Houston OR your living room? Now you can dance with me either way!
I’ve been busy upgrading my studio setup, and I am SO excited about this. Two camera views, excellent audio, and a brand-new streaming setup designed to make joining class online feel easy, interactive and totally fun.
BEGINNER: Palestinian Pop Choreography We’ll be dancing to “Kalamantina” by Saint Levant, a ridiculously catchy blend of new-wave Arab pop, R&B, reggaeton and Egyptian rhythm. We’ll start each week with technique and then build it into a fun, accessible choreography over the course of the series.
INTERMEDIATE: Shashkin | The Cymbal Dance Ready to get those zills moving? We’ll be learning John Compton’s classic Cymbal Dance, a fabulous finger cymbal choreography that will challenge you to bring your dancing and your music-making together in new and creative ways. We’ll dig into some fun zill skills along the way and get grounded with some Ren Faire style combinations too.
Full-series registration includes the complete recordings of our classes with ONE FULL YEAR of access and opportunities to perform the choreography in an online or in-person showcase.
🙌 Work your hand dexterity with this funky twist on a classic pattern.
Instead of alternating your hands with the gallop try one stroke on one hand, followed by two strokes onthe other.
For example:
✋R-L-L
Or
🤚L-R-R
This forces your second hand to move pretty quickly! Keep the fingers close together and relax the hand. Tension only makes it harder to play fast.
I’m warming up this hand pattern, which I first learned from the incredible John Compton a couple of decades ago, because I’m getting ready to teach his fabulous Cymbal Dance, which uses it quite a bit!
✨ And for the first time ever I’ll be offering the choreography as a hybrid course online – so you can learn with me whether you are in Houston or anywhere else in the world!
Learn this intermediate level belly dance routine – The Layaly Combination!
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The Layaly combination is a Level 1 variation from one of my technique releases inside The Belly Dance Journey. I’d consider this version somewhere around a early intermediate level, with some fun movement, layering and transition concepts to play with.
But learning the combination is only the beginning!
In the full release, I use this same combination to explore the idea of leveling our dance material. We start here, then level it up not once, but TWICE, gradually adding more layers, texture, nuance and complexity until we arrive at a much more advanced version.
I love teaching this way because it’s not really about learning three different combinations. It’s about understanding what MAKES something more challenging and learning how to adjust dance material to meet you where you are right now.
Those are skills you can take into everything you learn, whether you’re working with my choreography, someone else’s, or creating movement of your own.
✨ Want to learn all three levels with me inside The Belly Dance Journey?
This tutorial is a little peek at the kind of work we do together each month inside my online belly dance membership. In addition to our on-demand releases, we meet live twice every month so members can bring their questions, troubleshoot challenges and workshop the material with me in real time.
Join The Belly Dance Journey and get access to this combination as well as over 500 hours of belly dance content – technique, choreographies, zills, props, improv and more!
What happens when belly dance meets barbershop harmony?! 🎶💃
I have maintained for YEARS that I can belly dance to absolutely anything with a beat. So when the opportunity came along to put that theory to the test—with a live a cappella barbershop chorus, no less—well… obviously I had to say yes. 😂
This performance from a concert in Houston brought together my tribal belly dance troupe Urban Hipsy and my friends and the incredible voices of Space City Sound for what just might be the world’s first collaboration between a belly dance troupe and a barbershop chorus. (If someone out there has evidence otherwise, I genuinely want to see it!)
A HUGE thank you to the beautiful dancers of Urban Hipsy for jumping into this adventure with me—and to the leadership of Space City Sound for dreaming up this delightfully strange collaboration in the first place. 💜 @spacecitysound
So… did it work?! Watch the performance and tell me your thoughts in the comments. And perhaps we’ve proven once and for all: if it’s got a beat, we can dance to it. 😉
Sahira is an international belly dance performer and instructor with over 25 years of experience helping women around the world embrace their confidence, creativity, and health through dance. She’s taught at festivals in over a dozen countries and has been featured in major media worldwide! Learn more at SahiraBellyDances.com
💃🔥 In just 7 minutes, learn one of Shakira’s signature belly dance choreographies!
This fast-paced tutorial is designed for dancers with some belly dance experience who are ready to jump right in. We’ll move through the choreography quickly, putting the pieces together so you can stop drilling and start DANCING.
Expect plenty of shimmies, attitude, and those unmistakable hip movements that have been part of Shakira’s signature style for decades.
