O-Town Bellydance Intensive
Shahrzad is Coming to Orlando!
Anais and Jennifer are so excited to bring the one and only Shahrzad to Orlando Sept. 19- 21, 2025. This has been a goal of ours for some time and now our bellydance community can learn from this talented instructor right here in Central Florida.
About Shahrzad
Shahrzad is a professional dance instructor and performer specializing in Raqs Sharqi and traditional and social dance styles from around North Africa and the Middle East. To supplement her 20+ years of dance training Shahrzad also holds several fitness certifications including becoming a PMA certified Pilates instructor in 2013.
She started her dance training at the age of 11 and began her professional dance career in her late teens working as a teacher and performer on the East Coast of the US. She began to get international recognition and bookings after several of her performance videos went viral online and she was hired to film a series of instructional DVDs by an international company. In 2015 Shahrzad moved to Egypt to live and work full time and has since enjoyed a successful career as a performer appearing in top performance venues as well as film and media.
During covid she started her business’ Shahrzad Studios’ which includes an online dance school, private dance and music programs in Cairo, and tours of Egypt. She currently splits her time between traveling to teaching dance workshops around the world, running her business from her home in Cairo, and performing and teaching at special events around Egypt.
About Your Organizers
Jennifer and Anais have been co-producing events in the Central Florida community for almost a decade. From Cassandra’s Caribbean invasion to the O-town Bellydance Intensive (our re-branded event), both have taken their love for fostering community and learning and joined forces to make these bellydance intensives come to fruition. Their friendship has provided the basis for a fun and dynamic combination that creates events by dancers, for dancers. Our re-branded event focuses on providing intensives (how we started) where you can not just learn from the artist, but get the opportunity to talk and get to know the humans behind the glitz. We thank our community for their support all of these years and will continue to bring the best in the industry to serve our communities.
Anais
Anais Fatale loves introducing women to the art of belly dance and showing them how belly dancing can help them find happiness and independence.
Born in Uzbekistan, she grew up listening to songs from Turkey, Lebanon, and Egypt that were popular for Western artists to translate and sing. Becoming a belly dancer brought her freedom, creativity, and self-expression.
She began teaching belly dance because there wasn’t anyone offering classes in her town. She wanted people to experience happiness and independence in her belly dance classes and workshops. Anais Fatale’s approach to teaching belly dance is to dedicate time in each class to let people experience freedom, creativity, and self-expression through dancing and flowing to belly dance music.
Jennifer
Jennifer is a world champion belly dance winner, author, designer, and Let’s Talk producer. She is also a co-host of the O-Town Bellydance Intensive and seeks to create events that open up opportunities to learn from experienced dancers and provoke deep conversation in a supportive setting.
Her background as a musician has allowed for a deep appreciation of the music. Her mission as performer is to bring the composer’s piece to life.
2025 O-Town Bellydance Hardship Scholarship
True to our roots, we believe in giving back to the community and lifting each other up. If you know a dancer who has endured a serious hardship(s), whether financial, physical, emotional, etc. we invite you to nominate them and apply for the O-Town Bellydance Hardship Scholarship. Read more about Scholarship deadlines, rules, and more on the application form.
Lunch & Learn
Let's Talk! Dive deep into conversation with your event organizers (Jennifer & Anais) and Shahrzad over an industry topic. View Schedule.
Workshops & Schedule
Take Advantage of Our VIP Pass and Day Pass options. We expect to sell out. Don't delay! View Workshops & Passes.
Hotel Information
We have partnered with The Doubletree by Hilton by Universal to offer you great rates through our room block. Learn more.
Dinner Show
Reconnect, meet new dancers, support your performers, and eat yummy food at Emerald Upscale Moroccan Restaurant on Friday. See show info.