My name is Fatima Serin...
...and I live in Saarbrücken (Germany). I’m a professional dancer, choreographer and oriental dance instructor. I was born and raised in the south eastern part of Turkey where I grew up with oriental music and oriental dance. Ever since I was a little girl performing with a children’s folklore group at school, I remember the pleasure I got performing in front of an audience, watching and hearing the audience applaud, and seeing how happy the performance made people feel. This positive experience inspired me back then and instilled in me the desire to make dancing my profession.
I came to Germany with my family as a young girl where I was able to find my way into the “belly dance scene” relatively quickly. It was here that I was able to get a good idea regarding the world of oriental dance in Germany.
My profession as an oriental dance performer and instructor has taken me to many countries including Belgium and France, Finland and Denmark, Austria and Switzerland giving my career an international quality. Performances and shows which lasted several months in countries like Tunisia, Morocco, Istanbul and Cairo where I was able to meet and work with famous dance instructors have also inspired me and influenced me and have also enriched my dance performance and instruction style enormously.
In addition to the emphasis placed on the joy and pleasure of movement, oriental dance is a valuable cultural asset to me and I would like to keep and preserve this asset. I teach courses regularly on different levels from beginners to very advanced in Saarbrücken. I also coach several dance troupes in Germany and give belly dance workshops abroad, mostly at internationally-famous dance festivals. I also give lectures about the Orient and oriental dance at trade fairs.
Oriental dance is more than eroticism in the form of dance. Its tradition goes back to Africa and to ancient Egypt. I would like to show the audience how aesthetic and difficult and demanding oriental dance is and to convey the oriental joy of living and sense of liveliness. More than anything I like to improvise with live music, but I also like to choreograph dances. I have my costumes made as exclusively for me in Istanbul (Bella Boutique) and Cairo.
Basically, my dance instruction is based on the Egyptian style of oriental dance. However, I’ve been quite successful at teaching the Turkish and Lebanese styles as well. It is important to me that my students develop their own style of dance and that they have fun dancing. I not only teach them the dance steps and movements, but also a lot of background knowledge about the oriental culture.
I would like different cultures to coexist peacefully. This thought also guides the Merhaba Dance Festival that I have successfully organized for years in Saarbrücken. This festival is the only festival of its kind that takes place in this region every year. I invite dancers from all over the world to attend this festival so that they can present their forms of art and to give workshops.
„Merhaba“ means „welcome“. In this sense I would also like to welcome you!