About Zahirah Noor

Zahirah was originally inspired to belly dance in Alabama where she studied with Suzanne and was a member of the Raks Sahara Troupe. She moved to Houston and led the belly dance program instruction for Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) for five years. She proved to be an accomplished choreographer for solo and ensemble pieces. She has created choreographies for as many as twenty dancers at a time, complete with set designs and theatrical presentations. Additionally, Zahirah holds teaching certificates in ballroom dance for both rhythm and smooth dances. She has performed in many ballroom showcases at the amateur level and competed professionally with her students as well as participating in the choreography. Her love for dance eventually led her to open a dance studio with her partners, hence Danse Royale Ballroom Studios was born, which houses Zahirah Noor's Belly Dance Studio. As an event sponsor/studio owner/instructor, she has organized a full dance-training curriculum, drum classes, plus belly dance workshops and gala shows.

Zahirah has continued her education in the belly dance genre by attending workshops with Angelika Nemeth, Leila Gamal, Vashti, Jillina, Samara, Cynthia Miller, Desdemona, Aida Nour, Magdy el-Leisy, and Raqia Hassan. She spent two weeks in Hawaii studying with Delilah earning certification. In the musical field, she has studied clarinet, and doumbek. She has provided an organized performing opportunity for her students by creating and directing the Noore Kavir Troupe. Local performances include SBISD annual recitals, Adagio International shows, Sirrom School of Dance shows, Helios, HABDA shows, and various private party celebrations.

Her husband, Robert Ducharme, is President of the Houston Chapter of the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancer’s Association. Zahirah is a member of the Houston Area Belly Dance Association. Austin Bellydance Association and North Texas Bellydance Association. Zahirah believes each student has the potential to be a great dancer and encourages each one to dance from their inner self and project their own individual selves into the dance. Then your dance becomes a work of art.

Ayana's performance experience encompasses 25 years and several forms, including: acting, singing, dancing and musicianship. Private instruction in music theory and execution for piano, guitar, banjo and mandolin over an 11 year period gave her a strong musical foundation.

Ayana began dancing 17 years ago, her first lesson taking place at the Sirrom School of Belly Dance. Thalia, the studio's owner, was her first teacher. Her performances in Houston include events such as the Mediterranean Festival, the (previously named) Tenneco Marathon, Turkish Festival, and the Houston International Festival. At different times over the last 10 years, you could have seen her dancing at the Athens Bar & Grill, Al Basha, Marrakech, Opa's, The Museum of Natural History, or even the Art Car Ball. One of her favorite return venues is Melissa-Amira's Carousel Caravan in Austin.

Ayana's style is heavily influenced by the teachers from whom she has taken classes. She specializes in Egyptian Style Oriental Dance, but has also studied Folkloric dance extensively. She also works with the Bere'Sheet Ballet Company as a guest soloist and choreographer.

Ayana is currently teaching Beginner and Intermediate classes on Sundays and a Master Class on the second Tuesday of each month. She also teaches a series of workshops on music, rhythm and zill technique.

Yvette Colbert is founder and executive director of Divinity Dance Company (DDC) in Houston, TX. Ms. Yvette (as known by her students) started Divinity Dance Company in 2001 after accepting her calling in Christ as a minister through dance. She is a dedicated choreographer, instructor, and trainer who continually seeks to grow in the Lord by staying obedient and committing to her dance students by providing the highest quality of dance education and instruction.

Ms. Yvette has danced professionally throughout Texas as well as all over the country. She has studied with renowned dancers and choreographers such as Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, Al Gilbert, Joe Tremaine, and Fatima to name a few. She has toured with the DC Dance Force from Ft. Worth, Texas as well as Gracey Tune's TAP NOW Productions and Darryl Retter's Dance Academy in Los Angeles. Ms. Yvette has also danced and choreographed for some of the most respected competition groups in the country, such as Tremaine, ShowBiz, L.A. Underground, and Rainbow Connections. She has won numerous 1st places for Best Technique and Choreography in regional and national dance competitions.

During these artistic achievements, Ms. Yvette attended and graduated from Texas A&M University, College Station, with a B.S. in journalism and a minor in business administration. She served as the appointed director of dance for the campus dance team, Fade to Black Dance Ensemble for her junior and senior year. After graduation, she furthered her education at the Art Institute of Houston studying multimedia with an emphasis on graphic design.

Currently, Ms. Yvette is operating the Lil' Inspirations Dance Program, which is DDC's outreach dance program for churches, child-development centers, and after-school programs. Her in-studio classes are home to the DDC Praise Team as well as the Home-School Dance Program, a dance class schedule convenient for home-school students. <\p>

In addition to her in-studio classes, Ms. Yvette is AFAA certified and contracted with 24-Hour Fitness and select HISD locations to instruct the dance segment of their fitness programs.

Ms.Yvette continues to grow as an instructor and a dancer by training with the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center and attending dance workshops and conventions around the country. She is teaching Hip Hop, Jazz & Adult Ballet at Zahirah's.

Silvia is a life-long dancer from Mallorca (Spain). She graduated at the age of nineteen as a major in ballet and has performed professionally as a modern dancer in major Europe festivals with the company of modern dance from the University of Barcelona.

She started her career as a bellydancer 6 years ago, when realizing the enormous benefits that this art-form brings to women in both body and spirit (something that she felt truly missing in other dance practices). From her first teachers, Tasnim Melendres and the acclaimed Nur Banu, two natural born-egyptians, she realized how with the practice of bellydance the woman can get closer to their self identity and discover oneself in a new level, increasing self-esteem, releasing tension.

Since then, Silvia has studied with many acclaimed teachers like Angelika Nemeth, Lulu Sabongi, Jillina…and finally, when moving to the states, she discovered and fell in love with the American Tribal Style Bellydance, and has been expanding in this new art-form!

She has studied with Rachel Brice, Sharon Kihara and Urban Gypsy, and has been a two-time finalist for the Bellydance Supestars Auditions as a Tribal Dancer.

With her personal tribal-fusion bellydance project (Shunyata Bellydance) Silvia has been an acclaimed international performer and performs on a weekly basis in a number of venues in Houston. She has also been invited to teach workshops around Texas).

Enriched by her cultural inheritance, which includes different countries around the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, she draws in her dance the Spanish gypsies' fire, the Greeks' joy, the Tunisian softness, the Moroccan mystery. ..delivering all these ingredients into her classes and passing on to new generations of students the joy of dance.

Shalimar became interested in belly dancing while living in Cairo, attended many shows and began lessons. Upon her return to Houston, she resumed her classes with Zahirah. Other forms of dance training include ballet, jazz, tap, Chinese sword and fan dance, and Taiwanese tribal dance. She is a member of the Houston Area Belly Dance Association (HABDA). She is an original member of the Noore Kavir Troupe. Other interests include Yoga, Tae Bo Kick Boxing, Pilates, and weight training. Shalimar was born in Singapore but has lived most of her life in the U.S. She was Miss Chinatown Texas and represented Texas in the Miss Chinatown USA Pageant in San Francisco several years ago. Besides English she is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Fukienese, and Malay. She is held in high regard as an interpreter for a Feng Shui Master.