In this issue From two great dancers in Cairo - Nada

Issue 48 | Winter 2012
In this issue
From two great dancers in Cairo: Dandesh and Aziza
Jo Wise of the UK
Putting on a show: Rihla
From costumes . . .
From Student sets to Designer costumes . . . By Eman & Hanan.
Farida stocks everything from shimmy belts to melayas, galabayas
and professional costumes. From student sets to designer couture.
You can order on line or invite the Farida souk to your event. You
could even combine workshops with Kay Taylor and a hafla with the
souk . . . make it a real Farida Experience. Alternatively join the
Farida gang at Borwick Hall - an amazing residential weekend with
a host of teachers - or join Kay at Ponden for a bespoke weekend belly dance with Kay and cookery with Brenda.
To see the latest designs and new troupe costumes or book for
Borwick or Ponden, go to: www.faridadance.com
. . . and Luxor
. . . to Cairo
Check out the amazing new website designed by Ric Gibbs:
www.faridaadventures.com
You can also join our dedicated Farida Adventures fan page on Facebook
From the 5 Star venues to the cabaret clubs on Pyramid Road and the
seedy nightclubs Downtown. From shopping for tat and bargains in
Cairo's biggest market, the Khan el Khalili to individually created
designs by top costumiers. From dance classes with Master Teachers
and Choreographers at specified levels or private lessons with top
dancers to an open level fun class. From the Pyramids, Egyptian
Museum, Mosques, Islamic and Coptic Cairo to lazing by a pool
at a 5 Star Hotel with a massage at the health spa.
DON’T MISS what promises to be
THE MOST EXCITING FESTIVAL OF 2012
Kay Taylor
Teacher and Performer
14th - 21st May 2012
Announcing our final teacher: The incredible DANDESH
This fabulous week is run by Farida Adventures and features
classes with great teachers and live music from members of the
Layali el Helwa Orchestra. The only one of its kind, this event has
master classes of 15-20 people to ensure that, whatever your level,
you get the most from it. Opportunities to perform folklore with
professional male dancers or dance solo with our orchestra. An
amazing and intensive week in an incredible setting and 5 Star luxury.
Teachers: DANDESH, MOHAMED KAZAFY & EMAN ZAKI
- see website for more details.
Check www.faridaadventures.com or join our facebook page.
Call Kay on 0191 519 0305 for more information.
Kay is one of the UK's top teachers
and performers, featuring regularly
at many dance events throughout the
UK. She holds regular weekly classes
and is available for private tuition and
workshop bookings. As head of the
JWAAD Teacher Training course, her
schedule is busy so book early.
Why not join Kay on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/kay.taylor99
Contact Kay on 0191 519 0305
for details
Farida Adventures. 9 Ferndale Avenue, East Boldon, Tyne & Wear, NE36 0TQ
Tel: (UK 0044) 0191 519 0305 / (Mobile) 07966 270995 (Egypt 002) 012 4722967
e-mail: [email protected] web: www.faridaadventures.com www.farhatour.com
Contents
Dandash 5
Caroline Afifi 13
Jo on Jo 19
Retro Discovery 24
The Journey
of Bellydance 29
NADA Performance
Platform 33
Memories of
Ali Whitworth 35
Liz’s New Frock
‘I want those frocks’ 38
Yasmina of Cairo
Interview with
Aziza of Cairo 43
NADA Live Music
February 2012 48
Issue 48 | Winter 2012
NADA Editorial
4
Dandash5
The story behind the legend
Creative Props
The caped belly dancer
9
An Oriental dancer’s story
Interview by Meissoun of Switzerland
11
Caroline Afifi
Interview by Anna Bisco
13
Jo on Jo
Interview by Jo Hirons
19
Retro Discovery
History of British Bellydance music
24
Rihla, The Journey of Bellydance
Behind the scenes
29
NADA NW Performance Platform
Review
33
Memories of Ali Whitworth
35
Dream of and Egyptian night
The legend of the Goddess Hathor
36
Liz’s new frock
I want those frocks . . .
38
Just Because Update
News from the Just Because charity
40
Ask Madam Kay
Our ‘Agony Aunt’ answers your questions
41
Diary of a Tarab groupie
Review of the Tarab show, Rihla
42
Yasmina of Cairo
An interview with Aziza of Cairo
43
NADA Live Music & Dance
The Big event for February 2012
48
NADA Dance Diary
54
NADA Member Teachers
55
NADA Membership Form
58
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of NADA.
