Rachel is one of the best known, most experienced and awarded belly dancers in Sydney.

She is a mature, polished, dynamic performer with a diverse repertoire and a passion for engaging her audience. Sharing the joy of dance and bringing smiles to your faces are her favourite things to do!

With thousands of shows under her belt, she is experienced, professional and easy to work with. Her rich understanding of the dance, its culture and music shine through. She is skilled in many styles of Middle Eastern dance as well as in the use of all the typical bellydancing props (finger cymbals / zil / sagat, veil, wings, stick / cane /assaya), and much more. She especially loves working with your musical requests to produce a unique show, perfect for your event. No matter what your background – Lebanese, Egyptian, Iraqi, Turkish, Greek, Indian, Afghani, or anything else – Rachel can create entertainment that’s sure to thrill your guests.

As well as performing solo, Rachel also works with some of Sydney’s other best bellydancers to create duet, trio and even larger group shows for corporate events and weddings.

Rachel has appeared in several large-scale theatre productions, and on television multiple times. Prior to starting her own company, she spent some years in various professional and semi-professional dance companies and troupes; she continues to be a high profile, active member of Farrah ~ The Egyptian Dance Artists, an association dedicated to presenting a range of traditional and modern Egyptian dance forms.

An Award Winning Dancer:

• Selected from 90 applicants worldwide to be in the cast for the first ever Bellydance Evolution in Australia – an international production featuring star bellydancers from the USA – for a spectacular theatre show.

• Winner of the People’s Choice Award in the Australian Bellydance Competition, judged by famous Egyptian Belly Dancer Dina.

• Even early in Rachel’s performance career, she was recognised for the consistently positive feedback given by customers, who commented on Rachel’s performance skill, professional manner, polished appearance, happy and bubbly personality, and ability to make every party a success. The Amera’s Palace Award acknowledged Rachel’s commitment to the dance and respect for the culture, and her efforts in continually developing her skills by visiting Egypt to learn from the world’s top belly dancers, and attending master workshops with visiting teachers.

“Never stop learning!”

Despite her years of training and experience, Rachel is passionate about developing her own knowledge and artistry, and passing on her knowledge. A self-confessed festival addict, she has taken classes with everyone she can get her hands on, and travelled to train in Egypt numerous times to learn from the source and study with the world’s leading dancers, researchers and choreographers.

After hosting dance ethnologist Sahra Saeeda in Sydney in 2016, she became the first Australian dancer to take Sahra’s “Journey Through Egypt” cultural anthropology tour, delving deeper into the history and culture of Egyptian dance traditions on location in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. Upper Egyptian dances continue to be a favourite field of study, that Rachel is regularly called on to teach to dancers around Australian and internationally.

Rachel is an experienced teacher of students of all levels. You can read more about this below. Weathering the storm of Covid lockdowns has made her proficient in delivering engaging, interactive online programs and performances. As well as teaching weekly classes and mentoring up-and-coming teachers and performers, she regularly delivers workshops and seminars at dance festivals around Australia and beyond. In addition, Rachel has extended her performance skills by training in acting and improvisation, and dipping into cultural dance styles from all over the world.

Quick-fire question round:

• Rachel holds a PhD in Science and worked in research for several years at the University of Sydney

• She has spent 2 years as an exchange student: in high school to Hungary, and in university to Germany (twice!), kindling her love of travel, languages and cultures

• Other things she’s trained in include acting and improvisation, fitness instruction, and Argentine Tango

• She loves cats, though she doesn’t currently have any of her own

• If she could only eat 2 things, she’d choose dark chocolate and steamed broccoli

• Her favourite colour is purple - hence this website’s colour scheme

• Like most people, she finds it odd to talk about herself in the third person