Noura started dancing when she was 17. She joined Shahrazad Dance Ensemble in 1995 and retired in 2018. She specialized in assaya (cane), khaleegy (Gulf region), and debke (from the Levant.) Her solo performance maintained a classical Egyptian style, heavily influenced by Sohair Zaki and Nagwa Fuad. Noura performed at nightclubs and dance events throughout the Western U.S. and in Egypt, and she has studied the Arabic language. She taught dance for nearly 25 years.
Noura contributed several choreographies to the troupe, and restaged authentic choreographies she learned during four trips to the Mendocino Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp. She took workshops with Maestro Mahmoud Reda in Egypt and in the US. She also attended intensive workshops at the Arab Dance Seminar in Las Vegas, and made two trips to Minnesota to learn khalegy dance with dance ethnologist Kay Hardy Campbell.
Noura (Su Nelson) served for three years as a Board Member at Large of the Arab Center of Washington, and on the committee that produced the Arab Festival for Festal at Seattle Center for several production years.
Noura performing in her original choreography, a basket dance. Photo: Tatsuki Kobayashi