Performers (Listed Alphabetically)

Amaria Selene

Amaria is an American dancer who has been living in Cairo, Egypt for eight years. She currently performs all over Egypt and is the resident dancer on The Nile Pharoahs Cruising Restaurant since 2021. As a baby dancer, Amaria regularly attended Djam to learn and grow, and is honored return as a featured dancer in an event that has been essential to growing the dance community in NYC and beyond.

Angelica Almeida

Angelica is a Colombian dancer who has been living in New York for the past eight years. She began her journey in Oriental dance in 2019, when she joined Bellyqueen, and has been dedicated to developing her technique, musicality, and stage presence ever since. Currently, she is an active member of the Hadarians group, performing regularly at events and showcases across New York. Driven by curiosity and a love for movement, Angelica also explores other dance styles such as urban dance and salsa, which enrich her expression and versatility as a performer. She embraces her path as a dancer in constant growth, committed to learning, sharing, and building meaningful connections within the dance community. 

Apprentice Lionesses

Apprentice Lionesses El Atlas is a dance group directed by Soumaya MaRose. Their musical dance productions strive to present the diversity of Moroccan culture trough dance and its associated music. Its repertoire also includes dances from the larger MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Turkish) region. Apprentice Lionesses use theater and storytelling to engage with different communities, to preserve traditional dances, and to encourage people to see the connections between cultures. The members of The Lionesses are based in Boston and comprised of amateurs and professionals.

Brad MacDonald

Your Master of Ceremony, Brad Macdonald is a creative director, game designer, musician, and storyteller who has crafted interactive worlds for museums and cultural institutions including the Smithsonian and the Exploratorium. He’s spoken at SXSW and Art Basel, built over 100 games, teaches at Parsons, and believes humor is one of the most powerful technologies that humans have ever invented.

As a lifelong improviser (onstage and off), Brad thrives on energy, surprise, and connection, the perfect guide for a night of live music and dance where anything can happen.

Chantal Mariani

Birthday gal Chantal is a professional full time Middle Eastern Dance Artist for weddings, events, and parties in the NYC area, as well as an instructor. Deeply steeped in her Egyptian culture, she has remained very close to the Egyptian half of her family, and would dance unstoppably at 5 years old when her uncle would play his favorite Egyptian music. Chantal started with ballet, dancing nationally on tour with The Boston Flamenco Ballet Theatre Company. Her original passion brought her back to her exploration and love of performing and teaching Middle Eastern Dance!

“To Dance means to be fully human…to surrender to the way it draws out emotions and thoughts from the soul.”

Hillary

Hillary began her belly dance journey at the age of twelve, studying at Serena Studios under the legendary Serena Wilson. She later trained with Jehan Kemal and became a member of Jehan’s dance company. After completing her studies, Hillary went on to teach at Serena Studios until its closure.

In addition to belly dance, Hillary is an Italian folk dancer with experience in several styles of tarantelle and spent several years performing with a commedia dell’arte company, appearing in Off-Broadway productions and at Lincoln Center. 

Over the years, Hillary has performed belly and folk dancing at both intimate gatherings and large-scale events throughout the tristate area. She has cultivated an eclectic, empowering, and vivacious dance style that she delights in sharing—particularly with girls, women of all ages, and families. Today, she performs at private events, teaches private classes, and is a featured belly dance performer at two annual witch-themed festivals in Salem, Massachusetts, and the French Quarter of New Orleans. Outside of dance, Hillary works as a psychologist and enjoys traveling.

Kaeshi Chai

Kaeshi Chai is a dancer, choreographer, educator, and producer devoted to connection, creativity, and care for our planet through movement. Founder of DJAM NYC, she has taught and performed in 48 U.S. states and 39 countries, touring with Bellyqueen, PURE, Bellydance Superstars, Bellydance Evolution, and Bella Gaia, and appearing on Conan O’Brien.

She has produced over 600 shows, tours, and events worldwide. Her work bridges art and community — from environmental performance projects like Nature Stories and art-science presentations at the Exploratorium, to Lunar New Year and AAPI cultural programs in libraries and schools, and creative movement education for children through 92NY. Kaeshi is also the director, teacher trainer and instructor at the Bellyqueen School of Dance.

Katherine the Great

Katherine the Great is the stage name of Katherine Perez, a New York City based belly dance performer and instructor known for her passion, elegance, and dynamic stage presence. Her dance journey began in 2016 at the SH.E.B.A. school of belly dance. As a dedicated artist, she has participated in numerous performances across New York City, and she participated in workshops and classes with instructors from various backgrounds of Belly Dance schools. She inspires others to believe in themselves, grown with confident, never stop dancing.

Laura and Brenda - Duet

Laura & Brenda are the founders and instructors of Bellydance Academy NYC, a space dedicated to sharing the joy, discipline, and depth of Bellydance. With a strong focus on technique, musicality, and cultural respect, they guide their students to connect with their bodies, their confidence, and the richness of Middle Eastern dance. Together, they believe dance is not only an art form, but a path to empowerment, creativity, and happiness.

Layla Isis

Layla Isis is a renowned performer and instructor of Middle Eastern Dance. Established as one of the most highly sought after professional bellydancers in the NYC area, she has performed countless shows in the region and around the world across a wide array of platforms. Her vivacious and elegant performance style is rooted in East Coast American Cabaret training and also draws upon her formal acting and musical training.   