3
NADA Editorial
I’m glad to report that we have appointed my successor. I’ll
introduce her to you next issue. I know I will miss the job but
I’m not going far as I hope to remain looking after advertising
and after organising a NADA platform in our region that seemed
to go well, I hope to do it all again with other NADA hosted
events here on Merseyside. But why don’t you? We’ve have the
NADA live music events and these are truly inspirational. There
is nothing like dancing to live music as I have just experienced
at Maureen Holmes’ Eccleston hafla. But if that’s too scary a
prospect, consider holding a platform of local dancers in stage
or party style: belly dance or mixed programme whatever you
think is best for your area. Get in touch with the committee to
get the go-ahead and the support!
Liz Jarrett
Photo by Ian Woodward
NADA Organising Committee
Co-ordinator
Anna Bisco
07710 403742
[email protected]
Web Co-ordinator,
Dance Diary Events,
Publicity and Membership
Heather Charlton
0113 393 0504
heather_cc @hotmail.com
Send cheques, made out to NADA to:
Heather Charlton, 20 Carrholm Crescent, Leeds L27 2NL
Magazine Team
Editorial and Advertising
Layout
Distribution
Proof reading
www.nada.uk.com
Magazine Editor
Liz Jarrett
01704 214175
[email protected]
Insurance
Sabrina Owen
07872 987021
sabrina.bellydance @googlemail.com
Send Articles and Advertising to:
Liz Jarrett
4 Croston’s Brow, Southport PR9 9QU
[email protected]
01704 214175
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Liz Jarrett
Richard Gibbs
Hilda Charlton
Carolyn Hepburn and Trish Champion
Magazine Copy Deadlines
Autumn Term 3rd week in June
Winter Term 4th week in September
Spring/Summer Term 4th week in February
Treasurer
Katie Mulholland
07753 808061
[email protected]
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Articles submitted for inclusion in the magazine will be published at the editor’s discretion
and may be subject to editing.
4
Dandash
The Story behind the legend
Interviewed by Kay Taylor
I remember searching the nightclubs on Harem Street in Cairo for Dandash. I had heard that she was
an amazing dancer and I must see her. I failed at several attempts then, when I was living in Cairo one
summer, I worked at the Ahlan wa Sahlan festival and saw her perform at the opening gala show. I just
loved her unique style. She is such a soft yet powerful dancer. Later that summer, I tracked her down at
various cabaret venues with much more success! One bizarre night, we went to the Vendom nightclub where
Dandash had invited us as guests to see her show. The orchestra were situated above the dancer – you could
only see their bottom halves!! How strange! Whenever taking groups to Cairo on a Farida Adventure, we
would try and fit in going to a club to see Dandash. Several groups even had lessons with her. It was always
a case of checking before you went into the club that it would definitely be Dandash performing. I would
even tell them we wouldn’t pay if it wasn’t her. That generally guaranteed the truth.
5
5
. . .Dandash is the only dancer
in her family and from the age of
about 8, she knew she wanted to
be a dancer . . .
6
In 2005, I came up with the idea of the Farha Tour. I
brought a whole band and dancers to the UK. We did shows
in Newcastle, London and one for Mosaic as well. Yasmina
was involved in the project as one of my star dancers. She
also did most of the organising at the Cairo end. She had
been working with Reda troupe soloist, Mohamed Kazafy,
and we decided he would be ideal as the folklore element in
the show. Tannoura, Said, agreed to join us and was versatile
enough to join in some of the traditional tableaux. I wanted
Dandash as my Egyptian Star. She turned out to be quite
elusive. We turned to Aida Nour for help. As a good friend of
Dandash’s, she agreed to come too … and perform as well.
How amazing. The show was a fantastic artistic success but
unfortunately a financial disaster! I am so proud to have
made it happen in the UK. - To bring a touch of Cairo into
artist. Dandash has inherited her musicality from her family.
As we toured the UK in a 16 seater minibus, filled with chain
smoking Egyptian musicians, she would often lead a singalong which everyone joined in. Her elder daughter, Orneiya
(which means Song), also has a lovely voice. We invited
Dandash to one of our Farida Party nights at Yasmina’s
apartment in Cairo and it was lovely when Orneiya sang
and her mother danced - really touching. Dandash has 2
daughters - the other is called ‘Ahd’ which means Promise.
