Workshops and Show with Najla!

About Najla

Najla is a professional dance artist with experience spanning 17 countries and over two decades. A captivating and elegant performer, she recently spent over four years in various parts of the Middle East on extended contracts at five-star hotels. She is the Artistic Director of Hawaii's Island Spice Dance Co. and the former Artistic Director of Seattle's award-winning Fleurs d'Egypte Dance Co.

Najla's dance training began in her early childhood in Washington state with courses in ballet, tap, and hip-hop. In her early teens she transitioned to belly dance courses and at the age of sixteen began producing dance productions at local theaters. By the age of eighteen she was performing regularly at local restaurants and events. In her early 20s she moved to Europe and worked as a full-time belly dancer at upscale nightclubs and restaurants in Greece, France, and England. She traveled to Egypt for intensive private instruction with world-renowned master instructor Raqia Hassan. She then moved to Paris and was selected at the Paris auditions to join the world famous dance company Belly Dance Superstars.

Instead, she returned to Seattle to create Fleurs d'Egypte Dance Company. The company placed 2nd at the 2007 IBDC competition in Las Vegas, and completed international dance contracts in China, Turkey, and Mexico. To extend the repertoire of the company she continued her dance training with ongoing courses in Hula, Bollywood, and Samba. In 2013 she traveled to Lebanon to perform and to study with dance coach to the modern stars of Middle East, Eyad Maleab.

As a soloist Najla has completed performance contracts at numerous five star hotels in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Dead Sea Jordan, US Virgin Islands, and India. After spending three years in the Middle East, Najla moved to the Big Island of Hawaii and founded Island Spice Dance Company.