Soraia Zaied

Soraia Zaied is a Brazilian dancer who moved to Egypt in 2001 and built one of the most successful Cairo careers achieved by a non-Egyptian performer. Over the following decades she held important contracts at prestigious Cairo hotels including the InterContinental Citystars, Sheraton Dokki and Marriott Zamalek. Her style became strongly Egyptian while retaining subtle elements of her Brazilian and Latin movement background. Unlike foreign dancers who work mainly on the international workshop circuit, Soraia spent years performing directly for Egyptian audiences. She later developed her own educational approach, including what she calls the Modern Egyptian Hip Technique. More than two decades in Cairo have made her an important example of the complex role foreign professionals can occupy within contemporary Egyptian Raqs Sharqi.