Apparently both love to dance ‘but sha’abi, not sharki’,
Dandesh laughingly told me.
Dandash started working in the Cecil, San Giovani and
the Sheraton nightclubs in Alexandria. There are a limited
amount of venues and opportunities for work in Alexandria
so, 14 years ago, Dandash moved to Cairo. She was booked
England. Undeterred, I decided that lessons had been learnt
and I could make a Farha Tour pay. This time we had Randa
Kamel as our Egyptian star - again, a fantastic show…. but
the costs were just prohibitive and I lost money again. I
decided to try a Farha Festival - bring the band and have
classes with professional musicians in Newcastle. Those that
came raved about it….. but not enough came. Disillusioned,
I talked it through with Sara Farouk who suggested doing
it in Luxor. I got very excited about the whole thing - Sara
and I have now run two Farha Festivals in Luxor - both with
fantastic feedback. Our third one will be May 2012…. and I
feel the Farha concept has come full circle with my original
star, Dandash as one of our main teachers.
Dandash comes from a musical family who originate in
Alexandria. Both her mother and her father were singers. As
is her sister. Her 2 brothers play the keyboards. Dandash is
the only dancer in her family and from the age of about 8,
she knew she wanted to be a dancer. Her main inspiration
was Naima Akef. She admired the fact that Naima could sing
and dance, was an acrobat and a movie star - an all round
to dance at the birthday party of a well known local business
man in Cairo at the Cierg Hotel. They brought her specially
from Alexandria. After that, people kept asking her to dance
at parties in Cairo so eventually she moved there. She has
worked at the Mena House and Semi Ramis as well as most
of the big clubs on Harem. Her first international party was
in Sweden. When Omar Sherif saw her perform, he got up
on stage and took the microphone. At the time he was an
ambassador for Egyptian tourism and announced that if
people didn’t see Dandash, it would be like not seeing the
Pyramids. She is the quintessential Egyptian dancer. The
feeling she brings to her dance embodies all that is Egyptian.
Since working at Ahlan wa Sahlan, Dandash has also
worked at the Nile Group Festival and gone on to develop
an international performance and teaching career. She has
stopped dancing in the nightclubs on Harem. I was interested
to know why. Dandash feels that the type of guests has
changed over the years. High profile scandals attached to
some dancers haven’t helped the image of those working.
Peoples attitude to dancers seems to have changed - and
7
not for the better. She prefers working with people who
appreciate the dance as an art form, a technically challenging
and artistic style of dance. She feels that both festivals in
Egypt and international festivals appreciate the skills
involved. She would rather go where she is appreciated.
Dandash first started teaching at festivals in Sweden in
2000. She happily admits that she felt bad about the class
as she didn’t know how to teach and had difficulty getting
things across to the students. She started to study how to
teach, how to count music, how to choreograph dances and
how to teach technique. Dandash is self taught so it makes
her dance style very unique which is why it is of great
interest to other dancers. Khaled Mahmoud is a great fan of
Dandash and says that if you get the chance to study with
Dandash, you should. Dandash says she teaches with the
count of the music then looks at how to translate the feelings
thinking about the one who has forgotten me’. She explained
that the emotion she felt was just so powerful it came through
in her dance and she couldn’t help but cry. Amazing…….
‘What are your favourite songs, old and new?’ I asked:
‘Rohe we Roha (Your soul and my soul) by Warda. All the
old songs sung by Medhat Saleh and Angham. And Shereen
- but to listen to not to dance to.’ To dance to, Dandash likes
the old music by Abdul Halim, Oum Kalthoum and Warda.
‘When you perform how much is choreographed and how
much improvisation?’ I asked. It is all improvisation. She
has never choreographed anything until she started teaching
- now she choreographs material to prepare for a class.
Dandesh feels she is developing her own teaching style
and wants that to be as unique as her dancing. She feels
controlling your breathing in dance is vital. Some songs are
really powerful and how you breathe through them will help
into the dance. She started to learn more English as this is the
language most folks teach in.
‘Which do you prefer, teaching or performing?’ I asked.
Having worked as a performer for 10 hours a day for 20
years, Dandash says she is ready to change her focus. She is
now channelling her energy into her teaching, ‘and anyway,
teaching is performing’, Dandash pointed out. Dandash says
she has been inspired with teaching and is really enjoying it,
she finds she is creating new moves to bring to workshops
which she loves.
