Raks A'Diva started as a social troupe -- our primary aim was to get to know other dancers, perform together and  enjoy spending time together.   The first adjustment was shifting from being 'soloists' to dancing together as a unit -- when the dancer next to you is six inches shorter -- you just have to adjust.    This took time as we had eight very strong soloists, each with their own style.... compromise and  persuasion took on new meaning.   

The first year of the troupe started as a  perfect dictatorship -- as we were ruled by our iron-feather-fisted Director Zamon who took care of everything.   We performed together for six months and entered a competition where we won THIRD PLACE.    This became a major wake up call for us, and we made a big shift in our focus and decided we wanted to make the effort to become a 
Professional Troupe.    

What is a Professional Troupe?    This is a group of very committed dancers who often invest 5 -10 hours a week in rehearsals to be at the top of their game.     Most professional troupes are run by an artistic director who conducts auditions, establishes choreography and sets tone for the troupe.  

Raks A'Diva troupe members made the commitment to be the very best we could be,  and we set our sites on seriously competing.   Unlike most professional troupes, all our dancers participate in decisions  -- helping select music, participating in choreography design, etc.  We're a family and a very hard working one at that.   Our troupe members often spent 6+ hours every week practice, plus attending classes or performing as soloists.      We set a goal of re-inventing ourselves each year so that we can learn new skills and grow as dancers.    We also have a strict rule that we must have fun in the process --sometime we have to remind ourselves about that one a lot !!      

We all love dancing, and we all love dancing together.  We also love to spend time together and have great fun in the process.   We're blessed because we genuinely like each other .  We don't have any formal rules or by-laws --just an incredible commitment to be the best we can be and enjoy the ride along the way.  

Selecting the name for our troupe was quite a challenge.   Three years ago, we got highly motivated to find the right name when someone suggested we name ourselves 'enchanted princesses' -- YIPE !    That got us motivated and we started searching 100's of name to find something that inspired us and represented what we wanted out of our dance.    

We came across an arabic phrase that we thought meant dancing feet which was easy to say in English.   Luckily we checked with an arabic speaker and found out that the phrase we selected actually meant --'the bottom of your foot'.    Obviously, not the best thing in the world.  

We'll, we kept our search going and found the name A'Diva which means 'gentle' , and we kinda liked the double meaning with being 'diva's' as well.     We've lived with that name through several years together and have enjoyed every minute.   We just learned, however, that there is another meaning for A'Diva and that is pleasure and pain....  Now we love our name even more -- because it truly defines who we are.