” The dancer’s body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul.”

Isadora Duncan

It came to me that this subject of the’ Language of Oriental Dance’ has, seemingly, many layers.

It is evident , from my own experience, and the years of witnessing and hearing about other women’s experience, that we unanimously agree that this dance is transformative. Regardless of our initial motive to learn to Belly Dance, the experience of the dance, the music and movement, the feminine quality, the fun and sisterhood…and the profound feeling of confidence ,clarity and connection with our spirit  that we each develop and experience is the  captivating gift we all share!

Just as Isadora Duncan, in the early 1900′s, created her own version of dance based on the themes of Greek Mythology, ‘Belly Dance’ in the Western world, particularly in America, has evolved it’s own mythology!

” Virtually alone, Isadora restored dance to a high place among the arts. Breaking with convention, Isadora traced the art of dance back to it’s roots as a sacred art.”

The restrictive and repressive era of Isadora was the catalyst for her to find a ‘template’ based on a cultural foundation to express her passion and spirit in a free and natural form of movement.

In the 60′s and 70′s in America women were also seeking ways to break free of convention. The ‘template’ of Oriental Dance which became labeled as ‘Belly Dance’ in the West provided not only the cultural foundation but the very essence of free and natural feminine movement!

Arabic music with it’s ‘Heartbeat’ rhythms, exciting, exotic sounds and melodies, along with the powerful movements of Oriental Dance, allowed the Western woman to enter an unfamiliar portal that opened the floodgates of creativity, personal power and freedom!

In the same way that Isadora ‘created’ a form of dance, based on what she imagined might have been in an ancient culture, we American dancers from the 70′s and beyond ‘created’ Belly Dance from what we only could imagine it to be…given our limited knowledge and exposure to the culture of it’s origins at that time.

Also, like Isadora, those of us that burned with the passion of our new found ‘freedom of expression and art’ sought to elevate ‘Belly Dance’ to a ‘high place among the arts’.

At the same time, in the land of it’s origins,the women of Oriental Dance were creating an equally powerful phenomenon within Middle Eastern Culture. The Oriental Dance Stars from Egypt and Lebanon,such as Najwa Fouad, Suhair Zake, Fifi Abdou, Mona El Said and Nadia Gamal, were actively evolving this Dance from it’s traditional origins, with the aid of the sweeping power of the film industry and tourism, to a popular and elevated stature on stage and silver screen!

It is interesting to note that although Oriental Dance and it’s Western forms of Belly Dance finds it’s expression as a Performance Art, at the same time, it is also, in both cultures, an experience of ‘Collective Joy!’ In the Middle East the women dance with and for each other in women’s parties,( Haflas) and gatherings just as Western women Dance together in classes, workshops and Haflas. In both instances this dance allows women to share sisterhood, joy and creativity in an environment that supports an experience of dance in freedom and abandon!

Here is a treasure from a Documentary of Moroccan Women Dancing in a Birth of a Child Celebration!

At the root of it all, the desire for individual and collective joy is the impetus to dance and to share our dancing with others. Whether we are alone on a stage or in a gathering, when the music calls, our soul responds and we call it ‘Dance’ !

Here is a wonderful video I just discovered that depicts the fun and pure joy that can emerge from even the most seemingly austere and grey surroundings! This is an ‘After New years’ gathering in Bulgaria…I believe this is actually called ‘Kucheck’ yet it seems to have Oriental Dance roots!

Cold weather…Hot Kucheck!
Read the rest of this entry »

What Language are YOU speaking?

If language is considered to be a system of communication ‘ using sounds, symbols and words to express a meaning, idea or thought’ then dance is a language.

The language of Oriental Dance, is an expression of the feminine soul in movement to the music…That means ‘Your Soul’! That expression is as unique as your ‘voice’.

In keeping with the metaphor of dance as language…..we can explore a subject that has come to the forefront of the “Belly Dance World’ in recent years! That is, dancing improvisation or with choreography!

First off, they are not mutually exclusive..there is certainly a place for both! The question that comes to mind is with respect to ‘ learning’ the dance through choreography with the exclusion of Improvisation!

It has come to my attention, through various sources lately, that women are being taught to dance perdominantly through choreography…this has created the ‘phenomonon’ that students can’t dance without a choreography!

This would be like, learning a language and only being able to speak words in sentences that communicate thoughts, expressions and ideas that come from someone else. You would not be able to communicate your own thoughts, expressions and ideas!

This dance comes from a culture that is ‘foreign’ to us, not only in language but in movement, musical tone and rhythm. In order to ‘learn’ this language of dance we must learn the basic vocabulary/movements, immerse ourselves in ‘hearing’ the spoken language/music and allow ourselves to experience the expression by speaking/dancing!

The above elements of the dance are a ‘whole’ expression, they are not isolated parts. If your learning experience is simply a repitition of isolated movements that are then strung together into counted out phrases that are in sync with the music… forming a dance created by someone else… you will have learned ‘a dance’ but not ‘to dance’!

It is like the difference between writing a poem and reciting someone else’s poem…..

Shall we ask ourselves the REAL question? What attracted us to Belly Dance and why did we want to learn it?

