About Kelvia

KELVIA MITRI-MEDA is a multi- award winning professional oriental dance artist. Her other specialties include dance performance coaching, and event coordinating. She is the owner of the Viva Dance & Fitness Center for the Arts, and founder of the Middle Eastern Dance Academy of CT.

Kelvia’s international level
recognitions as a coach or performer
have been:

2017 First Runner up of the Queen Category in the Houston International Oriental & Folklore Dance festival by Simon Sarkis.
2018 First Runner up International Kids Dance Coach at the NY Cairo Festival. Performance by Angelina Meda
2018 First Runner up International Kids Dance Coach at the Miami Belly Dance Convention. Performance by Angelina Meda
2019 First Runner up in the International Miami Belly Dance Convention Adult Dance Team where she was a performer.
2019 First Runner up & 3rd Place International Kids Dance Coach at the Miami Belly Dance Convention. Performance by Madison Meda, and Alison Meda

Her most recent win PERSONAL WIN was being crowned Queen of the Heart of American 2019 international dance festival by the biggest name in oriental dance, Superstar DINA!

Being born into a theater arts family, Kelvia’s career as an entertainer started at an early age. This privilege afforded Kelvia the opportunity to train intensively in 16 different dance styles making her an extremely versatile dancer. For years Kelvia worked as a Ballroom and Latin dance instructor, until she took a belly dance class out of curiosity in 2008 with Adina. It was “Love at first hip drop”. It was through belly dance that Kelvia finally learned to love herself, embrace her body, and was able to gain confidence. Belly dance changed Kelvia’s self-perception.

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Kelvia’s passion and drive has led her to dancing on the stage of many prestigious venues and events. Kelvia has danced at venues such as Madison Square Garden (NYC), CopaCabana (NYC), Shrine at MGM Foxwoods, The New Haven CT Presidential Inaugural Ball for Barack Obama, The New Haven CT Mayor Ball for the honorable Toni Harp, Sharifwear Production in DROM (NYC), and Al Khaima Arabesque Academy, (Toronto,CA). Her proudest stage performance invitations were to be the headliner in the opening acts for Lebanese singer’s, Ragheb Alama, concert on June 2019, and Saif Nabeel on March 2020.

Kelvia’s Teachers and Mentors:

Kelvia owes a lot of her training success to Nourhan Sharif who she began training with intensely in 2013 while in NYC. Nourhan taught Kelvia everything she knows about being a professional belly dancer. Nourhan opened the door for Kelvia to train with many international artist, such as Sadie, Alla Kushnir, Pierre Haddad, Madam Raqia Hassan and many more. In addition to Nourhan, Pierre Haddad took a special training interest in Kelvia and coached her one on one from 2016-2020.

In 2014, Kelvia was approached for a performance collaboration by musician Elio Mitri. That began Kelvia’s specialized stylization training in Lebanese oriental dance. The Mitri Family took Kelvia into their home for Lebanese cultural and entertainment education. Kelvia essentially was able to experience learning the intricacies of middle eastern dance in “Momma Mitri’s living room”. They spent countless hours educating Kelvia on the emotional and cultural significance of movement. They adopted Kelvia professionally and soon Kelvia’s stage name changed from “Kelvia Belly Dancer CT” to “Kelvia Mitri-Meda”.

Kelvia’s experience in the Middle East.

In August 2015, she had the honor of flying with Katia of Cairo to Egypt, where she trained with Madam Raqia Hassan. Quickly following her short stay in Egypt, she took a flight to Lebanon under the host Pierre Haddad- a protege to the first famous belly dancer of the country “Nadia Gamal”. Kelvia immersed herself in learning the Lebanese styling and culture of the Lebanese oriental arts. While in Lebanon, Kelvia had the honor of performing at a charity event to raise money for cancer research in the country.

She was also able to teach small local dance classes for the community. Kelvia’s visit caught the attention local news station “Future TV”, and she was interviewed about her love for Lebanese Oriental dance. She continued her travels to Lebanon every few years to train in Lebanese style classic oriental dance. In May 2019, Kelvia moved to Lebanon for 1 month for an in-depth cultural and dance training experience with Pierre Haddad.

In 2020 Kelvia moved for a year to Jordan for further cultural education. With Kelvia you dont only get a trained dancer, but you get an artist who has experienced daily life in the Middle East, which allows her to connect deeper with the arts to bring you a deeper cultural experience.

Currently, Kelvia is the most sought-after Oriental Dancer in the CT Lebanese American community. Expect to see a show full of passion and power!!

CT Kids/Teens belly dance team

Kelvia has dedicated her life to dance. She lives for the moments where she is able to share her passion with others. In 2012, she started the first CT Kids/Teens belly dance team. It is a young girl’s empowerment program that utilizes the Middle Eastern arts to build self esteem, teach positive socialization, and raise a love for cultural diversity and acceptance.

This project has blossomed to what is now known as the official “Middle Eastern Dance Academy of CT!” Kelvia now runs 3 dance teams and has students that range from age 3 to age 70!

A little more about KELVIA:

What is the quote “I dance because of God’s glory” all about?

Kelvia was told from an early age that she would NEVER be a dancer. She was told that not only did she not have enough talent, but that her legs would give her a physical limitation when compared to other artists. Kelvia was born with chronic joint problems. Things like walking or running are extremely painful at times. With determination, training, discipline and dedication, Kelvia has proven that there are no limits to where a little faith and a powerful God can take you. Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you are or are not capable of!

Kelvia is the artistic Director of the CT Kids/Teens Belly dance team “Zaharat al mustqbal”.

Why teach belly dance to teenagers?

As a young adolescent, Kelvia suffered from low self-esteem. As an adult, Kelvia continued to be very critical of herself. Through belly dance, Kelvia learned to love herself, embrace her body, and was able to gain confidence. Belly dance changed Kelvia’s self-perception. The purpose of these belly dance classes is to pay it forward. It is time that we embrace, guide and empower our young ladies. Kelvia hopes to be able to instill an artistic foundation that our youth can use as a proper outlet for their emotions & thoughts. Her goal is to be able to show them how to be set free by music & dance. Kelvia makes little to no money on the kids/teen classes. She does her best to keep the costs as low as possible in order to be able to provide the opportunity for students to train. Kelvia came to the USA at age 5. She is well aware of the financial constraints that some families face in the New Haven area.

Kelvia often hosts fundraisers to help raise money for the tuition costs, costuming, scholarships, and studio expenses for the kids. Please check out our event page for information on how to support our CT youth and the future of our belly dance community!!