Saara Soikkeli

I started dancing oriental dance as a hobby in 1986 with the Finnish teacher Irene Jelin. Soon my hobby turned into a passion and, eventually, a career. I have a master´s degree in social sciences from the Helsinki University but I work as a teacher, performer and choreographer of oriental dance. I have studied oriental dance in Finland, Egypt, USA and Israel with some of the leading instructors of the field, e.g. Mahmoud Reda, Raqia Hassan and Yousry Sharif. I have also studied balet, jazzbalet, Finnish folkloric dances and flamenco.

Music and dance are universal languages. I find that performing oriental dance, coupled with arabic music, can touch people´s hearts all over the world, despite language and cultural differences. I have performed as a soloist and a member of a troupe in Finland, Egypt and Sweden, to live music as well as tape music. Beside my solo career I concentrate on working as a member of the Helsinki-based troupe Masrah.

Oriental dance provides me, beside the sheer physical enjoyment of dancing, with musically, culturally and esthetically stimulating experiences. It has opened a whole new culture for me. I aspire to transmit these things to my dance students as well. I find that dance technique and the joy of dancing go hand in hand. Thus I put weigt on a thorough learning of dance movements as a way to better be able to express the mood of the music and feelings of the dancer. I teach both arabic women´s solo dance and Egyptian folklore, in Helsinki in the Tanssikeidas ("Oasis of Dance") studio and elsewhere as a visiting workshop instructor.