I am artistic director of Metiss’Art Danza Arte e Benessere dal Mondo,
teacher, choreographer and performer of Duende Dance, Oriental Dance, Folk Dances from the Arabic World, Berbere Dances and Dervishes Tours.
I am sure that dancing can be a powerful path of awareness and openness to creative life.
I propose in my work a holistic, feminine, elegant and strong, fresh and spontaneous dance, at the constant search of the authenticity and kindness in the gesture and personal expression.
My goal, as a teacher, is make shine thousand colors hidden in the heart of every woman.
ARTISTIC PRODUCTION
As a choreographer and performer, in collaboration with other artists, I create theater productions and musical performances presented in Italy and abroad: Kikiensemble (2001), Al Balad (2003), Oriental Fusion (2005), Devota (2007), Corpo a Corpo (2010), Eranse una vez 5 mujeres (2011), Interno Mare (2012), Sensation Seeker (2012).
I took part in national and international exhibitions dedicated to Ethnic Dances. Latest: Festival Berbero, Milan from 2010 to 2013 – Stelle d’Oriente, Turin 2008 – Solsticio de Verano Girona (Spain) 2008 – Festival de la Costa del Sol, Malaga (Spain) 2009 and 2010 – Festival della Via della Seta, Venice 2010 – Duende Dance International Festival, Serpa (Portugal) 2010 e and 013 – Nomad Dance Fest, Milan 2011 and 2012 – Festival dell’Oriente, Carrara 2013.
In 2007-2008: co-producer and artistic director of the international festival of contemporary ethnic dances Etnosfera .
In 2008: co-founder and artistic director of Metiss’Art , association for the promotion of contemporary expression ethnic dances and dance school in Milan , one of the first in Europe to adopt a holistic and interdisciplinary teaching of the dances of the world .
In 2009-2010: dancer in the international company Amazonas with the show Eranse una vez 5 mujeres in Spain and Italy .
In 2010: foundress of the first company of Oriental and Free Duende dance in Italy, Ondakini
In 2010-2012: producer of the first Open House at Duende Dance Italian Festival
In 2012: I launched the DanzaMi project leading dancers of Metiss’Art in the city and creating interactive shows in historical places.
I have been collaborating as Malika Ferhat with the eponymous company and the musicians of Kikiensemble, for more than ten years to spread the Berber and Algerian dances of Kabyle tradition.
TRAINING ACTIVITY
From 2000 to 2007 I taught in Milan in ethnic dances specialized centers (Zagharid Circle, Land Area, Les Soeurs Tribales, Il Mosaico).
Since 2008 I have been the main teacher at Metiss’Art Danza Arte e Benessere where I have been teaching courses of traditional oriental dance, Berber dance, oriental and free Duende dance.
I hold workshops of oriental duende dance and dances of the Arabic world in Italy, Spain and Portugal host of festivals and cultural events.
I am a student and guide of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche Shambhala meditation lineage.
MY STUDIES
I trained in modern dance, devoting the last twenty years to traditional and contemporary dances of the Arabic world.
I was started to oriental dance by Yumma Mudra (then known as Myriam Szabo) in Lisbon during a year of the Erasmus experience.
Back to Milan I deepen the Egyptian oriental dance according to the traditional and rigorous approach of Jamila Zaki at the Circle Zagharid . I studied with Jamila many years becoming her assistant, professional dancer of her company and completing with her the training for teaching.
I learn a lot about the culture and music of the Arabic world collaborating with many musicians, attending courses of Arabic culture at ISIAO ( Institute of International Studies of Africa and Estern ) in Milan and animating the festivities and celebrations promoted by Association of the Berbers in Milan (Tamazigh).
Then I become student with Sabina Todaro, which with her special bodywork on flamenco and contemporary Egyptian dance (Hilal Dance) she leads me to develop a holistic dance, based on full awareness of feeling, the joy of movement, the rhythm of the internal breath.
This artistic research, now more and more personal, about the origin of the form, took me on the way of the Duende dance, which aims to discover in the body presence and in spatial awareness a way where we can leave out our innate potential to live the dance as an act of everyday life and everyday life as a living dance.
With the Duende Dance approach the shape of the Oriental Dance became, for me, an expressive language of the here and now, an exploration of the holy feminine to treat and refine with love in order to be as rich as possible, but not necessarily tied to a population and to a geographical area. I attend intensive workshops with Yumma Mudra in Belgium, India, Spain and Portugal.
I deepened the practice of awareness through dance with Shambhala lineage meditation of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a school known for its urban and contemporary approach to the practice and for studies on the relationship between mind and creative act (Dharma Art) . I practice and attend group retreats led by teachers in Europe and the United States.
I have a degree in international law with a thesis on the rights of national minorities.
I speak French, English, Portuguese and Spanish.
MY TEACHERS
Egyptian oriental dance: Wael Mansour,Jamila Zaki, Mahmoud Reda, Zaza Hassan, Yousrey Sharif, Hassan Afifi, Rakia Hassan, Mo Geddawi, Aziza Abdul Ridha and many other
Egyptian contemporary dance (Hilal Dance): Sabina Todaro, Suraya Hilal and Alessandro El Bascioni
Traditional and contemporary dances of the Maghreb: Arezki Darani, Elhadi Cheriffa and women of Cabila community in Milan
Darbouka: Emanuele Le Pera and Ibrahim El Mynawi
Arab culture: three-year course at Isiao (Istituto Studi Africa e Oriente) – University of Milan
Berber culture: Associazione Tamaszigh
Duende Dance: Yumma Mudra, Liliane Viegas, Carolina Fonseca, Monica Roncon
Meditation: Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Daniele Bollini, Adam Lobel, Mathias Pongcraz, Cara Thonley, Sara Kapp, Brian Hilliard