Top international award
kick-starts local bellydancer’s professional career.
Earlsfield resident Itziar Ortiz de Landazuri wowed judges at an international bellydance competition recently, beating dancers from around the world to the coveted Cleopatra award of the International Bellydance Congress at Lakeside in Frimley, Surrey.
The competition, part of the biggest bellydance event in Europe, was judged by top international bellydancers from Egypt, Turkey, Europe and the USA. Itziar was a great favourite with the audience, who cheered her performance throughout.
Her competition success has prompted Itziar (28), originally from Spain but now living in Earlsfield, to become a full-time professional dancer and teacher and she has just set up classes in Wandsworth, Wimbledon and Battersea.
Itziar is really excited about teaching.
She says:
Women love bellydancing because it’s such a great, fun way to keep fit. And it doesn’t matter what age or shape or size you are ñ everyone can bellydance.
Itziar has been training as a bellydancer for ten years and has undergone demanding teacher’s training with hipsinc, the UK’s largest bellydance organization, as well as undertaking an advanced dancers course with Hossam Ramzy, a world-famous Egyptian composer and teacher.
Itziar says:
I donít think people realise how professional the bellydance world is becoming. Hipsinc demands really high standards of its teachers: we are all fully trained and insured, and we have ongoing professional development to ensure our skills are kept up-to-date.
Itziar’s Wandsworth classes are held at 7pm on Mondays at the National Opera Studio, off Wandsworth High St. The Wimbledon ones are on Tuesdays at 7pm in William Morris House, Wimbledon Broadway and the Battersea ones are on Wednessdays at 7pm in the Ethelburga Clubroom on the Ethelburga Estate.
All classes are for absolute beginners and all are drop in classes.
Contact details:
Charlotte Desorgher, hipsinc director and teacher: mobile 07802 499728,
Landline 01342 850423,
email charlotte@hipsinc.com