Was it to experience the Beauty, Joy, Excitement, and Power that we saw and felt when we watched an Oriental Dancer?

In order to have that experience, it is necessary to understand and ‘FEEL’ the music and movement.  How do we accomplish that? How do we make this dance our own original authentic art?

Since this subject of ‘How’ we learn and develop in Belly Dance is a ‘Core’ subject, I would like to spend some time in the next couple of blogs exploring it!

I would like to invite you to leave your comments and questions that arise from your own experience with respect to ‘Learning the Art of Belly Dance’!

” True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,                                                   As those move easiest who have learned to dance”

Alexander Pope

And so Beautiful Dancers, I close with a video to inspire you, from a dancer that said in her own words, ” I have never choreographed anything in my life”… Read the rest of this entry »

“ Children Are Our Teachers”

When I was living in Lebanon it was always purely delightful and an education in movement to watch a little girl get up and dance. In family parties, there is always, it seems, a ‘little bright star’ that just loves to dance. The adults encourage her and everyone becomes totally inspired!

Usually one of the women gets a scarf and ties it around her hips..and off she goes!  The ‘Natural Movement’ of these little beauties is pure joy!

Here is a fantastic clip from an old Egyptian movie of a ‘Family Party’ with a ” Little Star’ that ‘gets the party started’ .. And Ends it!

What Fun!

After all that is what this dance is about..Fun…Joy…Beauty! That is the essence of dancing! Children are naturally in the spirit of dance.

This next clip was filmed by someone attending the Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival in Cairo. This young girl got up on stage between the shows to ‘play around’… watch and learn! Read the rest of this entry »

Ahlan Wa Sahlan …Welcome to Juwariah…a Master Story Teller, and a woman of many talents, living a life of adventure.

The strait of Gibraltar is the narrow passage between Morocco and Spain.

An air cushion hydrofoil ferry was all I needed to make, more years ago than I care to count, the connection between Morocco and Spain—and more tellingly, between Oriental Dance and Spanish Flamenco.   The connection is more tenable than the ticket one buys to make the crossing. Still, seeing is believing.

The day after we arrived in Cadiz was a bank holiday. The same people who had sold us a postcard from a kiosk, a T shirt from a boutique, or who had served us a dish of Ceviche with bread at a street table did the unexpected: they walked out in the middle of the street and started dancing.

Flamenco in the streets.  Everyone was a bit more talented than I had expected (ever in my wildest dreams)  Sweet, hard working matrons of the day before were snapping their fingers, clacking their  castanets, and pounding around the pavement in high heels with  equally invigorated spouses—or whichever male neighbor decided to spring forward to partner them. Not that they couldn’t dance—and very well, thank you—alone. Here is a taste of Spanish Street Dancing.

I thought, “How very Spanish!”   I also thought here was living proof of Moorish Spain’s heritage—in addition to all those ancient Muslim castles so amazing the French refer to them in the expression “Don’t go building castles in Spain!” (In English, we say, “Don’t go building castles in the air!”) Read the rest of this entry »

First We Imitate Then We Create!

It is a natural progression of learning an art form, it seems, to imitate our teachers. In dance, through the process of imitating, we develop the movement skills, the rhythmic expression and nuance that we can internalize. By repetitively watching and following our teacher we gain the imprinted skills that allow us to experience our bodies in dance.

Once we develop a more extensive movement vocabulary we gain confidence in our abilities and we experience the desire to expand.

Hopefully, we have a teacher that points us to the resources, such as videos, DVD’s and YouTube, that will expose us to other dancers that will inspire and instruct us in our ‘learning journey’. The more we experience, through observation of the  ‘style’ of each dancer, the more inspired we become to express our own unique style.

I thought it might be interesting to watch a current ‘Star’ in Egypt, Randa Kamel. Although she has flavors of Egyptian Super Star Lucy..She is very innovative and definitely has her own unique style of Oriental Dance!
Read the rest of this entry »

A Marriage Made in Heaven…..

The Arabic Drum is the heartbeat…the sounds of the fingers on the Drum skin stirs the Dancer’s soul..makes it quiver…the body responds…movement is born!

If the elements of Oriental Dance are a metaphor for Life…then the Drum Solo is ‘Elemental Fire’!

Here is a famous clip of Egyptian Dance Legend Najwa Fouad ‘On Fire”!

Najwa, in pure abandon with the drum is a demonstration of the ‘primal’ quality of  the relationship of Dancer and Drum.

Notice how she opens with the spin and then becomes almost rooted to the spot where she stands. The shimmy and vibration originates from the hips as it moves up into the abdomen and is then fueled by the chest shimmies and lifts! Her beautiful arm movements create a lifting and dropping momentum that enhances the crescendo of  chest and hip pops and shimmies! The ‘fire’ builds with the crashing cymbals and drums and leaps up to powerful head movements as she lets loose in a finale of wild abandon!  A classic Najwa piece!

In addition to the ‘Drum Solo’ there is another wonderful Dancer and Drummer show in Lebanon that Howaida Hachem is famous for… Read the rest of this entry »

Stand (and shimmy) by your Man!

