2005 Fusion Star

2006 Queen of Raks Sharki (Little Egypt)

2007 Egyptian Champion (BDUC)

2007 Drum Solo Champion (BDUC)

2007 People’s Choice Drum Solo (BDUC)

and the 2008 Belly Dancer of the Year (BDOY)

Ahava, meaning ‘Love’ in Hebrew, is a multi-award winning performer from the San Francisco Bay Area. She is well known for her graceful Egyptian style, commanding stage presence and crowd-pleasing drum solos. Ahava, being the eternal student, is committed to studying not only Middle Eastern dance, but also the language and culture. She continues to attend workshops, seminars and read and learn as much as she can so that she’s not only a knowledgeable dancer, but a knowledgeable teacher as well.

Her dance journey began at the age of nine. She began to study West African Senegalese dance and performed throughout the Oakland unified school district. As she got older she began to take western dances, including Ballet, Jazz, Modern and Hip Hop. But at fourteen her dance career was put on hiatus. In May of 2000, Ahava suffered terrible injuries from a hit-and-run accident. Between all of the surgeries and physical therapy, it took over two years for her to fully recover. At sixteen Ahava accidentally discovered belly dance and quickly became infatuated with the rhythms, melodies and the language. After years of studying different dance styles she realized that belly dance was her true calling.

Ahava is heavily influenced by Egyptian dancers, such as Samia Gamal, Taheya Carioca and Naima Akef for their grace, Mona Said and Sahar Hamdi for their beautiful arms and hands, and the one and only Fifi Abdo for her wit and boldness. (Ahava has had the great honor of performing for Madame Fifi twice!) In the summer of 2007, Ahava traveled to Cairo for the annual Ahlan Wa Sahlan festival. As an invited performer, she danced in the famous closing gala show for an audience of nearly 2,000 people.

A true rising star, Ahava has won many titles, including the 2006 Queen of Raks Sharki, 2007 Egyptian Champion and the 2008 Belly Dancer of the Year. She is also the featured dancer in several performance and instructional DVDs, such as: Jillina’s Shape Up and Hip Out, Combination Nation (Cheeky Girls Productions), Belly Dance 007 (IAMED), and the popular By Dancers for Dancers volumes 2, 3 and 5.


                                                                                                      [email protected]