Najla's love of oriental dance began in her early teens. As a child she studied ballet, tap and jazz, but she was always fascinated with the belly dance students. After her first belly dance class in 1995 she was instantly hooked. Within two years she began dancing at restaurants, nightclubs, and private parties in the Seattle area. She used her skills to work as a dancer and travel in Europe many times, but continued to be based in Seattle. After several years she became frustrated with the lack of opportunities for dancers in Seattle and decided to take her skills to Greece.
Within two weeks of arriving on the island of Rhodes Najla began dancing nightly at the beautiful Taj Mahal ethnic fusion discotheque. In the fall she went to Athens and after only three days she was hired at Red Marrakech Moroccan restaurant, one of the most upscale and atmospheric restaurants in Athens. Her schedule became very busy and she found herself working at seven restaurants/clubs simultaneously. After a few months in Athens she danced briefly in Manchester, England, and then returned to Seattle for more training.
Her experience had paid off and she was instantly successful at the top nightclubs in Seattle's extremely competitive dance scene. She decided to follow in the footsteps of another Seattle dancer who moved to Egypt and began dancing at the top Cairo Hotels. She purchased her ticket to Egypt, but sadly soon after that a ban on foreign dancers was declared. Regardless, she decided to go for the experience.
In Egypt Najla attended performances of the top dancers, including Dina and Lucy, and got a feel for the style of an Egyptian belly dance hotel show. She trained intensively with renowned choreographer, Raqia Hassan. After a performance at the Ramses Hilton she got up to dance with the band and was very well received by the musicians, manager, and nightclub patrons.
After returning from Egypt Najla began working with Resortdancers.com doing performances at five star hotels in the Carribean. In the fall she moved to Paris, France and soon had a tightly booked schedule. She performed frequently at the top restaurants and cabarets including Au Pied De Chameau and Hammam Club. She danced at the premier of Disney's Aladdin II, and was featured on French television. In Paris she auditioned for the Belly Dance Superstars and was selected. She returned to the U.S. to prepare, and then joined Jillina and company for rehearsals before the 2005 Fall tour. But after rehearsals she decided it would be better to return to Seattle and begin her own company, and try to get settled after three and a half years of traveling.
Today Najla continues to dance in Seattle and is featured in many local theatrical belly dance productions as well as nightclubs and restaurants. She is the Artistic Director of Fleurs d'Egypte Dance Company. Fleurs d'Egypte was recently featured on IAMED's Belly Dance-O-Rama DVD, available everywhere. Please visit www.arabicbeat.com for more information. Najla teaches group and private lessons in egyptian and modern oriental dance. She is available for weddings, private functions, corporate events, and resort performances. She is always searching for opportunities to further her career as an oriental belly dance artist and expand her extensive resume.
