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AWARDS:
2007 First Place Winner - Troupe
Stars -
Yaa Halla Y'all People's
Choice Award
2007 First Place Winner -
The Heart of
Texas Belly Dance Contest
2003 Belly Dancer of the Year
2003 Duet Belly Dancer USA
2005 1st Runner Up Belly Dancer of the Universe -
Fusion
2004 1st Runner Up Belly Dancer of the Universe -
Universal
2004 1st Runner Up Belly Dancer of the Universe - Egyptian
2004 1st Runner Up MEDINA
2005 2nd Runner Up Belly Dancer of the Universe - Egyptian
2003 2nd Runner Up
MEDINA
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BIOGRAPHY:
SA'DIYYA
- ARABIC MEANING "GOOD FORTUNE" Middle
Eastern Dance:
Egyptian Raqs Sharqi
American Cabaret
Ethnic Fusion
Folkloric
Sa’diyya (Elizabeth Parr) is the owner of North Texas School of World
Dance - The Art of Belly Dance by Sa'diyya in Frisco, Texas, which is
located just north of Dallas. Having opened for business in September of 2005,
the North Texas School of World
Dance features intense, informational and very exciting classes for
beginners through professionals! Currently, the North Texas School of
World Dance caters to over 100 students (and growing) of Middle Eastern
Dance! Plans to expand in the near future are underway!!! Sa'diyya
is on a hiatus from school at the moment, due to her fast growing business!
She is working on her Bachelor of Fine Arts, planning to graduate within
the next few years. She will be receiving a degree in art with emphasis on
painting, drawing and black and white photography. Below is one of her
dance-inspired photographs. .jpg)
The
Beginning... Sa'diyya,
began her studies in Middle Eastern Dance (aka Raqs Sharqi, Oriental
Dance and Belly Dance) in the Fall of 1996 under the instruction of Isis
(Ya Halla Y'all, "The Chronicles... A Belly Dancer's Oasis")
in Bedford, Texas. As her interest and talent grew in this
beautiful art form, Sa'diyya began to perform extensively at private and
public events, both locally and nationally, such as nursing homes,
renaissance festivals, special dance concerts, seminar shows,
fundraisers, numerous restaurants and private parties. Her
teaching career took off in 2000 with her first class, Ethnic Fusion, a
spin-off and combination of American Tribal Style and authentic
folkloric Middle Eastern Dances. Soon after, she started to teach
her own energetic, innovative, sassy, yet warm style of the classical
Egyptian belly dance, Raqs Sharqi, all along continuing to be a
perpetual student studying with the top Middle Eastern Dance artists
in the world! She has studied
with American and Middle Eastern Dance stars alike (see Resume).
[Back To Top] Achievements... Soon,
her hard work paid off, as she took home the title, "Belly Dancer
of the Year" in 2003, her first national belly dance
competition! Continuing to win and place in several national
competitions, Sa'diyya aspired to be the Assistant Artistic Director of the
Wings of Isis, a professional, award-winning dance company directed by
Isis, which she had been a member of since the first Wings of Isis
auditions in 2001. In the meantime, Sa'diyya's obsession with
constantly creating new choreographies turned into a job when she was
hired to create several original and creative belly dance and folkloric
choreographies for the Performing Companies at the Isis Studios in North
Texas. Over the
past several years, Sa'diyya
has also judged for many competitions, including the Belly Dancer of the
Year Pageant in California. Sa'diyya
has recently founded a new dance troupe, "Sa'diyya and the Danza della
Luna Performance Company". The company has only been in existence
since March 2007, but has already received acclaims in the belly dance
community! In August 2007, the company took first place at the Yaa
Halla Y'all People's Choice Awards! Sa'diyya
has performed with some well-known Middle Eastern musicians
such as
Pangia from Northern California, Aboudi Badawi from Boston (Lebanon) and
Fadi Sultan from Los Angeles (Lebanon). Besides
being technically proficient with her amazing shimmies and fluid control,
some
of Sa'diyya's other dance specialties are cane (raqs el assaya)
- which she has studied extensively, incorporating authentic folkloric movements
into her creative cane choreographies, double cane - a novel dance with
folkloric roots, candelabrum (shamadan) - the balancing act of 9 flaming
candles on her head, sword - another slightly dangerous balancing act, veil
- one of the most feminine types of belly dance, especially beautiful with
Sa'diyya's seamless timing, wings - one of Sa'diyya's specialties
because she invents totally unique movements to use with this majestic prop, fire
tray - another flaming balancing act and finger cymbals -
showcasing Sa'diyya's great ear for music! 
Sa'diyya's
talents go beyond dance performance and instruction into costume design
and creation, as well as writing for some top Middle Eastern Dance
publications such as "The Chronicles...A Dancer's Oasis" (see
Articles). Sa’diyya
can be seen in several invitational performances of the International Academy
of Middle Eastern Dance’s recent video/DVD productions, “Belly Dance
Revolution” and "Belly Dance-O-Rama 2." She is
also a featured performer in Bahaia's productions of, "Cairo Heat"
and "Sahara City", star-studded collections of Middle Eastern Dance performances!
Sa'diyya is also a featured performer on, "By Dancer for
Dancers Vol. 2"! [Back To
Top] 
Presentation... Sa'diyya
prides herself on her entertaining, family-friendly, tasteful, cultural and artistic
presentations of Middle Eastern Dance. She believes that each performer
of Middle Eastern Dance is responsible to keep the integrity of this ancient,
feminine art form. Although belly dance is a personal expression from each
dancer, and will often be performed on a wide spectrum of skill levels, artistry
and intent, it should always define self-respect and the empowerment of women
instead of the degradation of women and the degradation of this dance. Not
only do audience members sometimes contribute to this, but sometimes, dancers do as
well. Self-respect and the empowerment of women in relation to Middle
Eastern Dance (when representing a specific Middle Eastern culture - Sa'diyya
does acknowledge and respect that there are times and places for
expressionistic, interpretive and fusion-esque dance pieces that use Middle
Eastern dance movements as a means of artistic communication) include professionalism, sensuality - not overt sexuality,
artistry, freedom of creation, mental and physical strength, knowledge of other
world cultures, including their music, language, dress, politics and of course,
their dances. Sa'diyya will always perform and instruct in line with these
values.
[Back To Top] Beyond
Belly Dance... For
Sa'diyya and practically every woman who gets involved in it, belly dance is a "bonding-ground" to connect with women locally, nationally
and internationally. The further one gets into learning about other parts
of the world, one can't help but see all of the wonderful aspects of other
cultures. Sometimes in the midst of these wonderful cultures, some bad
things happen (in every single culture, including our own). If you want to
connect to and help other women around the world, please visit the following
websites: 
SIGN THE PETITION
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Aspirations... Sa'diyya
is creating her own unique style, while keeping in touch with the
authentic roots of belly dance. She has taught workshops
and seminars over various dance styles and dance-related subjects
locally and nationally (see Instruction), and aspires to
continue in that direction. Along with belly dance, Sa'diyya plans
to study and incorporate other world dances into her performances, such
as West African, Flamenco, East Indian and Persian.
Now running her own studio, Sa'diyya sees a lifetime of belly dance
performance and instruction ahead of her!
[Back To Top] 
Photo Courtesy of Chris
Brown
© 2005 Sa'diyya All Rights Reserved
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