Posted on : 19-02-2012 | By : Kathreen | In : Uncategorized
” Let the beauty of what you love be what you do”
Rumi
What is it that attracts us to this Powerful Dance?
Oriental Dance is purely feminine…there is no question about that!!! That exquisite feminine movement calls to the natural rhythm of our ‘creature-hood’ as female.
The deep and powerful beats and the heart-centered melodic movements of Arabic music elicit a primal, yet ethereal, body expression.
It is as if our deepest ‘self’ recognizes a perfect expression of beauty! It is our highest vision of ourselves.
The experience is, at once, empowering and transformative.
Those of us that have lived our lives with dance as our ‘center’, as a constant ‘touchstone’ of our Joy, Beauty and Power KNOW that it has been bestowed through the Gift of Grace. Our greatest Joy is to Dance!
As a young woman I was awakened in and through this dance. I had truly ‘fallen in love’…I was consumed! I even had my Dance Teacher say “it is only dance’…
but that was because he was a male…he could not KNOW the Primal Passion of the Goddess! Yet, he felt the Power of the Dance and understood it.
Now, after all of these years, I can reflect and SEE how pivotal it was to embrace this dance. In spite of the resistance I encountered, on so many levels.
I do KNOW that it has been the instrumental, if not, central aspect of my personal and spiritual development.
I know, or at least imagine, that I share that with countless women.
The greatest beauty of this dance is that it is for ALL women…All ages…it is a source of Joy and Power wherever and whenever the music plays…
What will be our Focus, Passion and Experience in this New Year?
What is ‘trending’ in the Global Orbit of Belly Dance…Oriental Dance Styles and costuming… as well as ‘Alternative Dance Styles’?
Where are the Creative ‘Hot Spots’ ?
What countries are experiencing a Belly Dance ‘Explosion’???
Why do we DANCE and are we truly Dancing with Joy?
If we are not experiencing ‘True Joy’ in our dance…What is ‘Blocking’ it?
How do we ‘Release The Genie’ ???
What kind of ‘Learning’ experiences are we looking for? When we go to a workshop or a class, what do we want to learn and experience?
What inspires us and How do we stay inspired?
Is Belly Dance the ultimate ‘Feminine Movement Mediation’????
Oriental Dance East and Belly Dance West…is there a difference..Really?
Dancing From the Heart…A Radical Personal Transformation!
These are just a few of the topics I am inspired to ‘Blog’ about here with you in the coming year!
What are some topics you would like to see covered ?
Please join in and leave your feedback…
Together, we can enrich our Personal and Collective Joy in the Feminine Art of Belly Dance!
We all want to hear from YOU!
Here is a ‘Cup of Inspiration’ for today!
Today, we embrace the current ’ Shinning Star of Egypt’ Randa Kamel! In her Modern Egyptian style, Randa is a Powerful Expression of Arabic music in motion! Her love, passion, innovation and dedication to her dance is ‘front row center’ in this performance! Randa shines in this show from ”Spectacle Tanyah’, France~Paris!
Merry Merry Christmas, Eid Mubarak,( a bit late) Happy Hanukkah, ( also a bit late) and to ALL…
Happy New Year! Dancing the Dream in 2010!
I am looking forward to seeing you all here in The New year…we have all been so Blessed with this Life and Soul Affirming Dance…It is wonderful to share our experiences and insights!
I just have to share this delightful video I found…it is not the highest quality..since it is a home camera…it is of a young lady dancing at a home Christmas Party in Cairo, Egypt!
I was so moved and inspired by the natural and skilled quality of this young dancer… What a Star!…the video it seems was posted by her cousin…
The Dancer’s name is Yasmine Gamal!
Enjoy!
Here is one more of my favorite…’right from the comfort of your home’ Oriental Dance Stars…This is Zulaika…from Spain…she improvises and posts her dances on YouTube…and says she learns from YouTube Every Day!
The term “Baladi” is an important word for every Egyptian whose life and traditions identify him or her with the soil of Egypt, the original country.”
Suraya Hilal
Baladi and Sha’abi in Egyptian Dance and Music is mostly misunderstood from the Western perspective. Since Baladi is the ‘Heart as well as the Root’ of Middle Eastern Dance, Danse Oriental, Raks Sharki, and what we call Belly Dance, to understand it becomes essential in order to truly appreciate and experience the movement and music of this beautiful art form.
If we take this dance and apply it to our own cultural perspective, we are applying a veneer of movement that can only portray an interpretation devoid of the ‘Origin and Feeling’ of the music. Certainly that is an option. Yet, we might consider how much richer and more joyful our dance experience might be if we understand the ‘Feel’ and Power of the ‘Baladi Personae’ expressed in the music and movement.
Suraya Hilal of the HilalArt Foundation in the UK, has written a very insightful paper on this subject, of which I am only introducing here. It is well worth reading ‘The Baladi Personae In Egyptian Dance and Music’ .
In her illuminating paper Surya Hilal brings to light the passionate cultural, socio-economic expression that Baladi and Sha’abi Music and Dance are…a tradition that was born of the soil of Egypt.
“Awalad el Balad ( the children of the country)… The term describes the particular identity of the working class people, the people who have migrated from rural villages and farming communities and settled in the cities, creating their own kind of community. Awalad el Balad is also a term that refers to the “real Egyptian” , or ” Masri Asil”, as opposed to the Western occupiers and Westernized Egyptians, known as “Afrang”. This is an important distinction for Egyptians, who have been ruled by foreigners for long periods of their history.”
The Baladi community of lower middle class origin, people of trade and craft, including the trade and craft of the artist, singer dancer, adhered to a strong code of ethics. The true Egyptian is ‘gada’a', for men and ‘gada’ah, for women…good, honorable, courageous and responsible…which includes the singers dancers and musicians that live by ‘the ethics of the Baladi tradition.’
Baladi music and dancing were taking place for decades, even before the turn of the 20th Century, in the main Sha’abi Quarter of Cairo, Mohammad Ali Street.
“In the city, the term Sha’abi’ is loosely used to mean ‘popular’, of the masses or populace. Baladi people, with their distinct and traditional-modern culture, have their origins in the ” Balad”, the village or countryside. They live in Sha’abi quarters such as Bulaq or Mohammad Ali Street.” Suraya Hilal further explains that ” From this urban struggle of opposites emerges the essential expression of the Baladi character, in the music, the dance and the personae which were so well portrayed in the films of the 1940′s and 1950′s.Their yearning for truth and goodness and the simple life gives meaning to their struggles in the urban chaos. The depth of the soul and the bitter-sweet nature of life are reflected in the Baladi culture, especially in music and song.”
Here is Naima Akef in an old Egyptian film that depicts the Balady Personae…and the female singer singing “the ‘Mawaal’ the soulful improvisation of the voice… ”
The distinction of the true Shaabi music and singers is that it is from the Upper Egypt (Sai’di) and Fallahi (farming community) musical traditions.
‘Early on in the 1960′s the famous Mohammad Taha was one of the first singers to bridge the gap between the Baladi and Sha’abi song and to urbanise and popularise his songs.” (S. Hilal)
I had the privilege to meet Mohammad Taha and watch him perform in San Diego in the 70′s! What an experience!
I found this clip from an old Egyptian film of Mohammad Taha singing and Gawaher, a realitivly unknown Belly Dancer circa 1962.
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 »
