Chris is a vibrant, elegant and passionate Male Belly Dancer whose first major influence came from his rich cultural background (A mix of Balkan, Mediterranean and Anatolian roots) and its rich musical tapestry. He began formal classes with renowned veteran Turkish style Belly Dancer Azura in mid-2006, and performed his first string of shows in late 2006.
Since then, he has developed his own signature style based on Classical Turkish Oryantal, Lebanese Cabaraet Belly Dance, Egyptian Raqs Sharqi, as well as folkloric and modern elements. His aim is to present the dance in a culturally relevant, sensitive and accurate way, whilst still making sure to entertain and capture the audiences’ imaginations and hearts. He enjoys dancing to the rhythm and melody and telling a story with his body.
Chris has performed in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Istanbul, at hundreds of solo, duo and troupe shows throughout his dance career. He has been part of many birthdays, weddings, hen’s nights, anniversaries, corporate functions, festivals, cultural events, television, as well as in restaurants and bars over his long dance career.
This includes being a resident dancer at Cupido's Middle Eastern Restaurant in Carlton, and the resident dancer at Rainbow International House Club in Fitzroy.
He is constantly developing and fine tuning his craft, and this led to him taking various classes with Melbourne based veteran teachers Azura and Virginia Rizkallah Masri, as well as workshops with various internationally renowned master teachers. These include:
Chris is the event manager of Harem nights Belly Dance extravaganza (April and September 2009), the largest Belly dance showcase Melbourne has ever seen, attracting almost 350 people and a total of 40 dancers performing. He sponsored interstate dancers Shiva and Sahara from Sydney for these events, and had some of Melbourne's best dancers, musicians and drummers performing.
In 2023, Chris founded and manages the men's mental health fundraiser: 'Dance for dudes' showcase in 2023, as he felt it was an area of great concern and which did not receive enough attention. Dancers and the audience all came together for the cause, and it was important for all to donate to this cause as many had some experiences close to their hearts. The event will be held annually, with the first event raising $3300.00. This was donated to three mental health charities and the event will be back in 2024.