New Blog and how to find me (at all times)

New life, new me, the usual growth and magic*:
1. My new BLOG "Joana Saahirah (Magical) World" is up and running". Go to this link and follow the girl (she won´t disappoint you): http://joanasaahirahworld.wordpress.com/ 

2. My USA TOUR is almost arriving (New York, Boston, Alaska, Chicago...). For further infos, email me: dancemagica@gmail.com

3. Another book - nothing less than a Trilogy, three volumes about my Great Egyptian Adventure (auto-biography that looks like fiction and that* says it all or almost...)to be published very soon - it´s all on the publishers´hands right now.

4. Russia and Greece (Festivals with shows, workshops and competitions) right after USA*

5. My PRIVATE ON LINE CLASSES are growing in quality (I´ve limited the number of students accepted in order to be able to breathe and keep all my work agenda neat and on a professional level). So in love with this new bridge/way of teaching* For more infos, email me (dancemagica@gmail.com)

6. Promoting and receiving the feed-back of readers from all over the world regarding my first published book "The Secrets of Egypt - Dance, Life & Beyond". This book was written with my soul at the tip of my fingers and it´s an honour to see so many people feel it and get wisdom and inspiration from it. To keep yourself updated about contests, goodies and news about the book, go to and LIKE its Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/thesecretsofegyptbook

7. BIG news and changes you will know, at the right time, through my new blog and Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joana-Saahirah-of-Cairo-Fan-Page/183318258358726

8. Feel welcome to join, follow and share my videos on my YOUTUBE CHANNEL (performances in Egypt and around the world, workshops, choreographies, interviews, surprises*): https://plus.google.com/102522309186948849839/posts

See you all somewhere over the rainbow*********************

Don´t forget to be yourself and respect your own soul and joy - once you love and respect yourself, you´ll do the same with other people.
Love, dance, kiss your fears on the face and move on - life´s only NOW*

Preparing for USA TOUR; NEW BLOG & (still) secret adventures: JOANA SAAHIRAH IN THE WORLD*********************

USA, here I come (September/October): me and my beloved book
"The Secrets of Egypt - Dance, Life & Beyond".

Plus: "Bint il balad" workshop in Lisbon (20th September), a happy return to Russia (November); a first time visit to Greece (December) and other (still secret) amazing events on the way.

Keep yourself updated via Facebook (Joana Saahirah of Cairo Fan Page) as well as through my NEW BLOG "Joana Saahirah (Magical) World":
http://joanasaahirahworld.wordpress.com/

Much LOVE and PEACE for all of us (see you somewhere around the world)

Transformation (letting this blog die and creating a new one)

Me, in a wig; photographed in Egypt by Melad.

 I am a strong believer in the opposite of stagnation: CHANGE it is.

First (out of the blue) question on the table: Is there life after Oxford?!  I spent only three weeks studying in that blessed place ( don´t even dare to repeat the name in fear of casting yet another spell on me) and was caught by its fishing net: a baby fish caught by a whale. The girl can leave Oxford but Oxford doesn´t leave the girl.
Blessed and traumatized by the Writing Course I took at one of the oldest and most fabulous universities in the world and longing for those bridges, doors, green horizons, skies and magical oxygen.

"Real" life (if that exists!) calls me so...trying to land (somehow...).

September will be a DECISIVE month populated with changes, deaths and new births:

1. Preparating for my first USA TOUR and first city (New York) happening;

2. Writing a few stories inspired by Oxford and its characters (yes, I know I´m a freak of nature);

3. Editing volumes II and III of my upcoming book and taking care of the Ist volume publishing. A LOT on my hands!

4. Teaching my PRIVATE LESSONS ON LINE with a selected, amazing group of students who are making me fall in love with this new sharing tool. Then again: change, creativity and expansion are in the order of the day;

5. Saying farewell to this blog (as well as to my Portuguese blog: www.joanamagica.blogspot.com ) and launching a NEW BLOG that reflects who I am today (artist, author, teacher, world traveller, lover and more).

I hope you all join me in this brand new Journey* - higher, more loving, wider, shinier and happier than the previous one. Grateful for the past, the present and the future that unfolds from the warmest spot of my soul. Welcome to join the Party!

Out of the shelf: FREEDOM, ladies & gentlemen!

Image courtesy: Fiora OrientalFusion

 I´m aware of many things about myself - this is the price I pay for focusing on my life and knowing who I am at every second of this blessed life.

 One thing is certain: I´ve always been out of the box. People never knew - no matter where I was - where to locate me: their shelves don´t fit me or I don´t fit their shelves. My words, actions, character were rarely understood (exception made to the moments spent on stage: those were the only moments when I was truly seen and understood).

