The Raqs Sharqi Museum Translators
Anne-Sofie Vermeersch
Anne-Sofie is a researcher and dancer living near Gent, Belgium. She’s into both Egyptian and Turkish style. Intrigued by the depth and complexity of oriental dance, Anne-Sofie is learning Arabic and Turkish to gain a better understanding of the art.
Furthermore, she's collecting vintage Turkish photos, postcards and magazines in order to gather valuable information about the past!
Basma Alsawalhi
Basma Alsawalhi is a young Arabic teacher living in Cairo, Egypt.
She is 23 years old and she graduated from the Faculty of Education and English Literature. She has been teaching Arabic for 4 years now.
Fatiha
Meet Fatiha, a captivating soul with Algerian roots, who harbors a profound love for dance and the exquisite cultural legacy it embodies. Not only does Fatiha immerse herself in the art of dance, but she also delves into the enchanting world of kanoun and actively engages in various events throughout her residence in Belgium. A true connoisseur of wisdom and history, Fatiha holds an ardent admiration for the intricate knowledge and captivating past of Raqs Sharqi.
Karim
Karim lives in Cairo and he is a collector himself. His focus is on collecting antique items depicting the Royal family. He helps Badriyah to find rare items for the Bellydance Museum directly in Egypt and helps with translations. He has a vast collection that includes some rare raqs sharqi items as well.
Karolina Sharqi
Karolina Sharqi is a Croatian Oriental dancer based in Zadar. Karolina is a co-leader and main choreographer of the Sheherezade dance School and troupe from Zagreb, Croatia. As a soloist, Karolina has won prizes at international Oriental dance competitions in Spain, Mexico and Serbia.
Karolina's wish is to be educated both in technical and cultural aspects of Oriental dances. She is also deeply grateful that she was able to perform within the
Bellydance Evolution's „Fantasm“ show during tours in Europe in 2017. As a part of Karolina's journey to enrich her dance she has taken up learning Arabic (Egyptian dialect) with Basma Alsawalhi who helps with her translations.
Lou Pradas
Franco-Belgian artist born in Brussels, Lou Pradas has been passionate about oriental dance since 2006, when she entered a class for the first time. Perfectionist, considering oriental dance as a complex art, requiring a lot of work and discipline, Lou constantly perfects her technique, her knowledge and her interpretation. It is important to her to transmit to her students the benefits and the pleasure that her art has brought her, both physically and mentally.
Lou Pradas has created her own Academy of Oriental Dance. The courses are given in Waterloo, the oriental dance and Fusion courses are given in Brussels. Internships, lessons, shows are organized throughout the year! Lou is also the winner of several prizes and invited to dance or teach workshops in Belgium and abroad.
Margaret Cunningham
Margaret has been studying and teaching Raks Sharqi and Turkish Romani in Australia for nearly two decades. She has made countless trips to Egypt and Turkey to study from the source. Her school, Soul Dance, is based in Brisbane. She is the creator of "The Golden Era Project", an in depth study course, two years in the making, which she is currently preparing to present online.
When international travel becomes safe again, Margaret and her husband, a native Egyptian (who helped with our translations today), look forward to resuming their annual tours to Egypt for dancers - something Margaret has been doing now for the last 13 years introducing dancers to the real Egypt at grass-root level.
Morjana
Morjana is a versatile & multi-skilled person: She’s been dancing Raqs Sharqi and Egyptian folkloric dances for many years, she plays darbuka and researches Egyptian traditions and folklore in her spare time.
Her knowledge of oriental music and Egyptian culture was forged with learning Arabic from a young age and living in Egypt for almost 5 years now.
We are fully invested in gathering new historical items to create an interesting collection. Do you want to support us and our museum?
You can become a patron of the museum!
Your financial contribution will help the museum to grow and support us in posting items and articles online.
Thanks for your support, it helps a lot!
The Raqs Sharqi Museum
Visit
In the neighborhood of the Dampoort Railway station
Ghent, Belgium
Badriyah
