Belly Dance Life

Giselle Alfaro, originally from El Salvador, is a dance artist with more than 17 years of experience, specializing in Middle Eastern dance. She has performed at international festivals including Oriental Marathon Festival in France, Bellydance Convention in Mexico, and Sands of Time in Greece. From 2017 to 2019, Giselle toured as a featured dancer with BellyDance Evolution in its production Fantasm and later joined the creative team as assistant director for the season finale in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Alongside her artistic career, Giselle holds a B.S. in Finance and Economics and is deeply committed to community service. For the past three years, she has worked as a medical interpreter supporting the Hispanic community at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

In this episode you will learn about:
- How to train your brain to feel more comfortable before stepping onstage
- How international opportunities often grow from relationships built years earlier
- What years with Bellydance Evolution taught her about touring, collaboration, and professional dance life
- How Giselle rebuilt her dancing after surgery through repetition and consistency
- Is social media visibility really that important?

Show Notes to this episode:
Find Giselle Alfaro on Instagram, or via Giselle.alfaro84@gmail.com.
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

Haifa is a Kuwaiti dance artist, Certified BMD belly dance instructor, and founder of The Rhythm Academy for Performing Arts, with 27 years of experience in Oriental dance. Recognized as one of Kuwait’s pioneering dance educators, she was among the early women to openly present and teach Oriental dance as a legitimate art form and wellness practice despite experiencing significant social resistance shaped by cultural traditions and expectations. Rather than allowing these challenges to define her path, Haifa met them with patience, resilience, and unwavering determination, inspiring many women who later followed a similar path into dance training.
Throughout her career, Haifa has worked to promote a respectful and culturally conscious understanding of dance while emphasizing its role in self-expression, body awareness, confidence, femininity, and emotional well-being. Through The Rhythm Academy, she has helped create greater space for women in Kuwait to experience and study dance, while also bringing international artists and master teachers to the local community. Her work reflects nearly three decades of commitment to expanding the possibilities for women to engage with dance as both an art and a meaningful way to reconnect with their bodies, embrace their femininity, express themselves freely, and develop greater confidence and presence.

In this episode you will learn about:
- What makes Kuwaiti dance fundamentally different from Egyptian belly dance
- How social media helped revive interest in preserving Kuwaiti dance
- How Haifa became one of the first women to speak publicly about belly dance in Kuwaiti media, and how speaking about dance led to legal complaints and even threats of jail
- Why women in her classes often come for femininity and self-acceptance more than technique
- How she learned to market belly dance in a way that speaks to a conservative cultural environment

Show Notes to this episode:
Find Haifa on Instagram, and TikTok.
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

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