Aesthetics & Musicality for Performers in Egyptian Dance 

(online recorded masterclass & bonuses

by Joana Saahirah & George Sawa)

 

Aesthetics & Musicality

for Performers in Egyptian Dance

 

A pioneering online Masterclass - recorded - by Joana Saahirah & George Sawa

⚠️For dancers who wish to upgrade their performance skills and make an impact whenever they dance on the stage⚠️

Welcome to the Masterclass "Aesthetics & Musicality for Performers" delivered by our guest teacher, George Sawa, & Joana Saahirah, at Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School. 

 

  • What you get when you subscribe:

1. Access to the replay of the 2-hour live session and its replay for as long as our school exists.

2. Access to bonus resources & a gift.

 

  • What you´ll learn in this session:

1. The visual and emotional aesthetics of Egyptian Dance - what works on stage and what doesn´t.

2. What is Musicality and how to develop it - for your dance enjoyment as well as for the stage.

3. How to create your own Visual and Musical Style for the stage.

And more.  

  • Only $89 for the live & recorded Masterclass + Bonuses

(access to both for as long as our school exists)

Click HERE to subscribe

Jamila Zahran (USA)

 

"Wonderful masterclass, as always.
 
Your enthusiasm is so infectious as is Dr. George's. I wanted to take this session because I am getting ready to teach a workshop in another city and I like to have fresh ideas to offer the students.
 
We agree on so much re the dance, musciality and aesthetics so the reinforcement is wonderful as well as the new ideas, ways of thinking, stimulating. 
 
The music you used was so wonderful. I love a nai taxim! I found the music so "wistful" and as you danced I could see the "painting come to life". 
Deliciosa!"

What our (gorgeous) students say about

Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School  

 

"You are an excellent teacher, amazing dancer & a beautiful person inside & out.

You absolutely radiate while teaching & dancing & your passion, knowledge & love for Egyptian Dance is so uplifting & infectious.
I listen & watch all your you tubes & bonuses as I find them so empowering & positive. It makes me believe anything is possible if I try....

So much love Joana & many many thanks."

 
Samantha Page (UK)

"This year, I subscribed to 4 courses at Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School and, honestly, her courses are amazing, I recommend them 100% because she teaches you the dance technique and choreography but the Egyptian Culture behind the dance, the mentality behind each movement.
Furthermore, she develops you on a personal level - emotionally and psychologically -, something that can help you evolve in your dance and in your life.
If you´re wondering if you should join her school, I´d say “don´t think twice, join it now!”

 

Linda Hadj (Spain)

"I definitely recommend the school to all dancers and women who want to work not only in their dance but also in their personal development. Everything I have learned in school has changed the way I perceive everything that surrounds me, and that influences my dances and my life in a very positive way."

 
Cecilia Zuñiga (Costa Rica)

"I recommend Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School to other students, for sure.
But only those who are really interested in the authentic Egyptian dance and the culture behind it.
I have learned beautiful choreographies, received many beautiful learning materials, tips for self-practice, and some Arabic.
I have also learned practical ways to be self-confident through your course, which is indeed life-changing.
The reason I cannot leave her school is that she doesn't force her students to be her followers (totally the opposite!)
She values each student's individuality and guides us to be "ourselves," in dance and in life.

Taking your courses in 2020 was truly a great help for me, both physically and mentally.
Literally, you saved my life...Thank you."

 
Seiko Endo (Japan)

"When a dance friend from the Philippines sent me the link to Joana’s Facebook Live chat on her Baladi Awadi course I didn’t realize that I was going to hit a jackpot that would enrich my dance life forever. The more courses that I take, the more I get hooked.


Before long, I have signed up 8 separate courses and most recently the annual membership for the signature course. But why? First of all, what appealed to me was the holistic approach that Joana takes to each of her courses, i.e. physical, emotional, and spiritual. And it makes total sense to learn how to integrate these elements to enhance the soulfulness of the dance, a passage leading to the divine. Secondly, all the courses that I have taken were well designed and really focused on each of my problematic areas such as shimmies, hands and arms, hips, traveling steps, how to interpret lyrics, etc. As the result, my vocabulary for each area got greatly expanded and my techniques, strengthened. Thirdly, Joana’s dance style is creative in such a way that really resonates with me. Furthermore, Joana is incredibly knowledgeable about not only Arabic music but also non Arabic music.


Since I started working with Joana four months ago I have created three choreographies. I noticed a dramatic difference between the ones that I created before and the new ones after Joana’s school. The creativity that Joana emphases so much has become a crucial driver in my approach. Suddenly I feel very liberated in my application of the techniques and concepts that I have learned. Joana often says that education and application go hand in hand. And I found that the creativity she instilled in us can really make the application take off.


I recommend Joana´s School to anyone because of the transformation that I have experienced in my choreographies and performances."

