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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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