"Just as a dance evolves throughout the ages, so does the style and presence of a dancer."

As a young woman Monique first learned a form of hula dancing, and even at that stage, without formal instruction, she began to improvise with bellydance moves. It wasn't until later, while nursing a young Egyptian man who lost his legs in tragic circumstances, that she heard the exotic strains of Egyptian music, as a young registered nurse in London. Endeavouring to cheer him up she instinctively moved playfully to the music. It wasn't long before she was mastering the few moves he explained to her, leaving her hungry to learn more. And with that chance meeting began a passionate love affair that still continues to this day - that of a woman and a dance. The years have taken her around the world and to many stages, shows and performances. She has made numerous appearances on television, performed in shows around the country and the world. She has even danced on a floating palace that toured the Nile (see article). She was also awarded great respect as the regular dancer to represent the Egyptian embassy during their parliamentary functions while they were based in Wellington.

In her classes Monique not only teaches the technical steps of the dance, but she also tries to convey to her students the feeling behind the dances. She shares her passion for the Egyptian culture with impromptu talks and brings visitors in to talk about life and dance in Egypt.

The history of bellydance has travelled through the ages in well-told myths, from generation, to generation, for thousands of years. It is said that women created this sensuous and creative dance to stave off boredom in the harems, and also to aid the body during the feminine mysteries of childbirth. The true bellydance is said to mimic three stages in a woman's life, love and body. Teasing flirtation and introverted mystique begin the dance moving into the undulating passion of lovemaking and conception and finally birth and the attainment of freedom through the fulfilment of womanhood. It may have also have sprung from the fertility rites of the ancient Egyptians. Whatever the truth of its origins, bellydance is the celebration of the female body and her innate feminine power. And its purpose is to celebrate and entertain. It is a gift that Monique continues to share with the many students that attend her classes in Birkenhead and the many clients that she dances for.