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. She also
created the troupe's alter egos, "The Wild Women of Wongo" (a name borrowed
from the title of a 1950's B-grade science fiction movie.) For the Wild
Women, Inzar taught the troupe members new dance skills and created fusion
dances that use props such as rattles, bones and snakes (the snakes are
stuffed, not real.)
When not designing
dances and costumes for Shahrazad Dance Ensemble, Inzar creates artwork
in pen and ink, acrylics and watercolor, makes costumes for herself and
her husband to wear at science fiction conventions, and writes stories.
Photo © Tatsuki Kobayashi
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 for the next several years.
She studied with Shiraz, Zaphara and Majhi.
She has been a member of Shahrazad Dance Ensemble since the
1980s, where she enjoys dancing with some of her best friends. Maelen enjoys
performing both ethnic and more modern dance styles, and is very fond of
the troupe's alter ego, the "Wild Women of Wongo" (left: Maelen
in one of her "Wongo" costumes.)
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 © Tatsuki Kobayashi
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's 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 Ensemble's 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 the pot-balancing section of the
troupe's Tunisian suite.
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
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 over 25 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) recently served for three years as
a Board Member at Large of the Arab Center of Washington. The Arab Center
produces the Arab Festal at Seattle Center every two years and also sponsors
other events geared toward sharing information, music and dance from the
many cultures of the Arab World.
Photo: Noura danced a solo performance at the 2009 Mediterranean
Fantasy Festival in Seattle wearing her beautiful collection of antique
assuit. The type of fabric, composed of cotton tulle interwoven with
strands of silver, has been made in Egypt since the late 1800's. The highest-quality
older assuit is increasingly rare. Read more about it at www.Wikipedia.org.
Photo © Shahrazad Ensemble
Sajiida
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 festival in Seattle 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 is a resident of Vashon Island, and although attending
rehearsals with Shahrazad Ensemble via the Vashon ferry is a very long trip,
there has been no thought of giving up her troupe family members and opportunities
to perform, which is so engrained in every part of who she is.
Photo © Thom Walls
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's 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
