Career
Highlights
- Maris began her Oriental dance training in Estonia in 2005, studying initially with Aili Reha. Before moving abroad, she worked within Estonia's Oriental dance scene as a soloist, troupe dancer and instructor, including work with Müstika dance theatre between 2011 and 2013. Her early career also included restaurant performances, public cultural events and appearances in Finland.
- Competition formed part of her early professional development. She placed third in the professional category at Estonia's Belly Dance Stars competition in 2012 and also achieved third-place results at the Cairo by Night festival in Greece in both 2012 and 2013. In 2018, the Estonian Chamber of Oriental Dance records Maris as the first Estonian dancer to teach at the Nile Group festival in Cairo.
- Her international professional career began in earnest in 2013, when she moved to Sharm El Sheikh for daily performance work with Vanessa Show Productions. A 2016 contract at Bab Al Shams in Dubai was followed by her move to Cairo, where she became a regular professional performer at weddings, events, clubs and Nile venues. Her work has also taken her to countries including the United States, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Lithuania, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
- In 2019, Maris appeared in Mostafa Shawki's "Maltashet El 2loub", one of the media appearances most closely associated with her career in Egypt. She has also taken acting roles in Egyptian television productions. From 2023 she began teaching recurring courses and workshops in Kuwait alongside her teaching activity in Cairo. Her 2024 album Maris of Cairo collected original and adapted music developed during her years of professional performance in Egypt. From 2025 onward, she has increasingly shifted part of her focus from daily performance work toward international teaching and festival appearances.