When it comes to wedding entertainment, I’ve noticed two hot emerging trends:

1. Bigger is better! Dance ensembles are a hot ticket item right now.
2. Couples are embracing their cultural roots with authentic entertainment.

It comes as no surprise that the zaffa, a traditional Arab wedding entrance, is making a big comeback!

So What is a Zaffa, Anyway?

While every Middle Eastern country puts its own unique spin on the zaffa (more on that later), it is a traditional wedding procession leading the newlyweds and the entire wedding party to the reception hall, usually starting outside the venue or in a hotel lobby. (Warning: You will turn some heads if you do a zaffa in a crowded hotel on I-Drive!) The newlyweds are typically escorted in by a belly dancer, a troupe of male dabke performers, drummers, or any combination of the above. The dancer/s parade the newlyweds through the room while all the guests cheer them on. More often than not, the zaffa typically culminates in everybody joining the newlyweds on the dance floor for several minutes until the procession wraps up and the newlyweds are seated at their sweetheart table. Often, once the newlyweds are seated, I will segue immediately into a full belly dance show (or two) and keep the party moving!

A good zaffa is like a mini-parade, and can even get a little rowdy – especially if you add some drums. I can think of no better way to make sure all eyes are on you for your grand wedding entrance!

Different Styles of Zaffa 

Most Middle Eastern countries have their own special style of wedding entrance. The Zaffa is usually performed dabke-style at Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian and Palestinian weddings, often with male folk dancers and drummers accompanying the belly dancer. Egyptians also love their drums, and occasionally request an old-school zaffa with the belly dancer balancing a lit candelabra on her head to “light the way” for the newlyweds. (This style is a little less common these days, yet I find it elegant, classy, and just dripping with vintage belly dance appeal).

There are countless other variations upon the zaffa, and if you prefer to take creative liberties, the sky’s the limit. (One of my recent grooms was a huge Orlando Magic fan and ran through a banner before the bride made her “Arabized” entrance!) You also don’t have to be Middle Eastern for an Orlando belly dancer like myself to dance you into the room on your wedding day!

Get this Look At Your Wedding!

Are you interested in booking a zaffa for your wedding? I’ve got you covered! Head over to my Booking page for show information, and check out my Weddings page for more inspiration. (Note: I don’t personally contract out zaffa performers, but would be happy to collaborate with the dancers or drummers you’ve personally hired!)

In the mean time, here are two clips from two very different zaffe I’ve performed.

Here is a simple (yet totally authentic) Lebanese-style zaffa with DJ Khalil on drums:

Talk about interesting fusions….here is an old-school Egyptian-style entrance I performed with Orlando belly dancers Vanja and Aisha at a Moroccan-themed Indian wedding:

Carrara Nour Professional Belly Dancer and Friends from Elegant Entertainment Orlando DJ on Vimeo.

The post All About the Zaffa appeared first on Carrara Nour | Award-Winning Belly Dancer in Orlando.

Thanks to my wonderful 2017 couples who reviewed and voted for me, I am a proud winner of the 2018 WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award! The Couples’ Choice Awards recognize the Top 5 Percent of wedding professionals nationwide for quality, professionalism and customer service. I was also the only professional wedding entertainer or belly dancer in Orlando to receive this amazing award! While it’s become a bit of a cliche to market yourself as an award-winning belly dancer, customer service awards are not something I take for granted! As my couples know, I work my sparkly tail off for your enjoyment and truly appreciate every bride and groom who trusts me to be part of their once-in-a-lifetime celebration.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all my couples who have believed in me and shared the love in your own special ways, whether it’s a referral, a glowing online review, a repeat booking, or putting me in the running for an awesome customer service award like this. And thank you to WeddingWire for recognizing me yet another year! Let’s make 2018 another amazing year!

Carrara

PS – Want to join my family of 2018 couples? I’d love to get to know you some more! Head over to my Weddings page to get started and Contact Me today to set up your complimentary consultation!

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While my former website served me well since 2009 and got me LOTS of gigs, I believe this one more more closely represents the artist I’ve become today – and finally does a justice to my huge collection of pics from photo shoots and wedding gigs!  And since I designed this myself, I will also handle all my own updates – which hopefully means you’ll hear from me much more often!

A few new features include:

• The ability to pay deposits online through my Contact page. (Wahooooo! This is huge!)
• A Recent Events Portfolio with professional pictures from featured gigs
• Separate galleries for live performance pics, studio shoots, and video (which means more pretty visual content to look at!)
• A Testimonials page to make it easier to read my rave reviews
• More social media integration for your social stalking pleasure
• 60% less B.S. (Kidding!)

