Meet the Alliance Ambassadors

Our Alliance Ambassadors are trusted dancers who work with World Belly Dance Alliance to promote our message of good will and unity among the dance community. They are successful, talented lovers of dance who not only manage their own projects, but also work with other studios and other dancers.

We support one another in our artistic endeavors while promoting the same message of self love, sisterhood, and freedom to create without limits within our work. We are honored to have these dancers as part of the World Belly Dance Alliance. Together, we will unite the dance community one shimmy at a time!

Daania - daania@worldbellydancealliance.com
Daania is truly a dance enthusiast. She loves all forms of dance, but has a special passion for belly dance. Belly dancing not only allowed her to lose over 20 pounds, but it also allowed her to explore her more feminine and sensual side. For Daania, dance represents the freedom of expression and musical interpretation through physical movement.  She started belly dancing in 2008 as an alternative to working out in the gym.

Belly dancing quickly turned into a serious hobby as she fell in love with this rare and beautiful art form. She was quickly invited to join a local dance troupe and performed in local charity events around the city of Atlanta. Shortly after joining the troupe, Daania was invited to train as a belly dance instructor. She taught both belly dance workout courses and choreography courses. During the course of her career she also went on numerous belly grams and teaching grams, sharing her love of dance with many women and fellow dance enthusiast in the Atlanta area.

Daania is currently furthering her education in dance by exploring other forms of dance including hip hop, ballet, salsa, samba and other styles of belly dance including ATS (American Tribal Style Belly Dance), Cabaret, and Fusion in order to create her own unique blend and style of dance.

back to top

Daneen - daneen@worldbellydancealliance.com
Daneen’s love affair with belly dance started in 2007 at the Nazeem Allayl Atlanta Belly Dance Studio in Decatur, GA. Initially attracted by the genre’s emerging popularity in mainstream culture, she had no idea this dance would infiltrate her being to its core.

In addition to finding a hobby, Daneen embarked upon a new way of life. She joined the Nazeem Alsabah amateur dance troupe in 2008. During her two years with the troupe, she studied traditional cabaret and fusion styles and also served as an instructor and choreographer.
Recently relocated to Los Angeles, CA, she is furthering her study of this enchanted art form. Her interests range from traditional cabaret to fusion styles that combine ballet, jazz and hip hop.

Daneen is honored to be a World Belly Dance Alliance Ambassador and is eager to share in the mission to “unite the dance community one shimmy at a time!”

back to top

Nadira - nadira@worldbellydancealliance.com
Shannon Gooden a.k.a. Nadira was born and raised in Miami, FL.  She has always had a passion for dance and has studied ballet, jazz, and modern styles throughout her childhood and teens.  In 2004, while attending the University of Florida, she had her first encounter with Middle Eastern dance at a community show and immediately fell in love.  She studied under Zarifa Sa’id in Gainesville for two years as a member of the Sultan’s Stars before moving to Atlanta.  Once in Atlanta, she studied belly dance at Nazeem Allayl Atlanta Belly Dance studios and became a member of the professional troupe, Nazeem Almassah.

Nadira has taken classes and workshops with some of the biggest names in belly dance including Morocco, Hadia, Virginia of Miami and Ansuya of the Belly Dance Superstars.  She has also studied the more avant-garde styles of Tribal Fusion, Gothic Fusion & Belly-Burlesque through workshops with Zoe Jakes & Moria Chapelle of the Belly Dance Superstars, Ariella, and The Indigo (Zoe Jakes, Mardi Love & Rachel Brice).  Now living in Tallahassee, FL since 2009, Nadira dances and teaches locally at the Women’s Belly Dance Center and is an active member of the Dendera Dance Company.  She also teaches a workout-style belly dance class three times a week at Art of the Catwalk, a women’s fitness studio. 

Nadira is honored and overjoyed to be a part of the World Belly Dance Alliance.  She is excited to share her enthusiasm and love for dance as an ambassador to the North Florida area and the Southeastern United States!

back to top

Nawar - nawar@worldbellydancealliance.com
Since she was a little girl, Nawar has always been a performer. Music and dance are no stranger to her Caribbean heritage; a Miami native born to Haitian parents. As any little girl would, Nawar began entertaining audiences through ballet, tap and jazz recitals. She studied salsa at the Angel Arroyo Studio of Dance in North Miami Beach Florida, performed on her university's hip-hop/jazz dance team and danced professionally for the Louines Louinis Haitian Dance Theater.

Upon her move to Atlanta, GA in 2006, Nawar began her formal belly dance training under the direction of Schadia and Shenez of the Atlanta Belly Dance studios and was invited to join the Nazeem Alsabah Performance Troupe. Nawar furthered her education under Samora and currently studies with internationally-acclaimed Middle Eastern dancer, Virginia, in South Florida.

Nawar is trained in Egyptian, Lebanese and American Fantasy styles of belly dance. She also performs unique fusion pieces that entail elements of  Caribbean, Latin, African and other styles of movement and music. Audiences have fallen for Nawar's dynamic performances as she was awarded first prize in variety-style competitions in May 2009 and October 2009 in Atlanta, GA. Prior to her move from Atlanta back to her hometown of Miami, FL, Nawar taught classes at A Time to Dance, Vertical Fit Club and Gotta Dance Atlanta. 

A devoted and lifelong student of belly dance, Nawar continues to study belly and Middle Eastern dance with some of the top names in the industry through various workshops and is thrilled to share WBDA's mission with lovers of belly dance in South Florida.

www.nawarbellydances.com

back to top