Hannah Romanowsky
Hannah Romanowsky, M.A. is Artistic Director of Dunyazade Dance and a performing artist with more than 30 years of professional experience in world dance, choreography, and interdisciplinary performance. Her work spans the living traditions of the Silk Road — Persian, Afghan, Central Asian, Turkish, and Romani dance — alongside Spanish dance, jazz, fusion, and original dance theatre works that draw freely across world traditions.
A master teacher and cultural dance specialist, Hannah has performed at venues ranging from Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco to the British Museum in London, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Roof of the World Festival in Tajikistan. She has been a featured artist with Ballet Afsaneh Art & Culture Society, Aywah! Ethnic Dance Company, and Wan-Chao Dance, and has created and performed solo evening-length works including Scheherazade’s Story, Dance of the Warrior Queens, Flame of the Heart, and Hamsa: Five Women’s Dances from the Middle East.
In 2025 she launched Dancing in the Kitchen®, a live-audience television series merging culinary arts, comedy, dance, and cultural storytelling, airing on Marin and Sonoma public access channels and streaming platforms. The Dunyazade Dance Ensemble performs within Kitchen Cabaret, the live dance theatre segment of the series, filmed at Hidden City Ballroom in Point Richmond, California.
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Training & Credentials
TRAINING & BACKGROUND
Classical ballet, jazz, and musical theatre from childhood through college; undergraduate study in Dance Ethnomusicology and World Music at San Francisco State University, with focus on Kathak, Flamenco, Modern dance, and Islamic arts. Graduate training in somatic healing and transpersonal psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (M.A., East-West Psychology, 2011). Specialist training in Persian, Central Asian, Romani, Turkish, Arabic, and Spanish dance traditions spanning three decades.
COMPANIES & COLLABORATIONS
Ballet Afsaneh Art & Culture Society (Principal Dancer & Teaching Artist, 2005–present) · Aywah! Ethnic Dance Company · Wan-Chao Dance · Hidden City Ballroom (2022–present)
SELECTED STAGES & FESTIVALS
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts · Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco · Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles · CounterPulse · Z Space · de Young Museum · British Museum, London · Museum of Fine Arts, Houston · Roof of the World Festival, Tajikistan · Beijing Cultural Arts Festival · Festival of the Silk Road, San Jose · Aarhus Folk Festival, Denmark · Roma Tribal Festival, Rome · Austin Belly Dance Convention · Stanford University · UC Berkeley
TEACHING
College of Marin (Silk Road Dance; Mystical Dance from the Middle East) · California Polytechnic State University · UC Berkeley · Sonoma Dance Conservatory · Founder & Director, DanceVersity Multicultural Youth Arts Program (2005–2020), serving hundreds of children across Marin County with 20+ instructors representing arts from nearly every continent
Coaching & Empowerment
Through Dunyazade Dance, Hannah offers private coaching, workshops, and ensemble training rooted in the living traditions of the Silk Road and world dance. Her teaching emphasizes cultural specificity, performance craft, and artistic depth — giving dancers the grounding to perform with genuine authority. The Dunyazade Dance Ensemble performs in Kitchen Cabaret within Dancing in the Kitchen®, and at Dinner & Dance Theater evenings at Hidden City Ballroom and dance festivals throughout the Bay Area.