I will be tweaking and adding content as we go along, so keep coming back for more, and feel free to message me with relevant feedback.

I really hope you enjoy my new website, and sincerely hope it connects me with even more wonderful clients like you in 2018!

Cheers!

Carrara

PS – Extra-special thanks to my buddy Brett for guiding me through the more painful, soul-sucking developer-side aspects of this project while I did the content, design and SEO. Brett, you are a life saver (and I am merely a Milk Dud).

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Like many of my couples, Marianne and Patrick are Egyptian, and found me through their extended network of friends. Before the Big Day, Marianne and I worked very closely to pick favorite songs, with most of their music being classical Egyptian standards like Alf Leila wa Leila and Luxor Baladna. The show consisted mostly of audience participation and group dancing, with a cane dance and an entrance with LED Isis wings. The dance floor was so packed, it was difficult to move, and in true Egyptian wedding style, the group was a big family reunion with guests from several other weddings I’ve danced at, and even one of my previous brides – hi, Jess!

Here are some of my favorite pics from the wedding. Aren’t Marianne and Patrick just the most gorgeous couple? And isn’t the Crystal Ballroom in MetroWest absolutely to die for? A special thank you to Anna So for sharing all these amazing images with me. And thank you and mabrouk (congratulations) to the newlyweds for making me part of your perfect wedding!

Interested in doing something similar for your Orlando wedding? Check out my Weddings page to get started, and give me a call. I’d love to hear from you!

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As a belly dancer in Orlando, the Holidays mark the beginning of my busy season. Not only do I dance at lots of winter weddings, but Christmas and Holiday parties are some of my most popular bookings!

While many people associate the Holidays with traditional Yuletide entertainment like carolers, Santas for the kids, and live music, lots of party hosts and hostesses want to do something different.

Belly dance to the rescue!

Why Belly Dance?

When you think about it, belly dance is the perfect form of Holiday entertainment. It’s upbeat. It’s family-friendly. And you’d be hard-pressed to find anything more festive, with the glitter, the jingling finger cymbals, and shimmering silks and wings. Still not Christmas-y enough? The beauty of belly dance is that the music can be as traditional or non-traditional as you’d like. (I have been known to shimmy it up to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”)

Belly dance can also be a fun way to tie in with a Christmas Around the World party theme, or entertain a culturally diverse group of guests. Many of my “usual” Christmas party clients are Indian, Moroccan, or Middle Eastern doctors and business owners who want to treat their friends, family and staff to a fun cultural experience while they celebrate the season.

Hire a Belly Dancer in Orlando for Your Christmas Party

Leave the White Elephant Gift Swap and the Ugly Christmas Sweater parties to your friends. Your guests will thank you! To learn more about my prices and packages, check out my Booking page for all the details. And check out my photos below for some Christmas show inspiration!

The post The Holidays Are Here! Hire an Orlando Belly Dancer for Your Party appeared first on Carrara Nour | Award-Winning Belly Dancer in Orlando.

Monica’s party was held at the exquisite Crystal Ballroom at Sunset Harbor in Daytona Beach, and like the other Crystal Ballroom locations, the space was beyond glamorous, and this one had a stunning ocean view. There wasn’t a single piece of decor that wasn’t covered in sequins or crystals, and turquoise blue uplighting created a cool, elegant mood.

In keeping with the tradition of my Egyptian “family” of clients, I kept my show quick-paced and highly interactive, with minimal props and “filler,” and plenty of opportunities for guests to shake a tail feather with me on the dance floor. One guest even pulled out his drum and began jamming along with my show! The performance was a hit, not only with Monica’s family, but her friends from school who had never seen anything like my show before.

I had such a wonderful time celebrating this beautiful young woman’s special day. And what a treat to get so these fabulous pics back from Photography by Jerry and Denise!

Monica Sweet 16

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In case you don’t already know, I am a huge supporter of marriage rights for everyone. And two cool things happened the day same-sex marriage was legalized across America: 1. All of social media turned into a shiny, beautiful rainbow, and 2. I was so very excited to welcome even more wonderful engaged couples into my client family, with open arms.

It wasn’t long after hearing the good news that Ashley and Jennifer reached out to me for their October wedding at the Omni Championsgate Resort. The brides chose a romantic and eclectic vintage travel theme for their wedding to celebrate their love of exotic places and different cultures. The table decor consisted of adorable antique luggage, and old maps and globes, along with colorful purple, white and coral floral arrangements. And of course, they chose a belly dancer for their entertainment, both for the reception and the cocktail hour – a smart move, because the brides wanted a nonstop party atmosphere and they got it!

