Nada El Masriya is an Egyptian dance artist from Cairo whose five year membership with the internationally acclaimed Reda Troupe and nearly twenty years of experience in total, well qualifies her to pass on the rich cultural and historical heritage of Egypt via the art of Belly Dance.

Now settled in Toronto with her Canadian husband and son, Nada offers students of Belly Dance from Introductory to Professional levels alike, an insider's understanding of the dance which engages the body, mind, and spirit by teaching correct physical technique and providing deep emotional insights into the movements and music, while firmly grounding all lessons within an authentic and appropriate cultural context.
With the highest level of dance training in Egypt, her goal is to entertain, educate and enrich people lives with the dance and culture of her home country.

Nada is the Artistic Director of The Egyptian Dance Academy (Hannan’s Belly Dance Studio) and the Egyptian Dance Company (Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company).
She loves teaching and performing. Her classes and workshops often sell out and she has received awards and recognition from some of the greatest living Belly Dancers.

She is known for being a very fun, precise, extremely skilled and knowledgeable teacher. She teaches all levels of Belly Dance and her Professional Level Belly Dance Classes run all year.

Nada's Full Biography and Performance History

"Nada El Masriya is the Ambassador of Egyptian
Dance in Canada." - Fifi Abdou

Abigail is a long-standing faculty member of Hannan’s Bellydance Studio.

A highly-accomplished performer and instructor, Abigail’s broad-based training in Egyptian belly dance as well as the vast Egyptian folkloric repertoire has made her very highly sought-after by audiences and dance students alike.

An elegant, expressive and powerful performer, Abigail dances with deeply-felt musicality and exceptionally beautiful technique. Abigail’s love of dance radiates through her performances, causing audiences to fall in love with her playful spirit, her graceful way of moving, and her gift for dancing the heart of the music.

A passionate instructor, Abigail truly loves teaching. A firm believer in positive reinforcement, Abigail creates a welcoming, inspiring learning atmosphere for students of all levels, from those dancing just for fun and fitness to those undertaking a serious study of the art.

Abigail’s artistic foundation stems from a highly creative childhood spanning many disciplines: dance (ballet and modern), music (violin) and theatre (acting and costuming). In high school Abigail was accepted into the Claude Watson Performing Arts program, where she studied all aspects of stagecraft and graduated with a Theatre Major. Abigail studied Fashion Design at Ryerson and George Brown, and for many years applied her design skills as a theatre costumer and a designer of hand-knitting patterns.

In 2004, Abigail fell in love with Egyptian belly dance and began her intensive study of the art form. Her key formative training was with master instructors Badia Star (Canada), Hannan Sultan (USA) and Nada El Masriya (Egypt). Abigail continually broadens her dance study through regular workshops with international experts of the field, including Aida Nour, Tito Seif, Aziza, Randa Kamal and Amel Tafsout.

Abigail turned her passion into her career when she was invited to teach at Hannan’s Bellydance Studio and become a lead dancer for the studio agency. She has maintained an active teaching and performing schedule ever since.

In 2007, Abigail was invited into Rhythm Of The Nile Dance Company as a lead dancer. In the company’s 2008 inaugural production “Rhythm Of The Nile”, she performed in almost every dance number. In 2009, Abigail was a driving force behind the company’s follow-up production, “Ayyam Zaman”, where she wore multiple hats as co-artistic director, costumer, lead company dancer, and soloist.

Abigail is most deeply inspired by Egyptian dance stars both past and present, and is grateful to today’s students and audiences for keeping the tradition of Egyptian belly dance alive.

Abigial's students often comment on her skill in breaking down the difficult movements and communicating it clearly so that everyone gets it.
She teaches Advanced Belly Dance, our Student Dance Troupe and Folklore classes.

Emilia’s first exposure to Middle Eastern dance was in the Emirates where she lived and worked for four years.. Upon returning to Toronto, she started taking dance classes and credits her various local instructors such as Habeeba Hobeika, Mayada, Denise, Saba, Mary, and Emese for furthering her belly dance interest. Emilia subsequently settled at Hannan’s Bellydance Studio and was invited to join The Sultannettes under the mentorship of Hannan Sultan, who also trained Emilia to become a Belly dance Instructor.

Always a student at heart, Emilia attends international dance camps and intensives twice a year. Since 2006, she has been inspired by various master dance instructors such as Aziza, Ranya Renee, Aida Nour, Randa Kamel, Tito Seif, Orit Maftsir and Khaled Mahmoud, to name a few.

Emilia completed the Professional Belly dance course of Aziza (of Montreal) held in Florida, which was by invitation only. Complimenting her teaching knowledge is her completion of Hadia’s Teacher Training (Level 2) and the General Belly dance Course of Delilah (of Seattle) held in Kona, Hawaii.

Emilia’s biggest dance inspiration thus far is Sahra Saeeda. She had recently completed Sahra’s Cabaret Cairo Style Level 2 Certification held in Philadelphia and is currently working on her Journey Through Egypt (Level 2) certification.

As a dance instructor, Emilia’s classes are often described as fun-filled, empowering and energetic while focusing on correct, safe technique. Her aptitude for breaking down movements to a more dancer-friendly, organic approach can only be credited to her wide-range of training acquired through educational exposures with various master instructors. Emilia believes that belly dance has to be fun and that everyone has the right to enjoy it. She welcomes all gender in her classes and prides herself for having regular students between the age of 7 and 70 years.

