Raks Star - Raks Star * Zizi Zabaneh

Zizi Zabaneh
Raks Star
by: Zaina Hart and Zizi Zabaneh

I am pleased to introduce you to Zizi Zabaneh of Miami, Florida our newest Raks Star.  I was fortunate to meet Zizi when I taught at the Festival on the Nile a few years ago and I from that moment I fell in absolute adore with this young woman.  I was equally fortunate to have had the opportunity to see her teach in October this year at Kamileh’s Breast Cancer Fundraiser, and I am happy to say she is as talented a teacher as she is a performer.  She teaches with enthusiasm, skill and grace while maintaining control of the class and I look forward to someday bringing her to the West Coast.  Her performances sizzle, her smile lights up the room, and that loving heart shines through those beautiful eyes.  

(Right) Zizi and Arish Lam
Kamileh's 2008 Breast Cancer Fundraiser
Photo by Bradley Marshall

She taught this year with Arish Lam (who you will see here soon as well) – the two choreographing a routine in a matter of a few short hours that they performed at both the Friday Night Hafla and the Saturday Fundraiser Gala show.  Their choreography, a mixture of Salsa and Belly Dance was precise and playful, bringing raves from the audience with their performances the highlight of both the evenings.  

Zizi has been able to combine the serious and soulful side of Salsa with the playful and elegant style of oriental dance to develop her own unique dance persona. She continues her study with the masters of her chosen dance forms to bring her a repertoire of movement that is both exciting and unique.  


Zaina as photographed by Zizi
At the Coral Castle in Miami

Zizi is an equally talented photographer who I was lucky to have had a private photo shoot with while in Miami.  Being a dancer, her understanding of a dancer’s movement as well as her ability to anticipate what the dancer might do or where he/she may go next always seems to guarantee an awe inspiring shot.  She provided me some of the best photos of my career and I would suggest that anyone who might be travellin to the Miami area, contact her for a session – you will be delighted that you did.

So – here, for your reading and viewing pleasure I give you ZIZI ZABANEH, IN HER OWN WORDS.


I am a native of Columbia, raised in Miami, Florida.  In her own words:  As a young "Latina" I was very shy and had low self-esteem.  One day I decided, along with my two older cousins, to enroll in Salsa classes at the local community college.  I was tired of sitting at parties and not being able to dance like the rest of my friends and family.  I can still remember the first day of class.  I was immediately hooked on Salsa music and remember going home and practicing all the steps I had learned.  I started to listen to only Latin music and pretty soon all I could think of was my dance classes.  I began to notice a change within me; I was happier and wasn't afraid to go to events by myself.  At the end of level one the instructors threw a party at a dance studio with all the levels; this was a way of having the beginning students see what they could learn if they continued taking lessons.  I decided to continue classes by myself even though my cousins had dropped out.  I remember feeling uncomfortable at first but when I started getting asked to dance and my instructors noticed I was able to keep up with the advanced students it seemed my life as a dancer had begun.


I continued my dance classes and pretty soon I was asked to join the group as a performer “and” instructor.  I performed for “Salsations Dance Productions” and soon became principle dancer.  The only thing that was keeping me from becoming a better dancer was my posture so my instructor at the time gave me two choices; I had to pick between taking Ballet or Flamenco.  All I could think of is how bad I would look in a tutu (I was in my early teens) and so I was by chioice introduced to Flamenco.  Flamenco was a totally different ball game.  I had to learn how to coordinate so many different parts of my body to do different things all at the same time and to be able to do all that in all different types of rhythm.    All this was new to me since salsa is a 4/4 beat. 

Zizi at the 2007 Kamileh for Breast Cancer Fundraiser
Photo by:  TaTa




Photo by:  Adeela, Citron Art

I fell in love with Flamenco almost immediately.  I new I had it in my blood; my Father's family is of Spaniard descent and my Mother's is of Lebanese descent.  The music, the "cante" (singing), the pain, the love and drama of the dance are just so powerful.  I soon began to have great posture, long arm extensions but since I was taking so many Flamenco classes I started to become stiff so it started to affect my Latin dance.  This is when Belly Dance came into my life.    My dance teacher said that the only way for me to get more control of my body was to take belly dance classes.  I said no at first because I felt I did not have the self esteem I felt was needed to be able to do those kinds of movements.  But when she finally convinced me and I went to my first class, I noticed women of all body sizes and ages and immediately noticed how great they felt about themselves.  Within about two weeks of classes, I knew it was the best decision I could have made.


I continued my studies in all three styles of dance and stayed with the same dance company for many years.  I was young and inexperienced and had never as a child taken classes.  Unfortunately, the company I belonged to did not allow members to take classes at other studios nor workshops from artists that would come to Miami unless they were brought in by the dance company.  After years of dancing with them, I began to become discouraged because I got to a point where I felt that I couldn't learn anything else from my teacher.  I also started to notice that the dance classes I taught where getting cancelled, not because I was a bad teacher but because my classes had so many students compared to students enrolled with my teachers so she began to cancel those classes and to teach them herself.  That's when I realized something was wrong so I decided to leave the company after almost ten years of being with them.





I remember feeling so out of place, thinking that I would now have to stop dancing.  All my teacher would do was criticize other dance studios and instructors, so I did not know where else to go.  I remember that I had heard that the Egyptian superstar Dina was coming to Miami for the first time and she was going to be teaching workshops.  I immediately called the event coordinator and asked her about the event.  She not only asked me to photograph the event but she asked me to perform as well.  I was so excited about photographing the event because I am a photographer and I specialize in dance and event photography, but I was not sure about performing.  I remember my Mother telling me that this was my chance to start a new dance career and to show my former dance teacher that just because I was no longer a part of her company that didn't mean I was going to stop dancing and so, I agreed to perform.



I have now studied and continue to study with professionals from all over the world that specialize in Flamenco, Latin and Middle Eastern dance.  I have created my own unique style of fusing Belly Dance with Flamenco and Latin dance as well.  I have performed in various places like Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Colombia, Italy, and all over Florida.


As a dance photographer, I have had the opportunity to photograph so many styles of dance and so many dancers.  My photos have been published all over the world.   I am the organizer for Shoot Miami, a photography group with over 400 members and this year I was the official photographer for the first Miami Belly Dance Convention held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown Miami.


I am so glad I never stopped dancing.  I have had the pleasure of meeting so many people with so many unique styles and I realize now that without dance, my spirit would be weak, for in dance I find joy and peace in my heart.

Contact Zizi:  http://zizizabaneh.mosaicglobe.com/