Zahra Zuhair

Zahra Zuhair has been involved in Oriental dance for nearly five decades and became one of the most influential teachers on the Los Angeles scene. She grew up exposed to Raqs Sharqi and later travelled extensively throughout North Africa and the Middle East to deepen her understanding of the dance. Zahra founded the Ghazella Dance Company and PoNaNa Dance Theatre and became a co-founder of DanceGardenLA. Her students include numerous performers who later developed major professional careers of their own. She is respected for combining detailed technique with musicality, cultural context and a strong emphasis on developing an individual artistic voice. Her long teaching lineage makes her particularly important to the history of how Egyptian and Middle Eastern dance knowledge developed within the American professional community.