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Raja started learning Middle Eastern dance at the age of thirteen. She
began in Philadelphia, PA with Lebanese instructor Marcella Nassur. Marcella
Nassur's husband, Nageeb Nassur, was the head musician at a lavish
Middle East Restaurant that is no longer around, as are many of the hot Middle Eastern night hot spots.
Raja got her first performance experience with Marcella's
troupe " The Arabian Nights". The Arabian Nights performed
various dances from different regions of the Middle East at cultural
events and shows. They even performed at the prestigious University of
Pennsylvania Museum. Raja went on to become a professional belly dance soloist at age 18, with a solid background of ballet and jazz dance training as well as Middle Eastern dance training by international bellydance teacher Aylin. She is proficient in the sword and cane dances, along with the use of “The Wings of Isis”. She worked in several Arabic restaurants in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey while she attended college. She also performed in countless Arabic weddings, private events and "bellygrams". Upon completion of her Master's degree from college, she then migrated to the North Jersey area. She now regularly works at The Marrakesh Restaurant in Parsippany, NJ. She still does weddings and private events In 2004,Raja performed at the Heaven and Earth Hotel on Lake Toya and also at the Sapporo Gardens, in the city of Sapporo- both in Haikkado, Japan. Raja has also had several modeling jobs in the course of her years performing, which have including being a hair model for Warren Tricony salon, a Page 6 Model for the Trentonian, and featured in a bellydancer calendar designed by bellydancer/photographer Sarah Skinner, along with being on Maxim photographer Mike Brochu's myspace page (see links for Mike Brochu). Raja had another photo shoot with Sarah Skinner, in which Raja will be one of ten belly dancers featured in a new book "Belly Dancing Basics " written by Laura Cooper.
Raja is my favorite model. Out of all the dancers that I have
photographed over the years Raja was my first pick to work with on this
project. Raja
transforms into pure womanly beauty in front of the lens. The art director
of the project loved her shoot so much that she put a total of 6 photos of
Raja on the cover (front and back) of the American version of the book
and 14 photos of her on the international cover. I plan to continue to
use Raja as my muse for some time to come. |
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