Dandash is coming to teach and perform at the Farha
Festival in Luxor in May 2012. Many of the classes will be
with live music – and about the interpretation of music. I
wanted to know what she felt the difference was between
dancing with a band and with a CD. ‘The feeling of live
music is completely different; it can change all the time.
With a CD you are limited. With live musicians, you can
change anything depending on how you feel. Dandash had
just danced at one of our party nights a few days previously.
One of the pieces she danced to had moved her, and some
of her audience - to tears. I wanted to know what the music
was. ‘Be Fakir fil neseen’ by Mohamed Abdul Wahab ‘I am
portray the emotion. When I asked her what she would be
teaching in Luxor, she said she would let me know when I
am in Cairo in February…. But whatever it is, it will involve
live music and there are no more than 20 in a class… how
good is that?
When I asked Dandash about the future, she was very
general. ‘It is as God wills. If the country changes and
becomes good, everything inside will be good as well.’
It is a difficult time, one of uncertainty, but I am sure the
Egyptian people will benefit in the end. I have just had 2
groups in Cairo - both had a fabulous time. Sara Farouk and
Caroline Afifi also had groups there. Belly dancers are not
easily deterred. If you come to Luxor to study with Dandash
(and Eman Zaki and Mohamed Kazafy), we are staying at
the Sofitel in Karnak on the banks of the Nile. A wonderful
setting for a fantastic event.
8
www.faridaadventures.com
Many thanks to Sherif Farouk for helping translate during
the interview with Dandash.
Creative Props
The Caped Belly Dancer
swoops into action
by Anna Bisco (AKA Loveday)
I openly confess to being a sucker for fun props that add a bit of variety and flare to your dance (as long as you do some actual
dancing with them!). This is driven by having been a resident dancer at the Spice Quarter in Leeds for nearly 5 years. We have
a core of regulars in the audience week in week out and it’s a constant challenge to keep my performances fresh and entertaining
for them.
This can be done with new music and styles but I always find that across 2 x 20min sets a new prop generates a fresh bit
of excitement to lure the audience back in. This has pushed me as a dancer to include a long list of proptastic styles at my
disposal; sword, meleya, shamadan, saggat, drum on drum, veil, double veil, triple veil, saiidi (and light up saiidi!), fans and
a new favourite Tray Dancing (which I will be teaching at JOY in April 2012).
Wings have always caused problems however due to space limitations at the venue so I was thrilled to pick up a top tip at
a recent dance workshop with Leyla Amir organised by Caroline Afifi.
So here it is.... Cape Wings!!!!
Capes were a much more popular dancers prop back in the 70s/80s scene and seem to have died a bit of a death in modern
times making way for veils and wings. I have seen modern dancers such as Ozgen work them to great effect as an entrance
prop but can’t say I’ve seen many female dancers use one recently. In Leyla’s workshop she described the old school style of
a glorious and somewhat restrained entrance slowly strutting around to claim her dance space adorned in a cape as entering
like a queen! The extra special edge to this however is that she does this with a pair of Isis Wings converted into a cape and
you can do this easily too, here’s how:
Get yourself a pair of Isis wings
Take out the sticks (they can stay in but this still leaves you with an issue if using in confined spaces)
Snip off the bit that wraps around your throat leaving only the band at the top that connects in to the wings
Figure out a good place for the arm holes to go (one on each side, near the front of the neckline of the wings) and mark
them with a straight line (approx 20cm long) down the fold line of the wings
Apply ‘Fraystoppa’ along the line if you have some to ensure that when you cut the fabric it doesn’t fray easily and allow
to dry
Cut down the line to create an arm hole on each side
Now put your arms through the hole and check to see if the hole is big enough and where the wings are hitting the floor at
the back. Trim the length of the wings so they don’t trail and get under your feet
At this point it’s up to you if you can overlock or hem to stop fraying, or perhaps trim the armholes and edge with sequins
like Leyla does
Leyla also cuts a zig zag to the bottom of the wings to give them more shape
And there you have it ‘Capewings’... many of your usual veil and wing moves will work with them... all you need to do
now is tart around in them and feel like a queen!
Take out the sticks and snip off
the bit that wraps around your
throat . . .
Figure out a good place for the arm holes
and apply ‘Fraystoppa’ . . .
