Hit Kik

Souhaer Zarik brings artistic beauty to everything she does, and goodness, does she ever do a lot. The owner and head instructor of HiP KiK Belly Dance and Fitness Studio is not only a dancer and choreographer, she is also a fashion designer, a singer, a violinist and a personal trainer. When she’s not teaching students the basics of belly dancing or choreographing impassioned routines, Sue is designing and sewing costumes, leading a rigorous fitness class and performing on stage. “I have to be artistic in everything I do. Every since I was little, I knew that that’s who I needed to be," she says.  "You have to make your life beautiful, or else what is it for?”

At HiP KiK, Sue teaches both the Egyptian style known as Oriental belly dance and the more contemporary Tribal style, although she prefers the daintier, flowing femininity of the more traditional form. Learning the basics of belly dance is like learning a new language, according to Sue, who uses that structure to then add some improvisation to her routines.

“The way I write choreography, it’s like I’m writing a story. I see the song, I hear the story, I write that story with movement. I let the music dictate where the story goes.”