Tamsyn is an oriental belly dance performer and instructor based in San Carlos, CA. She is well-known for her high energy performances, playful improvisation, audience engagement, and expert veil and floorwork. She works regularly with bands (both western and Middle Eastern), and plays darbuka and zills (sagat).

Schooled from an early age in ballet and character dancing, she took her first lesson in belly dance when she was ten years old after her family moved to San Francisco. She started performing with her sister at haflas and parties when she was eleven, and followed her mother to some of the world’s largest belly dance festivals. Her first teacher, Leila, was a  respected instructor in vintage American bellydance and instilled in Tamsyn an admiration and love for this beautiful, empowering, and exotic art form.

Tamsyn continued to take lessons with local belly dance teachers during her early 20s, but it was not until she moved to Edinburgh and met the close-knit dance community there that she re-discovered what, for her, makes belly dancing so special: a network of inspirational and supportive women. In 2007, she embraced the art whole-heartedly, and started studying intently with many local and internationally acclaimed instructors in Egyptian style bellydance and tribal fusion, travelling around the UK and the United States to attend workshops with the most renowned performers. Her dedication to training in different styles has enhanced her knowledge and appreciation of the subtleties of the dance. Musicians regularly complement her on her musicality and evocation of the golden age of belly dance in America, when dancers learned from, and performed for, immigrants from across the Middle East.

Tamsyn has taught Arab-American fusion dance at Jacob’s Pillow (2013), and tribal fusion at Boston University (2015, 2016), Smith College (2012) the University of Edinburgh (2010, 2011). She was formerly a member of the Sovereign Dance Collective led by Donna Mejia (2011- 2012), and a founding member of Barocco Tribal in Edinburgh, UK (2010). She was also a special guest of Snake Dance Theatre in Boston in 2014. Tamsyn has performed in the UK, Japan and USA at private functions, haflas and weddings, and features regularly in top restaurants.