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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! |
Taryn Tabitha
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.
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.
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Sumaia
Sumaia is an award-winning artist and world-renowned dancer based in San Francisco, California. She is an innovator in creating and presenting stunning shows and makes every event a success with her accessories, polish and professionalism. Sumaia, originally from Argentina, has been dancing for over 15 years and has loved every minute of it. Along with completing her other dance specialties are teaching, skills assessment, event production, and tutoring. Sumaia combines passion, grace, and precision to create her high-energy shows, and has conducted full classes and workshops in the US, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Spain. Along with teaching and acting, Sumaia has created its own signature format to deliver unforgettable shows, as well as tutoring for competition preparation and professional show preparation. She has produced the Cairo Night Show with Sammy Faraad and Saidie, San Francisco Bellydance Intensive, and The Star of the Show, to name a few. 2016 BDUC Winner. |
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