About
Joanna Belly Dance is a belly dancer for hire in Melbourne, VIC.
MENAHT dance, which covers Middle Eastern, North African, Hellenic and Turkish forms, is Joanna's field, and it has taken her to festival stages in France, Spain and Greece. She's the resident belly dance teacher at Maison Burlesque. Sets can be Oriental in the Egyptian, Greek or Turkish traditions, cabaret, or dark fusion on request, and the folkloric work covers Raqs Sharqi, Saidi, Raqs Baladi, Iraqi Kawleeya, Khaleeji, Turkish Romani, Tsifteteli and drum solos. Music spans Egyptian pop and mahraganat, Lebanese, Greek, Turkish, Persian, Palestinian, Moroccan, Bollywood and more, so a set can be built around your family's background. Props include engraved and bronze lacework Moroccan swords. Performances run 10 to 30 minutes. Audience participation is part of how she works, and she'll drop it if you'd rather she didn't. She needs a room to change and store props.
Watch
The show
Joanna builds the set around your event rather than repeating one routine. Styles run through Oriental forms from MENAHT cultures, Egyptian, Greek and Turkish among them, plus cabaret, and dark fusion if you ask for it. Music and dance requests are welcome, so a family's cultural background or an event theme can shape the whole performance. Costumes change with it. And the props are half the spectacle: engraved and bronze lacework Moroccan swords, a shamadan candelabrum, isis wings, oversized and LED feather fans, silk fans, veils and a saidi cane.
On the day
For a belly dance booking she needs a room she can use: somewhere to leave her things, lay out props and change into costume. Fire performances need more. There has to be a designated fuelling area kept well away from where she'll be dancing, and the venue's own safety requirements come into it too, so raise fire early in your enquiry rather than on the day.
Performance options
A straight performance runs 10 to 30 minutes and suits celebrations, weddings and restaurant appearances. The longer you book, the more technical and varied the dancing gets. Audience participation is how she works, dancing with guests and bringing them up, though she'll drop it entirely if you'd rather. There's a version with a beginners workshop attached, popular for hens nights and end of year parties, with coin hip scarves for smaller groups. Nightlife bookings take one to three sets and can run to her own music or alongside your live band or DJ. She also performs with a live Middle Eastern drummer, as a duet or trio with other Melbourne dancers, or simply roving among guests.
Insurance and paperwork
Public liability insured
Working with Children Check
Police check
Song list
19 songs
• Egyptian (Pop & Mahraganat)
• Lebanese
• Greek
• Turkish
• Persian / Farsi
• Palestinian
• Moroccan
• Arabian Peninsula (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates etc.)
• Bollywood
• Afghani
• Serbian
• Raqs Sharqi
• Saidi (Raqs al-Assaya)
• Raqs Baladi
• Iraqi (Kawleeya / Hacha'a)
• Khaleeji
• Turkish Romani
• Tsifteteli / Çifteteli
• Drum Solos
