Joana Saahirah´s World Blog
A Collection of Articles, Videos, and Freebies on Egyptian Dance, Self-Discovery & Empowerment
You shouldn´t learn Egyptian Dance. Here´s why.
Because, if properly taught, Egyptian Dance disrupts your life.
Because it challenges you on levels you didn´t even know existed.
Because it´ll make you look in the mirror and say "I love you" with genuine feeling (and there´ll be consequences resulting from it).
Because it´ll open your mind, heart, body, and soul and we know how dangerous that can be.
Because it´ll show you the Path of Sacred Sensuality, a path that´ll make you a...
The Ultimate Self-Empowerment Tool
Imagine a world where you rely on can yourself for guidance, strength, wisdom, and direction.
Imagine a world where you dream and accomplish those dreams, where you know, ´cause you know, the power to be the person you wish to become is within.
That world is my concept of SELF-EMPOWERMENT, one of the keys to my career and life.
Now, let´s get clear:
Self-Empowerment, like every other subject on the face of the earth, means different things for different people.
For me, the...
Why I went to Egypt - A Soul Journey by Joana Saahirah
For a long time, I didn´t think about my journey.
The slogan I use - from Portugal to Egypt; from Egypt to the World - synthesized the path I´d already built but, to be honest, I hadn´t had the time to reflect upon it. So far.
It all happened fast. Abnormally fast; a thunderbolt, a weird time-travel adventure I didn´t dare to question. My life before and after (re)discovering Egyptian Dance is unrecognizable. Two completely different realities.
...
The Mystical (Sensual) Journey of the Baladi Awadi
For most dancers, Baladi is a style. If those dancers are informed, they´ll know Baladi is a dance, music, and lifestyle; it´s also the name of a rhythm and the term used to describe typically Egyptian people, things, and places.
Baladi comes from "balad", homeland/country.
Baladi = "My homeland/country".
Baladi bread - typical Egyptian bread.
Baladi coffeeshop - a typical Egyptian coffeeshop.
Baladi attitude - a typical Egyptian attitude that mixes groundedness,...
Om Kolthoum can change your life (I´ll show you how)
Om Kolthoum can change your life.
I know this is an ambitious claim but, I assure you, we can fulfill it.
As usual, I write/dance/teach from experience. The theory isn´t enough - it never was. I have to live in order to tell.
And I´ve been living it - this long-time love affair with the music of Om Kolthoum and its side effects.
Most Oriental dancers, from every level, associate the music of Om Kolthoum to a distant, out of reach, sophisticated world but my story...
How I fell in love with Om Kolthoum (a very personal story by Joana Saahirah)
Let me tell you a secret: I didn´t start loving Om Kolthoum. In fact, for years, I didn´t get what all the fuss was about.
My first contact with Egyptian music happened through Hossam Ramzy, pop and shaabi music I found in the markets during my first study trips to Egypt, the easy on western ears kind of stuff.
Om Kolthoum was an icon, an untouchable name that popped on my horizon as a mandatory field of study, a...
What teachers don´t tell you about Emotion in Egyptian Dance
Emotion and Egyptian Dance come in one single package.
I´d say there´s no Egyptian Dance without emotion. True, mask-free, raw, coming-from-within emotion.
As I work on a new Online Course for Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School, focused on Love, I reflect on what it means to feel - in Egyptian Dance and in Life - and how we can express emotion in a clear, powerful, meaningful way.
There are techniques, tips, and tricks. Opening of chakras, postures,...
Singing in the rain with the Master, Mahmoud Reda
That was our first work trip together outside of Egypt. In Brighton, the UK, a little, cozy, town with dollhouses.
I was assisting Mahmoud Reda, the Father of Egyptian Folklore and the genius behind the "Reda Troupe", in his workshops and I was also teaching mine.
Mahmoud and I, having lunch, during a break at the festival where we taught in Brighton (the beautiful and talented dancer, Orit Maftsir, is in the group ;) )
In the evening, there was a show. I performed, watching...
The biggest GIFT any teacher can give you
Have you ever met a Teacher who changed you or/and the course of your life?
They say the teacher appears when the student´s ready. I´ve always been ready to learn; always curious, thriving for more, deeper, better.
I´m many things - a Teacher, a Dancer, a Choreographer, an Author and - but, mostly, I´m an Eternal Student. Understandably, loads of powerful teachers have popped, from time to time, into my life.
From all the amazing teachers I...
Precious Lessons I learned from Mahmoud Reda, the Father of Egyptian Folklore
My path, in life as in dance, hasn´t always been easy but it has been rich, filled with evolution, joy, accomplishments, pleasure, and blessings.
One of the biggest gifts I received was Mahmoud Reda´s friendship, teachings, and support.
Mahmoud Reda
If you love Egyptian Dance and you don´t know Mahmoud Reda and/or The Reda Troupe, you have to change it. Educate yourself, starting HERE and HERE...
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