Adryanna Shamsa was born in São Paulo, Brazil. Her grandparents, Laury and Euclydes, motivated her to learn classical ballet at the age of 3.
She passed in all Royal examinations every year ( which was evaluated by a British classical ballet instructor who travelled to São Paulo once a year just to evaluate the dancers and control the Royal quality of teaching ).

At the age of 13, she started modern dance and jazz. She graduated to be a dance teacher at the age of 17 at Paula Castro Dance School. At that time she also took some private lessons of Afro Jazz, learning about drums and African dances.
In 1987, she started working as an English teacher. She took up a few flamenco lessons on the weekends. "I liked flamenco because of the fascinating arm and hand movements however I am definitely not good at Spanish tap-dancing, typical flamenco. I tried though ".
In 1990 she started studying British and North American Literature and Linguistics at PUC University and teaching English fulltime. She got a bachelor degree in English language and Literature in 1995. At that time, she had very little time to dedicate to one of her passions, DANCING.

She moved to Oslo , Norway, in 2000 and has been teaching Belly Dance , Skanetix, ELIXIA flow and Afro-Brazilian Rhythms at a big European gym centre called ELIXIA. She is the one who created and developed all the steps of Afro- Brazilian Rhythms, mixing many African dance movements, Brazilian samba and folk." It is a wonderful way of exercising the body and loosening up the hips." The African rhythms and steps that Adryanna uses in her classes are Sowu, Gbêgbé, Focodoba, Umoya, Nago and Yonwalu.
Adryanna worked as an Afro- Brazilian Rhythms instructor with African children and teenagers from the chanty towns in South Africa, teaching them Brazilian samba and capoeira. It was a fantastic exchange of knowledge and culture. The cities she worked in were very rich in culture and different from eachother: Johanesburg, Durbain, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The participants of Adryanna`s workshop were rehearsing and creating choreographies for marching bands parades, they traveled around to perform their shows.
" Those kids were very poor however they were very rich in culture, rhythms and dance. It is unbelievable how extremely talented and passionate those kids were, even though they just had enough to survive. They taught me some African steps which are very similar to the ones we have in Brazil. I will never forget how lovely , lively, friendly and generous they were. Miss them all… "

Adryanna had classes with many different dance instructors which contributed for her vast repertoire of steps:

Sabryie Tekbilek from Suhaila Salimpour dance school ( USA )” It was very interesting to learn the shimmy movements using the buttocks muscles “
Eva Loune( Oriental Veil ) ( Norway ) “ she is a wonderful choreographer, very creative “
	Carlla Sillveira ( Classic Oriental and Drum Solo ) - She is extremely graceful and agile with her shimmies, one of the most charismatic dancers in Brazil .
	Anna Barner Sarp ( Spanish Fusion ) - I`ve got impressed with her strong expressions and lovely presence on stage. Her beautiful flamenco movements into the oriental dance gave an extra spice into the so-called Spanish Fusion which is different from Raqs Al Andalus.
	Michelle Galdo ( Shabby - which is a modern Egyptian way of dancing pop Arabian music ) ( Norway ) “ She is a great dancer, her movements remind me of Fifi Abdo, very soft and feminine “
	Raqia Hassan ( oriental choreography) ( Egypt ) " I have always wanted to take her classes because she is known as the best belly dance master and choreographer. Her way of teaching is very interesting and the choreographies are always very challenging "...
	Lulu Sabongi ( Brazil ) ( Shimmy technique, Ghawazee, Khaleege, Falahi) . " Lulu is one of the most amazing dancers I have ever seen and a fantastic instructor. There is SOOOO much to learn from her… I am her fan indeed!"
	Randa Camel ( Classic Oriental, Arabesques and Baladi ) ( Egypt ) “ Gosh….One of the TOP dancers in Cairo… What can I say about Randa, she is just a fantastic dancer with so much expression, she really dances from her heart and soul and made me cry every time I saw her dance. I just LOVE her strong and unique style. Everybody should have classes with her, there is so much to learn from her… “
	Ahmed Fekry ( Raqs Al Andalus, Baladi, Alexandria dance- Melaya leef, Saiidi with two assayas ) ( Egypt ) “ His enthusiasm is contagious and his classes are fun “
	Aida Nour ( Shabby ) ( Egypt ) “ She melts her body when she dances, so charismatic and smooth. It is like sliding on the floor. Her c lasses are really fun and challenging, I had a great time.”
	Medhat Fahmy ( Raqs Al Andalus and Classical Oriental ) ( Egypt ) “ He is a fantastic instructor, very patient and he is very clear when he explains the steps. I just loved the combination of steps and choreography he created for me. He is definitely one of the instructors I recommend. “
	Soraya Zayed ( Raqs Al Andalus and Classic Oriental ) ( Brazil- but she is living in Cairo, Egypt ) “ Well…, Soraya just has a wonderful presence on stage and there is nobody who can beat her in shimmies. She is one of the top dancers in Cairo and her shows with live band at Sheraton Hotel must be seen. Her class was brilliant, she is very creative and the choreography she made for me was beautiful.”
	Adriana Lima ( hip technique ) ( Brazil- she is Soraya`s sister ) “ She is a very good instructor and a wonderful dancer, just loved her moves. Wish I had more classes with her… “
	Kahina ( Drum Solo ) ( Brazil ) “ I just LOVE her, she is a wonderful instructor and her drum solo choreography is just GREAT! Very talented and beautiful dancer with a lot of charisma. “

Adryanna gave Belly Dance workshops in South Africa- Cape Town and Johanesburg and Durbain; Norway- at Hedvig`s dance studio in Gjøvik, in Oslo at ELIXIA in Lambertseter, Kalbakken, Sjølyst, Bekkestua, Sandvika and Colosseum. She worked at Dansestudioet ( with Siri Ydstie ) in 2002 and 2003. She also gave many weekend workshops at Navlen studio in Oslo. Participated of bachelorette parties, many julebord parties, birthdays, has been performing at Al Farah fest since 2002,has been performing in the shows organized by Siri Ydstie “ 1001 Natt “ at Oslo Konserthus since 2003. She performed at Grønlandshagen in Grønlandleiret 61, at Frydd in Karl Johans gata Oslo, Glass Magazine, Telenor and Norsk Kreftforening( Norwegian Cancer Society ).She has been dancing at Sahara Beduin , danced at Oliven café, Al Amir, Avanos and Layali restaurants. In January 2005 she performed in a 5 star hotel in Sharm El Sheik in Egypt called Savoy Hotel.

Adryanna Shamsa`s Oriental Dance school is at Studio Orient in Arbeider gate 4, Oslo. ( Lille Grensen ). For more information contact: ( 47 ) 92 29 92 65 - mobile ( Adryanna ) or send an e-mail to receive and updated version of Adryanna Shamsa`s schedule for classes, workshops and shows. E-mail: adryannashamsa@hotmail.com
You can also check Adryanna Shamsa`s schedule, news and events on the internet at her BLOG address: http://adryannashamsa.blogspot.com

Adryanna and Raqia Hassan