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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. 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 "belly grams". 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 and Al Kasbah restaurant in Budd Lake, 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 minor 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 recently, featured in a bellydancer calendar designed by bellydancer/photographer/website designer Sarah Skinner, along with other items. Raja has now just completed another photo shoot with Sarah Skinner, in which Raja will be one of ten belly dancers featured in a new book "How to Bellydance" 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 love her shoot so much 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. Sarah Skinner |
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| Raja featured on the cover and throughout a how to bellydance
book!
Belly Dancing Basics |
See Raja perform with 3 other Top Ranked NYC Bellydancers and 4 Master
Drummers!
Bellydance Drum Solos- a shakeemup production. Get the DVD and companion CD now!! |
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