ABOUT ME
it's impossible to know someone through a bio but here's something
A GIRL WITH A DREAM...
became an artist with a vision and a woman on a mission.
little ballerina
That's where the dream started. Actually, the first time I felt my passion for dance was when I saw a professional ballet performance on television. I was mesmerized. It was love at first sight. And the ball started rolling when I finally was officially allowed to take ballet classes at age 6 or 7. My ballet teacher, Violet, who's also pictured here, on my right side with the glasses, asked me if I wanted to go to the next level. For one year I entered additional Saturday classes in a talent group to prepare me for a big audition for a youth ballet academy one year later. There I was. I got accepted. But I didn't get to go. It was my first heartbreak. I write about this in my memoirs, that will hopefully be published by the end of 2025.
more to come
...
Zahira Mous (1984) is a Frisian-born choreographer, coach, writer, performer, therapist, and activist whose life’s work bridges embodied healing, the arts, and social justice. With a background in dance theater, somatic facilitation, and feminist community organizing, her mission centers on liberating girls and women through movement, creativity, and truth-telling.
Zahira is the founder of Changing Lives Through Dance, bringing dance education to refugee centers and underserved communities, and the artistic director of Project Zahira, where she creates socially engaged performances. Her most recent work, The Rite, confronts the epidemic of intimate partner violence and femicide.
She has facilitated healing workshops in Palestine, India, Brazil, the U.S., Greece, and the Netherlands. In 2020, Zahira served as a key consultant for the Brazilian docuseries Em Nome de Deus, which exposed the (sexual) violence by João Teixeira de Faria, known as “John of God.” In 2022, she collaborated with Dr. Gabor Maté, Ashira Darwish, and Kath Temple on trauma healing work in Jericho, Palestine.
Zahira holds an MFA in Dance, a Graduate Certificate in Women’s & Gender Studies, and a BA in Theatre in Education. She is certified in NLP, EFT, and trauma-informed inner work drawing from Jungian and Gestalt traditions. With additional training in meditation, tantra, bodywork, and art therapy, she developed Art in Motion—a healing practice integrating movement and creativity.
She is also the founder/director of the Healing Arts Foundation, co-director of Rest / Resist, and founder of Sappho Tantra - initiatives rooted in decolonized therapeutic and artistic practices.
