Ashkar Music & Dance 

Oud (‘ud) Playing
Darbuka & Arabic Percussion
Belly Dance Classes

Oud (‘ud) Playing Lessons

As an oud (‘ud) player, Yuval Ashkar has a very unique style, which he also teaches to his students. Yuval brings music styles from various cultures – Egyptian, Persian, Turkish (maqam or taqasim) and Jewish (piyutim) – blending them together and improvising on them.

Yuval’s teaching style is soft and encouraging, helping his students explore their inner joy of music and bringing their spirit to life through playing.

Yuval says:

“My music is not about technique. It comes from the soul. I believe that if you have the music inside you, you can play whatever you want.”

Get inspired, develop your skills for listening and playing and enjoy yourself with Yuval Ashkar, an oud teacher with a world-class playing style, in a friendly atmosphere.

Darbuka and Arabic Percussion Playing Classes

Yuval Ashkar is a gifted player on the darbuka, daff, zarb, reg and other Arabic percussion instruments. Through his warm and caring teaching, he passes his passion and skills to his students.

“I teach a blend of eastern and western, classic and contemporary music. My drumming workshops are open to everyone. You do not need to be a ‘muso’, just come!”

Here is Yuval Ashkar playing the zarb (Persian drum):

Get excited, develop your sense of rhythm and enjoy yourself with Yuval Ashkar, an inspiring Middle Eastern percussionist and teacher.

Belly Dance Classes

Ayelet Ashkar is an expressive and sensual belly dancer. In her belly dance classes, Ayelet appeals to the feminine side of her students and helps them unleash it through their belly dance movements, creating a supportive circle of women friends.

Ayelet is an experienced and compassionate teachers, who encourages and shares her knowledge with lots of fun and laughter.

Ayelet says:

“My workshops are about expressions through belly dance.

I teach you how to get in touch with your creativity, stories and dreams, how to open your mind to a new language of belly dance movements. Explore yourself. Feel encouraged to surprise yourself. Bring your inner storyteller to life through the dance.

There is magic in this way of teaching. I show you how to become one with the music. By visualizing the movement, you learn how to move and improvise.”

Here is Some Feedback Ayelet Has Received

You have been for me the paramount of the art of belly dancing as well as of the right method to teach belly dancing. I find both your art and your teaching have been genuinely transmitted to you and cultivated by you and your teachers in Israel . Each class i have attended has been for me a wonderful dip in middle eastern culture: essence, music, rhythms, humour and spirit. You have also helped me to connect with my femininity, my belly, my guts, my love for life. It is more than dancing and feeling great in my body, it is also a life experience. Heartfelt thanks to you”.
- Monique

“I love Ayelet’s classes. She creates a beautiful, safe space for feminine expression. Ayelet doesn’t just teach steps and dance but, encourages her students to honor and know their bodies. Through improvisation we are encouraged to feel and express our own unique dance. I finish each class with my body and soul healed from the pressures of my week”.
- Eva Grace

Ayelet has a special ability to encourage and bring out each person’s inner dancer.
What I enjoyed most about Ayelet’s classes was the playful, storytelling aspect of her dance interpretations. And what I gained most from her tuition was the confidence to have more fun, be more daring and take more risks in performing…
- Lilith

Get fit, relax and enjoy yourself with Ayelet Ashkar,
a belly dance teacher with deep understanding
and a loving heart.

Check out upcoming belly dance workshops

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The Origins of Belly Dance

Belly dance is a Western name for an Arabic style of dance developed in the Middle East. In Europe, it is sometimes called oriental dance. Similarly, In Turkish it is referred to as oryantal dans? (“Dance of the East”). Some American devotees refer to it simply as “Middle Eastern Dance”.

In the Arabic language, belly dance is known as raqs sharqi رقص شرقي (”eastern dance”) or sometimes raqs baladi رقص بلدي (”national” or “folk” dance).

The performance dance form known in the West as the belly dance is based on one of the oldest social dances in world history, native to North Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Much of the support for this theory stems from the similarities between poses in Egyptian artwork and the modern dance.

In Palestine and Iraq, this social dance is called Raks Baladi, and is performed by people of all ages and both sexes during festive occasions, such as weddings, and other social gatherings for fun and celebration. It is the theatricalized version, performed by both male and female professional dancers and called Raks Sharki in Arabic, that is most popular in America today.

In its native lands, boys and girls learn the dance from an early age. As with many social dances, it is learned informally through observation and imitation of their elders during family and community celebrations, as well as during informal gatherings with friends. Today, these ancient dances are taught in classes offered throughout the world, and skilled dancers are able to share their knowledge that has been passed down from the indigenous peoples who created them.

Raqs Sharqi consists of movements that are initiated by the feet and executed throughout the body. The focus of the dance is the pelvic and hip area. It is, fundamentally, a solo improvisational dance with its own unique dance vocabulary that is fluidly integrated with the music

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Welcome to
Ashkar Music & Dance
home of authentic Arabic music, Persian music, Turkish music, unique style oud playing, traditional Arabic songs and expressions through Belly Dance.

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Look around, read about Yuval Ashkar and Ayelet Ashkar, check out the upcoming events (including our famous “Arabian Nights” show) and workshops, listen to our music, buy our CDs and let us know how it made you feel.

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 performed 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.

In 2006-2009, Ayelet has danced and delivered belly dance workshops at Bahar Bayram in Bamedam Camp, QLD. She also participated in the Sydney Dance Festival in 2008 & 2009.

In 2009, Ayelet will be taking part in Bahar Bayram, as well as in Dance of Colours.

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.

Check out upcoming belly dance workshops

Book Ayelet to Dance at Your Event

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