Nahla Hamad is actually a stage name.  The world of bellydance opened up to Christie Hill (Nahla Hamad) as a 17 year old High School Senior.  On her school's Senior trip to Florida, she saw a professional bellydancer in Florida at the Mercado.  She was inspired and intrigued by this beautiful artform.  The glimpse into this world made a lasting impression, so 6 or 7  years later, when she had an opportunity to study the artform, she jumped on it!

Nahla started as a somewhat insecure girl, with no formal dance training, and took classes with local instructor, Donna Whitley for the sole purpose of learning to dance for her fiance (at the time).  From the first night of class, Nahla was overwhelmed with this passion to learn more and more, but never had any intention of performing, much less teaching this artform to others.  Her first "dance" was for her husband in 2005.

The beauty of this dance for her, was the confidence she gained, and the acceptance she began to find with her own body.  After a short time, she  began to blossom with confidence, and became more and more interested in movement and fitness.  Within a couple of years, she was approached by an aerobics instructor and was encouraged to become an instructor and trainer. From that moment on, her passion became helping others to find acceptance with their bodies, while working toward more strength.  You won't ever leave one of her classes without hearing her mantra repeated over and over..."you are beautifully and wonderfully made"

With much encouragement from her husband, Doug, Nahla pursued a career in fitness, and continued to study bellydance in her personal life.  She quickly became a fan of Suhaila Salimpour, and began to learn all she could from bellydance DVD's.  As time passed, she began attending workshops and seeking out professionals  for private instruction, but still danced only for herself.

It wasn't until she was "tricked" into performing (long story) for a private party, that she realized that she wanted to pursue this even further. She began to dance at small private parties, and at the annual GMS multi-cultural fair. As soon as people saw her perform, she began getting requests to teach bellydance to others.  Nahla kept waiting for the right time and place, and continued to work in the fitness profession, adding Bellydance Fitness to some of her classes in 2005. During that same year, she began, and then completed the Bellydance Instructor Certification (Sharing the Art we Love) program through Qadria of Raleigh. 

By September 2007, Nahla's best friend, Michelle Hunt,  had convinced her to open the Absolute Studio, and for Nahla this was the perfect setting to combine her love of fitness and love of bellydance!

Nahla now dances professionally, teaches classes, and directs her student troupe, Hypnotic.  The most recent workshops she has attended have been with Rachel Brice, Fat Chance Bellydance, Fahtiem, Moria Chappell, Sadie, and Suhaila Salimpour.  In addition to attending workshops, Nahla continues to seek out private instruction and considers herself a lifelong student of the dance.  Her most recently accomplishment was completing Suhaila's Level I Certification Course in 2009.