Sahira Zedare, Director

Sahira Zedare performs and studies a variety of dance forms and has taught bellydance in Bloomington-Normal since summer 2005. She has over twenty-five years of training and performance experience in many dance forms, beginning with jazz, tap, and modern. Since 2003 she devotes most of her dance energies to bellydance, with its deep beauty and boundless joy.

Sahira dances to embody the music, honoring and entertaining the audience, as each performance provides an opportunity to be an ambassador for this art form. Her main styles are Raqs Sharqi and Tribal Fusion, often merged with her background in jazz and modern dance.

Sahira Zedare's skills include drumming with tar (frame drum), riqq, and doumbek. Dancing and drumming generate a joyous synergy! Click here to learn more about Sahira Zedare.

Aliah

Looking for something new to learn, Aliah encountered a community education session featuring belly dance in 2005. After performing in a showcase with her class, she wanted to learn more of the art of bellydance and joined one of Sahira's classes in 2006.

It has become a major part of her life and she looks forward to studying the different facets that make up modern bellydance. Not having a dance background, she appreciates how simple and elegant bellydance is and that all women, regardless of backgrounds, are able to join in this form of expression.

Aliah also teaches our BellyFit class on Mondays.

Angèlette Aurélia

A student of classical ballet, jazz, and tap for 15 years, Angèlette Aurélia discovered the art of bellydance in 2007. After seeing a bellydance performance, she knew exactly what had been missing in her life. In fact, it even encouraged her to re-enter a field that she had thought closed forever due to injury. She immediately began searching for a teacher in the Bloomington/Normal area, and thankfully came upon Sahira and Synergy Rhythm and Dance! Since then, bellydance has become one of the most positive and revitalizing aspects of her life.

Angèlette feels that music and dance are an integral medium through which people communicate, believing that dance is an outward expression of inner emotion. She enjoys the creativity, passion, freedom and camaraderie that this art form allows, as well as the vast history and cultures that the dance embraces. Like her fellow Sirens, she would encourage anyone to become a part of this beautiful and joyous experience!

In addition to dance, Angèlette Aurélia enjoys many forms of music, reading, baking, gardening, and creating period Victorian ensembles. 

Ashira

Ashira is thankful to have experienced many different dance forms in her life.  But it wasn’t until she moved to Bloomington in 2007 that she had the opportunity to try belly dance.  After finding Synergy RaD and Sahira, she enrolled in a class, and has since been working on broadening her skills in this dance form.

Belly dance has been a positive experience for Ashira.  She enjoys the fun atmosphere of performances and classes.  And she appreciates the encouraging attitudes of other dancers.  She would tell those interested in trying this style of dance for the first time to go ahead and do it!

Inaya Nawar

Inaya Nawar began belly dancing in 2007 at the start of her final semester at Illinois State University.  Having recently completed all the requirements for her minor in music, she found herself with a lot of free time and in need of a new creative outlet.  While looking for alternative fitness classes, Inaya came across a flier for Sahira’s classes and decided to give belly dance a try. After just a few classes she was hooked and has been studying with Sahira ever since.

Belly dance continues to provide Inaya with new challenges while allowing her to forge a deeper connection to her first love, music.  Dancing allows her to explore the visual and kinetic facets of music. She recently began taking drumming lessons with Sahira and continues to focus on building her collection of belly dance music.

When not dancing, Inaya enjoys studying, playing and listening to music, reading and traveling.