I have been dancing all my life. I started taking ballet lessons at age eight with a local teacher in my hometown in N.J. and never stopped, except for a period of five years while working on my doctoral dissertation. At age 14 I began studying with the late Benjamin Harkarvy, director of the Julliard Dance Department; this training enabled me to become a member of the Corps de Ballet of Radio City Music Hall, the Ballet Theatre of Rome, and to appear at many New York City dance concerts.

At a certain point in my career I decided to pursue a different technique -- one that might result in more dance challenges. Oriental dance has more than filled a vacuum in my dance life; it has led, not only to performances, but to writing articles, membership in dance organizations, organizing dance workshops and tours, and getting to know dancers throughout the world.

Samiha and Lucy ...... Samiha and Mahmoud Reda ......Samiha's first Egyptian teacher: Nadia Hamdi ...... Samiha and Suliman Abdullah...... All Samiha's teachers in Cairo, plus others such as Ibrahim Akef , Raqia Hassan, Diana Tarkhan, and Aida Nour.

Samiha (Leona Marsh, PhD) with students at the American University in Cairo

As a result of having earned a doctorate at New York University (a study of language alternation), I have been offered positions in numerous universities including the prestigious American University in Cairo. Working and living in Cairo provided me with opportunities to study with master Egyptian dance teachers (see above) and to get to know Egypt’s culture and dance milieu.

Back in New York City, on both the high school and university level, I have found ways of integrating dance and movement into curricula. Specifically, I gave a workshop at New York University to visiting Japanese High School teachers of English on ways of using dance to teach a second language.

Presently I am a guest dancer for Amarain and performre at Morocco's monthly showcases; I was a member of the "NileSide Dancers," directed by Gamila El Masri as well as the resident oriental dancer with "The International Folklore Company." I frequently appeared at ASAmed's bi-annual "Showcases," as well as various venues in New York City and Florida. I was vice-president of ASAmed (Associated Artists of Middle Eastern Dance), Associate Editor of BENNU and contributing writer (published by ASAmed).