It was in an afternoon, when, unexpectedly, I met Mariam, with her magic touch. Those were the ‎days, when I was convinced that, in spite of my strong desire to learn oriental dancing, my ‎apprenticeship in a different environment had proved that it was simply beyond me! In ‎disappointment, I had abandoned all effort. Yet, it was just then that a friend who knew Mariam ‎better and had talked to me about her, told me: “Come and see for yourself, she is just ‎incredible”. This is how things happened and how I went to have my first introductory lesson with ‎Mariam. Before the class was over, I had understood how mistaken my previous rambling had ‎been. Even before the final swaying movement, I had made up my mind that henceforth and ‎forever Mariam would be my only teacher. This is because Mariam knows how to get hold of ‎your body and make sway, no matter how your body is made or how old it is. Because she ‎recognizes that it is unique and without precedent in this world and knows how to tune it like a ‎rare musical instrument, with such mastery and effectiveness that it can soon emit, and ‎reverberate with, its own distinctive, unique to it, music; a music which is feminine, full of female ‎movement. Your body is transformed, it is replenished with music notes, and then even your ‎most simple and daily movements acquire an exotic rhythm, filled with the magic of the Orient, ‎which smells of myrrh and frankincense. Since then, I like to repeat everywhere, in all ‎seriousness, that even to waive to a bus to stop I do it with oriental grace. And you know what? ‎With this grace, with these hips, which are the “most beautiful in the world”, as Mariam likes to ‎describe the hips of all of us, I have noticed that people around me change their attitude and ‎smile. This, in my view, is a remarkable achievement. I refer to the achievement of a person who ‎teaches you not only how to move, dance and soften your body, but also how to offer the gift of ‎smiling and sweetness of face. Thank you, Mariam!‎