Oriental dance classes and shows in Tampere
Summer Courses May 21 – June 18, 2025
This year, the dancing continues into May and June! In the summer of 2025, I will be teaching oriental dance classes in Tampere for three levels: beginners, intermediate, and advanced. All classes take place on Wednesdays according to the following schedule:
- Beginners 17:00–18:00
- Intermediate 18:00–19:00
- Advanced 19:00–20:00
All classes will be held at Baletti- ja Tanssistudio Teija Suova, located at Yliopistonkatu 58B. The courses start on May 21 and run until June 18, with each course including five dance lessons. To understand which level is best for you, read the level descriptions below.
How to Register
Sign up for the classes by filling out the contact form at the bottom of this page or by sending an email to sjylhanlahti@gmail.com. Please include in your message which course you are registering for, your full name, email address and home address for billing purposes.
Pricing
- One course (5 x 60 min): 70€
- Two courses (10 x 60 min): 125€
- Three courses (15 x 60 min): 175€
- Single drop-in class: 20€
You are warmly welcome to join the summer dance courses!
Level Descriptions
Please contact me if you need further guidance on which level class would be most suitable for you.
Beginners
Beginner classes are designed for completely new dancers and those who have just started practicing oriental dance. No prior experience in oriental dance or any other dance style is required to join.
In the beginner course, students will learn the basic movements of oriental dance and combine them into sequences using the whole body. Additionally, the classes will focus on developing dance expression, body coordination, and control.
New dancers! Don't be afraid to take your first dance class. Everyone in the class is in the same boat, and the best part of starting something new is being proud of yourself just for showing up. You are warmly welcome!
Intermediate Level
The intermediate level is the next step after the beginner course. As the name suggests, this course is designed for dancers who already have a grasp of the basics of oriental dance. It is also a great option for those who want to review fundamental techniques or return to dancing after a break.
In this course, students will practice key variations of basic movements, layering technique, and movement. The classes will also introduce new step combinations and focus on dance expression – all while having fun!
Advanced
The advanced course is designed for dancers who have been practicing oriental dance for at least five years. In this course, we will add more challenge to movement variations, combinations, and layering. A key focus will also be on full-body control and achieving fluid, graceful dancing.
Private classes
You can also book me for private classes either for yourself or for an event that you are organizing. If this sounds interesting to you, contact me so we can design a class according to your wishes!
About Sanni Jylhänlahti
I first went to oriental dance classes when I was 7 years old after my mother had started dancing. I found my happiness in the classes at Yasmine ry and I danced there happily through adolescence and emerging adulthood. Yasmine became my dance home and I was sad to leave it when I had to move out of my home town Oulu to Tampere for studies. Here in Tampere I luckily found a couple of dance groups which I was able to join and continued dancing here.
There are many reasons why oriental dance has kept me in its grip all these years. It has brought so many positive things in my life which I am grateful for. Dance has taught me confidence and bravery among other things. Dance forces us to try new thing and sometimes look stupid while doing it but this what builds confidence. This way you learn that you can be in a new situation and know that you will be fine and it's okay not to be perfect. Dance has taught me to appreciate my body for all the things it can do instead of how it looks. Oriental dance is in my opinion specially equipped for this since I think by its nature it very inherently promotes body positivity.
However, I don't dance just to accomplish things outside of dance like confidence, mobility, fitness and so on. I dance because when I do, I am free and I can just be and let my guard down. Through oriental dance I am able to express all my moods and feelings. When I am down, dance makes me feel relieved. When I am happy, dance makes me exhilarated.
So as you can probably tell, dance is very important to me and I consider it a huge source of strength that also enriches my life. As a teacher, my main goal is to offer this same experience to others and show that dance is so much more than just getting some movement in while listening to music. Instead dance can be a source of strength and happiness for your life also. And I suspect most of us could use more of those in our lives.
About oriental dance
Oriental dance, which is also known as belly dance, is a dance style from the Middle East. Often this term is used as a catch-all term for the variety of dance styles that are found in the Middle East. Most commonly it refers to a style of dance that originates from Egypt and incorporates both fluid movements of the torso and hips and also accents and shimmies. Even though the importance of torso and hips is often highlighted (as the name belly dance suggests) the whole body is used in oriental dance.
Raqs sharqi is the Arabic name for oriental dance and it refers to the performance oriented version of oriental dance, which is what is taught in oriental dance classes. Raqs sharqi originates from a social dance version of oriental dance (raqs baladi) which has been a part of Egyptian culture for centuries and still is today. Raqs sharqi as we know it today cannot however be traced back thousands of years unlike many people believe. It first emerged in the turn of the 19th century, when in Egypt dance performances started appearing in entertainments halls for the first time. As dance moved from social events to also stages, the nature of dance started to shift to performing and the social and performing version of the dance started to differentiate. During the next few decades after this shift, raqs sharqi continued to take shape to the style that we recognize today.
In raqs sharqi expressions, feelings and interpretation of music when dancing is essential and many consider this to be more important than technical skills. Especially in the more traditional or authentic versions of dance being present and authentic without trying to do too much is of the essence. This makes a lot of sense when considering the history of raqs sharqi as connecting with others and having fun is the core of social dance. Nowadays there are also many fusion styles of oriental dance where technique, atmosphere and music from different genres are combined with oriental dance.
Book a show
Want to add some sprakle, vibrancy or mystique to your event? Oriental dance can bring you all that and more! Contact me about your wishes and let's plan a show you won't forget.