Sat 5/19
Doors 6:30PM. Show 7-8:30PM
Tickets $15 at the door. Kids under 18 attend for free.
Guest Bellydance Arists: Sarita, Sayuri & Kenzie
with Mahasti dancers Faith, Peggy, Eshe & Raqs Mahasti
at The Casbah
306 King St W, Hamilton
From 3/26 we are moving to the mountain. Our new address will be 422 Concession Street, Hamilton.
To celebrate with everyone at the Bunny Hop & Seek we’ll be offering a free bellydance class Sat 3/31 10:45-11:45AM. No experience necessary. This will be a great class for beginners to come to with options given to experienced dancers to turn up the volume!
From the Concession BIA:
“Saturday March 31st, 2018 between 10am – 3pm.
”We invite families to come out with the kids for a chocolate Easter Egg Collection from our business storefronts (between Upper Wentworth and Poplar Street). The FIRST 100 children will receive FREE bunny ears!
“Stop by the BIA office at 534 Concession to pick yours up while they last! Then continue along Concession and visit our fabulous stores for more chocolate treats!
“We will also be hosting a HOP & SEEK game! Find the cute stuffed bunny (hidden within some of our storefronts), snap a pic and post on social media using the hashtag #UptownBunnyHop for a chance to win a gift basket (valued at $100)
donated by businesses along the street!
“Draws will take place on Monday April 9th when all the winners will be announced through social media.
”We will also be inviting local artisanal vendors to join us and we will host a live music performance just outside of Candi Werx’s at 554 Concession Street (between 11am and 2pm).
”A fun filled day for the entire family. Hope to have you join us!”
Did you hear that we are moving from 3/26?
We are so excited to be joining the Concession Street family & we’ll be taking part in a lot of the community initiatives. We’ll be running the Sidewalk Sounds Bellydance Stage at the old RBC (555 Concession Street, Hamilton) from 7-9PM on the 3rd Friday from May to September.
Warm summer evenings, spectacular sunsets off the mountain brow, family friendly community inviting everyone to come out and enjoy FREE live music performances from Hamilton’s music scene! Concession Street’s third annual SIDEWALK SOUNDS – we invite you to stroll our sidewalks, browse the amazing collection of local Hamilton vendors and rediscover the fabulous businesses and services that make up our shopping corridor on Concession Street.
Check out the music stages at:
The Zoetic (526 Concession)
The Public Library parking lot (565 Concession)
Mountain Tire (593 Concession)
St Stephens on the Mount Anglican Church lawn (625 Concession)
Big Bee Plaza (798 Concession)
Monday with Eshe (open on the 19th)
7PM Basics
8:05PM Turkish Choreography
Tuesday with Peggy
6:20PM Basics
7:25PM PWYC Lebanese Bellydance for Beginners
Wednesday with Eshe
7:10PM Egyptian Choreography
8:15PM Modern Choreography
Thursday
7PM Fresh Fusion Choreography with Faith (Kpop+Bellydance)
8:05PM Drop in Drills & Combos with Jackie Pullar
Saturday
10AM Mommy & Me (new session from 2/24)
10:45AM Basics
11:50 Top 40 Choreography
12:55 Modern Choreography (same as Wednesday)
Hamilton Bellydance Crew Meet Up 2018
Let’s enjoy good food, good conversation & good company together!
Everyone is welcome! Just let Eshe know how many are in your party! Parties of 1 are welcome! We are all friends! ^_^
We are heading to Wass Ethiopian for 4:30PM on Sunday Feb 11th
207 James St S, Hamilton, Ontario
https://www.wassethiopianrestaurant.com/about-the-wass/hours-location
Contact Eshe Yildiz on facebook or eshebellydancer@hotmail.com or write the Mahasti page or just show up!

We are moving to 422 Concession from March 26 & we are expanding our offerings!
Lil Movers Tuesday 9:30-10AM $5 (18 months & up)
This class will be about exploring creative movement, learning dance class etiquette, creating good posture & dance habits. Caregivers should remain in the room with their children.
Tuesday 4-4:45PM Kids Bellydance $5 (4 years & up)
Bellydance is a social dance from the middle east performed at weddings & community events. It is absolutely appropriate for all kids. This class will have a short warm up, some drills, technique review, we’ll put together a combination & then it’ll be time to cool down.
Saturday 10-10:30AM Mommy & Me Bellydance $30 for 4 classes (Caregiver & child, 4 & up)
This class is for any caregiver & child. We tend to have 2 month long sessions for this class. There are optional performance opportunities for dancers in this class.
