Belly Dance Life

Devin Alfather is a multidisciplinary dancer and entertainer specializing in theatrical Fusion Bellydance, Egyptian Raqs Sharqi, MENAHT and world fusion dances, as well as burlesque, circus, fire performance, and other dance forms. A multi-award-winning performer and instructor, she is dedicated to both technical development and deeper understanding of the cultural sources behind the forms she studies. Her performances often combine belly dance with theatrical storytelling, props, fire, balancing work, veil, zills, Isis wings, and other visual elements, allowing her to create highly distinctive experiences for a wide range of events. Alongside performing across Texas and beyond, Devin teaches workshops for detail-oriented dancers and continues to study source materials and artists while developing her own multidisciplinary approach to movement and performance.

In this episode you will learn about:
- How belly dance, circus, burlesque, and theatrical storytelling can coexist in one career
- Why diversifying your performance skills can create more professional opportunities
- How storytelling influences everything from movement to costume design
- What drag and burlesque taught Devin about the incredible power of stillness
- Why complex layering requires more relaxation, not more tension

Show Notes to this episode:
Find Devin Alfather on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and website, as well as her Patreon account HERE.
Details the BDE shows and training programs are available at www.JoinBDE.com
Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Check out her online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club.
For more information about sponsorship ads on the podcast, email to info@ianadance.com.
Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

Silvia Brazzoli is an international belly dance artist, instructor, artistic director, yoga teacher, and visual artist based in Italy. She began studying oriental dance at the age of 18 and has since performed and taught across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Known for her elegant, feminine style and empowering approach to teaching, Silvia continues to explore oriental dance and other movement traditions as part of her ongoing artistic development. In Italy, she runs her own school and directs the Silvia Raqs Group, while also organizing events and retreats. She has received numerous international competition titles and has performed with world-renowned companies including Jillina Carlano’s Bellydance Evolution and Manca Pavli’s Amaya Dance Company. Her work brings together dance, yoga, musicality, body awareness, creativity, and a strong belief in the lifelong evolution of the dancer.

In this episode you will learn about:
- How grief completely reshaped Silvia’s relationship with dance
- What it feels like to fall out of love with dance and find your way back
- Why talking openly about miscarriage matters in a women-dominated dance community
- Why studying Arabic transformed the way she hears and interprets music
- What local gigs teach you that festival stages never will

Show Notes to this episode:
Find Silvia Brazzoli and her events on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and website, as well as check her NEW BOOK here.
Previous interview with Silvia Brazzoli:
Ep 245 - Silvia Brazzoli - Therapeutic Effect Of Belly Dance
Details the BDE shows and training programs are available at www.JoinBDE.com
Check Iana’s online platform the Iana Dance Club HERE.
Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Check out her online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club.
Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.
Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

Moria Chappell is an internationally renowned performance artist, dance instructor, researcher, artistic director, and costume designer specializing in Fusion and Experimental Belly Dance, Temple Dance, and Indian Odissi Classical Dance. Over more than two decades, she has performed, taught, and researched ancient dance traditions in over 50 countries, exploring connections between movement, ritual, mythology, and ancient trade routes. A principal dancer and later Artistic Director of the Bellydance Superstars from 2005–2015, Moria is known for her archetypal performance style and Muscular Belly Dance Technique, emphasizing precision, isolation, and individual expression. She is also a principal dancer, teacher, and Assistant Director of the Urvasi Dance Ensemble, studying the Mahari tradition of Odissi under Dr. Ratna Roy. Her work brings together movement research, theatrical production, and a lifelong fascination with the ancient roots of dance.

In this episode you will learn about:
- Why Moria believes ancient dances were connected through trade, migration, and shared ritual practices
- How ancient societies used dance for far more than entertainment
- Why sexuality, fertility, spirituality, and dance became so deeply intertwined
- How historical associations with sexuality continue to shape stigma around belly dance
- How a severe spinal injury completely changed her relationship with her body and teaching

Show Notes to this episode:
Find Moria Chappell on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and website, as well as her Patreon account HERE.
Details the BDE shows and training programs are available at www.JoinBDE.com
Check Iana’s online platform the Iana Dance Club HERE.
Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Check out her online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club.
Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.
Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

Nisaa (Heather D. Ward) is an instructor, performer, and researcher of Egyptian dance based in St. Louis, Missouri. Specializing in Egyptian raqs sharqi as well as baladi, awalim, ghawazi, and other Egyptian folk and traditional dances, her work focuses on understanding dance within its broader sociocultural and historical context. With academic degrees in anthropology and history, Nisaa has studied with internationally renowned artists as well as Egyptian traditional entertainers and has been teaching Egyptian dance since 2003. Her research into the history of Egyptian dance and its professional practitioners led to the publication of Egyptian Belly Dance in Transition: The Raqs Sharqi Revolution, 1890–1930 and her latest book, Raqs in the City: The Belly Dance Landscape of Cairo. Through her teaching, performance, and research, Nisaa works to deepen understanding of Egyptian dance as both a living art form and a reflection of the history and culture that shaped it.

In this episode you will learn about:
- What most dancers got wrong about Egypt’s Delta Ghawazi
- Why traditional styles deserve the same depth of study as Raqs Sharqi
- What the disappearance of Muhammad Ali Street changed in Egypt’s dance industry
- How class and gentrification influence where Egyptian dance is presented today
- Why professional dancers in Egypt still carry a powerful social stigma & how outsiders can misjudge Egyptian dancers without understanding their reality

Show Notes to this episode:
Find Nisaa (Heather D. Ward) on Instagram, FB, YouTube, and website.
Previous interview with Nisaa:
Ep 236. Nisaa (Heather D. Ward): Detaching Opinions From Historical Realities
Details the BDE shows and training programs are available at www.JoinBDE.com
Check Iana’s online platform the Iana Dance Club HERE.
Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Check out her online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club.
Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.
Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

Jrisi Jusakos is an Australian dancer, choreographer, educator, and producer with more than 35 years of experience in dance. Born in Chile to a Greek family and raised in Australia, she first connected with Arabic music and dance through Sydney’s Lebanese community before beginning her formal belly dance training as a teenager. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a major in Contemporary Choreography and has extensive training in Raqs Sharqi, ballet, jazz, contemporary, flamenco, and Persian dance. Her career has included professional performance in Sydney’s Arabic live music scene, international study across Egypt, Lebanon, Germany, and New York, and the founding of the Hathor Persian Dance Ensemble. Today, her work centers on musicality, improvisation, artistic individuality, and the relationship between dancer and live musician, while she also creates accessible movement programs for seniors, mixed-ability participants, and culturally diverse communities.

In this episode you will learn about:
- What Sydney’s Arabic nightlife looked like when full live bands were everywhere
- Why dancing to live music feels completely different from recorded tracks
- What to do with stage anxiety before a live performance
- How to practice improvisation before you ever step onstage
- How grief, life changes, and personal experiences inevitably enter our dancing

Show Notes to this episode:
Find Jrisi Jusakos on Instagram, YouTube, and website, as well as her Hathor Dance Studio on Facebook.
Details the BDE shows and training programs are available at www.JoinBDE.com
Check Iana’s online platform the Iana Dance Club HERE.
Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Check out her online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club.
Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.
Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast