Suzahna, a most expressive and passionate dancer, has been studying dance for several years. Her background in dance has varied widely throughout the years, ranging from Western classical ballet and jazz to Eastern classical Indian dance. This variety of experience in many dance forms has contributed greatly to her versatility as a Middle Eastern dancer.

 
 

A natural trance dancer, Suzahna has an unusual ability to acutely connect bodily to drum rythms. Suzahna's early dance years were spent doing solitary trance dance, and even today, her favorite way of dancing is within a circle of live drumming.

         

 

Fulfilling her intense desire to perform interpretive spiritual dance, Suzahna in 1996 became a member of Praise In Motion, a Christian ballet-based dance company and danced under the direction of Kathy Thomas-Law, formerly of the Atlanta Ballet. She performed liturgical dances in churches throughout Atlanta and surrounding cities.

 


Suzahna went on to choreograph her own work and dance as a soloist, performing in large sanctuaries with live choral and symphonic accompaniment, and at spiritual retreats.

Suzahna's dream of bridging the gap between religious denominations and sexual discrimination in the church through dance was fulfilled when she choreographed and performed several dances honoring The Goddess within patriarchal religious institutions, including Columbia Theological Seminary and First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta.

 

In 1998, Suzahna's deep love for the feminine aspect of God as well as for the masculine aspect propelled her to express her dance in a more primal form, which came to be bellydance.

Suzahna was initially introduced to many styles of Middle Eastern folkdance by dancer, choreographer, and musician Sherifa El-Bakkar of Atlanta, Georgia.