini energy and where it is stored in our body

• Why it is important to awaken Kundalini in us

• How belly dance is connected to Kundalini energy

• Ways how you can manifest Kundalini energy in you

• How Sylvia became a Kundalini Awakening facilitator, and how it aligns with her dance activities

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Izel Kirana started her dance journey almost 15 years ago. Originally from Barcelona, she fell in love with belly dance, tribal fusion style, and eventually Indian culture and art. 5 years ago she embarked on multiple journeys to India in search of its classical dances and folklore, training in Rajasthani folklore dance, Kalbelia dance, Kathak dance and Indian fusion.

In this episode you will learn about:

• How Izel discovered tribal fusion, and eventual Kalbelia dance styles

• Historical influences of Kalbelia dance

• Izel’s experience of visiting India, and taking classes with local teachers

• Fusion between different dance forms

• Supporting the Kalbelia community by running a clothing & jewelry store

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Amanda Rose is an internationally acclaimed instructor and performer based in Barcelona, Spain. In addition to over a decade of teaching experience, and almost 2 decades of experience with Raqs Sharqi, she also has a master's degree in Dance Movement Therapy from La Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Alongside her background in sociology and language studies, Amanda Rose’s academic experiences greatly shape her approach to dance, art, culture, and pedagogy. She has received wide recognition for Amanda Rose Online, one of the first online dance platforms in the Middle Eastern dance community, hosting a variety of online dance opportunities such as online prerecorded series, one on one coaching, competition training, and personal feedback.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Switching focus from technical excellence to emotional expression in dance

• How to find connections between movements and feelings

• Tips for dealing with performance anxiety

• What’s the difference between therapy and therapeutic experience

• Amanda’s research on therapeutic capabilities of belly dance

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Raphael Cormack has a PhD in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies with a focus on Egyptian theatre from the University of Edinburgh. He is currently Assistant Professor in Arabic Studies at Durham University. An award-winning editor and translator, Cormack is the editor of The Book of Cairo and the co-editor of The Book of Khartoum. His writing on Arab culture has appeared in the London Review of Books, Prospect and TLS, among others. Raphael Cormack is the author of Midnight in Cairo: The Female Stars of Egypt’s Roaring ’20s, an exploration of Cairo popular culture through personalities such as Rose Al-Youssef, Mounira al-Mahdiyya and Oum Kalthoum.

In this episode you will learn about:

• What’s the importance of 1920s in the Egyptian culture and entertainment industry

• How he chose which exact female stories to highlight, and why Samia Gamal wasn’t featured in his book

• His research methods

• Comparing careers of Mounira al-Mahdiyya and Oum Kalthoum

• What’s Raphael’s current focus on research

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Colleena Shakti is an artist of great subtlety and depth. Trained extensively in Odissi classical dance under Smt. Sujata Mohapatra and well-versed in many styles of dance from India and beyond, Colleena lives an artistic path steeped in rich tradition. Yoga, aesthetics and related philosophies are an integral part of her holistic vision of art inspiring her to bridge timeless values with modern expression. She has performed for former president of India (Pratibha Patil), royal families across Rajasthan, Indian Embassy at Cairo, Chidambaram Nataraj temple and arts festivals from Japan to Australia. Colleena is the founder and director of Shakti School of Dance located in the Rang Nath Venu Gopal Temple in Pushkar, Rajasthan India where she also annually produces The Pushkar Temple Dance Festival. Recently she has added a Summer school program and retreat center at Villa Shakti Crete, Greece and launched online curriculum at her virtual school.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Beginning of Colleena’s dance journey, her discovery of belly dance and later Odissi

• Exploration of femininity through different dance styles

• Indian fusion dance

• Colleena’s training years in India

• How you can study with Colleena in person and online

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Julia Farid, a professional oriental dance artist, instructor, and choreographer originally from Ukraine, is renowned for her elegant and feminine dance style. Her contributions extend beyond the stage, as she has organized prestigious events like the Isadora Cup Festival, "Dream & Dance" Intensive Course, and founded Tips4hips online platform. With deep knowledge of oriental dance and captivating performances, she has become an internationally acclaimed artist, annually giving workshops and performing at numerous belly dance events worldwide

