Click to visit Kira’s Gallery!

Kira teaches beginning through intermediate level dance, veil & beginning level zills in her beautiful studio, Kira’s Oasis: 590 Congress Park Drive in Centerville. Please see the On-Going Classes page or the Kira’s Classes page for the full schedule and breakdown of class content, prices etc. Don’t forget to take the Virtual Tour of the studio on-line!

Kira has traveled all over the U.S., with a heavy concentration of study in California, Egypt extensively, France, Australia, England & New Zealand to receive superior education and is focusing on sharing it with the community. Well known thorought Ohio for her lovely arm work, easy flowing movements, exacting musical interpretation and extremely warm, friendly personality, she is a sought-after performer for events sponsored by many other dancers across the state! Having one of the most coveted costume closest for miles around, she always has an exciting and beautiful look appropriate for the theme or venue for which she is performing.

She strives toward creating a cooperative environment within the dance community so that teachers and students can grow and benefit from the study of Middle Eastern Belly Dance. The What’s Going On page on this website is a prime example. The goal of the page being to keep everyone informed of opportunities to enjoy and participate in dance happenings within driving distance of Dayton, OH. It is her hope that a connection between the cultures is achieved, elevating this art form to the level of respect it deserves. Educating the general public about the benefits of the dance and clearing up the areas of the art form that are misunderstood is her top priority. She is committed to continuing education for herself and providing opportunities for same for the community that keeps everyone interested and motivated toward personal growth in the dance.

Hire Kira!
Kira performs in a variety of venues including parties, supper clubs (Kira was one of the main dance performers at Apollo’s Greek Supper Club, performing 3 to 4 nights a week until it changed ownership), charity events, public performances, instructional entertainment, private gatherings, workhops, individual lessons and class-based instruction, Ladies Nite Out & Bridal showers, Birthday parties and much more. You can view her dancing at Apollo and other places by clicking *HERE*

Kira believes strongly that each dancer has something to share with others about the dance as we all learn more and adapt the dance to our own style and personality type. Kira has studied with and/or continues to study with all the major teachers in the Dayton area and surrounding cities: Kathy Hennessy, Laylia, Little Egypt, Becky Parlette, Ray-Anne, Katy Moeggenburg, Nataj, Conchi, Gina, Cassandra. She has studied intensively with and continues to pursue education with Middle Eastern Dance professionals across the country: Jillina, Zahra Zuhair, Cassandra of MN, Hadia, Suzanna Del Vecchio, and many more….

As one of the major sponsors of Belly Dancing Workshops, Charity Shows and other forums in the Dayton area, she can provide her students with unique performance opportunities to enhance their growth while learning the dance. Check out “Fall Fest at Sinclair”.

To contact Kira, you may call: (937) 620-1678 or Email: kira@kirasoasis.com

If you wish to hire Kira to add Belly Dance performance entertainment and/or instruction to your event, here are some things to know which will help you more thoroughly enjoy this opportunity:

* First, you can specify to Kira your preference of costuming so they fit with your event, venue and fondness. Costuming options range from the extremely beautiful and sexy Belly Dance costuming most typically thought of when seeing a Belly Dancer to more earthy, dress-like costuming covering much more of the stomach, legs, and cleavage. (see Kira’s gallery for examples of the variety of costuming options available)

* Second, in the Middle East the movements of Belly Dance are the common way that everyone dances! Everyone, big & small, young & old moves in these ways. It is the dance of their people and their culture! People who understand the dance, dance deep within the amazing music of their respective countries, focusing on the exciting drum rhythms, flowing flute or other instrumentation. A high-level professional dancer/entertainer is expected to take the concept of dancing “within” or part of the music to the next level by dancing extremely well to all the various idiosyncrasies of the music, catching each wonderful thing with her body and making a visual representation of the music with her movements. It is like focusing on another element of the senses with dance and music combining to make the music not only heard by the ear, but seen with the eye! The more powerful the hip movements, or deeply interpretive of the instrumentation, the more emotionally sensual the dancer – the BETTER! A dancer turned “Professional Performer” has finely honed the dance craft with extensive study.

* Third, it is customary and appropriate to clap and holler loudly, jump out of your chairs when the dancer gets close and dance with her, maybe even guide her up onto your chair and clap and sing with her while she is dancing!! It is wonderful fun! And NO, you do not need to have any prior knowledge of how to do any Belly Dance movements. Just enjoy the music and do what you do….that is great! When you include a Belly Dance performance at your function, Please feel free to enjoy her entertainment gift in all of these same ways. Kira is trained in understanding how Middle Eastern people behave to their music and dance and will welcome and enjoy the same interactive behavior from your group immensely!

* Fourth, understand a significant portion of people in the Middle East view being thin as a sign of poverty, an undesirable trait. Therefore, a dancer with a little more flesh on her body (as compared to a typical ballet performer in the United States) is considered more desirable, more beautiful and womanly. The attitude of this art form goes a long way toward a women’s healthy acceptance of body image. As a side note about this, Kira is a middle-aged mother of 3 and more on the voluptuous side as would be expected by the Middle Eastern culture. Check out Kira’s Photo Gallery!

* Fifth, Belly Dance is an extremely warm, personal, close-contact, interactive form of dance. A good Middle Eastern dance performer will get up close and personal with the crowd, inspiring enthusiasm and a joyous, party-like environment. Since money is not overflowing for the average indivudual in the Middle Eastern countries, they will share what they have with the dancer as a generous expression of appreciation for the gift of performance entertainment that she is giving the guests. In past times, the money given to a performer in this way was her only form of payment for her job and the money was sewn into her clothing so she was assured of not having it stolen. This contributed to how the Coin Top and Hip Belt became duplicated in Belly Dance costuming. To shower a dancer with money or put it in her costume while she is dancing is a statement of value, respect and deeply felt appreciation for the contribution the dancer is making to the event. If you view some of Kira’s video clips, you will see the children running up delighted to stuff some money into her costume!! It is an honor!

Both of these practices, dancing up close among the guests and the tipping of money on the body are often viewed here as only customary in the exotic dance world, explaining in part why Belly Dancing and exotic dance are so often “confused” with each other and why Belly Dancing is often misunderstood and even frowned upon by individuals who are not educated or familiar with Middle Eastern culture. Yes, the dancers are lovely, the costuming can expose much of the body, and the movements are powerful, and often sensual and inspiring. However, remember that a two-piece bathing suit is a GREAT deal more body revealing than a typical belly dancing costume and yet this is worn out in public with complete acceptability. Just some food for thought…

I hope this small piece of information about this beautiful and difficlut dance artform helps clear up some misconceptions about it and also helps you know what to expect and how to interact when you hire Kira to dance at your function!

About Pricing: Remember, you get what you pay for and Kira is an extremely well trained professional entertainment artist who instructs and performs for a living. Since alot goes into readying for a performance, the base price is $100.00. Mileage will be charged for any destination farther than 20 minutes away from Centerville, Ohio. Approx. 7-10 minutes of performance style entertainment will be provided. This is typically all an American audience can be attentive to since they do not understand the artform. A longer performance can be obtained by adding the teaching of some basic dance moves appropriate for both men & women and/or some veil work can be incorporated into the event for $25.00 per 5 minute interval. It will really liven up the event to add some instructional interaction!

Co-Founder of Caravan Workshops