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About Shemiran Ibrahim

Falling in love:


Born in Baghdad Iraq in 1973 to Assyrian parents with heritage stretching to both Turkey and Iran, I had Middle Eastern music, song and dance caress my ears, eyes and heart right from the start. I was brought up in my infancy by my paternal grandparents and extended family, people who love the arts and had the TV or radio on all day, tuned to Samia Gamal dancing with Fareed El Atrache, or the dulcet sounds of Abdel Halim Hafez filling the house with his bitter sweet melancholy.

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I started dancing spontaneously at the age of three, encouraged with live drumming, clapping and cheering by various family members. Following is a clip from a movie of the likes that filled my little heart with glee back in seventies Baghdad:

Belly Dancing from the Heart Method simplifies this complex dance so well, even children can learn to improvise! Watch Shemiran and her student Angela at Sydney MED Festival Gala Night

Learning the craft:


My dance came to a standstill after rejoining my birth family, as my mother was staunchly religious, and I had to say goodbye to my passion until I arrived in Australia as a young adult and took my life in my own hands. After some years I found my first teacher Terezka Drnzik at her Studio of Danse Orientale, and thankfully she embraced the Classical Egyptian Orientale style that I had grown up with in my childhood. The romance resumed.

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Starting to teach:
I started teaching Middle Eastern Dance in Sydney after years of training. My school "Fire in the Belly" was acclaimed for teaching this intricate and complex dance to the "everyday woman" in a way that helped western women connect with their feminine beauty, learn the moves in stages, and learn to dance their own improvisational expression. I created my own teaching system called "Belly Dancing from the Heart" Method, which is highly methodical, logical and simple to execute. I honed it over years of teaching thousands of western women and girls to not only dance the dance, but to also appreciate the cultural aspects, learn music interpretation and use the dance as an avenue for self-expression. I was awarded "Teacher of Year" in 2006.

“Dance less in motion and more in spirit;
awaken the dreamer within.”

- Shah Asad Rizvi

Performing:


Teaching and training teachers is my focus with Oriental Dance. I have engaged in professional performing for some years in the professional Cabaret scene, but my early love of Classical Egyptian came through in my tendency to move slower than the modern Cabaret pace, my emphasis on grace and essence, my usage of very basic simple movements, and my choice of music and costume. My interests in performance shifted over the years away from such paid avenues.

I do however perform at women's only gatherings and cultural celebrations or festivals. My performing focus is in refining a personal style based in Classical Egyptian. My professional focus remains on teaching, and the demand for my work is through teachers wanting to train in the craft of teaching and learn how to express their Soul through their often multi-passionate teaching/healing/facilitating business. I have choreographed solo and group performances for theatrical and cultural events, with an emphasis on adding story to performance. Very few of my performances are on film. Above is a rare live music performance at “Dancing with the Starts” Gala of the Sydney Middle Eastern Dance Festival, with a young student.

Growing the next generation of teachers:


As the west embraced Oriental Dance as a foreign art form and mode of expression, it has focused on learning it by numbers - a whole generation of dancers around the world are choreography dependant and do not know how to improvise. To help western teachers of Belly Dance learn how to teach it true to its Middle Eastern essence, I decided to put my "Belly Dancing from the Heart" Method into home study Teacher Training Programs in 2007, and group and private mentoring, acclaimed by both industry and teachers in training since.

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The Method also included deep professional self and business development for Teachers in Training. Having started my professional career in multi national advertising agencies through my twenties, and after that working in smaller business and eventually being fully self employed, I brought much needed business and marketing training to Belly Dance Teachers, an aspect of Teaching often missed and needed throughout the community. 

Belly Dance and Empowerment:


After years of teaching I merged my other love - empowerment of the Feminine Spirit - with Belly Dance to create facilitated workshops and retreats designed to reconnect women to their Feminine nature using the ancient practice of Belly Dance. For two years I studied an intensive 2 year long teacher training course for metaphysics, empowerment and the creative process. This training equipped me with the specific expertise needed to run facilitated workshop environments. 

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Middle Eastern Dance Industry Portfolio:

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2005 - Co-choreographer with Terezka Drnzik for Sydney Middle Eastern Dance Festival Concert

2006 - Choreography of “Black Onyx” at “Jewels of the Sultan” Sydney Middle Eastern Dance Festival Concert

2006 - Winner “Teacher of the Year” Award - Sydney

2007 - Guest Performer at “Dancing with the Stars” - Sydney Middle Eastern Dance Festival Annual Concert

2007 - Production and world-wide launch of Belly Dancing from the Heart Method Teacher Training Program "How to Teach Belly Dance"

2008 - Guest Teacher "Improvisation Technique Workshop" – Farha Tour Australia hosted by Amera Eid

2009 - Teacher Training Certification Weekend Intensive at Amera’s Palace/Sydney

2009 - Guest Teacher - Teacher Training Workshop "The Craft of Teaching" at Sydney Middle Eastern Dance Festival

2009 - Teacher Training Certification Intensive Weekend at Leonie Sukan's Newtown Middle Eastern Dance Centre/Sydney

2010 - Teacher Training Certification Intensive Weekend at Leonie Sukan's Newtown Middle Eastern Dance Centre/Sydney

2012 - Australian Belly Dance Teachers Retreat co-hosted with Keti Sharif - Blue Mountains Australia

2013 - Rejuvenate Belly Dancer Intensive Weekend co-hosted with Amera Eid - Sydney

2014 - Teacher Training Certification Intensive Weekend Sydney

2015 - Worldwide Launch of Balanced Bellydance Training Program with co-creator Keti Sharif

2016 - Oceanic Cruising Balanced Bellydance Intensive & Teacher Training Intensive with co-facilitator Keti Sharif - South Pacific

2017 - Launch of Private professional business mentoring for Belly Dance Teachers globally

2019 - Launch of Teacher Training Learning Platform “LOVE TEACHING BELLY DANCE"

2020 - Launch of Group professional business mentoring for Belly Dance Teachers globally

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