Joana Saahirah´s World Blog
A Collection of Articles, Videos, and Freebies on Egyptian Dance, Self-Discovery & Empowerment
Egyptian Dance that Smells like Jasmine
The art of Control and Surrender in Egyptian Dance
In Egyptian Dance, as in Life, the goal is perhaps - and I use the word "perhaps" because, by now, I´ve lost all my certainties - to get as close as possible to balance.
The balance between doing and not doing - action and stillness.
The balance between emotion and intellect - feeling and thinking.
The balance between sharpness and softness - being assertive and organic.
The balance between harmony and chaos - an educated body in a free soul.
The balance between ambition and love for t
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She showed me what was possible🌟
Once upon a time, a time that seems distant and yet so close, I had an awakening.
A Tunisian artist called Leila Haddad was going to present an Oriental Dance performance at "Culturgest", one of the most prestigious theatres in Lisbon, Portugal.
Leila dragged a fascinating culture behind her. Her photo on the poster of the performance smelled of cumin and "bokhour" (incense); her ellusive presence promised a magic I´d never witnessed.
At the time, I knew close to nothing about Oriental Da...
What I learned in 2023🎉
Growing older is inevitable - the privilege of the ones who live to tell; growing up is optional.
And what I´ve observed is that most of us grow older without ever growing up.
One of the reasons why we don´t grow up is because we refuse to learn from life experience.
I´m a compulsive learner. Give me a course, a book, a podcast, any great learning tool, and I´m a happy girl.
Yet, I know that there´s no better school than life experience.
That is if:
1. We´re willing to look back wit
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The Mindset of an Empowered Dancer
The way we think shapes the way we dance. And, most importantly, the way we live.
At Joana Saahirah´s Signature Course, we work on mindset and heartset as much as we work on the physical body, dance technique, musicality, and all sorts of delicious skills oriental dancers have to develop.
In this post, I´m sharing an excerpt from a Bonus Live Class I delivered at our Signature Course about THE MINDSET OF A PROFESSIONAL ORIENTAL DANCER.
The thing is: it doesn´t matter if you´re a profess...
Random Pleasures that Feed my Soul
Images that speak more than words✨
A couple of pleasures that feed my soul✨
Consider it basic self-care. Rituals of self-preservation. Routines that nurture what is human in me✨
A creamy cappuccino, come rain or come shine.
Sprinkled with cinnamon or dark chocolate.
Books.
Reading them, above all; smelling their pages; browsing bookshops; discovering new books; last but not least, writing books (I have two published; more on the way).
Animals (aka Angels...
An Intimate Portrait of Mahmoud Reda
We´re on the highway, between Cairo and Alexandria, and Abdel Wahab is playing on the radio.
There´s light - a light you only find in Egypt, attached to a scent of past and hope - peaking through my window in the backseat of the car. A soul-comforting light; one of the reasons why I lived and worked in Egypt for almost a decade of my life; a return home.
There's me, Mahmoud Reda, and his wife, in the car.
I´m singing along, using my best Arabic, with Abdel Wahab.
The song ...
Simple Things that bring Joy to your Dance
Let me ask you something:
When you think about Egyptian Dance, what are the first words that pop into your head?
For most of us, Egyptian Dance comes with baggage. Heavy Baggage.
My man was once asked, in an ushered, almost forbidden manner, if what "I did" was allowed for children.
I was often asked, at the beginning of my career, if what I did was a dance of seduction and whom, if I didn´t mind answering it, I was seducing.
When "Egyptian Dance" comes to the table, it usually show...
Me, Souhair Zaki, Tarab & my Awakening
Me and Souhair Zaki at "Ahlan wa Sahlan" Festival in Cairo, Egypt
She was the unbeatable reference of elegance, art, dignity, artistry and soul in Egyptian Dance and I was a student, traveling in Egypt, in search for myself, in search of the roots of the dance I´d come to call my own.
Her name was(is) Souhair Zaki and she gave me one of the biggest gifts a Teacher can offer a Student: a glimpse into the true meaning of "Raks el Sharki", Egyptian Oriental Dance; the so-called, erroneously ...
What knives and dust can do to a person
In Egypt, there are worlds beneath the worlds tourists can see.
There´s the layer of tourists and occasional visitors; the layer of expatriates who live aside/protected from the real country; the layer of the ones who dig deep into Egypt´s bones.
I´ve always belonged to the last layer - there were no buffers, no protection, no intermediary between me and the reality of Egypt. The best and the worst - I saw it, ate it, drank it, breathed it.
One night, I went to a Shaabi Party...
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