 
Jian Sakakeeny (USA/China)

"I´m loving the courses I've taken at Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School, they are comprehensive, challenging and fun at the same time.

My dance feels more authentic because it's more authentically ME. Joana leaves no stone unturned and attends to every detail in one's life that needs attention in making them a better dancer.

Joana is an extremely knowledgeable and generous teacher who gives 150% to her students. In addition to providing rich detail and respect for the history and pioneers of the dance, her school provides a path to self-love and empowerment through her unique and caring teaching style."

 
Jill Shireen (Canada)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Only $89 for the live & recorded Masterclass + Bonuses (access to both for as long as our school exists)
Click HERE to subscribe

About your Teachers 

About Joana Saahirah  

 

Joana Saahirah is a world-renowned Oriental Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer, and Author specializing in Egyptian Oriental and Folkloric Dances; she´s written and published 2 books - “The Secrets of Egypt – Dance, Life & Beyond”, "Behind the Curtain", a collaboration with the Slovenian Photographer, Breda Jurecko, and "The Lessons I Learned from the Master".

Joana started her career in Egypt, where she performed and lived for 8 years; she´s worked with Mahmoud Reda, as his Teaching and Choreography Assistant; and her career expanded, in recent years into a global phenomenon.

One of the most well-known, respected, and original Oriental Dancers in the World. After almost a decade of Life and a Career in Egypt with her own orchestra – rescuing the ORIGINS and ESSENCE of Egyptian Oriental and Folkloric Dance -, Joana Saahirah has created a style (of teaching, choreographing, and performing) that UNITES EAST and WEST; the best of Egypt and the best of western open and free mind; technique and expression; healing and art; the reconnection of MIND, the HEART, the BODY, and the SOUL.

Joana has been a constant presence – as an invited artist, choreographer & teacher – at major International Oriental Dance Festivals. She´s performed, taught, and lectured in more than 40 countries.

She´s also the founder of Joana Saahirah´s World and Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School, pioneering Online Platforms promoting authentic Egyptian Dance, Self-Discovery & Empowerment. 

 

About our guest teacher,

George Sawa  

 

George Sawa was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He has over 50 year- experience in Arabic music performance, history and theory and has performed and lectured extensively worldwide: Canada, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Europe (Spain, Italy, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Greece) and the Middle East (Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates).

He studied piano with Mme Irene Drakides, herself a student of the famed educator Alfred Cortot.

He studied qanun, theory and voice at the Higher Institute of Arabic Music. After immigrating to Canada, he studied ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto, and obtained his doctorate in historical Arabic musicology.

He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on medieval, modern, and religious music of the Middle East at the University of Toronto and at York University.

He´s the author of Music Performance Practice in the Early cAbbasid Era.

132-320 AH/750-932 AD; Rhythmic Theories and Practices in Arabic Writings to 339AH/950 CE (Ottawa: The Institute of Mediaeval Music, 2004 and 2009); and An Arabic Musical and Socio-Cultural Glossary of Kitab al-Aghani (The Book of Songs) of al-Isbahani (d. 971) (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2015); 

Erotica, Love, and Humor in Arabia. Spicy Stories from the Book of Songs of al-Isfahani (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2016); 

Musical and Socio-Cultural Anecdotes from Kitab al-Aghani. Annotated Translations and Commentaries (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2019); 

Hawi l-Funun wa-Salwat al-Mahzun, Encompasser of the Arts and Consoler of the Grief-Stricken by Ibn al-Tahhan. Annotated Translation and Commentary (Leiden, E.J. Brill, 2021).

His latest book “A Treatise on Qanun Musical Ornaments” will be published by Brill this year.

 He has published over 70 articles on Arabic music in refereed journals and encyclopedias, and is frequently invited to give lectures and concerts worldwide. 

In 2005, he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture for his research in Arabic music history. 

George has been the musical director for several productions of the Toronto-based Arabesque Dance Company, and taught hundreds of dancers at the Arabesque Academy and Hannan's Bellydance Studio in Toronto, as well as studios in Canada, USA, Brazil and Mexico. 

His CD, The Art of the Early Egyptian Qanun, Vol. 1, was nominated for a JUNO Award in World Music in 2009. A subsequent volume, The Art of the Early Egyptian Qanun, Vol. 2, was released in 2009. His Egyptian Music Appreciation and Practice for Bellydancers has won international acclaim and is an invaluable - one of a kind - companion to bellydancers all over the world (it is also available in Chinese, French, Greek, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, German and Portuguese). A companion set of two DVDs produced with Lulu Hartenbach in Brazil includes over 50 tracks of dancing instruction from his CDs and book: Lulu and George Dimitri Sawa. 

 

  • Only $89 for the live & recorded Masterclass + Bonuses (access to both for as long as our school exists)
Click HERE to subscribe

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Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School, 

delivering authentic Egyptian Dance, Personal Discovery & Empowerment

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