In this episode you will learn about:

• Julia’s pregnancy experience

• How motherhood affected her life and dance career

• Advantages of in-person vs online classes

• Julia’s vision for Tips4Hips

• Constant growth as a dance professional

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Bellydance Superstar Boženka is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed dancer performing and teaching worldwide. Boženka hosts The Mediterranean Dance Lab, a dance intensive and cultural retreat on the island of Crete, Greece, where she currently resides. She has recorded several best-selling instructional and performance DVDs and has toured extensively with the celebrated “Bellydance Superstars” as a featured soloist. Through a professional dance career of 26 years, Boženka has been invited to teach and perform in over 50 countries. Boženka instructed and choreographed international superstar Shakira for her “Mongoose” world tour in 2004 and for her 2010 world tour “Shakira”, working with the pop diva side by side to help her hone and polish her innate skills. She performed on stage with world-music artist “Alabina” during her concert tour in Miami Beach in 2005. Boženka has entertained an assortment of celebrities including Sean Connery, Donald Trump, Hugh Hefner, Madonna, Alejandro Sanz and Enrique Iglesias, amongst others.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Boženka’s relationship with her own teacher, and how it influenced her career and teaching approach

• Epic Ahlan Wa Sahlan 2006 competition, and reasons she decided to compete

• Experience of working with Shakira for the last 20 years

• Funny story during a performance for Sean Connery

• The Mediterranean Dance Lab, and how it can help dancers grow

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Dipika Vijay is an academically trained designer, and a belly dance artist by passion. Her belly dance company is called Badass Belly Dance and her fitness classes fly under the name Firefly Aerial Fitness. She lives in Mumbai but grew up in multiple cities in India and as a result picked up folk dance forms like Bhangra, Garba, Bollywood apart from brief training in classical Indian dance styles such as Bharatnatyam and Odissi. She has a keen interests in popping, waacking, yoga and she recently started learning body control and mobility. Now Dipika practices belly dance not only as a sensuous dance form but as a powerful tool that generates awareness of the body, mind and spirit. She uses movement to create form and form to shape thoughts.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Belly dance in India

• How learning design and geometry can make you a better choreographer

• Improvisation vs choreography

• What is the difference between creativity and art

• Helping students discover their feminine side and sensuality

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As belly dancers we often use the term “Baladi” in reference to a particular dance style. Also, we sometimes call Masmudi Saghir rhythm as Baladi rhythm, which is common a mistake. But in Egyptian culture the word “Baladi” isn’t the name of a dance. So what is it? Discover in this episode!

Show Notes to this episode:

Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Join the Iana Dance Club to participate in the upcoming Baladi intensive.

Take the Belly Dance Habits Quiz HERE.

Details and training materials for the BDE castings are available at www.JoinBDE.com

Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.

Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

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Hend Elbalouty is a choreographer, performer and author. She holds a MA in Performing Arts from Kunsthochschule für Medien, a BA in Production Design from the Institute of Cinema Studies in Egypt and a 3-year degree in Contemporary Dance from Cairo Contemporary Dance Center. She works across mediums combining and mixing them in accordance to the project at hand. In the last few years, she collaborated and presented many multidisciplinary art pieces such as “FrauenGold'' Video Exhibition in Hamburg, “The Kitchen” Dance performance, Köln, “Absence” a group exhibition at CoCulture Art space, Berlin. In 2021, she created a performance inspired by the local street dance and music in Egypt called Maharagant, for which she was awarded the “kunstpreis der FREUNDE der KHM”. Hend strives to produce and participate in socially aware dance pieces, constantly exploring the role of art as a tool to empower the individual and bring out those neglected modes of expression.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Hend’s personal dance journey, and what led to researching Mahraganat

• Professional Mahraganat dancers, and what it means

• The concept of a street as private community space

• Why would dance possibly turn into a fight

• The process of writing and producing the book

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In today's episode, we're diving into a fascinating topic – using dance videos not just for social media posts, but as a powerful training tool. We'll explore why simply repeating choreography isn't enough and how to pinpoint and fix specific mistakes or weak spots in your dance. Plus, we'll chat about the importance of practicing without a mirror and how video recordings can be your secret weapon for self-analysis. So, get ready to learn some tricks for refining your dance moves, enhancing your technique, and getting performance-ready!

