Cecilia Zuñiga (Costa Rica)

"Every class and bonus has been an "aha" moment for me. Through the years I have been studying oriental dance I have improved a lot in my self-esteem, shyness, and in "being loud". But with this course I have improved more than in 20 years of dance. So I think one thing to do to expand my biggest qualities, improve or eliminate my shadow/fragilities of character and celebrate my Womanhood even further is to embrace this course and take away everything possible."

Jamila Zahran (USA)

"I recently participated in Joana's Balady Awadi course and was very pleased with its content and commentary. In addition, to giving us the "meat" of a beautiful choreography, she adds the "seasoning" of her wealth of knowledge on Egyptian womens' culture as well as self-empowerment exercises. I would highly recommend taking a course in Joana's Dance School either from a dance education viewpoint or self exploration exercise. Thank you for sharing your dynamism with us."

Juniper Willow

(USA)

I wish you happiness, love, excellent health and many blessings.  With love Juniper

Margarita Svist ( USA)

"I really enjoyed this course. It was created with love, passion, and compassion.
This course was very refreshing, like pure water in a desert. Thank you Joana for sharing your love with us.
This was a transformational experience for me.
Although I am not a beginner at belly dancing and teach belly dance, I am always eager to learn something I did not know. I want to be able to dance to different styles. Balady awadi is new to me. I've never been to Egypt and had no idea about those low class Egyptians, who happen to be so similar to my own grandparents, who lived in a Ukrainian village and were poor as well. Amazingly, I can easily relate myself to those low class Egyptians through my grandparents I knew, who were also celebratory as well. Joana shared her love to those people verbally and through her wonderful choreography. Steps without meaning are definitely not Dance. This course reminded me how to get out of this Covid knockout. How important being in a present moment is. How important gratitude for every single bit of life is. How important is self-love. I forgot about myself since my husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. I put all my energy into helping his condition by cooking healthy meals for him. While doing it I forgot about myself, and ended up with extremely high blood pressure.
Now I am recovering because I took Joanna's course seriously. She reminded me of the importance of self-love, the importance of meditations, and the importance of having joy every day. She helped me to get back to who I am.

I recommend this course to all dancers. First and foremost, because you will learn from a real master and a wonderful dancer. You will learn what it takes to be the one.

Thank you so very much dear Joana for your amazing course! It was very informative, transformational and educational. I really enjoyed being with you, you brought so much love, light, life to Baladi Awadi dancing!"

Mariam Dalhoumi (USA)

"With the right teacher, Egyptian Dance can be transformative on so many levels. And in order to make such a transformative journey, you need a teacher that you can trust and that truly wants to see you grow into the best and most fulfilled version of yourself, in dance and in life. Joana is definitely one of those teachers who has that love, genuinity, and passion!

The Baladi Awadi is perhaps one of the more difficult or challenging parts of Egyptian dance to teach and learn, because it requires so much more than mechanical dance steps! I am therefore so happy and grateful that I found this course with Joana, who has created a beautiful and deep learning experience in "How to Dance a Baladi Awadi". In addition to a beautiful and powerful Baladi Awadi choreography, you will, amongst other things, dive into and develop theoretical knowledge about the dance and the culture of which it is a part, musicality, and last but not least, you will dive into and develop yourself on a dance, mind, and life level. This course, just like any other work by Joana, is NOT a superficial dance course (Thank you, Joana!). After taking and committing to this course, I feel that several shifts have taken place and actual changes have been put into motion, and I have tools to keep the transformation going even after completing the course."