Safa
began dancing at the age of seven. Ultimately, she realized the
kilts and lace-up shoes of Highland dancing weren’t for her, and the
search began.
It was in 1993 that Safa found her true love. A friend’s mother
was a professional bellydance teacher, and it didn’t take much
convincing for Safa to go to a class. Then to another class, and
another one, and soon she began to investigate local workshops (by such
artists as Yazmina Ramzy and Dalia Carella).
It was
around the same time that Safa discovered a strong dance
community within the medieval re-creation group she participated in:
the SCA. Within this community, Safa was exposed to folkloric
dance styles (including Saidi cane and Turkish Rom), ethnic styles
(such as North African and Central Asian), and the more modern
incarnation of bellydance: tribal style.
Safa was deeply intrigued by this new style of dance, and began to
study it whenever possible. In 1995, she co-founded a performance
group Romani Caravan, and began performing as a soloist in her hometown
of London, Ontario, Canada. When she moved to Pennsylvania in
1998, she began dancing with the internationally acclaimed performance
company Ghawazee.
When Ghawazee divided into smaller groups in 2001, Safa became
co-founder and co-artistic director of the respected music and dance
ensemble Khafif. She has remained in this capacity, creating
choreographies and training new performers, ever since.
Safa
has been
teaching dance since 1997, where she began teaching individual lessons
in Canada and the US. Since then, she has opened her own studio,
as well as teaching both in Pittsburgh and around the country at
workshops such as Spirit of the Tribes (with Neefa, 2003).
Currently, she teaches four classes a week plus private lessons, and
enjoys the challenge of making other people love the dance as much as
she does!
In 2004, she portrayed Little Egypt (the first bellydancer) in the
recently released documentary "Expo:
Magic of the White City".
What Safa loves best about Middle
Eastern dance is how fluid it
is. A true art form is one that has the ability to grow and
change within the context of its style, and Safa is constantly striving
to innovate new techniques and moves to make this artform even more
exciting. She has taken workshops and intensive classes with
numerous artists, including Ultra
Gypsy, Urban Tribal,
FatChanceBellyDance, Ansuya, Rachel Brice, and many
others. She
is lucky enough to work collaboratively with artists as talented and
diverse as Neefa,
Awalim, Rockabelly, Kassar, Blue Lotus Tribe, Zafira
Dance Co., and many others too numerous to count. Safa is
constantly grateful for the calibre of her artistic companions, and
looks forward to learning more with every passing day.
Safa’s unique fusion bellydance style
comes from numerous different
sources; she has studied West African dance, hip hop, classical
Egyptian bellydance, and modern tribal fusion. By blending these
styles together, she has created her own unique look, in which her
fundamental love and joy of dancing shines through. She only
hopes that everyone can enjoy her dancing as much as she does.
See Safa dance in
her Video Gallery!
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