We are also adding some morning classes to our schedule after we move to Concession Street.
Tuesdays & Thursdays 10-11AM “Feel Good Bellydance” $5 drop in fee
This will be a gentle, drop in friendly introduction to bellydance.
Caregivers feel free to bring your little ones with you to this class!
We are doing lots of giveaways in the upcoming months for our new location! Keep an eye on our instagram @hamiltonbellydance or our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hamiltonbellydance/
Let us know if there are any days, times or offerings that we aren’t offering but you’d like to see! Contact eshebellydancer@hotmail.com
We are so excited to offer these specialty classes – good with your regular class card. Or $16 + tax drop in fee. Class cards can be purchased in sets as small as 4 for $60 + tax.
Wed 7:10PM (4 weeks) from 1/17 with Angela Josephine
DRILLS FOR THRILLS (AND SKILLS)
Join Angela in a four week session filled with drills designed to develop and improve your bellydance technique. This class is multilevel and suitable for dancers with some experience in bellydance. Drills will be modified to challenge all levels.
Come have fun and work towards a technical repertoire that’s sharp as a tack!
ANGELA JOSEPHINE
Angela Josephine is a Modern Fusion Bellydancer studying at The Dark Side Studio in Toronto, Ontario under the tutelage of Audra Simmons and Heather Labonté. She is a member of Lavish Dance Company and The Dark Side Studio Student Troupe. She was most recently part of the full length show Fragment Repair- A New Show by Lavish.
Angela began studying bellydance in 2012 at Serpentine Studios in Halifax, NS taking traditional and tribal fusion bellydance with teachers Laura Selenzi and Monique Ryan. She was a member of Mahari Tribal and the Serpentine Student Troupe. She also studied Bharatanatyam with Suneetra Karam-Singh.
Angela enjoys enriching her dance education by travelling to take workshops with other dancers and getting nerdy talking about all things dance.
ANGELA JOSEPHINE
Angela Josephine is a Modern Fusion Bellydancer studying at The Dark Side Studio in Toronto, Ontario under the tutelage of Audra Simmons and Heather Labonté. She is a member of Lavish Dance Company and The Dark Side Studio Student Troupe. She was most recently part of the full length show Fragment Repair- A New Show by Lavish.
Angela began studying bellydance in 2012 at Serpentine Studios in Halifax, NS taking traditional and tribal fusion bellydance with teachers Laura Selenzi and Monique Ryan. She was a member of Mahari Tribal and the Serpentine Student Troupe. She also studied Bharatanatyam with Suneetra Karam-Singh.
Angela enjoys enriching her dance education by travelling to take workshops with other dancers and getting nerdy talking about all things dance.
FRESH FUSION CLASS with Faith (4 week session in Jan, Feb, & March) from 1/18 Thursdays at 7PM.
Instructor Faith loves bellydance, but her ultimate bias is K-Pop… and she invites you explore the fusion of these two distinct worlds into one energetic, whimsical, and accessible dance form! From undulations to aegyo, you’ll learn choreography that draws heavily on bellydance technique to blend seamlessly with a wide range of K-Pop stylings and expression. All levels welcome, but some bellydance experience is advantageous. Come prepared to do your best and have fun! Hwaiting!
FAITH
Faith began teaching and performing bellydance and Bollywood style dance in 2009 & 2010 respectively, and also enjoyed many years as a member of various Ontario-based bellydance troupes (Karma, Bella Luna, the Bellydonnas). Her teaching experience also spans areas such as fitness and chair dance. From 2011-2014, she founded and directed the Bollywood dance troupe NACHEGI.
Faith has had the privilege of studying with many instructors in both Bollywood style dance and bellydance, as well as attending workshops with renowned dancers and choreographers such as Divya Kumar, Jaya Vaswani, Raqia Hassan and Sadie Marquadt. She continues to study both dance forms through weekly classes and regular workshops, and is dedicated to presenting a culturally authentic dance experience in each class she teaches—while also making sure there are plenty of smiles and laughs along the way. In early 2017, she began fusing her deep love of K-Pop music with bellydance, and seeks to present style this to her fusion students with her signature whimsical flavor.
