About Our Program

We believe learning to belly dance is fun, soul-nourishing, fascinating, and can be a powerful catalyst for personal transformation. 

It is our mission, our passion, to provide you with a positive and supportive experiential learning environment designed to bring out your personal best by offering high-quality online resources and in-person educational opportunities to help you enjoy, enrich and empower your life through the study of Middle Eastern, North African, Hellenic, and Turkish (MENAHT) dance arts.

Ahlam Academy is the only belly dance school in the greater Houston area where your dance education isn’t left to chance – we actually have a plan – with programs from beginner to advanced, 

We even have programs to develop professional belly dancers and instructors.

AAMED provides a clear, concise, and complete step-by-step program with mentorship in Egyptian Belly Dance and related styles for all levels, from “never taken a dance class before” to certified belly dance instructor.

Knowledge and Expertise
Acquiring and sharing knowledge for the betterment of ourselves and the dance arts we practice, is our highest aspiration. 

Caring/ Supportive Environment
Maintaining an inclusive, conscious community of teachers and students that support our collective efforts to grow, as people and as artists.

Cultural Consciousness
The better we understand ourselves and the world around us, the more we are able to impact our world in a respectful and meaningful way.

Less is More
Life is crazy enough without us making it excessively difficult for ourselves. Truly understanding our own priorities and learning to stay mentally focused and conscious in our most mundane actions, can help us accomplish more while doing less. 

Excellence, not Perfection
Perfectionism is the pursuit of a subjective ideal, often leaving the student unfulfilled and unsatisfied with their own work. Instead, we seek to do our best: in class, in practice, and in performance. The improvement we desire will come in its own time with consistent dedication.

Developing Confidence with Humility 
We must always remember there is always someone else with more knowledge and experience. We can have confidence in what we do know and what we can do, with the understanding that we always have the potential to grow and learn more, if our mind and heart are open to it.    

Everything Begins in the Mind 
Our thoughts form our reality. We must recognize that our inner realm (what we believe, feel, and say to ourselves), is expressed in the outer realm. (our perceptions, actions, and experience). The answer is always within. Through reflection and self-awareness, we can develop good mental habits that will manifest and support the life experiences we desire.    

Two-Fold Educational Experience
While a structured program (methodology) can work magic, it can’t teach everything a student needs to develop fully within the art. It is advised that every student seeks the guidance of an experienced mentor to provide personalized assistance, when necessary.

• Cut your learning time in half! Why take it slow? Our comprehensive, step-by-step program will help you get there in less time, without cutting corners. You will be amazed at how much you CAN learn in such a short amount of time with our intensive curriculum.

   

• No boredom – class content changes every week, yet it periodically repeats, so each time you review the content your skill and knowledge deepen and improves!

   

• Personal Transformation – Gain more confidence, and strengthen your body and mind.

   

• Socialize with other wonderful women in our fun, welcoming, supportive, non-competitive classes.

   

• Want growth potential? We can train you to be a professional dancer or teacher!

   

• No contracts. We offer month-to-month memberships, packages, and drop-ins.

   

• No class lapses. We offer classes throughout the year, except for a few holidays.

   

• You can start ANYTIME.

The Eye of Horus – The right eye (of Ra) represents the Sun bringing masculine energy, protection, and health. The Left eye (of Horus) represents the Moon (feminine energy, intuition, and magic). The left eye is sometimes associated with Thoth, the god of writing, wisdom, knowledge, and is the maintainer of the universe.

Thoth is also associated with the Greek god of communication, Hermes, and the two have become known as Hermes Trismegistus (the thrice great), who has been credited with writing many Hermetic philosophy texts. The Hermetic tradition is said to have started in the ancient Middle East, where practitioners developed methods to transmute lead into gold through alchemical processes. This, of course, is also a metaphor for internal alchemy / personal transformation through the application of wisdom, experience, and knowledge.       

Scarab – In Egyptian mythology, Khepri “He Who is Coming into Being” represented by the scarab, is the god of creation, transformation, and resurrection. In our logo, the scarab is connected to the circle, or rather the Sun. The story goes that Khepri is the one that “pushed” the Sun god, Ra, up every morning creating the new day. Like the beetle, we too push around a lot of “dung”, but that dung is also there to teach us important life lessons. Like Khepri, we can take that scrap and transform it into something beautiful and nourishing to ourselves and others. 

Lotus – The lotus flower is one of the most commonly used symbols from East Asia to Egypt. In Egypt, it symbolizes rebirth. The lotus flower flourishes within the murky waters in which it grows. No matter how yucky the waters may seem, the lotus rises above and shines its beauty. In our logo, it represents rising above any obstacle or perceived disadvantage, seeing everything as a growth opportunity.  

The Candle Within / Internal fire / Inner flame – We tend to thrive most when we possess inner fire, a passion within that is so strong it compels us to move forward along our unique path. While the passion and the path is different for everyone, the result is the same – more personal and spiritual fulfillment.