Cut down the line to create an arm hole
on each side . . .
9
A film
to look
out for!
Sienna Miller stars in a new film “Just Like a Woman”,
directed by Rachid Bouchareb and in due for release
next spring.
She plays a Chicago housewife who leaves home with
her belly dance teacher to enter a dance competition in
Las Vegas. She has been praticising for three months and
reckons she can “semi-bellydance!
NADA will be looking
for a New EditorEinD2012
T
N
O
P
I
If you fancy the job,
please contact Liz
for an initial discussion.
P
A
Telephone: 01704 214175
email: [email protected]
Advertisement
10
An oriental
dancer’s story
by Meissoun of Switzerland
During a trip to Morocco I had the opportunity to interview the local dancer and costume designer
Nesrine. I had met her on a French internet forum where she had written about the situation of dancers
in Morocco and I was interested to learn more aout it. So I met her and her French husband and we had a
long talk about how the dance scene in Morocco works
First of all I would like to note that Raqs Sharqi is not a
native dance in Morocco. It was imported from the Middle
East, partly because it is something that tourists expect to see
in an Arabic speaking country.
There are many restaurants in Marrakech that offer
Oriental dancers as part of their entertainment. Some of them
have up to eight dancers! Those are also the places where
the main problem of dancers in Morocco is most frequent:
Prostitution.
We Western dancers are often insulted if dancers are
regarded as equals to whores in Arabic countries. But the
reality is that a woman who works there as a dancer often
earns extra money as a prostitute - be it out of her free will or
because she is forced to do it.
And even if dancers are not encouraged or forced to have
sex with customers for money they often get molested by
the owner of the restaurant and are quickly replaced if they
refuse to sleep with him.
Nesrine was one of those dancers who lost her job at a
restaurant because she refused to go to bed with the owner.
Nowadays she only rarely performs in decent riads (guest
houses) for smaller events.
She started to dance in public for the same reason that
motivates most women in Morocco to work as a dancer:
She needed the money. Her mother was in hospital getting
expensive treatments and Nesrine, who is a trained
seamstress, didn’t see any possibility for herself other than
to apply for a dance job at a restaurant.
Most of the dancers in Marrakech are controlled by a
few people who control the market and hire them out to
restaurants. The dancer often only gets 10 or 20 percent of
the payment. Which means that she will receive 100 to 150
dirhams of the 800 to 1500 dirhams that the restaurants pay.
Maybe 300 if she agrees to have sex with the Agent.
And those men also force the dancers to prostitute
themselves with the restaurant’s guests (mostly tourists). If a
guest wants one of the dancers he talks to the pimp who sets
up a price (and takes half of it for himself) and then contacts
the dancer. If she refuses to have sex with the guest she will
not get any more dance gigs.
This also happens in the top class restaurants in Marrakech!
Nesrine used to dance at a well known restaurant in the
Medina where she had no problems with customers - actually,
in this restaurant it was even forbidden to have contact with
them. But there was the owner who repeatedly asked her to
go out with him, get into his car or come to his apartment.
She was able to keep him at a distance for months. But then
her mother died and she didn’t work for two weeks - after
all she couldn’t tell her family that she worked as a dancer.
Her replacement didn’t hesitate to sleep with the owner and
Nesrine lost her job.
And even in the riads business is not always clean, there
are always owners who want to lure a dancer into their
bed. If she doesn’t go along she won’t get hired again. And
everybody tries to get their share out of the sex business.
Nesrine once got a call from a Riad that organized an
evening with dancers every Saturday. By chance the owner
knew Nesrine’s husband who stayed there all evening long
with a friend (also a Frenchman) to take her back home in the
end. During her performance a French tourist insisted very
much to spend the night with Nesrine and offered her 2000
dirhams (an average monthly salary in Morocco was 1000 to
1500 dirhams at that time). After she had refused, the guest
went to complain to the Moroccan owner, so the owner tried
to persuade Nesrine to go along with this customer - even
though he knew that her husband was there. In the end she
went home with her husband and his friend.
The next day she recived a phone call from the caterer who
had organized the evening. He asked for bakshish because he
had seen her leave with two Europeans and thought that they
had been guests!
The dancers’ families usually close their eyes to reality they often profit themselves. If a daughter or sister suddenly
brings a lot of money home, people prefer not to ask where
she got it from. As long as nobody says aloud that she is
earning the money in an immoral way they can pretend that
everything is all right. To admit that a member of the family
is a dancer and therefore a prositute would be an unbelievable
scandal. So it’s better to keep quiet.