DRILLS & COMBINATIONS with JACKIE PULLAR Thurs 1/18 & 1/25 8:05PM
Jackie is the owner, principal instructor and Creative Director at Wild Orchid Belly Dance Studio in Hamilton, Ontario. She began her studies in Egyptian-style belly dance in 2001 with Patricia Savage of Awalim Studio, Hamilton. While at Awalim, she was introduced to Toronto-based belly dancer, Audra Simmons of The Dark Side Studio, who at the time was experimenting with a modern fusion style of belly dance called Tribal Fusion. Tribal Fusion fuses American Tribal Style belly dance with elements of other dance styles including Egyptian, hip hop, modern, Flamenco and Indian classical dances, among others. She was immediately captured by the movements, music and costuming of this style and made it her goal to learn as much as she could about it.
Her particular brand of Tribal Fusion blends Egyptian-style belly dance (classical and modern) with elements of jazz, hip hop, American Tribal Style (ATS) belly dance and Indian, among others.
She studied extensively with renowned fusion artists Audra Simmons, Rachel Brice, Mira Betz, Ariellah, Kami Liddle, Samantha Emmanuel and Heather Stants.
STRAIGHT UP EGYPTIAN WITH LEANNA 2/15 8:05PM
As a bellydancer, Leanna has had many memorable experiences. In 2015 she danced alongside Cirque du Soleil in the PanAm Opening Ceremony. This event was seen by a sold out crowd of 45,000 and had over 400 million TV viewers. Leanna was also selected to be on the CW Network Series ‘Reign’ which aired in 2017. She took part in her first full-scale production ‘Sawah’ at the Fleck Dance Theatre in Toronto. The show had many standing ovations and a huge ensemble cast of over 40 dance and musical artists from Toronto and Montreal. Other performance highlights include; the International Stage at the CNE (2016, 2017) and Dance Ontario Dance Weekend (2014-2018). Leanna also performs regularly as an ensemble and soloist with Arabesque Entertainment Agency and as part of the Yasmina Ramzy Dance Co.
Leanna‘s dedication and passion has made her a popular teacher in her hometown of Hamilton. She started BellaDance as a testament of the art forms power of revitalization and empowerment. Also giving credit to the dance having saved her as a self-conscious teenager, Leanna hopes to spread its healing qualities to her students. Watch out for local performances at The Casbah and summer Art Crawls alongside The Bellas, her dance troupe.
Thursday Feb 15 at 8:05-9:05PM
STRAIGHT UP EGYPTIAN
Soheir hips, Taheya circles, and Samia figure eights. Learn Egyptian combos from the famous stars of the Golden Era of Bellydance.
$16 (+ tax) drop in or use your class card.v
11-1:30PM Mejance (entrance choreography)
Straight from Cairo Melissa will share the workshop she’s prepared for the world-famous Nile Group in November!
2:30-4PM Musicality & Improvisation
Tips & tricks to take your dance to the next level with Melissa’s signature sass, poise & style.
11AM workshop $50 (2.5 hours) https://mahasti.ecwid.com/#!/1-Workshop-2-hours-total/p/64748412/category=18890056
2:30PM workshop $35 https://mahasti.ecwid.com/#!/1-Workshop-1-5-Hours/p/79014740/category=18890056
BOTH workshops $75 https://mahasti.ecwid.com/#!/2-Workshops-4-hours-total/p/64748410/category=18890056
Etransfer to eshebellydancer@hotmail.com. Cash or credit card at the studio.
MELISSA GAMAL
Melissa Gamal is an award-winning dancer based in Toronto. She’s won titles at world-renowned bellydance gatherings Heshk Beshk Oriental Dance Festival in Venice, Italy & CAIRO Festival, Budapest, Hungary. Her authentic movement style and elegant musical interpretation have made her one of the most beloved performers in Canada.
Her foremost training was at Arabesque Academy/Dance Company, where she was an instructor and lead dancer for 8 years. She continually trains with famed & respected instructors from across North America, Europe and the Middle East, including intensive studies in Cairo, Egypt.
As an experienced instructor, her classes and workshops are sought after for her attention to technique as well as her knowledge of historical and cultural contexts. This November will see her teaching at Nile Group Cairo in Egypt among the top instructors in the world.
In 2015 Melissa co-founded Ya Amar, an entertainment company focused on offering exquisite performances of Middle Eastern dance and live music. She is also quickly gaining a reputation as a top-notch event producer & taste-maker as she brings rising stars, scholars & well-respected dance ethnologists to Canada.
See more at https://ya-amar.ca/
MAHASTI THE BELLYDANCE EMPORIUM
1 West Ave S, Suite 300, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
hamiltonbellydance.com