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Award-winning dancer, Azhia, has trained and performed since the age of 5 in ballet, tap and jazz at such schools as Ballet Arizona and Tempe Dance Academy. While with the Tempe Dance Academy, Azhia traveled to Moscow and Leningrad in the former Soviet Union and to Copenhagen, Denmark, to perform and engage in youth cultural exchange. In 1988, Azhia discovered an affinity with non-Western dance arts and studied Bharata Natyam (South Indian Classical Dance), West African, Flamenco, Filipino folk dances and Polynesian dances. Ultimately, Azhia found her passion and mainstay in belly dance, performing and teaching in Phoenix and eventually in Philadelphia, PA, where she attended law school. Starting in 1998, Azhia performed as a house dancer at the Nile Restaurant, where she cultivated a joy and fluency performing to live music by some of the best Middle Eastern musicians in the Delaware Valley, including oudist Roger Mgrdigian, Bill Koutsouros of world music ensemble, Animus, and Joe Tayoun, all members of families steeped in the artistry and tradition of Middle Eastern music. In 2003, Azhia won the Jewel of the Nile Middle Eastern Dance Pageant, the Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition (BDUC), Universal Category, and People's Choice Award. Azhia was invited to return to the BDUC to judge several categories. Soon after, Azhia quickly rose to become one of Philadelphia's most recognized and respected dance artists. Azhia regularly performed and presented solo and group choreographies in prestigious venues such as World Café Live and the Grounds for Sculpture, lead numerous workshops and performed locally and abroad (Osaka, Japan; Oregon; Maryland), and also co-produced FUZEFEST with Bill Koutsouros, the pair forming a dynamic duo who promoted world fusion music and dance with this yearly event.
Throughout this time, Azhia continued to teach regular classes, vend custom-made costumes from Egypt, and mentored emerging and professional-level dancers on an individual basis, as well as through the Azhia Movement Project, an ever changing group of talented dancers who perform Azhia’s original choreographies. In 2005, Azhia resigned from over 4 years as an attorney to devote herself fully to dance performance and instruction, and added zambra, hip hop, and aerial arts to her personal studies. Starting in 2007, Azhia established herself as a reputable freelance makeup artist after graduating first in class from the Jean Madeline Aveda Institute with a diploma in cosmetology. Along with talented photographers and directors, Azhia worked in a variety of settings for her styling work, from dance theater, to photography, to short films. Azhia relocated her base of operations to Montréal, Quebec in Fall 2007, where she regularly coordinated belly dance performances at Cabaret Al Amar; danced with Cabaret Blue Light Burlesque (as ChatChat Miao); coached students; learned to speak French; and traveled all over for dance and styling work. While in Montréal, Azhia produced two instructional DVDs as part of "The Dancer's Companion" series, currently sold in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. (Click on "DVDs" to view trailers and purchase). Azhia briefly retired from performing and has returned to the belly dance community with renewed vision and enthusiasm, always accommodating a busy travel schedule.
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