Work & repertoire
Forty years of making dance
Seven companies, three decades of productions, and the teachers, musicians and dancers who made them possible.
Founded and directed
Dance companies
- 1982 ADORA World Dance Productions Founded 28 August 1982. Promoting Middle Eastern dance education and awareness, and sponsoring master teachers and musicians in Arab dance and music traditions. Founder and owner.
- 1992 The Jamal Dancers Oriental and folkloric repertoire.
- 1994 Banat Msereyia “Daughters of Egypt” — Egyptian folkloric ensemble.
- 1997 Jihan Jamal Egyptian Dance Theatre A guest professional company at Miami’s Performing Arts Network.
- 2004 Bellyrina Student Dance Theatre Student company at West Miami Middle Community School.
- 2010 Bellyrina Raks Extreme Performance-level student ensemble.
- 2012 Bellyrina Oriental Dance Academy Dance curriculum and company, developed from B.O.D.A. (2005).
- 2019 Mermaids of the Nile Student dance company, Miami Dade College Kendall Campus.
Produced and directed
Productions & workshop series
- 1993 Then & Now A hundred years of bellydance in the United States. A showcase of 29 performers.
- 1994 The Dancer & The Drummer Created with the late Tunisian percussionist Fathi Bilalgia. First presented at the Florida Dance Festival, Miami. In collaboration with Fadel Nemmer since 2004.
- 1994–2004 Unveil the Woman More Than a Dance Experience. Dance theatre and creative workshop series, for women only.
- 1997–2002 Dances of the Awalim Presented annually at the Performing Arts Network and other venues.
- 1998 Khul-Khal “Anklet”. Starring Cassandra, featuring Jamila Al Wahid.
- 2001 Echoes of Cairo Miami, Florida.
- 2005 B.O.D.A. Bellyrina Oriental Dance Academy.
- 2008 The Dancer & The U’dist With Moroccan-born music ethnologist and composer Mostafa El Mekki.
- 2009–2010 Extreme Baladi Workshop series.
- 2009–2010 B.O.D.Y. & B.O.D.Y. Raks Extreme Bellyrina Oriental Dance and Yoga — dance development, technique and fitness.
- 2010 Women of the Silk Veil Founded 20 October 2010. Middle Eastern and Asian dance arts, culture and book club.
- 2012 Egyptia 2012 Weekend workshop and gala, 1–3 June 2012. Co-produced with JSJ Cultural Productions, LLC — Jackie Tucker of Yallah Magazine and Samay of Samay Performing Dance Arts.
Recognition
Titles & awards
- 1987 Miss America of the Bellydance The Magaña Baptiste title. First Miamian crowned winner. San Francisco, California.
- 2000 Best Instructor of the Year Zaghareet Magazine, by popular vote.
- 2009 South Florida Movers & Shakers Yallah Magazine.
- 2010 Goddess of the Month The Goddess Tribune, February 2010.
- 2014 RAKSTAR Hall of Fame Inductee.
Residencies & faculty
Where I have taught
Miami & South Florida
- Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus — Continuing Education
- West Miami Middle Community School — thirteen years
- Ballet Academy of Miami — 1998 to 2003
- Performing Arts Network — resident teacher and choreographer, 1996 to 2000
- Florida International University — credit dance programme, until 2003
- Dancer’s Dream Studio, Pembroke Pines — six years, until 2009
- MidEast Dance Exchange, Miami Beach
- Florida Arts Council, Division of Cultural Affairs, and P.A.C.E.
Festivals & abroad
- Ahlan Wa Sahlan International Dance Festival, Cairo — 2002, 2005
- Zambra Studios and Centrum Spiral, Prague — since 2002
- Rakkasah East and West — 1999, 2001
- Florida Dance Festival — 1994 Tampa, 1999 Miami
- Raks Al Dunya Festival, Gainesville, Florida
- Santa Fe Summer Dance Institute, Gainesville, Florida
- Little Egypt Productions, Dallas, Texas
- La Habana Studio, Nagoya, Japan — 2014
- Toronto, Canada — 2010
- Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
Theatre is a verb before it is a noun. An act before it is a place. Martha Graham