Layla started out in the early 2000s and quickly became a popular dancer in the NYC restaurant and nightclub circuit, often performing up to 10 shows a week. During this time she also toured with The Bellydance Superstars and starred in the DVD "Temptation of Bellydance". She went on to collaborate with many esteemed dance and music ensembles in NYC including Zikrayat, Souren Baronian's Taksim, and The Dalia Carella Dance Collective. She also co-produced a series of successful theatrical and live music events as the co-director of Entelechy Dance and The New York Oryantal Parti. Film and television appearances include Sex and the City 2, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Dr. Oz, and Martin Scorsese’s HBO series "Vinyl"

Performing with live music is her favorite way to share her gift with the world. She currently performs full time for private events and offers private lessons, performance coaching, workshops and mentorship programs. You can find her on Instagram at @laylaisis

Maurice Chedid

A native of Beirut, Lebanon, Mr Chedid studied at the Lebanese Conservatory of Middle Eastern Music, where he received a Diploma in the traditional Mouashahat, Oud Playing and Folk Singing. As a member of the Lebanese Folkloric Group, he toured internationally for four years as lead singer and oud player with the ensemble, and was a popular entertainer in nightclubs throughout Lebanon. Emigrating to the United States in 1988, he soon became a popular singer/musician at weddings, festivals, and cultural events all over the US. He has been a headliner in Arabic nightclubs, and has performed in many prestigious venues, including the United Nations, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. As a member of Atzilut, a ten-piece band which features Arabic and Jewish music, he travels to Europe every year to play in distinguished theaters such as the Royal Opera Theater in Denmark, and in many famous music and cultural festivals throughout Europe in the Concerts for Peace program. A prolific composer, he has composed and recorded many songs and dance compositions as well as the original musical score for the story-theater production of Banat el Emir or The Dancing Princesses. Mr. Chedid’s theatrical credits as a musician also include Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves for Lincoln Center. He is also the musical director and featured musician for Mosaic Dance Theater Company.

Mina

A California native and longtime world traveler, Mina has danced since age 11 and studies with Soumaya and Shadia. She returns to the NYC stage for the first time in years, ready to share her evolving artistry alongside an incredible lineup.

NABIL BEKKALI

Nabil Bekkali is a professional Middle Eastern musician based in New York City, renowned for his masterful keyboard performances that blend traditional Arabic melodies with contemporary flair. Originally from Morocco, Nabil has performed with leading Middle Eastern and world music artists across the United States, bringing depth, rhythm, and emotion to every collaboration. His versatile style bridges classical Arabic, North African, and fusion genres, making him a sought-after accompanist for dancers and ensembles alike.

Said Fahmy

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Said has been playing percussion for more than thirty-five years. He has played with dancer Aida Nour and with singers such as Mohamed El Helwa, Ali Haggar, and Iman Darwish, the grandson of the great composer Said Darwish. He has toured with Kazem El Saher, and plays in clubs and on stages from Cairo to New York City. In addition to Tabla, Said is an expert at the Riq, Tabl Baladi, Dof and Sagat. You can find him playing at New York hot spots for Arabic music such as Layaly, the Nile restaurant in NJ and now at the Secret Room in midtown.

Soumaya MaRose

Soumaya MaRose is an award-winning international performer, teacher and cultural ambassador based in New York and Boston. A member of the International Dance Council of UNESCO. She is the only dance artist to have been repeatedly invited to perform at the Boston Global Music Festival "CrashFest" and has been honored to collaborate with Atlas Soul (North African music), Club Mediteranee (Arabic and Balkan music), Salma Dance Company, Walid Zairi and Talween, Boston Camerata, Moroccan Festival in Revere, and The Dance Complex.  She was member of a music ensemble in Belgium "EL Housna", and is more recently the creator, producer and director of the live multimedia tableau "Morocco Nights" in collaboration with the Institute for Global Arab Media, Democracy and Culture in Chicago, artistic director of « Ya Msafer » in collaboration with Center of Arabic Culture (CAC), " Madarej El Naghem" featuring George Maalouf music composition, "Moroccan Rhythm of life" in New York City,  and "Attaï Sharq - Thé à l'Oriental", a cultural exchange forum. Presently, she has expanded Boston-based Moroccan but also MENAT Region folk dance troupe, Lionesses El Atlas.  As a teacher, Soumaya has been invited locally and internationally to share her cultural heritages as Universities, Schools but as well as international Festival were she also was judge of competition. Recently, Soumaya was invited to the "Chaabi Habibi Festival" in Brussels as one of the few artist working and focusing on Moroccan dance chaabi and present her work on Moroccan dance to the international convention organized by Laila Ameziane & Helene Sachehaye from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. She combines her academic training in Geography with her personal heritage and self-reflection to deepen her audience understanding of dances from the Arabic-speaking world and the Amazigh heritage. More info at http://www.soumayamarose.com

Intagram and facebook : soumaya MaRose 

Zafer Tawil

Jerusalem-born Zafer Tawil is an accomplished Palestinian musician whose areas of expertise include the oud, violin, qanun, and Arab percussion. Zafer performs across the US and in the Middle East and holds workshops in oud technique and Arabic music theory. He was part of the Spirit of Fez U.S. Tour 2006 and has performed with some of the most celebrated world music artists, including violinist and oud master Simon Shaheen and Rai singer Cheb Mami. Zafer is continuously exploring the boundaries of Arab music, and has worked collaboratively on many concerts involving classical Indian and Persian music, as well as Jazz fusion. You can catch Zafer playing one of his many instruments at extravagant private celebrations near his Brooklyn neighborhood, and at cultural centers such as Alwan for the Arts in Manhattan.