Directory
Dancers
The professional people layer of Raqs Atlas — performers, instructors, choreographers, schools and the legends who shaped the art form.
153 profiles · showing 1–24
Choreographers
Legend · United States
Adriana Miller
Adriana Miller was one of the early institutional pioneers of Middle Eastern dance education in the United States. After moving to Washington, D.C. in the early 1960s, she became active in local Middle Eastern nightlife and eventually established her own…
Dancer · Egypt
Ahmed Refaat
Ahmed Refaat is an Egyptian folkloric dancer and choreographer with more than three decades of professional experience. He began dancing around the age of nine at the El Gezira Youth Center, where he trained under Egyptian teachers including Mokhtar Mustafa…
Cairo · Egypt
Aida Nour
Aida Nour built her foundation in Egyptian folkloric dance before becoming an important Raqs Sharqi performer and teacher. Her professional background included work connected with major Egyptian national and theatrical dance institutions. She later developed…
Los Angeles · United States
Aisha Ali
Aisha Ali is one of the most important American researchers and practitioners of Middle Eastern and North African dance. She began dancing professionally in the late 1950s and later developed a strong interest in documenting regional traditions at their…
Dancer · Ukraine
Alex DeLora
Alex DeLora is a Ukrainian international performer and educator particularly famous for highly controlled isolations and percussion interpretation. She began teaching before establishing a global workshop career and has been invited to more than fifty…
Nicosia · Cyprus
Alexia Nadirah
Alexia Nadirah is a Cypriot Oriental dancer, instructor, competition judge and festival director based in Nicosia. With more than two decades of experience in belly dance, she has developed her artistic style through continuous study with international master…
Cairo · Ukraine
Alla Kushnir
Alla Kushnir became one of the most publicly recognisable Ukrainian Oriental dancers through both competition and television. She entered Oriental dance as a young adult and quickly achieved major international competition results. Her visibility grew…
Dancer · Lebanon
Amani
Amani became one of the defining artists of modern Lebanese Oriental dance. From the late 1980s she consciously developed a personal theatrical approach distinct from the dominant Egyptian model. Her productions combined Oriental movement, specially arranged…
Dancer · Cuba
Amar Gamal
Amar Gamal was born in Cuba and raised in Miami, where she began belly dance at thirteen with the Mid Eastern Dance Exchange. She trained under an environment that included Tamalyn Dallal and also pursued formal studies in multiple Western dance styles. Gamal…
New Mexico · United States
Amaya
Amaya is a veteran American belly dancer whose career extends back to the formative decades of the modern American Oriental dance scene. She developed a distinctive performance style influenced by Middle Eastern dance alongside Spanish and Southwestern…
Dancer · Algeria
Amel Tafsout
Amel Tafsout was born and raised in Algeria, where she learned traditional movement through weddings, celebrations and community life rather than through a Western dance studio. She later expanded her education into international dance forms, music…
Cairo · Egypt
Amie Sultan
Amie Sultan is an Egyptian dancer whose professional foundation was originally classical ballet rather than Raqs Sharqi. She entered formal ballet training young and performed major roles before becoming increasingly interested in Egyptian dance and music. In…
San Francisco · United States
Amina Goodyear
Amina Goodyear began performing professionally in 1966 at San Francisco's famous Bagdad Cabaret. She became a principal performer in the city's Middle Eastern nightclub scene and worked regularly with live Arab and Turkish musicians. In 1971 she began…
Buenos Aires · Argentina
Amir Thaleb
Amir Thaleb is an Argentinian dancer of Syrian descent who became one of Latin America's most influential Oriental dance teachers. He discovered belly dance in his youth and developed a systematic approach to technical and artistic education. Thaleb founded a…
Beijing · South Korea
Angella Kim
Angella Kim is a South Korean dancer whose professional career has been especially influential in the development of Oriental dance in China. She began studying Oriental dance in 2005 after an academic background connected with theatre and performing arts. In…
Dancer · Ukraine
Anna Chepets
Anna Chepets began belly dance at only eight years old and entered serious competition at a young age. She achieved notable results at Egypt's Ahlan Wa Sahlan festival over several consecutive years. Her technical development was so rapid that she began…
Florida · United States
Ansuya Rathor
Ansuya Rathor was raised inside American belly-dance culture by her mother, dancer Jenaeni Rathor. She began performing at approximately four years old and developed a highly theatrical American Cabaret style. Her later career included Bellydance Superstars…
Abu Dhabi · Armenia
Anusch Alawerdian
Anusch Alawerdian is an Armenian-born Oriental dancer whose career has developed across Europe and the Gulf. Her movement education includes ballet, folk dance and jazz before she became deeply interested in Oriental dance around the age of seventeen. In 2002…
Warsaw · Poland
Apsara Afsanesara — Aleksandra Kilczewska
Apsara Afsanesara, born Aleksandra Kilczewska, is a Polish dancer known for specialising in dance traditions from Persia and the wider Silk Road region. Her movement background also includes ballet, modern, jazz, contemporary dance and Tribal-style belly…
Dancer · United States
Ariellah Aflalo
Ariellah Aflalo grew up in California and trained extensively in classical ballet before entering the belly-dance world. Her Moroccan family heritage encouraged an interest in North African and Middle Eastern movement traditions. After studying with several…
Dancer · Turkey
Asena
Asena became one of the most recognisable Turkish Oryantal personalities of the late 1990s and 2000s. Her career grew through nightclub appearances, television exposure and highly theatrical performances. She belonged to a period in which Turkish dancers…
Dancer · Turkey
Azad Kaan
Azad Kaan is a Turkish Oriental dancer, choreographer and teacher with more than two decades of professional experience. His background includes serious dance training in Europe as well as extensive work within the international belly-dance festival circuit…
Montreal · Canada
Aziza of Montreal
Aziza began dance in early childhood and spent many years training in classical ballet before discovering Middle Eastern dance in 1988. She subsequently dedicated her professional life to Oriental dance and developed an international teaching and performing…
Legend · Egypt
Badia Masabni
Badia Masabni was a Levantine-born performer and entrepreneur who became one of the central figures in the development of modern Raqs Sharqi. Through her influential Cairo nightclubs, particularly Casino Opera, she helped transform Oriental dance into a…