About Loreley
Loreley is an accomplished teacher, performer, and choreographer with many years of experience under her shimmy belt! She loves the creative potential of Egyptian dance and enjoys performing a wide variety of dance styles, anything from authentic Egyptian oriental to Tribal fusion and even more experimental endeavours! She practises and promotes high teaching standards, and holds regular classes in Abingdon, Oxford and Wantage.
Loreley has always had both a passion for dance and a passion for Egypt. She was fortunate to have country dancing and creative dance classes at her local junior school, but her first dance lessons outside of school, at the age of 11, were on ice. At 15, she decided to dance on a less slippery surface and took up ballet.
Meanwhile, her interest in Egypt's ancient past took her to London to study for a BSc in archaeology and subsequently a postgraduate degree. It also took her to Egypt - to participate in archaeological fieldwork! Her first experience of Egyptian dance was watching her Egyptian colleagues dance one evening away in a large tent (though there was only room for one person to dance at a time!) to the music and song provided by a small band of local Saidi musicians. Knowing nothing about Egyptian dance, Loreley also gave her first improvised performance that evening!
Upon her return to London, she discovered belly dancing classes with Tina Hobin and, shortly thereafter, Raqs Sharqi classes with Suraya Hilal, and trained with both for several years. She has also had the good fortune of taking regular classes with Vashti of Dallas. Middle Eastern dance is an incredibly rich area of knowledge and experience, and Loreley continues to extend her knowledge and skills by attending workshops taught by great dancers from around the world, such as Sara Abou Farhat, Beata and Horacio Cifuentes, Magdy El Leisy, Lubna Emam, Amar Gamal, Raqia Hassan, Shafeek Ibrahim, Jillina, Khaled Mahmoud, Kharriya Mazin, Mahmoud Reda, and Yasmina of Cairo.
Loreley began teaching regular classes in the early 1990s. She is well known for her patient teaching style and attention to technique. Some of her students have themselves gone on to become teachers and performers.
Loreley is an IDTA-qualified belly dance teacher and a member of the IDTA (International Dance Teachers Association). Her students were among the first to take IDTA exams in belly dancing when they were introduced in 2003.
In addition to being a full-time dancer, Loreley is a part-time archaeologist, specialising in early prehistory and Egyptology.