Autobiographical Information

 Jamila Zahran has been involved in Middle Eastern dance since the late 1970s. She has studied             with numerous nationally and internationally known instructors such as Mahmoud Reda, Lala Hakim, Nadia Hamdi, Cassandra, Dahlena, Elena Lentini, Morocco, Suhaila Salimpour, Susanne del Vecchio, Amel Tafsout and Ibrahim Farrah and many other gracious, talented dancers  from across the United States. She will forever be in their debt for the generous sharing of their talents. She has developed from their input her own distinctive style combining the preciseness of Egyptian

style hips with lyrical presentation and  emotional depth of expression.  She was dedicated to presenting Middle Eastern dance as the true art form it is. To attain this goal, Jamila held weekly classes, presented  performances and workshops, and also delivered “informances” at educational institutions and cultural events in the South and Midwest US, as a soloist as well as along with her company, Rakesaat al Nejoum. She has her Master’s degree in Biology with primary emphasis in Anatomy and Physiology, which she uses to her advantage in understanding and teaching body dynamics.

Jamila began her study of Spanish dance in the late 1970s drawn by its historical and artistic ties to her primary form, Middle Eastern dance. Beginning her study with the director of Ballet Español, Mara Maldonado, she performed under the stage name Sandra de Estrella, as a member of that company from its inception in the early 1980s until 2001.  She also studied, through workshops given by Ballet Español, and independently, with masters in the field of flamenco such as Maria Benitez, Maria Alba, Jose Molina, Victorio Khorijian, Vida Peral, and Dame Libby             Kamaiko Fleming. As a member of the company, she has performed at a wide variety of venues from the theatrical stage to underserved-community outreach programs. Although versed in Spanish classical and regional, her primary form was flamenco with a particular interest in Arabic/Spanish fusion - danza mora, zambra and avant-garde forms.

Jamila has also taken classes and workshops in Near and Central Asian Dance from Laurel Victoria Gray and her world acclaimed mentor, Qizlarhon Dusmuhamedova. In this genre, she has performed       Persian and Uzbek dances.  She has also taken classes with Artemis Mourat, Dalia Carella and Eva       Cernik to  increase  her knowledge of Turkish and Roma styles.

 Rakesaat al Nejoum Ethnic Dance Troupe, directed by Jamila Zahran, and founded in 1985, was based in Louisville, KY, and Evansville, IN.  Their common goal was to increase public awareness of Middle Eastern dance as an art form and in attaining that goal performed to enthusiastic audiences at numerous civic, multicultural and arts events in the South and Midwest US.  Although their repertoire  included a wide variety of dance styles, their specialty was in women's dances of North Africa and the Middle East. The troupe is currently no longer performing although several of its former dancers (to my great pride) are continuing in their individual dance careers.

 Jamila is semi-retired but still involved in the dance through social media sites, research and           attendance at dance  performances. After having overcome some physical roadblocks, she hopes now    to begin taking classes and workshops again in her beloved Near and Middle Eastern, North African and flamenco styles and to do limited teaching and performing in those styles in the near future.