In spite of her busy performance and teaching schedule, Emilia appreciates the importance of being a part of Toronto’s vibrant belly dance community. She regularly writes and contributes article for Mid-Bits belly dance Magazine. She also gets invited to perform and/or to emcee in events of other dance studios, which she does with lots of enthusiasm.

Outside her dance endeavour, Emilia plays recreational piano and enjoys her full time career in the legal industry.

She is known for her active teaching style and has a special Hip Hop Belly Dance class she teaches from time to time.

Emilia teaches Zumba and W.O.W. (Women of the World).
Emilia keeps her CPR A/AED training up to date and she is also a
licensed ZIN member - Zumba details.

Moved by the beauty of the music Katy started studying Middle Eastern dance in 2002. She has studied Middle Eastern dance with Yasmina Ramzy, Denise Mireau, Audra Simmons, Saba, Mary, Emesa Dose, and Nada El Masriya. She has taken workshops held by renowned performers Aida Nour, Tito and Randa Kamal.
Katy joined The Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company in 2005 and began teaching at Hannan's Belly Dance Studio in 2008.
Katy dances in an beautiful soft Egyptian style and her students keep coming back for more.

Katy is currently on Maternity Leave. Congratulations Katy!

Photography by award winning Dave Abreu Photography

Oksana’s passion for a beautiful art of Middle Eastern Dance began after trying her very first bellydance class in Toronto. She was inspired by the beauty of the music, unique moves and femininity of the dance. Oksana trained primarily with Hannan Sultan and also with the other amazing teachers at Hannan’s Bellydance Studio. Oksana furthered her growth by taking regular classes at the studio and workshops with various instructors such as Aziza, Jillina, Randa Kamal, Aida Noir, Hadia, Cassandra and many more. She was also a part of the Rhythm of The Nile Dance Company founded and directed by Nada El Masriya.
Oksana instructs weekly classes at Hannan’s Bellydance Studio and her students remark on what a beautiful and elegant dancer and teacher she is.

Taraneh was drawn to belly dance by her love of Middle Eastern music. Acting on a New Year's resolution to try something new to complement her yoga practice, Taraneh dropped into a belly dance class at Raven Crow's I Dream Bellydance Studio in 2004 and has been shimmying and undulating happily ever since. In belly dance she found the ideal synthesis for her varied passions: visual art (she is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art), music, dance, fitness, communication and culture.
Taraneh has trained primarily with Hannan Sultan and the instructors at Hannan's Bellydance Studio and continues to develop her versatility and technique via workshops with a wide range of dancers including Audra Simmons, Yasmina Ramzy, Randa Kamal, Ariellah, Aziza, Jillina, Mira Betz and Jim Boz. She has completed Hadia's Level 3 Certification in Middle Eastern Dance Instruction.

Taraneh has been a member of the Sultanettes since the troupe's debut, opening for Aziza at the Bewitching Bellydance Ball in 2006. As a solo dancer and as a member of the Sultanettes, Taraneh has had the pleasure of performing in a variety of venues and events including Lula Lounge, Funkabelly, Taste of the Danforth, Rak 'n' Roll, and the International Bellydance Conference of Canada.

Studying the traditions and innovations of belly dance has been an ongoing source of creative inspiration and Taraneh invites her students to discover this joy for themselves.
Taraneh has a gentle and relaxed teaching style that her students love.

Photography by award winning Dave Abreu Photography

Itzel started learning oriental dance at Hannan’s Belly Dance Studio during the winter of 2007. Initially her fitness plan, Egyptian belly dance has become a personal development project and the driving force of her personal and artistic life. She learned the basics as an unlimited-class student and had the privilege to learn simultaneously from Hannan Sultan, Anuka, Zahira, Emilia, Maha, Abigail and Nada el Masriya.

In 2009 she started her performance path as a member of the Egyptian Academy Student Troupe (formerly known as The Sultanettes) and soloist to live music at the studio events. Described as a very dedicated, enthusiastic and welcoming dancer, in 2010 she was accepted as an apprentice dancer with the Rhythm Of The Nile Dance Company, and had the honour to perform with the company for Fifi Abdo, Randa Kamel and Aida Nour

As a teacher she has been inspired and mentored by Emilia, Oksana, Abigail and Nada el Masriya. Itzel firmly believes that this sensuous, energetic and therapeutic dance form is the key to self-expression, mental and physical fitness. She is thrilled and very grateful for the opportunity to share the enjoyment and youthful feelings that belly dancing brings into her life.

Photography by award winning Dave Abreu Photography

Natasha entered the wonderful world of dance through Latin dance, but her dance passions fully blossomed once she discovered belly dance. Since the spring of 2007 she has been training on an ongoing basis with established instructors such as Nada El Masriya, Hannan Sultan, Emilia, Maha, Abigail and Zahira. In 2010 she became a proud member of the Rhythm of The Nile Dance Company.
Natasha has had additional training with Hadia, Randa Kamel, Aida Nour and Lubna Emam. Natasha's dancing is know for being filled with fun and energy.

As a teacher she has been described as fun with high technical standards.

Joe Srouji was fortunate enough to have come from a family of musicians, he was given a great opportunity to learn the traditional styles of Middle Eastern percussion . Joe started professionally playing the tabla in 1996. He has been a member of Layali El Sharq Band as a percussion player since 2004. In 2009 he became the sole Tabla player for Layali El Sharq. He has performed for famous belly dance super stars such as Fifi Abdou and Randa Kamal.
He began teaching Drumming Workshops at the Egyptian Dance Academy in 2011 and became the Drumming instructor in 2012.