About Me - Sabihah

Hi, I'm Sabihah (pronounced sah-BEE-hah). OK, that's my dance name, not my real name. I'm actually only an intermediate student of Oriental Dance myself, but I love learning more in every class, and I love performing as well. I live, work, and dance in Washington, DC. And I'm happily married (sorry guys). Here's a picture of me with my husband. He's so cute!

Why "Oriental Dance"? While it can be annoying at times to have to translate "Oriental Dance" to "Bellydance" or "Middle Eastern Dance", in my humble opinion "Oriental Dance" is the best translation into English of the dance's name in the countries where it originated. I also think it sounds cool. So, I'll call it "Oriental Dance" myself and encourage others to do the same.

My day job is computer programming, and this website actually started as a class project for a Database Management Systems class. I thought, if I'm going to spend dozens of hours on a project, it might as well be something I enjoy. Unfortunately I had to re-write everything to run on my real web hosting site. *sigh* My only hope is that many people enjoy the result of all of my hard work, the Choreography Database that is the heart and soul of this site.

Everyone loves a photo gallery. Click here for mine!

These are the teachers I have worked with, the workshops I have attended, and the performances I have given. I also listed all of my original choreographies that I have actually performed (there are some others that haven't seen the light of day yet):

Instructors Workshops Performances Original Choreography
  • Neena & Veena Videos (December 2002 - present)
  • Jamie Anderson (January 2003 - February 2003)
  • Aziza Fadwa (March 2003 - June 2003)
  • Dolphina Videos (March 2003 - present)
  • Shazaadee (April 2003 - August 2005)
  • Gozde (September 2003 - August 2005)
  • Sahara Dance: Catarina, Saphira, Elysa, Chiaki, Rachel (January 2006 - present)
  • Eliah of PURE DC (May 2006 - present)
  • Family performance (March 2003)
  • Hafla at the Morocco workshop (April 2003)
  • Hafla at the Triangle Dance Studio (June 2003)
  • Hafla at the Mora Spa (November 2003)
  • Family performances (December and January 2003)
  • Show during the Dalia workshop (February 2004)
  • Hafla at the Mora Spa (March 2004)
  • NC Renaissance Faire (March 2004)
  • Blue Moon Hafla (April 2004)
  • Show during the Ansuya workshop (June 2004)
  • Show during the Jillina workshop (November 2004)
  • Show during the Aziza workshop (February 2005)
  • Laco Drom Hafla (May 2005)
  • 4th Annual Under a Desert Moon (May 2006)
  • PURE Procession at the FDR Memorial (July 2006)
  • PURE Halloween Procession in Dupont Circle (October 2006)
  • Fall 2006 Sahara Dance Student Showcase
  • PURE Procession at the NBC 4 Health and Fitness Expo (January 2007)
  • PURE Ritual at the DCTribal Student Show (January 2007)
  • Veil: Dolphina, Introduction to Bellydance, Ocean Depths
  • Oriental: Paul Dinletir, Bellydance Superstars, Raks Africa
  • Veil: Brian Tyler, Children of Dune, Inama Nushif
  • Fusion: Solace, Ahsas, Crimson
  • 3-Person Fire Dance: Jehan, Goddessdance, Illumination
  • Cabaret: Paul Dinletir, Bellydance Superstars Vol. II, Entrance of the Stars

I'm sure someday I will have more to say here... but for now I'm going to focus on getting the site in shape. Have fun, and check back often for new content.

By the way, don't forget to visit my Resources and Links page. The websites listed there were very valuable to me in creating this site.