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 July 2011, Meher Malik and her students were selected on Hrithik Roshan's Just Dance Reality Show aired on Star Plus. Meher is also a director of Banjara School of Dance in New Delhi, an India’s Premier belly dance school.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Drastic shift in Meher’s artistic focus over the last 5 years

• Spirituality and sexuality of belly dance

• Motherhood

• Using dance to process deep traumas

• Meher’s teaching approach and current programs

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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 from awalim and ghawazi dance styles to classical raqs sharqi at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries led to the publication of her first book, Egyptian Belly Dance in Transition: The Raqs Sharqi Revolution, 1890-1930, in 2018.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Sensuality, sexuality and eroticism in belly dance

• How Nisaa got involved into researching belly dance

• What is the difference between awalim and ghawazee

• Did Badia Masabni invent raqs sharki?

• The term ‘raqs sharqi’

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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 themselves with the goal of becoming happier and build a more positive life. She actively incorporates dance classes into her coaching process.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Love-hate relationships with belly dance in Egypt

• What is a midlife crisis

• Signs of a middle age crisis

• How exactly belly dance benefit women who experience midlife crisis

• Hayam’s coaching process

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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 online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club. Artist Date show is available to watch/listen to HERE.

Check out the next SharQui Instructor Academy beginning April 3rd. Apply at sharqui.com/teach

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

Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

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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 non-Ukrainian participants for families who escaped temporarily occupied territories during the war in Ukraine.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Current realities of dance life in Ukraine

• Dance With Stars Ukraine project

• Nuances of teaching children

• Main mistakes in flexibility training

• Benefits of doing a belly vacuum practice

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Morocco (Carolina Varga Dinicu) is a member of the Congress on Research in Dance (C.O.R.D.), the Society of Dance History Scholars (S.D.H.S.), the International Council on Dance – UNESCO (C.I.D.) and the International Council on Health, Physical Education Sport & Dance – UNESCO (ICHPER-SD). Morocco was awarded two grants by the State Council on the Arts for her choreography in 1972 and 1981, 3 NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Community Service Grants, 3 Summer Program Grants, a Materials for the Arts Grant and an Arts Exposure Grant.

Since 1964, Morocco has written for several publications in her field and been reprinted in dance, medical and feminist publications internationally. A true pioneer in the field, she taught a 3-credit course in Middle Eastern Dance and Culture at the State University of New York (Purchase, NY) in the mid 1970s.

In this episode you will learn about:

• How Morocco came to a dance audition not knowing it was a belly dance show

• The story of her stage name

• How ancients the belly dance is

• Researching deeper and reviewing mistakes in your own work

• Teaching Oriental Dance at university

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Pedro Bonatto is an internationally acclaimed photographer and drummer. Born in Brazil, Pedro works in fine art and fashion photography, with works published in Elle Arabia, Fashion Canada and a number of magazines and books. Pedro is also a drummer focusing on Middle Eastern music and the leader of the world music and dance band Blue Dot.

Iana Komarnytska is a professional dancer, teacher, choreographer, and passionate content creator helping dancers navigate their dance lives. She is a graduate from the professional dance program at York University (Canada), host of the Belly Dance Life podcast, creator of the educational online platform the Iana Dance Club, author of numerous articles, and winner of Star Bellydancer Canada 2014 among other international competitions. 

In this episode you will learn about:

• Stereotypes surrounding belly dance

• Typical struggles that dancers may face in dating life

• Difference between abuse and ignorance

• A fear of sensuality aspects of belly dance

• Some ideas on how to explain your dance passion to your partner

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This is a new solo episode with Iana!

Sharing 10 practical tips that I use to memorize choreographies faster. These tips will be especially useful during workshop settings, when you need to learn a dance piece within very limited amount of time.

Show Notes to this episode:

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

Check out Stackable Drills for your daily practice at www.stackabledrills.com.

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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Oreet has over 25 years of experience in fitness and dance. She grew up with Yemeni folk and Oriental dance and has a degree in Contemporary Dance from SUNY College at Brockport. SharQuí has been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, among other outlets. Some of Oreet’s bellydance awards are: Bellydancer of the Year, and Middle Eastern Dance Champion of North America. She’s led packed classes worldwide and has worked with thousands of men and women to realize their fitness potential.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Building business systems for your teaching activities

• The importance of confidence for a dance teacher

• How to check if you are ready to teach

• Tips for promoting your classes

• Nurturing your newsletter list

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Diana Garnik is the director of DiDance Studio in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. She was winner of the AlHayat Festival, recipient of the 3rd place at Raqs of Course Festival by Randa Kamel, and many other competitions. Diana is famous for her dynamic modern Iraqi performances, just as much as her love for Khalidji, shaabi, tabla solo, mejance, classical and lyrical songs. You may really enjoy having your next show choreographed by Diana.

In this episode you will learn about:

• How stress influences creativity

• Overcoming creative blocks

• Creating choreos for yourself vs for others

• Preparing workshop choreographies

• Starting teaching activities at 12 years-old

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Born in Cartagena, Colombia, Horacio Cifuentes started dancing at the age of five. He first studied Flamenco at the Academy of Maestro Realito in Seville, Spain. Later he also danced with the Ballet Folclorico Nacional de Colombia. He followed with classical ballet in Poland, and later gained a scholarship to the prestigious American Ballet Theatre School in New York. He eventually joined the San Francisco Ballet where he was featured as a soloist. He discovered oriental dance at Magana Baptiste’s Royal Bellydancing Academy in San Francisco where he also studied yoga with the great master Walt Baptiste. Together with his wife, Beata, Horacio travels the world performing and teaching.

In this episode you will learn about:

• Horacio’s professional ballet journey

• Using yoga to conquer stage nervousness

• Struggles of combining active ballet and belly dance performance careers

• His book “Confessions of a Male Belly Dancer”

• Aging as a dancer

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