Company Members

Arabian Dance Theatre is a collective of around 20 performers. The 3 main organisers of the company are:

Shafeek Ibrahim – Artistic Director & Choreographer

Shafeek Ibrahim was born in Egypt and is a master of Arabian Dance Arts. Shafeek started to learn dance from a young age and by the time he was 16 was working as a professional dancer in theatre productions and dance companies touring all over Egypt. Shafeek was also a member the Reda Troup, Egypt’s very prestigious national folklore dance troupe. At the age of just 21 Shafeek moved to the UK and he quickly became an Internationally renowned dance teacher, performer and choreographer. In his 12 years dancing career he has performed for film, TV and theatre productions in the UK and Egypt as well as abroad. Shafeek is the artistic director and main choreographer of the Arabian Dance Theatre company.

Tara Lee Oakley – Founder

Tara has been involved in Arabic Dance Arts for the last 10 years. She first became introduced to Arabic dance and culture whilst at University studying electives in Arabic Media. Her passion for dance developed rapidly and quickly became a full time commitment. She has now worked as a professional Arabic dance artist performing across the UK as well as internationally for 10 years.  Tara has  worked as a performer in Egypt, Morocco, Anu Dhabi, Palestine and Lebanon. She became interested in theatre art whilst working in Egypt performing dance in 2 major theatre productions, in Cairo and in Sharm. Tara is involved in the total creation and public presentation of Arabian Dance Theatre productions.

Isa Randle – Dance Captain

Isa has trained in in ballet, jazz, various commercial dance styles, contemporary dance, singing and acting at one of London’s top performing arts schools. After refining her art as a performer she landed a role in the West End musical “CATS.” Isa has many years of professional dance experience and has appeared in film, television and theatre productions. She has performed for MTV, MOBO and BRIT Awards as well as BBC, ITV and Channel 4. She has performed all over the world and has worked and toured with famous acts such as “Kylie Minoque”, “Destiny’s Child”, and “Robbie Williams.” Isa has been learning Raqs Sharqi and Arabian folk dance with Shafeek since 2007 and it has become a major passion.