سامَرّاء

Bio & Contact Info

Samarra is a Boston-based Oriental dancer and performs at clubs, restaurants, festivals and private parties. Performance styles include Egyptian, American Cabaret and Oriental-Jazz Fusion. Samarra draws inspiration from legendary the Egyptian stars, mainly Nagwa Fouad and Nadia Gamal. She has studied extensively with Egyptian master teachers such as Mahmoud Reda, Nagwa Fouad, Mo Geddawi, Faten Salama, Yousry Sharif, Beba, Lubna Emam, Morocco and Tito. She also studies jazz and ballet and teaches the Introduction to Belly Dance workshops at Cambridge Center for Adult Education.

Always looking for new outlets for belly dancing, Samarra regularly performs with the Grammy-nominated rock band, Axmunkee, and with a circus group, Emperor Norton's Stationery Marching Band. Samarra also produces Oriental Fusion shows at the All Asia Cafe in Cambridge, several times a year. She travels extensively and has performed in such cities as Divisadero, Mexico; Panama City, Panama; Old San Juan, Puerto Rico; Dallas, Texas; and New York City.

Along with zils and veil, other props include cane (raks al-assaya), sword, fans, votive candles, candelabra (raks al-shamadan) and Wings of Isis.

Besides dancing, her other passion is costume design. Samarra makes nearly all of her own costumes, and has made costumes for other dancers, as well as for community theatre productions. Samarra has been interested in costumes (and an attraction to in belly dancing) since childhood and often dressed up at Jeannie from “I Dream of Jeannie”  (still her favorite TV show) using all of her mother’s chiffon scarves as a skirt. She also had her mother make a tiny fez out of cardboard to pull her long ponytail through. Samarra went on to study fashion design at Chamberlayne Jr. College/Mt. Ida College and has been influenced by Hollywood films (early 20th C to the 1960’s) and the East from the start. She sometimes uses vintage fabric, trim and beads on her costumes, and also finds lots of items in her travels all over the world.

This page last updated on: March 20, 2009