Classes in the 2025/2026 season

I warmly invite you to join my classes in various styles of Silk Road dances — and more!

✨plan zajęć:✨

💃 Mondays:
09:00–10:15 – Gracje – Dance for Mature Women, advanced group (CK Łomianki) (2× per week)
10:30–11:45 – Gracje – Dance for Mature Women, beginner group (CK Łomianki) (2× per week)

18:30–19:30 – Ethno-Contemporary (FullMoon – Poczuj się w Pełni)

💃 Wednesdays:
09:00–10:15 – Gracje – Dance for Mature Women, advanced group (CK Łomianki) (2× per week)
10:30–11:45 – Gracje – Dance for Mature Women, beginner group (CK Łomianki) (2× per week)

💃 Sundays:
14:25–15:55 – Persian Dance, open level – Hamsa

✨Registration:✨

Classes Gracje for Mature Women at the Cultural Center in Łomianki: Strefa Zajęć

Sunday classes at Hamsa Dance School (Persian Dance, open level): Hamsa

Monday Ethno-Contemporary classes at Full Moon: FullMoon

✨Class descriptions✨

💃 Dance & Movement Classes for Mature Women “Gracje”
Centrum Kultury w Łomiankach
Mondays & Wednesdays, 9:00–10:15 (advanced), 10:30–11:45 (beginner)

Gentle, low-impact dance & movement classes for women, based on various dance techniques — from feminine Silk Road dances, to contemporary dance, intuitive movement, jazz dance, and circle dances.
The goal of the classes is to develop grace of movement, maintain good physical condition and flexibility, explore dances from around the world, and most importantly — to have fun.
The pace of the class is always adjusted to the needs of the participants.
Throughout the classes, participants will discover different cultures through their dances and music, but we will also draw from our Polish traditions.

We will prepare dance choreographies for showcases — in different styles, themes, and tempos, depending on the group’s preferences.
A core foundation of our classes will be feminine dances of the Silk Road.

💃 Persian Dance – open level
Hamsa – Sundays – 14:25–15:55

Apsara’s greatest passion and specialty.
Persian dance is a blend of lyricism, coquettish charm, emotion, and dreamlike subtlety. The dancer enchants with refined gestures, spectacular turns, and delicate expression, gliding across the stage like a butterfly while telling stories of love, longing, beauty, and sorrow.
Light as a silk veil, graceful as a gazelle, she becomes the embodiment of the poetic ideal of Persian culture.

Persian culture is one of the oldest continuously living cultures in the world. Its unique aesthetics — both visual and musical — have directly influenced most Silk Road countries, from the Arab Maghreb all the way to India and China.
Unfortunately, unlike Indian or Chinese dances, ancient Persian dances have not survived in their original form. However, we have good reasons to believe that dance played an important role in Persian society (according to Plutarch, it was through dance that the Persian princess Roxana captivated Alexander the Great).

After the Muslim conquest, dance disappeared from the public sphere, yet it continued to evolve in private homes and royal harems.
Today, Iranian dances can be divided into four groups:

• line and chain dances (most folkloric dances)
• ritual dances (connected with Sufism, erfan, mystical practices, as well as some war and zar rituals)
• urban social dances (urban folklore such as baba karam, shateri, and contemporary Persian pop)
• virtuosic improvised solo (reconstructed court styles, neoclassical Persian dance, and modern stylizations)

Persian dance is characterized by grace and fluidity. Unlike oriental dance (“bellydance”) — which it is often confused with — it focuses mainly on arm and upper-body movement. The movement quality is delicate, airy, and refined.
However, it is not devoid of rhythm — the footwork is strongly connected to the most common Persian musical rhythm (6/8), resembling waltz steps.

In class we will work on technique and choreography in different styles of Persian dance.
These are open-level classes: complete beginners and advanced dancers alike will feel comfortable — Apsara has many years of experience teaching mixed-level groups. She is also a pioneer of Persian dance in Poland with over 10 years of experience in various Persian dance techniques.

Example of Persian dance in the neoclassical style:

💃 Ethno-Contemporary
Mondays 18:30–19:30, FullMoon – Poczuj Się w Pełni

Ethno-contemporary is an umbrella term for dance phenomena based on “ethnic” techniques (mainly meaning non-Western stage forms) used in new contexts, such as dance theatre.

In these classes we will combine elements of dances from Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia with contemporary dance techniques.
We will search for new movement qualities and a new dance language, using traditional movement to tell contemporary stories.

Example of choreography in this style:

✨Pricing:✨

💃 Gracje classes in Łomianki – info: https://www.strefazajec.pl/course/view/id/39337
💃 Sunday classes at Hamsa Dance School – info: https://hamsa.edu.pl/cennik/

Dance Instruction

Apsara, both as a dancer and a choreographer, is highly regarded in the international Persian dance community. Thanks to her academic background in Iranian studies, she is able to ensure that the dance she teaches is passed on in the most authentic form possible. As a performer, she strives to collect, systematize, and categorize every piece of information related to the dances she practices. As a teacher, beyond imparting authentic movement and solid technique, she always aims to provide rich theoretical context and cultural insight—because she firmly believes that one cannot truly dance traditional styles without understanding the cultures they come from. Apsara sees the promotion of Silk Road cultures not only as her mission, but also as a responsibility that comes with the privilege of performing these beautiful techniques.

Apsara works from the belief that learning never ends. She continuously travels to take private lessons, attend workshops, and deepen her knowledge of the culture, music, and languages—Persian and Georgian alike. Thanks to this, she is one of the very few dancers in Europe with such extensive qualifications, able to offer a truly comprehensive and authentic dance education.

Benefits of Silk Road dances:

They teach grace and femininity without any vulgarity.
They help build acceptance and appreciation for one’s own body.
They are a fascinating complement for oriental dancers.
They offer an alternative for women who love oriental music but prefer to dance in fully covered costumes.
They are an excellent way to develop movement imagination and coordination, especially for dancers of other styles.
They help train the inner ear’s balance functions, improve equilibrium, coordination, and body awareness.
They put far less strain on the joints compared to many other dance forms.
They open the door to understanding Eastern cultures and their nuances.
They are suitable for dancers of all ages and all skill levels.
Dancing these styles brings both physical and spiritual joy.
They make for a rare and unique hobby that will truly set you apart.

Photo: Olga Gałecka — Okiem Obiektywu