Show Notes to this episode:

Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube .

Check out the Dance Habits intensive at the Iana Dance Club.

Take the Belly Dance Habits Quiz HERE.

Details and training materials for the BDE castings are available at www.JoinBDE.com

Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.

Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

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Sonya of Cairo is a professional dancer and choreographer. She has been immersed in oriental dance since childhood. Her mother, Marianne DS, founded The Sun Dance School 17 years ago in Paris, the largest association in the city. Sonya began her training with Marianne DS and has studied with some of the best Egyptian professionals. She stands out for her pure Egyptian style. Sonya currently lives in Cairo where she regularly performs. She also teaches at the largest festival in Egypt, "Raqs of Course”, organized by Randa Kamel. Sonya is considered today the rising star of the Cairo dance scene.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Being the daughter of a professional belly dancer

• Sonya’s first professional performances, and dealing with stage anxiety

• Funny stories of performing at weddings in Cairo

• Bitter taste of dance life in Egypt

• Dealing with managers vs being your own manager

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Arielle is a passionately dedicated dancer from the USA who currently performs daily in Cairo, Egypt. She teaches and performs bellydance, samba, folklore, fusion, burlesque, hip hop and many other styles of dance full-time. Although Arielle is American, she grew up in Egypt and has been performing Middle Eastern Dance since the age of 10. Arielle is the winner of several competitions and was a finalist on Egypt’s first bellydance competition TV show, “Al Rakessa” in 2014. Arielle returned to Cairo in December of 2019 and has been gracing the stage all around Egypt ever since! She currently teaches online group classes every Sunday and offers pre-recorded classes as well.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Arielle’s childhood and school years in Egypt

• Knee issues and belly dancing

• The effect of fibromyalgia on Arielle’s lifestyle as a dancer

• Decision to move back to Egypt to pursue a dance career

• Changes in the modern dance scene in Cairo

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A well-known choreographer and dancer, Alla Kushnir has won many prizes and awards. She was a finalist at the TV show “Ukraine has talent“, silver medalist of the Lebanese TV show “Hizzi Ya Nawaem”, winner of Egyptian TV show ” Al Rakesa”, among many other awards and achievements. For Alla Kushnir Oriental dancing has opened a lot of previously unknown sensations. As a dancer and choreographer, she believes that this style of dance changes a woman’s whole attitude towards herself and her surroundings. Alla is a frequent guest in various talent search competition TV shows. In 2008, she appeared in the first film “Tales of Sand” about belly dancing. She also hosted the program “Oriental Dances” on MAXXI TV channel.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Alla’s multiple decisions to quit her performance career, and how destiny always brought her back to the stage

• The importance of nutrition in a dancer’s life

• How Alla practices and comes up with new movements

• Lifestyle in Doha vs Cairo

• Main elements of Alla’s daily routine

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This is a best of episode! You will hear a collection of tips and practices from the belly dance stars. Find out how they approach their own training, and see what you can implement it in your life too.

You will hear from Jasirah, Cassandra Fox, Victoria Teel, Aziza, Nabila, Hayal, Jillina Carlano and Amar Lammar.

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Discover what is blocking your dance progress right now, and which exact dance habits you should improve first of all.

Take the free Belly Dance Habits Quiz HERE.

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Improve those couple things in your dance habits, and unlock an amazing growth in your dance skills throughout 2024!

