Hadia is more than a teacher to her students; she's a mentor, dedicated to helping students at every level to achieve their very best.  She is a professional Flamenco Ballet, Modern, Polynesian and Middle Eastern dancer, not to mention a registered massage therapist. Hadia’s head is like an encyclopedia – full of information.  Through experience and studies, she has gained knowledge in the multitude of benefits of our dance, if taught and executed properly, as well as how to avoid potential damage to the body.  She teaches instructors how to teach using her knowledge not only in dance, but also in anatomy, physiology and kinesiology.  Her love and passion come through in her teaching.  I am never bored listening to her teachings since I never know what will come out of her mouth next.

I have attended many Hadia workshops including Teacher Training Level 1 and 2, and her Professional Development Course in 2009 and 2010.  These workshops combined focus on anatomy, injury prevention, music interpretation and appreciation, history, technique, variations and how to formulate class plans and session plans.  We learn how to safely warm up and cool down and how the warm ups lead directly into technique; how to recognize and correct improper alignment and how to break down simple and complex movements using the ESTODA method.  We also covered rhythms and finger cymbals.  Hadia clearly explains how to teach the movements and how to recognize and deal with the different learning styles of our students. I loved the anatomy portions of the classes as we watched anatomy DVDs while Hadia explained how each muscle worked during various dance movements and how to apply it to our dance.

Hadia has made me a better teacher and a better dancer.  I know that my students have really benefited from my new knowledge, because I can see the results and the improved ease and speed that they learn new material.  Before Hadia, I would learn via DVDs and workshops and I noticed that my knees started to pain me during dancing.  I would also like to mention that I have had lower back problems in the past that caused so much pain that I couldn’t stand anymore than 10 minutes at a time.  Through learning and working with Hadia’s dance techniques and information, my knee problems are almost completely healed and my lower back is no longer an issue. We all have a lot more fun too and NEVER experience any more pain or discomfort from our movements!

There are too many people out there teaching without proper training, or even without ANY training. This is mostly because the training wasn’t available to us. Now, through Hadia, it is!  Working with people’s bodies is not something to be taken lightly. The last thing we want to do as teachers is to injure our students; especially when we are just trying to inform, guide and help them to discover and enjoy this beautiful art form. I highly recommend studying with her to anyone interested in teaching or even just learning how to be a better dancer! Through Hadia’s teachings I continue to evolve into the best teacher and the best dancer I can be!