Since 2000, Katayoun has presented dance performances and educational programs at numerous community events and professional venues throughout the Northern Virginia region and beyond. Her instructional programs include Belly Dance Fun & Fitness, Middle Eastern Music & Culture, and Dance Technique, Artistry & Performance Skills.

  Katayoun, leads students through her comprehensive format which begins with isolation exercises and progresses to authentic combinations for compelling hips and fluid arms. While learning dance technique and musical styles from Egyptian and Persian traditions, students benefit from her sophisticated movement repertoire, performance experience, and broad cultural knowledge which she incorporates into dance concepts and combinations.

Katayoun has developed a signature style which is a result of the guidance of a strong cultural intuition along with two decades of dance study and disciplined practice. She has trained with some of the most distinguished masters of Middle Eastern dance and music. Among her favorites and most influential are: Morocco, Tarik Sultan, Zahra Zuhair, Robyn Friend, Aziza of Montreal, Hadia, and Egyptian masters Mohammad Shahin and Karim Nagi.

In addition, Aida Nour, Mohammad Kazafy, Lubna Eman and adorable Tito greatly influenced her approach to choreography in Las Vegas, Nevada at the very first International Belly Dance Convention in August 2007. She continues to participate in workshops with a special interest in folkloric music and dance styles. More...