Taryn Tabitha Tabitha teaches: Tuesdays 6:30pm Online Wednesdays 6:30pm & 7:30pm In person/online Saturdays 9:30 & 10:30am In person Sundays 9:00am Online
Tabitha began her life-long love affair with belly dance when she first saw a troupe of dancers performing in her hometown of Truckee, CA when she was small. She didn't start taking lessons until moving to the Bay Area in 2001 where she discovered Belly Dance! Studio, then owned by Leea Aziz. 3 years after starting, and under Leeas mentorship, Fadil Shahin offered Tabitha a job on a tuesday night at the famous El Morocco Restaurant. Since then she has performed at parties, events, weddings, clubs and restaurants ever since. She was lucky to work with live musicians on a weekly basis at Marrakech Restaurant in San Francisco, where she worked for 7 years. She also worked at El Mansour in San Francisco until today. Her belly dance career has taken her to compete as a soloist and as a troupe, to teach belly dance at CAl State East Bay as well as St. Marys, to travel the united states to take workshops and classes and to Egypt to learn about the true heart of belly dance. It wasn't until 2015 where she purchased Belly Dance! Studio from Leea and made it her own, and continued to grow this rich community of women who all love belly dance! Over the years Tabitha has studied with countless instructors, and is always seeking out instructors who are authentic or who are from the Middle East. Some of her favorite dancers whom she has studied with include Madame Raqia Hassan, Fifi Abdou, Tito, Mohammed Sahin, Karim Nagi, Aziza of Cairo and Amanda Rose.
Rabiyah
Rabiyah Rabiyah teaches: Thursdays Troupe 7:30pm Bio coming soon!
Tamara Tamara teaches: Tuesdays 6:30pm - 8:00pm different formats Bio coming soon!
Zahara Zahara teaches all yoga classes Tues,Weds,Thursday 11:00am ZAHARA IS A MULTI AWARD-WINNING INTERNATIONAL BELLY DANCE ARTIST ORIGINALLY FROM BRAZIL, BASED IN THE BAY AREA. HER JOY AND SOUL MAKES HER EXTREMELY INCOMPARABLE. HER PERFORMANCES ARE FULL OF ENERGY AND STRENGTH, LAYERED WITH FLUID TECHNIQUE, MUSICALITY, ARTISTIC EMOTION AND PASSION. ZAHARA IS DEVOTED TO BRING HAPPINESS , LIGHT AND ENTHUSIASM TO HER CROWD. SHE STARTED TO DANCE AT A VERY YOUNG AGE BY WATCHING THE FAMOUS BRAZILIAN CARNIVAL PARADE ON TV, WHICH WAS THE MOMENT HER MOM NOTICED HER TALENT AND DECIDED TO PUT ZAHARA ON JAZZ AND BALLET CLASSES. BUT WHEN SHE FINALLY FOUND BELLY DANCE, SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH AND STARTED TO DEDICATE MOST OF HER TIME STUDYING, TEACHING AND PERFORMING IT. CURRENTLY BASED IN THE UNITED STATES, CA; ZAHARA PERFORMS FREQUENTLY AT PERSIAN NIGHTCLUBS, MOROCCAN CUISINES, MEDITERRANEAN RESTAURANTS, FESTIVALS, WEDDINGS, BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS, GRADUATIONS, BABY AND BRIDAL SHOWERS, POOL PARTIES, NEW HOMES, CORPORATE PARTIES AND SPECIAL EVENTS . SHE IS AVAILABLE FOR BOOKING PERFORMANCES, WORKSHOPS, LECTURES, AND EVENTS, LOCALLY/NATIONALLY AND OVERSEAS. SHE IS PROUD OF HER UNIQUE BLEND COMING FROM THE LATIN/SAMBA MOVES WITHIN HER BODY! ZAHARA IS FEATURED ON A LIVE BELLY DANCE PERFORMANCE DVD CALLED BY DANCERS FOR DANCERS VOL. 4 BY CHEEKY GIRLS PRODUCTIONS. AND LAST , BUT NOT LEAST. SHE HAS GRADUATED AS A YOGA TEACHER IN 2016 WITH ABOUT 800 HOURS OF STUDIES. ACHIEVING E-RYT 500 AND E-RYT 300. FROM VARIOUS TRAININGS IN BERKELEY AND MARIN COUNTY YOGA SCHOOLS. SHE IS A FOUNDER OF HER UNIQUE STYLE CALLED YOGA BELLYDANCE FLOW CLASS. WHERE SHE COMBINED THE BELLYDANCE ART WITH THE HEALING ART OF YOGA INTO ONE UNIQUE FLOW. ZAHARA AWARDS: WINNER OF EMERALD PRO 2013 WINNER OF DIAMOND PRO 2013 WINNER OF PALACE DANCER 2006 WINNER OF CABARET DANCER 2006 WINNER OF QUEEN OF THE BAY 2006
Madeline Madeline teaches Thursdays Beginner 6:30pm In Person Bio coming soon!
Laila
Laila is a professional belly dancer who has been with the studio for 9 years. She has an extensive dance background, but belly dance is where her heart is! She fell in love with belly dance at a very young age when dressing up as Princess Jasmine and going to the Restaurant El Morocco with her family! She would also go to see her aunt bellydance with her troupe in Truckee! Laila has been a part of several of our studio troupes including River Roses, Troupe Sumaia, & Quamar. She has performed in many festivals as a troupe member and as a soloist. She won the Audience Choice Award at the first Star of the Show Bellydance Competition in 2017. She has been the featured dancer at many restaurants in the Bay Area including El Morocco in Pleasant Hill, Abigail’s in Alameda, and El Mansour & Marrakesh in San Francisco. She dances regularly at El Morocco and at private parties. She loves to dance for and with her audience! Laila absolutely loves teaching belly dance classes and loves helping her students connect with the belly dancer within! Laila is also a certified barre instructor and is happy to share that with her bellydance students! She currently teaches Beginning and Intermediate Belly dance and Bellydance-Barre classes at our studio. Belly dance and Barre are a fun and safe way to exercise! Laila danced and taught all through her pregnancy with her son last year, even past her due date! She looks forward to dancing with you all in class!