Unfortunately there is a lot of poverty in Morocco and one
can’t condemn women to try and profit from tourism in some
way. For many dancers it’s the only way to make a living and
some simply give in to this “easily” earned money.
Actually Morocco is second only to Thailand when it
comes to the sex business.
Nesrine says: “This is an Islamic country where hypocracy
is king and his god is called money. And it’s quite the same in
other Maghreb countries.”
I never went to see a dance show in Marrakech myself.
After talking to Nesrine I was somehow not in the mood.
11
12
Photos by Tracey Gibbs
Caroline Afifi
An understated ambassador for Egyptian Dance
Interviewed by Anna Bisco
Caroline Afifi has been a key figure in the UK dance scene for many years working hard to raise the
standard in technique and understanding of Egyptian Dance styles and culture among her students and
the general public. She strives to share her passion at every opportunity and is a joy to watch as a
performer while maintaining an understated profile in the UK Belly Dance world. She is a true ambassador
for Belly Dance and shows her passion through action, including a recent visit to Cairo following the riots
of April/March 2011 to hand out donations raised through dance events in the UK to those in need in
the city. For those of you that saw the recent tabloid attention she received following a performance at
a Labour party conference you will know that they couldn’t have got it more wrong or picked on a more
unlikely candidate. They may well have accurately (in my view) cited her as the ‘Queen of Shaabi’ but they
missed out on a much more interesting story of the real woman behind this title... so here it is!
13
How long have you been dancing and where did it all
start for you?
I started in 1994 with my friend Janine who is from
Alexandria in Egypt. We mostly danced around her living
room to music from 1980’s Egypt. Janine had brought her
music with her to the UK so this was all we had available to
us at that time.
Who was your first teacher?
I started to take formal belly dance classes with Marion
Watson and Carol Hall in Liverpool (it was about September
1994). Carol Hall is still teaching in Liverpool and she is
such a lush dancer to watch. I started attending Wendy
Buonaventura’s annual summer school in Aug 1995 and
became a teacher and a member of her dance company in
1999. I used to drive hours to take one workshop back then,
it was very different from now. MADN which later became
Mosiac organised workshops with international teachers
such as Shereen El Safy, Mahmoud Reda, Leila Haddad (plus
many others). I used to drive from Liverpool to Banbury just
to watch the MADN showcase.
What made you fall in love with Egyptian dance?
My friend Janine I guess, there was something
mesmerising about watching her dance and I loved the
music. I used to watch old videos she had brought back from
Egypt with Nagua Fouad, Zizi Mustapha and Hayertum. My
mum in law (Caroline’s husband is Egyptian) is also great
for dancers, history and gossip. She loves belly dance and
watched all of the black and white movies. I try and take her
out in Cairo as often as I can to see dancers on the Maxim,
Marquisse and Pharaoh, she loves it!
At what point did dancing increase
in its’ importance to you?
I was a trustee for Nadey Al Cul which is now called The
Liverpool Arabic Club. I realised that my dancing helped me
bond with many people on many levels. It was through my
involvement with Nadey Al Cul we created the Liverpool
Arabic Arts Festival in partnership with the Bluecoat Arts
Centre. The festival, the only one of its’ kind in the UK is
now an independent organisation and employs a whole team
of people, I am extremely proud of what has been achieved.
Did you plan to become a teacher/performer?
No, not at all. Helen Roberts was a teacher in the
Warrington area and she asked me to teach a workshop
because I was working with Wendy B. The workshop was
a success so she asked me to teach monthly intermediate
classes which I did. I had many of the teachers in the North
West come though that class, it was great. In the early days
I danced at haflahs to Marco Polo and dabbled in ATS and
fusion but that disappeared when I started researching for
my theatre work and spent more time in Egypt. I only teach
Middle Eastern dance these days and mainly Egyptian styles.
What dance projects and activities are you currently
involved in and working on?
I am working on a new format for the Unity Showcase,
after 12 years it is time for a change. I am calling it ‘Il Itihad’
(The Unity/Union). I am still teaching monthly in Liverpool
and Wirral. The monthly class is aimed at people who really
14
want to be pushed further with their dancing. My monthly
students work at a higher level and work on performances
for Casino El Layl. Casino El Layl has really taken off and is
a really good quality evening of entrainment and fundraises
for various charities.
