We were lucky to catch up with Najla Bade recently and have shared our conversation below.
Najla, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
In order to make a living from my creative work I knew I needed to leave the country in order to get the performance experience I needed. When I was only 17 I started dancing at restaurants and private parties in Bellingham and Seattle, WA. My first instructor, Jennifer McIntyre, was always extremely supportive and encouraged me to pursue my dance career, and helped me to find gigs. Most restaurants had dancing only on the weekends, and in Seattle most rotated their dancers so that each dancer only danced a few times per month. It was a very slow process getting accepted onto the schedules and competing with dancers who had been performing for many years when I had barely reached my 20s, even though I had been studying belly dance for more than 5 years at that point.
I also love to travel, and wanted more experience performing in the cultures when the dance originates from. At 22 I was still afraid to go to the Middle East alone. I had heard of other dancers dancing in Greece and knew that Greek tavernas sometimes had belly dancers. Plus with it’s close proximity to the Middle East, it seemed like a good place to start. I packed my bags with costumes, flew to Greece, and started asking around about work in the Greek islands. I ended up getting hired at a beautiful eastern themed nightclub called the Taj Mahal. I performed 3 shows per night 7 nights per week for the summer. When the summer season ended I moved to Athens and got hired as a regular dancer at a gorgeous Moroccan restaurant, as well as a few Lebanese restaurants. After a short period dancing at a Turkish restaurant in Manchester, UK, I returned to Seattle.
I had gotten the performance experience I needed to compete at restaurants and nightclubs in Seattle, and I also started teaching regularly. I returned to Europe about a year later and spent about 7 months dancing at restaurants in Paris. Again I arrived with nothing more than a list of restaurants I wanted to check out, and within 2 weeks I had a full schedule. While I was in Paris I auditioned for the Belly Dance Superstars, and was selected. Thinking I would be starting rehearsals in Los Angeles soon, I returned to the US. I did ended up attending rehearsals a few months later, but in the end I ended up not joining.
I continued to be based in Seattle, but it was always a struggle to make ends meet with dancing alone. Finally, I ended up auditioning for an agency in Lebanon that books dancers all over the Middle East, and afterwards I ended up spending about 4 years dancing full-time at hotels there. This was a dream come true for me, and my biggest regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. Unfortunately a belly dancer’s career often ends after her 30s there, and I felt I had started a little too late. I wish I had tried harder to get to the Middle East sooner.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a professional belly dancer and Artistic Director of a dance company that offers fully choreographed shows for corporate events, weddings, cultural events, etc. I started belly dancing when I was 15, when I fell in love with it after watching the belly dance students at recitals at the dance studio where I studied jazz and hip hop. I started dancing at restaurants and producing public shows when I was still in high school. I have directed 4 professional dance companies. My company Fleurs d’Egypte placed second at an international competition in Las Vegas, and completed dance contracts in China, Mexico, and Turkey.
In order to create the most authentic Middle Eastern belly dance shows I have studied and performed all over the world including Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, UAE, Jordan, and Morocco. I have organized and performed shows for everything from simple birthday parties to high end gala events. I tailor my shows to meet my clients needs and always provide a world class show with gorgeous costumes, highly skilled dance performances, and authentic music.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I wish I had had more contacts for international agencies. I did not travel to the Middle East until late in my career because I didn’t have the resources to make the right connections. Working with agents and managers who are not reputable there can be extremely dangerous. Once I arrived in the Middle East I connected with other dancers and we shared our connections. I started compiling a list that I could share with other dancers so that it would be easier for them.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is simply to never stop dancing. Dance is my career, my passion, my self-expression, and my work out. As I age the way I engage with it changes. My focus as I have gotten older has been more on directing and choreographing, though I will perform as a soloist for as long as I possibly can. I love interacting with the crowd and bringing joy to celebrations. My specific goal at the moment is finding a permanent venue for my dance company’s new full length production show. It’s a show that evokes the glamours dinner theater shows of Marrakech, with many props and a stunning cast.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.najladance.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najla.dance
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NajlaBellyDancer/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/najla-belly-dance-2a8b6821/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Najlaseattle
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/najla-belly-dance-san-francisco
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/serpentinadancers
https://g.co/kgs/HfDHshV
Image Credits
Danny Zevallos, Gino Zevallos, Lili Alba, Jackie Donnelly