Dina Shihabi

Biography: Dina Shihabi (Arabic: دينا شهابي‎‎) is a Saudi Arabian actress working in the United States. Dina Shihabi was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, then moved to Dubai when she was six. She started dance classes at age 6, and at 13 she began taking dance lessons from Sharmilla Kamte, a renowned dance teacher at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre Chaloub Studio, known as the "dancing queen" of the United Arab Emirates. She became a member of her modern professional dance team. Shihabi's schools were Al Mawakeb School, Emirates International School, and Dubai American Academy. At the Dubai American Academy, which she attended from 8th grade to graduation,[citation needed] Shihabi performed in numerous school plays, and was encouraged by her teacher, Nancy Mock, to pursue an Acting career. At age 18, with her father's permission, Dina moved to New York City and began pursuing a career in acting; this became a full-time profession for her in 2010. In 2011, she was accepted at both Juilliard and The graduate Acting Program at NYU Tisch School for the Arts. Although Dina did not complete a 4 year Bachelor's degree (she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, an Acting Conservatory from 2008 to 2010), NYU waived the requirement of a Bachelor's degree and she graduated with her MFA in 2014. She is the first Middle East-born woman to be accepted to both the Juilliard and NYU Graduate Acting programs. Shihabi's native Arabic dialect is a form of Levantine Arabic.