Ashley and Jennifer’s guests danced and partied from the cocktail hour through my show during the reception, and into the wee hours of the night. There were so many fun and funny moments during the show, from Ashley dancing the Robot to my Lebanese pop music, to her 13-year-old son surprising me with a money shower when I pulled the brides up to dance.

Check out these beautiful photos from Live Happy Studio!

Vendors:

Venue: Omni Championsgate Resort
Planner: Blush by Brandee Gaar
DJ: Our DJ Rocks

[WRG id=3106]

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They did the Cupid Shuffle and The Twist, and they boogied down to Bollywood.

Nothing brings two families together quite like music and dance! And as a wedding belly dancer in Orlando, my favorite weddings are the ones that are a crazy mix of different cultures – like my sweet May couple, Katie and David.

Katie contacted me at the suggestion of her DJ (White Rose Entertainment) around the holidays last year. When you’re about to marry your best friend, who is a very handsome Indian man, you’ve got to bring a bit of Bollywood flair to your special day! Katie and David decided that a belly dance show would be the perfect way to break the ice between their two families. While belly dance itself is not Indian by origin (fun fact!), it has influenced countless Bollywood choreographies, and Indian families like David’s love to see belly dancers at their weddings, birthday parties and other celebrations. As for Katie’s family? They’d never seen something so exotic and fun at a wedding before, and were in for a treat!

In the months leading up to their Lake Mary wedding, Katie and I worked together to create an “Indo-fusion” playlist that was pretty epic, if I do say so myself! We spiced up the Arabic standards with sexy Bollywood “item” songs, and ended with the Pussycat Dolls’ version of “Jai Ho,” which got Katie’s bridal party on their feet and shaking it like Aishwarya and Katrina in no time. The room was gorgeous; filled with lush flowers, and shades of gold and plum, which have been so fashionable for Orlando weddings this year.

Check out these gorgeous pics from Mike Briggs Photography!

Katie + David

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You pull off to the nearest exit to grab some late-night grub and bask in the millions of reasons why you love your job. (But first? Let me take a selfie).

Belly dance also has its less-than-sunshine-and-unicorns moments.

Those weeks where you strike out left and right, and every conceivable thing goes wrong. Lost a gig to the lowest bidder? Check. DJ swapped out your sword dance for the Macarena just to see if you were on your toes? Check. Corporate gig fell through because somebody complained to HR that belly dance might be inappropriate? Check.

For every moment that you’re #KillingIt, there are moments of doubt.
And for every moment that I #LoveMyJob, there are other times when it feels like a job….complete with contracts and obligations and un-sexy administrative work.

Those moments don’t last forever.

No matter what drives you crazy, and no matter how great the odds, there’s always a reason to keep going, to keep creating, and keep being YOU. We’re all fighting for something, at the end of the day…

I’m fighting to do what I love, and to be who I want to be

….to make the most of this life by bringing joy to amazing people, on the best days of their lives

….to create a happier, and more beautiful world

….to bring different and disparate cultural groups together

….to break the stereotypes of what well-behaved women do

…to raise the bar for other entertainers to follow, personally and professionally

…to come to my “big kid job” every Monday with crazy-cool gig stories to tell my friends

…to stick it to the haters

…to leave my legacy in the world

….to do it again and again and again…

The post What Are You Fighting For? appeared first on Carrara Nour | Award-Winning Belly Dancer in Orlando.

There were some bumps in the road. There were many sleepless nights, and there was definitely a meltdown or two!

And there were also new friends, new dance opportunities, and new adventures in the days ahead.

She still misses good pizza and bagels, her trips to NY for belly dance workshops, and beautiful fall foliage. She misses her family each and every single day – Mom, Dad, sister, and golden retriever. She does NOT miss the snow!

She grew up a lot in 5 years and is still a work in progress. But life as a belly dancer here in Orlando is pretty sweet!

I hope you enjoy these cool photos from my recent shoot with Lee Hodge! Lee is a friend of mine through my photographer boyfriend Stacy. We finally got around to shooting a couple of weeks ago around lovely Lake Eola! Every time I hit downtown Orlando, I feel totally energized by the developing arts and culture. And happy to call Central Florida my home.

Check out more of Lee’s amazing work on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/Lions-Heart-Photo-273117966108052/timeline/

Lee Hodge Shoot

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