About Masha
Photo by Mark Lecky.
Masha is a life-long dancer (originally from Ukraine, raised in California) trained in various classical and ethnic dance forms. Before relocating to Turkey, Masha was one of the top professional Oryantal dance performers in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA.
Her personal dance style, largely influenced by classical Egyptian oriental, has earned her multiple awards in U.S.A. belly dance competitions including:
" Belly Dancer of the Universe " (Los Angeles, 2014)
" Ultimate Belly Dance Artist " ( Las Vegas, 2013)
& " Champion of Taksim " ( Los Angeles, 2012)
Masha's first visit to Turkey was in 2014: She lived and danced in Alanya performing as a soloist in daily "Turkish Nights" tourist-entertainment stage productions throughout various 5-Star hotels along Turkey's Mediterranean coastline.
Later Masha decided to return to Turkey and chose Istanbul as her current home. She has performed internationally as a guest artist in Greece, Ukraine, India and Israel, as well as taught dance workshops in the US, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey, and Jamaica.
...............
Dance became a part of Masha's life early on starting with ballet at age four; she continued to periodically study ballet and later trained in flamenco for a number of years. Upon discovering the incredibly beautiful music, sinuous feminine movements, and ornate costuming of belly dance, Masha fell in love with the artform of Middle Eastern dance and developed an interest in it's various cultural roots. Masha continues to study Oryantal dance indefintely as it is influenced by history, arts, and living culture(s),
- The numerous teachers and inspirations who have contributed to Masha's developement in Oriental dance include her very first belly dance teacher Valeria Alexandra Batista, Janelle Rodriguez of CA, plus many native Egyptian dance teachers such as Tito Seif, Raqia Hassan, Yousry Sharif, Aida Nour, Randa Kamel, Lubna Emmam, Karim Nagi and more.
- From 2011- 2013, Masha intensively studied Persian, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern dance with Miriams Peretz in Berkeley. CA. Most recently, in July 2016, Masha traveled to Uzbekistan for 2 weeks of intensive dance training with dancers from Uzbekistan national ensemble - this dance and cultural immersion tour was organized by Miriam Pertez.
- From 2013-2014 Masha also studied and performed Persian and Central Asian dance forms with Sharlyn Sawyer, mentor of Miriam Peretz. and director and original founder of the highly acclaimed San Francisco Bay Area dance company Ballet Afsaneh. While understudying with Ballet Afsaneh, Masha performed at various events and for organizations such as 'Los Angeles County Museum of Art', and 'Facebook Inc.' at their Califormia headquarters in Menlo Park.
- In early 2014 Masha studied Brazilian samba dance with Tanillee Amor, director of Amor do Samba, in San Francisco CA.
Dance and music have always been Masha's favorite pathways for discovering this world and its many beautiful and diverse cultures.
* Most of Masha's belly dance costumes are one-of-a-kind! Masha is blessed to have an exclusive personal costume designer - her talented mother, Lana - a professional visual artist and belly dancer as well. Visit LANA Couture to see more of Lana's designs.*
Her personal dance style, largely influenced by classical Egyptian oriental, has earned her multiple awards in U.S.A. belly dance competitions including:
" Belly Dancer of the Universe " (Los Angeles, 2014)
" Ultimate Belly Dance Artist " ( Las Vegas, 2013)
& " Champion of Taksim " ( Los Angeles, 2012)
Masha's first visit to Turkey was in 2014: She lived and danced in Alanya performing as a soloist in daily "Turkish Nights" tourist-entertainment stage productions throughout various 5-Star hotels along Turkey's Mediterranean coastline.
Later Masha decided to return to Turkey and chose Istanbul as her current home. She has performed internationally as a guest artist in Greece, Ukraine, India and Israel, as well as taught dance workshops in the US, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey, and Jamaica.
...............
Dance became a part of Masha's life early on starting with ballet at age four; she continued to periodically study ballet and later trained in flamenco for a number of years. Upon discovering the incredibly beautiful music, sinuous feminine movements, and ornate costuming of belly dance, Masha fell in love with the artform of Middle Eastern dance and developed an interest in it's various cultural roots. Masha continues to study Oryantal dance indefintely as it is influenced by history, arts, and living culture(s),
- The numerous teachers and inspirations who have contributed to Masha's developement in Oriental dance include her very first belly dance teacher Valeria Alexandra Batista, Janelle Rodriguez of CA, plus many native Egyptian dance teachers such as Tito Seif, Raqia Hassan, Yousry Sharif, Aida Nour, Randa Kamel, Lubna Emmam, Karim Nagi and more.
- From 2011- 2013, Masha intensively studied Persian, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern dance with Miriams Peretz in Berkeley. CA. Most recently, in July 2016, Masha traveled to Uzbekistan for 2 weeks of intensive dance training with dancers from Uzbekistan national ensemble - this dance and cultural immersion tour was organized by Miriam Pertez.
- From 2013-2014 Masha also studied and performed Persian and Central Asian dance forms with Sharlyn Sawyer, mentor of Miriam Peretz. and director and original founder of the highly acclaimed San Francisco Bay Area dance company Ballet Afsaneh. While understudying with Ballet Afsaneh, Masha performed at various events and for organizations such as 'Los Angeles County Museum of Art', and 'Facebook Inc.' at their Califormia headquarters in Menlo Park.
- In early 2014 Masha studied Brazilian samba dance with Tanillee Amor, director of Amor do Samba, in San Francisco CA.
Dance and music have always been Masha's favorite pathways for discovering this world and its many beautiful and diverse cultures.
* Most of Masha's belly dance costumes are one-of-a-kind! Masha is blessed to have an exclusive personal costume designer - her talented mother, Lana - a professional visual artist and belly dancer as well. Visit LANA Couture to see more of Lana's designs.*
Awards:
- 1st Place Universal Champion, Belly Dancer of the Universe 2014 ( Long Beach, CA)
- People's Choice Universal, Belly Dancer of the Universe 2014
- 3rd Runner Up, Egyptian Category, Belly Dancer of the Universe 2014
- 1st Place, Ultimate Belly Dance Artist - 'So You Think You Can Belly Dance?' Contest and Competition 2013, Las Vegas Belly Dance Intensive and Festival
- 1st Place, Family Duet ~ Belly Dancer of the Universe 2013
- 1st Place Champion of Taqsim, Belly Dancer of the Universe 2012
- 1st Runner Up Belly Dancer of the Year 2012
- People’s Choice Taqsim Belly Dancer of the Universe 2011
