About DancEgypt

Sara

Being the daughter of one of the co-founders of DancEgypt, Egyptian dance has always been part of my life. It wasn’t until 2000 that I took a serious interest in studying the art, however. (As serious as an 11 year old can be, that is.) I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from instructors that are as talented as they are passionate about preserving this style of dance, so it made the transition in 2006 from student to teacher pretty fluid.  My ultimate goal in dance is to have our students experience the same joy and freedom of movement that we get to experience every time the music is played (even if it’s played in our own heads 😉.)

Megan

Since I was a little girl I always danced. I grew up trying many styles of dance before finding Egyptian dance when I was a teenager. My mom suggested that I try belly dancing classes so that I could eventually show my grandmother, who was from Egypt. One of the things that I remember loving from the beginning was how expressive and free this dance form was. Eventually, I had the opportunity to join DancEgypt’s performing troupe and later became an instructor for the school. With a deepening appreciation of the dance I also learned how to play a couple Arabic instruments; the Arabic tabla and the oud. Learning how to play rhythms and melodies helped me better understand the musical connections to the dancing that I was doing and became a great tool for teaching as well. Over the years I have had the privilege of studying with many amazing Egyptian master instructors and Arabic music teachers and I am ever grateful for this beautiful art form that I get to share with audiences and students.

The original founders 

Elaine

I developed a fascination with Ancient Egypt in Grade 5 and when the “new fad” of bellydancing hit the newspapers in the 70’s, I thought this was the closest I would ever get.  I started learning from Victoria Bishara shortly after she started offering classes and fell in love – the music, the movements. Over the years I have attended numerous workshops across North America, always focusing on the Egyptian style of Middle Eastern Dance particularly folkloric.  Together with Monica, we formalized what we loved into DancEgypt Dance Co. and have been teaching, performing and growing since 1986. We brought dance masters to Saskatoon for workshops and created dance productions to showcase the Egyptian dance. Along with other members of our team I teach and co-choreograph dance productions for DancEgypt’s professional troupe.

Elaine Mantyka

Monica

In the 1970s, after realizing that the yoga class I signed up for at the Saskatoon YWCA was not what expected, I saw a poster for a new class called belly dancing offered by Victoria Bishara, a woman from Egypt.  I wasn’t sure it was for me but at that point I wanted to take something so I switched my registration. From the time the first Arabic beat made its way from the record player (ancient I know), and I saw how the movement flowed from our instructor, I felt like I had come home. Everything about the music and the dance and the food and everything else I learned over the next decades felt wonderfully familiar even though I had never been to Egypt at the time.  Elaine Mantyka fell under the spell in the second class and the two of us became friends, co-dancers, teachers and when Victoria retired, we wanted to keep the momentum going so we launched DancEgypt. Today we have some wonderful instructors and directors to carry on the message started so long ago.

CONFESSIONS OF A DANCER ON SHAW TV

Find out what inspired our dancers to start dancing, what keeps bringing them back to dance class and hear their stories about funny and touching moments that happen off stage.