Belly Dance Life Iana Komarnytska

Pierre Khoury, a Syrian-Canadian male belly dancer from Montreal, is renowned for his expertise in Syrian/Lebanese Dabke, Raqs Sharqi, and Whirling. His talents have graced prestigious stages, including the Theatrical Bellydance Conference of New York and the International Bellydance Conference of Canada in Toronto. He recently was a guest master instructor in several venues including Hot Raqs and Cairo Shimmy Quake in California, and his workshops were acclaimed for the quality of their content. Beyond the realm of dance, Pierre brings his unique perspective as a psychology teacher at the University of Montreal to his coaching endeavors, seamlessly integrating his psychological insights into his dance instructions.

Nath Keo is the artistic director and choreographer of the Sacred Centre Dance Company based in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Nath is a belly dancer who has performed in over 51 cities with more than 1,000 performances during his career. Along with releasing a few music albums, a book and instructional dance DVDs, his resume includes serving as a featured instructor and performer at the International Bellydance Conference of Canada, alongside the legendary Farida Fahmy, and as a judge at the World Bellydance Championship hosted in Seoul, South Korea.

This is a best of episode! You will hear a collection of tips and practices from the belly dance stars regarding their experience of creating fusion between belly dance and other dance genres.

You will hear from Meher Malik, Anjelica Scannura, Soraia Zaied and Diana Gnatchenko.

Heather (Henna) Louise is a performer, teacher, and life long student of Middle Eastern music and dance based in Portland, Oregon. After studying belly dance for five years, life took Heather to Asia where she began her performing career in the restaurant gig scene of Tokyo, Japan. Along with her dance partners, she worked with the live band Alladeen and co-founded the Tokyo International Bellydance Competition. Since returning to Portland in 2008, Heather has taught and performed at Jamballah NW Festival, The Hawaii Bellydance Convention, competed and placed in Bellydance of the Year Competition, and won the Ms. La Danse Orientale title. She has been a featured instructor at the Middle Eastern Dance Guild of Eugene (MEDGE), as well as at Emerald Sanctuary Belly Dance Retreat, and has been a panel judge for The Belly Dance Off.

In order to find emotional connection with Baladi, you need to understand its cultural environment, and typical archetypes that are often associated with Baladi women. Let’s dive into this topic in this solo episode with Iana!

Randa Kamel is one of the most famous Egyptian dancers with her own unique style full of energy, as well as a teacher who has shared her knowledge with thousand of students all around the world. At the age of 15, she began studying folklore with the famous Reda group. After 7 years Randa transitioned into her solo career as a professional oriental dancer in Alexandria. Later moved on to Cairo, and quickly became a performer at the Meridien hotel, sharing the stage with legendary Fifi Abdou. Today Randa appears in weddings, parties and in the Nile Maxim cruise when she is in Egypt. Her own orchestra consists of 28 musicians. She also travels extensively around the world teaching at festivals, and organizes her own winter course and summer dance festival “Raqs Of Course” in Cairo.