Naima began studying belly dance at the Sirrom School of Belly Dance in
1996 while living in Houston, Texas At the time, Naima was a second year medical
student and was looking for a creative outlet.Naima later joined the troupe Farah Ashira, formed by Cynthia Cupach. Farah
Ashira, was an eclectic mix of dancers from different genres including, salsa,
merengue, Celtic, West African and modern dance.The troupe performed for private parties,
benefit functions, and educational programs in Houston, San Antonio and
Baytown, Texas. Farah Ashira performed during the Splendors of Ancient Egypt
exhibit at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts in 1997.
In 1998, Naima relocated to Baltimore, Maryland to perform her internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins
Hospital. The residency was quite demanding, but Naima still found time to continue
her study of belly dance with Cinnamon of Columbia, Maryland and Piper,
daughter of Rhea of Greece.
Moving back to Texas in 2001 brought new life to Naima's dance.
Texas is fortunate to be home to some of the most talented teachers and performers
in the country. There is a thriving belly dance community in Houston, Austin and more
recently in Dallas. Naima has had the opportunity to study with of some of the best
international performers through seminars including, Zahra Zuhair, Beata and Horacio Cifuentes,
Jillina, Morocco and Tarik Sultan, Yasmina Ramzy, Aida Nour, Magdy El Leisy, Farida Fahmy,
Jihan Jamal, Virginia, Aziza (of Portland), Ansuya, Tamalyn Dallal, Raqia Hassan, Jasmin Jahal,
Dr. Mo Geddawi, Faten Salama, Leila Haddad, Nagwa Fouad and Lucy.
Naima has grown tremendously in this art form through intensive study with
Beata and Horacio Cifuentes of Germany and Nourhan and Yousry Sharif of New York (Egypt).
Recently, Naima trained with Keti Sharif and recieved certification to teach the
Keti Sharif A-Z Belly dance Routines.
Naima has extensive performance experience and is regularly invited to dance at
local seminars in the Dallas/Forth Worth area sponsored by Little Egypt, Tambra,
Miabella and Isis. She has performed numerous times at
Bobbye Dee’s La Danse Oriental Extravaganzas and Dessert Passion Theater shows in Austin.
Naima was also a featured dancer at Hedary’s Lebanese Oven, Dallas, Texas until its closing in 2005.
She is most proud of being the opening dancer at the 7th Annual Egyptian Academy of Dance Gala Show (Nourhan and Yousry Sharif).
For the past two years she has performed in Germany during the Beata and Horacio Cifuentes Intensive studio show.
