Inzar

Inzar, artistic director of Shahrazad Dance Ensemble of Seattle, is a dancer, costumer, artist, musician and singer.

She has studied Flamenco and folkloric Middle Eastern dance styles and led the troupe in developing a folkloric repertoire featuring dance from the Levant, Egypt, Persia, Turkey and North Africa. As originator of our alternative dance troupe, "The Wild Women of Wongo" (a name borrowed from the title of a 1950's B-grade science fiction movie) Inzar taught the troupe members new dance skills and created fusion dances that use props such as rattles and bones, and dances inspired by the movements of cats and snakes (the snakes are stuffed, not real.)

When not designing dances and costumes for Shahrazad Dance Ensemble, Inzar creates artwork, designs and builds gardens, serves as a panelist at science fiction conventions, and writes stories.

Photo © Tatsuki Kobayashi

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Maelen

Maelen first learned Middle Eastern dance to exercise and relieve stress while going through Veterinary School at Washington State University. After graduation she continued to take classes. She studied with Shiraz, Zaphara and Majhi.

She has been a member of Shahrazad Dance Ensemble for many years, and enjoys dancing with some of her best friends. Maelen enjoys performing both ethnic and more modern dance styles, and is very fond of the alternative dance troupe, the "Wild Women of Wongo."

When she is not dancing, Maelen has a career as a small animal veterinarian. She also enjoys riding her horse, creating science fiction costumes, and is learning to speak Korean.

Photo © Matt Hargreaves

 

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Melinda Shiraz

Melinda began her dance career as a member of Baba Karim, a renowned Seattle dance troupe inspired by the teachings of legendary dance pioneer Jamila Salimpour, and led by artistic director Mish Mish. Melinda joined Shahrazad Dance Ensemble in the 1980s. Her performance career also included solo nightclub appearances at Seattle's premier Arab and Persian nightclubs, including George's Bar & Grill, Meenar in Lake City, and Tula's in Belltown.

Teachers who have instructed and inspired her include Shiraz (her first teacher, who shared her name), Mish Mish, Ibrahim Farrah, Aisha Ali, Nadia Hamdi, Horacio Cifuentes, Suhaila Salimpour, Hadia of Calgary, Robyn Friend, Leila Haddad, Alleili and many others.

Melinda enjoys the challenge of performing dances that feature balancing, including the North African-inspired basket dance "Jabiliyeh", the sword dance which calls for a sword to be balanced across the head without any aids or padding, and balancing a pot on her head in Tunisian dances.

With expertise in communications developed in her day job, Melinda does most of the Ensemble's public relations, writes the troupe's flyers and show scripts, and manages the website.

Photo © Tatsuki Kobayashi

 

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Noura

Noura joined Shahrazad Dance Ensemble in 1995. With training from Jamila Salimpour, Suhaila Salimpour, Badawia, Bert Balladine, Aida al Adawi, Delilah of Seattle, Mahmoud Reda, Morocco of New York, Serena Wilson, Nadia Hamdi and Hassan Harfouche, Noura brings a deep knowledge of dance to the troupe. She specializes in assaya (cane), khaleegy (Gulf region), and debke (from the Levant.) Her solo performance maintains a classical Egyptian style, heavily influenced by Sohair Zaki and Nagwa Fuad. Noura has performed throughout the Western U.S. and in Egypt, and has studied the Arabic language. She has taught dance for nearly 30 years.

Noura has contributed several choreographies to the troupe, and restaged authentic choreographies she learned during four trips to the Mendocino Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp.

Noura (aka Su Nelson) served for three years as a Board Member at Large of the Arab Center of Washington, and serves on the committee that produces Arab Festal at Seattle Center. The Arab Center of Washington produces this event every two years and also sponsors other events geared toward sharing information, music and dance from the many cultures of the Arab World.

Photo © Jal Schrof

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Sajiida performed with Seattle troupes Safiran, Al-Rashada, and Tanavar (a Central Asian dance troupe directed by Laurel Victoria Gray,) before joining Shahrazad Dance Ensemble. Sajiida has been performing with the troupe for more than 25 years.

Sajiida has danced at every major Seattle-area dance festival including Fantasia, the Northwest Folklife Festival, Bumbershoot, the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival, the Western Washington Fair, several of Kashmira's "Spectacular Evening in Seattle" shows, the Arab Festival , and numerous neighborhood festivals and retirement homes.

Sajiida brings to the stage a polished, professional presence and dedication. She has been a dancer for her entire adult life, and she seeks every opportunity to perform; dance is engrained in every part of who she is.

Photo © Tatsuki Kobayashi

 

 

 

 

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Zorina

Zorina has been a popular performer in the Pacific Northwest for more than 25 years. Her dance career began with membership in several Seattle-area troupes, including Bakalava, Sa'ada Dance Ensemble, and a duo with Sahaila, Mystical Mirage Duet.

Also a skilled and entertaining soloist, Zorina has polished her dance technique with classes and workshops with leading instructors Tahia Alibeck, Delilah, Morocco, Hadia, Suhaila Salimpour and others. For many years she was a regular performer in Seattle's leading live-music nightclubs: George's Bar & Grill, Meenar in Lake City, the India Palace, Epiro's and Kolbeh, and Tony's Grill in Kent.

She enjoys the opportunity to share her passion and respect for the dance with new dancers of all ages. For Zorina, belly dancing is much more than just the movement of the dance. It's an art form where people come together to learn and grow, to be creative, to express feelings and to share and help each other, a sisterhood of love and friendships; it is the dance of life.

Photo © Jal Schrof