The Gilded Serpent presents...
Salwa
Salwa grew up in Zaire (Currently, the Democratic Republic of Congo), Kinshasa, where dancing is part of the daily social activity. Since her youngest years, dance has been a big part of her life. Her interest for dancing has been constantly growing.
On her arrival to Brussels, She immediately followed Salsa, Flamenco and Hip-Hop classes but found her true passion in the Middle Eastern Dance. Driven by this passion, she decided to quit her career as an aeronautic engineer and concentrate all her energy on being a professional dancer. Being a perfectionist and eager to learn, she followed an intensive and regular training, in Brussels, with Gudrun Malhberg, and internationally, having the opportunity of meeting Middle Eastern Dance Master teachers with International reputation such as Shahrazad, Horacio & Beata, Mahmoud Reda, Aida Nour, Farida Fahmy, Momo Kadous, Hadia, Suhaila Salimpour and many others.
Searching to further enrich her dancing skills, she is learning new dances and cultures such as the Twirling Dervishes, Gypsy and Indian dances, classic dance, Chi-Quong etc. Never tired of discovering new ideas, cultures and dance styles, she than discovers the American Tribal Style (ATS) and becomes in 2006, the first regular, Oriental Tribal Fusion Dance teacher in Belgium.
Following her rich experience, she has developed her own Middle Eastern Dance style. Her unique style, reminding some of the greatest Middle Eastern Dancers, will quickly be noticed and appreciated. she is regularly invited to dance in prestigious International Middle Eastern dance festivals such as: Ifod in Brussels, Quand l’inconscient rejoint le conscient in Brussels, Zills and Trills in Antwerp, Noon Gala in Duisburg. She also paticipates in general dance festivals and shows such as:Dance animation in the “Couleur Café” festival in Brussels hosting over 75,000 people, Lezars Urbains, the European Dance Gala of Brussels, and the South Side Story.
In 2005, she auditioned in front of Miles Copeland, Manager and creator of the Bellydance Superstars troop, and also of the famous singer Sting. Following her solo presentation, she will be selected and invited to perform live with the Bellydance Superstars during their European tour's stop in Luxembourg. In 2006, she was invited to an international highly selective casting for the prestigious Canadian troop "Cirque du Soleil." In the end, she joined the troop's dance squad in order to integrate a show of the 2008-2009 creations.
This last September 2007, she won the 1st contest of the 1st International Congress in UK, judged by stars like Jim Boz, Samasen, Shafeek Ibrahim, Heather Burby, Sara Abou Farhat and Josephine Wise.
She participated regularly in high standing private events such as the annual Deutche Bank and Citybank Dinner Galas, the launching of Jean Paul Gauthier perfumes, the launching of the Paris-Dakar motor race etc. she has also participated in video clips of well known artists such as Axel Red and Mohamed Lamine.
She diversity and experience allows her creating shows presenting a delicious mixture and fusion of diverse dance styles and art. Three shows are to be named "Magnificent 4", "Oriental and Urban dance talk", and "Plume et Poil". she, annually, takes on the challenge of creating a gala show, allowing her students to participate in a professional quality show with all the discipline and work it implies. The last to date is "La Raqs Humaine" ( “The Human Raqs” a play on words between the human race and the human dance, "raqs" meaning dance in Arabic), that have been presented in the 140 Theatre, with over 50 dancers on stage and in front of nearly 600 people.
Thanks to her widely appreciated pedagogic sense and her perfectionism, she is often invited to give, Middle Eastern Dance, Tribal Dance ad fusion workshops and shows in Belgium (Liège, Namur, Gand, Bruges, Anvers, Louvain, Louvain-la-neuve, Charleroi …) and abroad (Spain, Portugal, The Nederland’s, Luxembourg, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Kenya, Thailand, etc.). She covers all levels from beginners to masters during her workshops.
Every once and a while, she invites a fellow master teacher for a workshop and show in Brussels. Among others, she has already invited: Jillina, Rachel Brice, Amar Gamal, Sonia, Leyla Jouvana, Shahrazad from Germany, and Yousri Sharif.
Articles on Gilded Serpent by or about Salwa
- 11-28-07 The International Belly Dance Congress
Not being able to prepare my planned choreography properly for the Oum Kalthoum song, which is not easy to interpret to begin with, I quickly turned to emotions in order to fill up the space.
