Mirah Ammal & Al-Bahira Dance Theater

Mirah Ammal provides excellent service and exemplary performances to create an awesome experience for you and your guests. She will create a beautiful, exciting, and varied show that suits the purpose of the event, the client, and the event theme. Mirah specializes in weddings and private parties (bachelorette/bachelorx parties, showers, showers, wellness events, educational appearances) as well as large corporate and festival events. Mirah is highly skilled in a variety of regional dance forms and styles, and provides culturally-informed performance. In addition to providing fun, opulent performances for American audiences, she regularly works with clients of Egyptian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Moroccan, Turkish, Greek, Iranian/Persian, Somali, Gulf and Indian backgrounds (among others) to understand and reflect their regional preferences and tastes. Mirah's performances are family-friendly, and Mirah is proud to serve clients of all ages, conditions, ethnic and religious backgrounds, orientations, and gender identities or expressions.

Mirah can customize an event package to suit you and your needs, but some common packages include:

Classic Belly Dance Show
Duration: Up to 30 minutes
This enchanting show begins with a dramatic, energetic entrance and takes your guests on a beautiful and exciting dance journey that may incorporate different styles and dance "props" such as veil, stick, sword, or other), ending with an upbeat section with sagat (finger cymbals), suitable for getting your guests up to dance as well! Mirah will select a musical/performance set specifically for tailored to your event, space and audience, and bring the music on usb drive, ipod or CD.
Popular for: Parties, engagements, weddings, corporate events, club/restaurant openings, and other special events. (No all-male/stag parties, please.)

Belly Dance Lesson with Performance
Duration: 60 minutes (additional time or studio destinations also available)
Spice up your special event or plan some group bonding with an exciting belly dance lesson! In this package, Mirah begins with a short performance, then she guides you and your guests through a lesson--teaching some basic belly dance movements and stringing them together into a fun, festive choreography. Mirah will bring a limited number of hipscarves for guests to wear during the lesson. No previous dance experience is necessary, and Mirah's teaching style (and humor) are warm, welcoming, and suitable for participants of all shapes and sizes, ages 5 to 105.
Popular for: Bachelorette/bachelorx, showers, scouting groups, children's parties, book clubs, social gatherings, and other group events.

Wedding Zaffas, Processions, and Grand Entrances
Duration: up to 20 minutes - can also be paired with a Classic Belly Dance Performance (see below)
Zaffa or zeffa essentially means "procession with noise." Cultures throughout the Arabic-speaking world incorporate their own local versions of the wedding zaffa into the wedding day. In modern day, the zaffa often accompanies the bridal couple's arrival at the wedding party or reception. Whether you are looking for a zaffa specific to your cultural heritage (for example, Egyptian, Palestinian, etc.) or enjoy the idea of a grand procession/entrance to herald your entrance at your reception, Mirah and Al-Bahira can help. We can organize dancers (including one or more wearing shamadan--a candelabra that is set on the dancer's head), drummers and other musical elements.
Popular for: Wedding receptions, Somali women's bridal parties, and wedding celebrations. This can also be paired with a dance performance of up to 30 minutes (classic belly dance or folklore), which can take place immediately following the procession or later in the evening.

Cultural Dance Presentation
Duration: 20-60 minutes, depending on format
Learn about the beautiful dance and music arts of the Middle East and enjoy a gorgeous, lushly costumed cultural show, and learn about the history and context related to each dance presented. (Informational/historical component is tailored to the organizer's preferences, the length/nature of the event and the age or background of the audience.) These presentations can cover the broad MENAHTI region (Middle East, North Africa, Greece, Turkey, Iran) or be tailored to feature a specific country or region (e.g. Egyptian, Persian, etc.) Additional dancers or musicians may also be available for such packages through Mirah and Al-Bahira Dance Theater.
Popular for: Schools, libraries, cultural associations, festivals, special events.

Workshop or Seminar
Duration: 45-180 minutes
Dive deeper into the dance or the cultural arts! Workshops and seminars are generally designed around a topic or purpose and can be formatted as primarily dance/movement workshop (e.g. teaching technique, choreography or other movement skills to a room full of participants), primarily as a seminar (in which Mirah provides a presentation about dance, music, cultural context or other relevant topic), or as a mixture of seminar and dance workshop. For a list of possible workshop/seminar topics or to suggest a topic, contact Mirah.
Popular for: Conferences, college classes, belly dance festivals, wellness/fitness retreats, and other special events.

Known for her elegant-yet-passionate dance style and musical interpretation, Mirah Ammal is one of the most sought-after Middle Easten dance performers in the region. Friendly, fun, professional, highly-skilled and deeply knowledgeable, Mirah can help make your event special, whether you seek entertainment for a party, Arabic wedding performance, or an educational cultural demonstration. Mirah is also artistic director with Al-Bahira Dance Theater, a professional Arabic and Persian dance company based in Minneapolis. For larger shows and multi-dancer events, Mirah and Al-Bahira can provide belly dance and folklore/cultural performances.

As a teacher, Mirah Ammal's humor, down-to-earth personality, and healthy, inclusive approach makes her popular for parties with dance lessons, for workshops, and with long-term students.

In addition to many private parties and events, Mirah Ammal and Al-Bahira Dance Theater have been hired to perform for a range of corporate, government and cultural entities such as:
* Arab World Fest (Milwaukee, WI)
* Egyptian American Society
* Persian Student Organization of Minnesota
* Arab Student Association (St. Cloud)
* Hennepin County Library System
* City of Minneapolis
* Ramsey County
* Festival of Nations
* The Wedding Guys
* University of St. Thomas
* College of St. Benedict
* Normandale Community College
* MCTC
* North Hennepin Community College
* Twin Cities Women's Expo
* Various High Schools within Minnesota
* Minnetonka Elementary Schools
* A national political convention
* International Women's Day Festival
* Festival of Nations
* ...and many other corporate and non-profit organizations.