Amina Goodyear

Amina Goodyear began performing professionally in 1966 at San Francisco's famous Bagdad Cabaret. She became a principal performer in the city's Middle Eastern nightclub scene and worked regularly with live Arab and Turkish musicians. In 1971 she began teaching, eventually influencing generations of dancers in Northern California. She founded the Aswan Dancers in 1975, creating a company devoted to Egyptian and broader Middle Eastern dance and music traditions. Amina has also worked as a musician and has consistently emphasised the importance of understanding Arabic music rather than learning dance as movement alone. More than half a century of performance, teaching and community work makes her one of the longest-active pioneers of American Middle Eastern dance.