 Yes: I´m a marginal; an outsider who doesn´t follow fashions, sheeps, crowds, easy paths and "friendly connections that usually compensate for the lack of talent". I´m "heavy duty", as someone once called me.

 On the Road of Life - my Life: an incredible Adventure! - I´ve learnt that most people don´t live: they  survive. The fear of AUTHENTICITY and FREEDOM is enormous and most of us can´t manage to conquer it. It´s rare to see a person who dares to risk, change and grow on a daily basis; someone who´s not afraid of BEING his/her full self, of changing, exploring the talents, dreams, wishes, passions God has given him/her.

 Growing is also accepting other people´s limitations (as well as my own). Don´t push them - pushing yourself is hard enough. Don´t judge them - working on yourself and your fragilities is hard enough. Don´t demand from others - demanding of yourself is hard enough. Don´t presume everyone is born with the same mind, heart, sensibility, way of looking at life, ambitions and weird treats. The world is bigger than our minds can perceive and the variety of creatures who live in it too astonishing for our comprehension.

 I caress the jails I see around me because I know I have my own. In one way or another, we build our own barriers (they are probably what keep us grounded). I´ve learnt to smile at the perspective of being the BLOND ALIEN in the room and I´ve forgiven the ones who judge me without even knowing me. We´re all just human and we´re all just learning (some more than others).



Image courtesy: Katya Faris

 If Oriental Dance has taught me something (and it has taught me SO MUCH!), this is it: authenticity rocks!: being my REAL self and following my bliss (as Joseph Campbell famously said) is The Way: not wasting time or energy with fears or ghosts is the wisest thing I can do: love and fight, when I need to, but keep walking with gratitude and an open heart.

 In a world where we´re pushed to join the crowds, I say: BE YOURSELF, for Life´s sake! Question the rules: dare to think and feel for yourself: put that brain and that heart to good use.

 When we´re older and close to (physical) death, it´ll be so nice to look back without regrets or "what if"; so peaceful to see we´ve been and done everything our heart asked for.

I´ve said it, taught it and done it since forever: you cannot grow in Oriental Dance if you don´t grow as a human being and growth, ladies and gentlemen, is all about FREEDOM and the courage to pay the price for it.

Be brave: be yourself: be aLIVE. 

Image courtesy: Life*

"The Secrets of Egypt - Dance, Life & Beyond" heading to USA with me*



It´s with excitement and honour that I start to prepare my upcoming
USA TOUR (New York, Boston, Alaska and Chicago...). Workshops, shows, lectures and a well deserved focus on my first published book "The Secrets of Egypt - Dance, Life & Beyond" will be on the order of the day.

The true magic of this eternal dance will be invading Uncle Sam´s land and changing lives: proud to be the bridge of a sacred, loving, creative mission that has brought me so much joy.

For more informations about the TOUR or for BOOK ORDERS (receive your own autographed copy), please email me: dancemagica@gmail.com

Image courtesy: Ksenija (from Slovenia)

Some pieces of text from my book "The Secrets of Egypt - Dance, Life & Beyond" - courtesy of Xofi Oak.

Me - the author - and the fist baby (with another one on the way). Immensely proud and grateful for the wonder*ful job done so far. This is what happens when we live with passion, integrity and courage (the prizes are endless and untouchable by common mediocrity). Thanks, God; thanks, Life!



Image courtesy: Maria Claudia Gonzalez (another happy reader).

 

Oxford Magic*********************

 

I am speechless. Literally. Yes, I know I´ve said it before and still managed to write an whole text on a subject but this is IT: utter silence: letting it all in.

 

Instead of telling about how Oxford (or studying in the old, magnificent, magical college of Corpus Christi) changed me, I´ll leave you a few images of the trip and let actions speak for my (now silent) words.

 

Magic (love) is in the air.

“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

 

 

This took my breath away (Joana Saahirah´s view on TARAB)

First: my heart´s still shaking.
Second: I have to thank my dear and talented Khaled Roshdy for the marvellous editing of this vídeo - no one could have made it better. He understand me and my vision* and he lends me his art with so much generosity, appreciation and love...my God...I´m speechless.

Here´s a vídeo that illustrates what Oriental Dance core is all about; Tarab is the heart of the whole Journey, although very few understand it.

All my work has been based on this vídeo and it´s with great pleasure I will explore it on my LONDON SUMMER WORKSHOP (2nd August).

It´s an honour to delve into this Magic and offer this possibility to other dancers.

Honoured, humbled and grateful for my mission*


For more infos about JOANA SAAHIRAH´S LONDON SUMMER TARAB WORKSHOP, follow the link: https://www.facebook.com/events/277598389090706/?fref=ts