✨ Looking for bigger, bolder shimmies like Shakira does in this video? 💃🎶 🎁 Check out this FREE shimmy class and unleash your most powerful shimmy! http://SahiraBellyDances.com/ShimmyTips
✨ Want a little more help with the movements? Check out a longer, more detailed tutorial where I slow things down and break down the individual movements more thoroughly here: https://youtu.be/7ZQN7x1PTfA?si=chf1Zd3qcANCfUJQ
Grab a hip scarf, turn up the music, and give me seven minutes. Let’s see how much Shakira you can channel! 🔥💃
Tell me in the comments: Which part of the choreography is your favorite?
TIME STAMPS
0:00 : Introduction 0:09 : Choreography build 6:16 : Choreography review 6:52 : Dance it with Shakira!
🌟 Meet Your Instructor:
Sahira is an international belly dance performer and instructor with over 25 years of experience helping women around the world embrace their confidence, creativity, and health through dance. She’s taught at festivals in over a dozen countries and has been featured in major media worldwide! Learn more at SahiraBellyDances.com
✨ Shimmy your way to more confidence, strength, and joy! 💃🎶 🎁 Get this FREE shimmy class for bolder, more confidence and more reliable shimmies: http://SahiraBellyDances.com/ShimmyTips
Ready to take your shoulder shimmy beyond the basics?
One of the secrets to expressive belly dancing isn’t learning hundreds of new movements—it’s discovering new ways to use the movements you already know. By creating layers and variations, you can respond to the music with greater nuance, creativity, and sophistication.
In this intermediate belly dance tutorial, you’ll learn four shoulder shimmy variations that will expand your movement vocabulary and give you more options for interpreting the music.
We’ll also cover several professional tips to help you keep your shimmies feeling juicy, relaxed, and beautifully grounded, rather than tense or disconnected.
If you’re brand new to shoulder shimmies, I recommend starting with my Beginner Shoulder Shimmy Tutorial first:
Then come back here when you’re ready to add even more color and personality to your dancing!
I’d love to know—which variation is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy dancing! 💃✨
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TIME STAMPS
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0:00 : Introduction
0:28 : Pro tips for grounded shimmies
0:41 : Variation 1 : The SeeSaw
1:57 : Variation 2 : The Shrug
3:17 : Variation 3 : Roll Forward
4:29 : Variation 4 : Roll Back
🌟 Meet Your Instructor:
Sahira is an international belly dance performer and instructor with over 25 years of experience helping women around the world embrace their confidence, creativity, and health through dance. She’s taught at festivals in over a dozen countries and has been featured in major media worldwide! Learn more at SahiraBellyDances.com
In this 9-minute intermediate belly dance class, we’ll start with a focused technique warmup to wake up the body strengthen the dance muscles.
Then we’ll build a dynamic traveling combination packed with some great belly dance elements.
Dive in to:
✨ Undulations and layering
✨ Challenging hip and footwork combinations
✨ Traveling patterns that move across the dance floor
Get a quick hit of movement while working your technique.
By the end, you’ll have a fun new combination you can add to your next practice session, improv, or even your performance repertoire.
💜 Press play, turn up the music, and let’s dance!
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TIME STAMPS
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0:00 : Introduction
0:04 : Warmup
6:03 : Combination Build
7:25 : Dance with Music
🌟 Meet Your Instructor:
Sahira is an international belly dance performer and instructor with over 25 years of experience helping women around the world embrace their confidence, creativity, and health through dance. She’s taught at festivals in over a dozen countries and has been featured in major media worldwide! Learn more at SahiraBellyDances.com
✨ Learn to play the finger cymbals with confidence, creativity and musicality. 💃🎶 🎁 Snag my FREE beginner online finger cymbal class at http://SahiraBellyDances.com/Zillstar
What happens when hundreds of dancers from around the world come together for 10 days to play, learn, and make music?
This performance is the result. ✨
Arabic 1234 was choreographed especially for the 2026 Zill Challenge, where dancers spent ten days building confidence with their finger cymbals through daily lessons, live events, community, and lots of zilling. Watching this choreography come to life in the hands of so many dancers was nothing short of magical!
🎵 Music by the incredible Miss Thea. Be sure to check out more of her fantastic music at MissThea.Bandcamp.com.
Cover photo by Jordan : @xxnaleyxx9
Want to become a more confident, creative, and musical ziller yourself?
🥁 Join us for the next Zill Challenge at TheZillChallenge.com and discover just how much fun finger cymbals can be!
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🌟 Meet Your Instructor:
Sahira is an international belly dance performer and instructor with over 25 years of experience helping women around the world embrace their confidence, creativity, and health through dance. She’s taught at festivals in over a dozen countries and has been featured in major media worldwide! Learn more at SahiraBellyDances.com
