“ 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 »

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!
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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 »

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!!)

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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 »