Ayelet Ashkar
Ayelet Ashkar is a belly dancer, belly dance teacher, choreographer and producer of Middle Eastern performances.
Ayelet was born in Haifa, Israel, a city that fosters life of co-existence between Arabs and Jews.
Ayelet started her dance training in 1997, in “The Centre for Expression through Middle Eastern Dance”, under the tuition of Miri Alon, one of the pioneers of the Middle Eastern dance in Israel.
Ayelet studied Art at Haifa University, took numerous movement and drama workshops and acted at the Haifa Theatre.
Ayelet’s involvement in the Middle Eastern dance scene has made her to the top belly dancers in the country and she has taken part in dance shows at the major venues in Israel, such as “A garden of Roses”, a Middle Eastern dance show at The Centre of Performing Arts Susan Dalal in Tel Aviv, and “Sheherezada”, a Middle Eastern dance show combined with theatrical expression at Beit Aba Hushi in Haifa.
Ayelet has also played an active role in many Jewish-Arab festivals and events in Haifa. Together with her husband, Yuval Ashkar, the Middle Eastern music player and composer, she has produced and created choreographies for various Jewish-Arab productions.
Since arriving in Australia in 2003, Ayelet has become famous for “story teller” style of belly dance. Ayelet was involved in festivals in NSW and QLD as a performer and a workshop teacher, including the Woodford Folk Festival, The Global Carnival and the Multicultural Festival in Brisbane.
Ayelet has been invited to perform at special events for the Brisbane Ethnic Music and Arts Centre (BEMAC), at the Spigeltent and for art councils throughout NSW. Ayelet is the producer of the belly dance shows “Arabian nights”, “Eastern winds” and “1001 Arabian nights”, which have been successful in Byron Bay and the Gold Coast.
Through her dance, Ayelet takes the audience on a journey around the Middle East. Her expressions, earthy movements and stories have created a magical dance, using a variety of dancing styles from all around the Middle East.
Ayelet dances women stories with her body language and the theatrical stage set. Every woman feels emotionally moved by her dancing, her facial expressions and her kindness when she performs.
As a teacher, Ayelet has taught Middle Eastern dance, drama and creative movement at a special education school and in projects for unde-privileged girls for Jewish and Arab sectors in Haifa.
In Australia, Ayelet’s teaching focus is on women and disabled groups.
In her belly dance classes, she teaches Middle Eastern body language, “Baladi” Egyptian movements with the help of imagination, sound and awareness to breathing through Middle Eastern rhythms.
For Ayelet, the Middle Eastern belly dance, combining ancient tradition and the rhythm of our modern life, creates within us an interaction of the internal womanhood, expressing different sides of her daily life and turning women into the sensual loving and loved beings.
As a child, the dance was already part of my life. When I had a difficult time, I used to get back to my room and dance. When I had a good time, I used to move out the furniture from the living room and dance with my mother.
I was a fat girl, or this was what society let me think. Each dance classe, the teacher couldn’t understand my body needs. Instead of developing my dancing skills, she used to ask me to tuck my belly in again and again, until I quit.
At home, I used to dance with my shadwow. I was my first dance teacher. When I danced, I gained a deeper understanding of myself and the world around me, and this helped me to go through rough times.
It was my intuition to stick with dance as a healing tool, without even knowing. I used to watch closely every body language and way of dancing. There are movements which I recognise from my mother and grandmother, whom I belly danced with at parties and at home with loud music. Suddenly, I felt I didn’t need to tuck my belly in and I could dance with it and move it and feel proud of my belly. I realised that all our feelings are in the belly and when we dance what we feel, this become a celebration for our mind and soul.
I thank all my teachers, whom I met on my way, whether they knew it or not.
As a teacher, I am fascinated by bringing the little child out from every women. Through belly dance, we make peace with ourself, our body, our secrets and our dark sides. We allow the joy and happiness to come out and lead us to dance.
When I need to describe my style of dance, it’s hard, but I’m learning. I’m learning that belly dance becomes a form of dance like any other dance with its own vocabulary, I understand that belly dance is all over the world and not just in my private room, and dancers need to understand each other.
I perceive belly dance as a form of art, in which each dancer can have the space to express herself and bring her own dreams and stories to life.
For me, belly dance is way of living. I wish to have the flexibility, creativity, softness and sharpness in my daily life and in my relationship with the world.
When I dance, I am a free person, catching magical moments from my spiritual world and expressing them through dance.
In my classes, I give the women these moments by creating a supportive atmosphere. Through “baladi”, Egyptian dance, the Rhythm of the dessert, the sound of a Turkish market, the smell of an Arabic meal and memories of my home, we dance and express our modern life as a women.
