Tamalyn Dallal

Bio #1 (Short)

Tamalyn Dallal began her Oriental dance career in 1976. She has born witness to decades of change, from the time that there were no videos as reference until now, an age of information overload. She has taught and/or danced in 44 countries, on six continents, and many times Middle Eastern people were her audiences, supporters and advisors. She has seen the dance develop and veer away from it's cultures of origin and into an industry, with a myriad of variations. 

Tamalyn Dallal has four published books, produced three documentaries, and recorded two music CDs in Zanzibar, Tanzania. She founded and ran the Mid Eastern Dance Exchange, a non profit studio, organization and dance company in Miami Beach, Florida for 16 years, and then a smaller studio near Seattle, Washington called Zamani Culture House. 

Bio # 2 (Longer)

Tamalyn Dallal has performed for stars such as Sean Connery, Michael Jackson and James Brown, the president of El Salvador, Saudi Arabian princes, and the King of Jordan (to name a few).

Directing the Mid Eastern Dance Exchange, a non profit organization, dance school and performing company, from 1990- 2007, she taught and mentored many dancers who became well known throughout the world. She organized the Orientalia International dance festival and produced numerous theatrical productions. 

She has performed and/or taught in 44 countries, was one of the original "Bellydance Superstars", has written four books, produced two music CD's of Africa's oldest band, the "Ikhwan Safaa Musical Club of Zanzibar", and filmed ethnological dance documentaries; Zanzibar Dance, Trance and Devotion, was completed in 2011. Ms. Dallal released "Ethiopia Dances for Joy" in 2013. 

Every year, from 2003 until Covid-19 caused her dancing to move online, Tamalyn has traveled to Asia to teach and dance for extended periods. She taught a month long workshop in China every year for ten years and has taught regularly in Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia, as well as periodically in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. Over this period of many years, she has mentored and worked closely with Christine Yaven (Indonesia), Wendi Weng (China/NY), Estelle Shao (China), Sakina (China), Leila Hiromi (Japan), Ayako Date (Japan), and more. 

She now lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she teaches classes on Zoom and will teach live classes as conditions permit. 

Tamalyn's latest endeavor is the children's book, "The Bellydancing Kitties of Constantinople," which was released in April, 2019. She is in the process of writing a script for an animated film entitled "The Purrfect Pasha."