Often Americans and Europeans think of Oriental Dance as only a performance dance. In the Middle East, the dance is the cultural dance of the people. All women do this dance…little girls learn to dance watching their mothers, sisters, aunts and other women in parties (haflas) weddings and just family gatherings. Women of all ages dance..as in any country. The movement is the natural movement of the culture to the music of the culture.

I thought it would be fun, from a learning perspective,in terms of natural movement and style, to see some classic representations of Egyptian women ‘ Dancing for their Man’ from Egyptian movies.Watching  from this personal and intimate perspective illuminates many aspects of the dance!

Here is Sahar Hamdi in an Egyptian film..’Dancing for her Man’.. Oops! or is that someone else’s man?..Oh Well..It’s cute and fun!!!

This clip shows the light hearted entertainment quality of the dance in the Middle East. Whether it is on stage or in the privacy of an intimate setting, the nature of this dance is ‘Fun’ seduction.

There is just something about seeing an Egyptian actress dancing in their nightie, gallabaya, or home dress…with a scarf tied around their hips that emphasizes the pure joy of this dance!

Here is a treasure with Aida Ryad dancing!
Read the rest of this entry »

To Understand Baladi is to feel the heart of Oriental Dance!

I have often been asked over the years to explain  Baladi ….

The word Baladi…also transliterated as..Beledi..Balady..etc…literally means ‘My Country’ yet refers to not only the country but also the village or region of origin. As people left their villages to go to cities for economic reasons, they still held  ’baladi’  in their heart.

Baladi is also a ‘Style’ of dance. It is the dance of the people. In Egypt, Baladi is the type of dancing you will find in village and urban weddings and parties. It is also classically part of the Raks Sharki show.

  The costume is usually a ‘dressy’ form of ‘Thobe’ or Gallabiyah’ which is the long straight robe with sleeves and often slits on both sides. A scarf or belt is worn over it at the hips. The variations on this theme are limitless and each one is beautiful and expressive of the ‘regional culture’ of the music and dancer. 

Here is a short clip of Egyptian Superstar FiFi Abdou doing a ‘Baladi’ section of her show in an outdoor venue in Ismallia Egypt. Fifi was known in the beginning of her career as a ‘Baladi’ Dancer or as often quoted, ” a dancer for the people”. In this show she comes out with the ‘malaya’ a heavy,usually black, wrap that is a prop used in ‘Malaya Leff ’ a  “street dance ‘ of Iskandaria ( Alexandria) Egypt….( you will see it on her exit) and then she picks up the cane (Assaya)…Just a taste of Baladi, Fifi style… Read the rest of this entry »

 Do we have confusion about fusion?

I thought it was very interesting that recently a Belly Dancer was in the Semi-Finals of Britain’s Got Talent! Actually she is from Latvia, Julia Naidenko..a beautiful girl and she can move.  When I saw it I was not inspired because she was dancing to a western pop song, Moulin Rouge. I just couldn’t ‘feel’ her dance.  

 After a bit of research I discovered that the song was selected by the Britain’s Got Talent people, behind the scenes. Julia wanted to dance to a drum solo yet, the usual ‘talent management brokers’ were once again deciding what would be appealing to the public.
You Decide!
Here is a short clip..(the only one that would allow me to embed…embedding suspended at YouTube for Julia!!)

Read the rest of this entry »

Oriental Dance, from the Middle East, is expressed in ‘Regional’ Styles as well as the individual ‘style’ of the dancer. There is Ice Cream and there are Many Flavors.

I Love the Lebanese Flavor….

When I think of the essence of Lebanon, I think of BEAUTY!

The country is beautiful. The cliffs of the coast and offshore rocks stand firm with the warm shimmering Mediterranean Sea gently splashing and foaming on shore … Downtown Beirut always glowing pink with the light playing on the rose-colored stones of the revitalized old buildings… The crisp air mountains with rushing pure rivers and falls…. the rich warm agricultural fields of the Bekka Valley…the heady fragrances of Roses, Gardenia, Jasmine and Fil…waft about in country gardens and on city verandas.

All of these flavors and more are the Lebanese style.

The people are of extraordinary beauty …many with black hair,blue or green eyes. ..yet, no matter the color , one always sees beautiful powerful eyes!

The Lebanese Love to Play Music… Dance, Sing, and Dine on delicious dishes that look like works of art .

The Art of Living is beautifully expressed in the Lebanese style of life. It is from this milieu that the Oriental Dancer of Lebanon graces us with her dance.

Lebanese Belly Dance is first of all, glamorous…very feminine costumes..rich, ornate, elegant bead-work with soft flowing fabrics and almost always accessorized with high heels. The Dancer’s make-up, as is also true with Lebanese women in general, is Artistic, Exotic and Flawless.

 Lebanese Oriental Dancing style is spirited and coquette.. athletic yet soft..strong yet feminine…it is playful, sassy and demure all at once!

So…since  ’a picture is worth a thousand words’….here is the late Great Lebanese Superstar Nadia Gamal in an Egyptian movie..circa 1960′s.  Read the rest of this entry »