About Iona:
​Performer, Producer, & Troupe Director

Iona performs and teaches American & Egyptian cabaret, folkloric, and fusion styles of Belly Dance, also known as Raks Sharki or Danse Oriental. She is seasoned with a variety of dance props, including candles and candle trays, cane, Isis wings, sword, veil, and zills (finger cymbals). Balancing skills are her specialty, including both sword and petite candle tray.  With a background in Theatre production and Fine Arts, Iona takes an artistic and audience-focused approach to every performance. Having graced a muriad of stages in Greater New Orleans, she maintains an intense, yet joyful stage persona that is both warm and family-oriented. Iona's most treasured performances are those dancing with live music, including with bands Ishtar and Pangia, and with musician Thomas Dolby at Tipitina's Uptown. Her name Iona, 'purple jewel', is a tribute to her late grandmother, Iona Meneray, also an Arts enthusiast and New Orleans native.

As a producer, Iona ran her own LLC in New Orleans, and continues hosting master teachers and workshop events, including ORLEANS RAKS. She also directed and choreographed New Orleans troupe Beledi Jewels and the student troupe in Baton Rouge, Bayou Jawahir. As a troupe leader and instructor, Iona fosters the students' interest and technique with stage presentation, style, and performance. Beledi Jewels have performed in numerous shows and events, including "Southern Voices, dance out loud 5", where Iona was a featured choreographer. Iona gained her own experience belly dancing as a performance member of the Betty Karam and the Desert Dancers ensemble.

Along with dance, Iona works ten months per year as a Speech-Language Pathologist in school and residential settings. She currently holds licenses in LA, NC, and OR. She has national certification in clinical competency (CCC-SLP) and is a professional member of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). She has had the pleasure to guest lecture several times at her alma mater, LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. 
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Photo by Denise Marino

Dance Training

Iona holds Master's level Theatre training with ongoing dance training.  Stage movement dance teachers: 
​Dollie Rivas, Yvonne Olivier

Bellydance teachers:
Ayesha Kamm, Medford Oregon
Betty Karam, New Orleans LA
Layla Isis,  New Orleans LA
Tamalyn Dallal, Seattle WA/ New Orleans LA

Star workshop instructors & international artists:
Ahmed Hussien, Alexandra King ,  Amar Gamal ,  Amaya ,  Amel Tafsout ,  Ansuya , Artemis Mourat ,  Bozenka,  Eva Cernik , Hadia (of Canada) , Jillina,  Morocco,        Myra Krien , Nourhan Sharif , Rachel George ,  RoxxanneShellaby , Ryan Guochao ,  Sahra Saeeda ,  Sonia ,  Suhaila Salimpour , Tamalyn Dallal 

Percussion instruction:
Ayesha Kamm , Jeremiah Soto , Tobias Roberson , Shelly Plaissance

Iona is honored to have had the opportunity to take classes with the late Serena Wilson while in New York in 2004, as well as with very much alive Maria Morca while teacher training with Tamalyn in Seattle area in 2013.

Side Project: Silk Road Travelers

Iona enjoyed being one of the founding members and co-creating with harpist Ivory McCann and percussionist Steven Rossi in the Middle Eastern sound scapes trio, Silk Road Travelers 2015-2016.
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The original Silk Road Travelers: Steven, Iona, & Ivory

Stage Production & Community

In 2010, Iona began promoting the art and education of bellydance through hosting star workshops and showcases via Iona Productions.
See more about her current event: Orleans Raks
Additional community contributions:
  • Team leader for New Orleans Shimmy Mob Team, 2013 & 2014. 
  • Vice President of the Middle Eastern Dance Artists of Louisiana, which serviced dancers and musicians in the state, 2007.
  • Emcee for bellydance showcases in the southeast LA community.
  • Performer for various Baton Rouge and New Orleans based charity events, including Shimmy Mob, WELL, & Earth Day.
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2014 Shimmy Mobsters with canine fan in the French Quarter

Teaching Experience

Iona has had the opportunity to share her skills by teaching weekly classes at the following studios: 
  • Club Silhouette, Metairie, LA
  • Tulane U's Diboll Mind and Body Studio, New Orleans, LA
  • Namaste' of Metairie, LA
  • Tapas Yoga and Movement Studio, Metairie, LA
  • Crescent Lotus Dance Studio, New Orleans, LA
  • Touro Infirmary's Alternative Therapies Center, New Orleans, LA  
  • Bayou Shimmy Belly Dance, Baton Rouge, LA