Join us Monday 7-8PM or Wednesday 730-830PM (or both) as we shake it down to Cairo’s hottest club track.

MUSIC

Shaabi is the “music of the people.” Born of cassette culture in the 70s, Shaabi voices the concerns of everyday folks – life, love, struggles & politics. It’s most famed singer is the revered godfather Ahmed Adaweya. In the late 2000s a new style of Shaabi emerged called Mahraganat.
Mahraganat means “festivals” in Arabic (it’s also sometimes referred to as “electro shaabi”). It became an unstoppable sensation during the 2011 revolution that overthrew Mubarak. The music often features booming drums, slinky synths, rapping and copious amounts of auto-tune. “Baskotaya M2armesha” has become the song of the summer in Cairo. Everyone is dancing to it & so are we!

We’ll be employing elements of bellydance as well as Mahraganat technique to express the rhythm, lyrics and melody in this club anthem. This is a social, living dance and we’ll definitely be turning up the personality and joy and turning down isolations and rigid control to really embody the song.

ESHE

Eshe is the director & owner of Mahasti – The Creativity Emporium in Canada with classes on Zoom and Patreon. Born and raised in Hamilton, Eshe has been bellydancing since 2002. She’s trained extensively in Canada, Japan, Egypt, and Turkey. And she’s performed in America, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. In 2007 she launched Glitter – a bellydance showcase at The Casbah in Hamilton now taking place on Zoom!

From 2008 to 2010, Eshe was the bellydancer for the Korean band Orgeltanz. Orgeltanz and Eshe gigged at some of the country’s biggest music festivals. Together they were featured in the Korean editions of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and appeared on several TV programs. In 2009 she starred in Apollo 18’s music video “Orbis.” In early 2010, Eshe was cast in the Korean and Indonesian versions of Jillina’s Bellydance Evolution. Eshe also won Asia’s “People’s Choice” award as part of the show. The same year dance legend Sema Yildiz gave her the name “Yildiz” or “Star” in Turkish after she performed at the famed Gar Casino in Istanbul. 2010-2015 Eshe ran her own bellydance studio in Seoul called Dream Dance Studio. In 2012, her students won the bronze medal for Oriental Ensemble at the Tokyo International Bellydance Competition. In 2013, Eshe started a new concert series in Seoul called Shake Shop. The monthly event featured bellydancers collaborating with some of the biggest names in Korea’s indie scene.

In 2015, Eshe returned to Canada and started performing award-winning events such as Supercrawl. In 2016, she opened Mahasti & formed Raqs Mahasti who won 1st runner up at Star Bellydancer Canada in the troupe category.In 2017 she launched Hamilton International Bellydance Competition. In 2018 she won a 40 Under 40 Business Achievement Award for her community & charity work. In 2019 she was cast again by Jillina in Bellydance Evolution’s Los Angeles debut of Wizard of Oz. The same year she was honored to win Established Artist in the Dancer / Performing Artist category at the Hamilton Art Awards. 2020 saw her judging Tokyo International Bellydance Competition (a feat she’ll repeat in 2021) & performing in Jillina’s Bellydance Evolution halfas as well as twice in Turkey’s famed Rakkas Istanbul online shows. In 2021 she was honored to be invited as a guest performer and judge for Bellydance Norway’s The Elements project.
Learn about our studio https://www.facebook.com/hamiltonbellydance
IG @hamiltonbellydancehamiltonbellydance.com

Mon 7-8PM
July 26, Aug 9, 16, 23
Wed 730-830PM
July 28, Aug 4, 11, 19
1 night four week session $65.
2 nights four week session $100.
Drop in $20.
Additional classes and private classes available upon request.
If it rains class will happen on Zoom.
Interac etransfer to reserve your spot eshebellydancer@hotmail.com or paypal esheyildiz@gmail.com.