January is time of planning and building hopes for the New Year. But often we make grand plans , and fail on showing up and performing them. Or sometimes we do show up but don't put 100% of our energy into the task. How to make sue that your list of New Year resolutions isn’t gonna be transferred to the next year, and you continue pursuing your dance goals beyond January…

Take the Belly Dance Habits Quiz HERE.

Show Notes to this episode:

Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Check out her online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club.

Details and training materials for the BDE castings are available at www.JoinBDE.com

Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.

Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

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Chudney is a professional oriental dance artist who has competed and danced around the world. She opened her own oriental dance school in 2017, to give students easier access to her weekly in person classes, and share her unique personal style and technique on demand. Chudney was selected in 2016 as part of the international cast of Virginia’s “Reflections”. She was hand picked by Munique Neith to dance as part of the cast Ballet Internacional Munique Neith in Barcelona, Spain to perform at Egipto en Barcelona in 2018 and 2019.  Chudney was also featured as Dorothy, in Jillina's Belly Dance Experience production of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. She has competed in top competitions and won many accolades as a troupe member of Hippy Chicks Raks and as a professional soloist. She is most proud of being crowned East Coast Classic 2015 Cabaret Professional Champion and People's Choice winner in her hometown.​

In this episode you will learn about:

• Why do we have anxiety of trying new things alone

• The concept of coaching vs teaching regular classes

• Common mistakes that dancer do during competition preparations

• Performance anxiety

• How to practice your eye gaze for stage

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Originally from Brazil, Hayal is a professional dancer who has been passionate about oriental dance since she was 17. She taught and danced all over the world, as a soloist and in collaboration with other dancers. She worked as a dancer and choreographer with the Portuguese company Mahtab and participated in several shows of the American troupe Bellydance Evolution with Jillina. Hayal has already worked in Brazil, Portugal, New Zealand, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Spain and of course in France, where she lives today (Lyon).

In this episode you will learn about:

• Comparison between Brazilian dances and belly dance

• What is functional training for belly dancers

• How to improve your balance, arms mobility, and knees-hips connection

• Frequency of functional training and how it works

• How Hayal managed to teach a group choreographies for her show via online classes

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Delya is a French belly dancer currently residing inn Switzerland. She has been involved in oriental dance for 20 years, and currently works as a full—time performer. She is the resident dancer at a 5 stars hotel in Zurich in collaboration with musicians. She does projects together with a Syrian musician Zaher Assaf who studied music at the conservatory of Damas, Syria. They regularly organize charity shows for Syria. Delya is a mother of a 4-year old daughter, who inspired her to write 2 children books: :Nour in Lebanon” (by Del Perrier), and  “Danse mon amour (dance my love)”.

In this episode you will learn about:

• How Delya got inspired to belly dance by Natasha Atlas

• Persuading venues that belly dance can by classy and elegant entertainment for their audience

• Pregnancy and motherhood as a belly dancer

• Writing belly dance books for small children

• The idea of creating a dance podcast.

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Pedro Bonatto is an internationally acclaimed photographer and drummer. Born in Brazil and based in Canada, Pedro works in fine art and fashion photography, with works published in Elle Arabia, Fashion Canada and a number of magazines and books. As a drummer, Pedro focuses on Middle Eastern music and its relationship to cultures from aroundd the world. He is also the creator of the world music and dance group The Blue Dot Ensemble.

Show Notes to this episode:

Find Pedro Bonatto on FB, Instagram, YouTube, and website. Artist Date show is available HERE. Also, check our special Cairo Dance Guide intensive at the Iana Dance Club.

Previous Interviews with Pedro:

Ep 171 - Pedro Bonatto: How to Approach a Drum Solo Improvisation & Stop Being Afraid of It

Ep 112. Pedro Bonatto: Drummer, Photographer & Husband of a Belly Dancer

To book your stay in Cairo at Yasmina’s Bellydancers B’B, email yasmina@yasminaofcairo.com, or contact via Instagram.

Details about the Bellydance Bundle are available on Instagram, and website.

Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Check out her online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club.

Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.

Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

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