I am currently involved with a group of dancers setting
up new classes in Liverpool and Wirral. Sirocco Academy of
Egyptian Dance (SAED, which in Arabic also means Happy!)
is a new venture aimed at developing Egyptian dance in our
area. We are trying to launch new teachers with fresh ideas
to offer something very focused in Egyptian dance in order
to attract new people. There has been a significant drop in
numbers of people learning to belly dance in our area for
quite some time. And much of the focus has been moving
away from its’ cultural roots.
I am bringing out a Sha’abi CD called ‘Farah El Harah’
(Backstreet Wedding). My husband Sherif has been working
on and writing various film projects and one of them is a
documentary on Sha’abi Arts in Egypt called ‘Sha’abi, Lost
in Translation’. The CD is music from various artist featured
in the film. The CD should be out very soon, the cover and
packaging is holding me up at the moment.
I am working on a dance, music and culture course in
Cairo with Sara Farouk which will be something new and
fresh for people who want to dig a little deeper into the
dance and its’ surrounding culture. We are aiming this for
November 2012.
I still take a group out in April of each year on a trip called
‘Sha’abi to Oriental’.
I am also researching and writing a booklet for an
Egyptian CD of 80’s style classics being released in the USA
under the ‘Sands of Time’ label. The owner of the company
is fellow dancer Yasmin Henkesh who approached me to
write a booklet. This particular CD is from her catalogue of
Egyptian music from the 1980’s. Yasmin a former dancer
of Cairo herself, is doing some amazing work in terms of
collating music history and educating people in Egyptian
music in the West.
For more information contact www.serpentine.org
What ambitions still remain that you would like
your dance journey to take you on?
Dance wise I am fine with what I have accomplished.
I have performed in most settings and taught at numerous
festivals here in the UK. I had an amazing time teaching and
performing in Las Vegas and Seattle. I absolutely admire the
dancers of Cairo who pursued their dream, but it was never
a dream of mine to do that. I think sometimes people assume
this is the ultimate achievement, but not for everyone. I think
you have to have a certain kind of personality to deal with
the crap that comes with the job and I am certain I don’t
fill that criteria. Apart from that, I have had children since
I was very young and it is not a life style for people with
young children. My ambitions are to find creative ways of
developing the dance education. I would like to continue
researching and writing and perhaps become more involved
with my husband’s film making projects which are very
interesting. I will be in Cairo and Delta in January whilst he
is doing work on the film. We will eventually move back to
Cairo so I will be looking at others areas of interests to me
which combine my passion for Egyptian arts and work.
. . . the culture from which it
springs and most significantly, the
music. If there is no Middle Eastern
music then there is no ‘belly dance’
for me, the music defines the dance
- it is as simple as that . . .
How important do you think it is to visit Egypt
as student of this dance?
Very. I think the first time you go you are just awe
struck, so I think a few visits are in order to get beyond the
superficial tourism that Egypt throws in your face. I usually
aim my own trips at being a little of the usual dance mix and
some very exciting ventures off most tour operators’ radar.
Egyptian people do not fit into one neat box. Quite often,
we only meet people on the tourist route and that is a very
different experience from living with people. I have a lot of
friends in Egypt and most of them have nothing to do with
dancing or tourism.
What key changes have you seen happening in the UK
dance scene and where do you think it will go from here?
Since I began in the mid 90’s I have observed people
become more in touch with individual styles of dancing and
there is generally less of the ‘eclectic’ melting pot of moves
under the heading of ‘Belly dance’. Many of the teachers
back then taught a style of belly dance which was closer
Photo by Tracey Gibbs
What defines the dance for you?
Quite simply the culture from which it springs and most
significantly, the music. If there is no Middle Eastern music
then there is no ‘belly dance’ for me, the music defines the
dance - it is as simple as that. Movement vocabulary alone
means nothing, shimmies, circles and 8’s can be found in
many dance forms around the world.
Oriental dance is the visual representation of the music. I
make no secret of the fact that I do not like it when people
create their own dances and tag the label ‘belly dance’ to it.
Yes, dance ‘evolves’ but it is not up to people to ‘evolve’ a
cultural art form that clearly belongs to other people from
other parts of the world. I would challenge anyone to come
to Liverpool and tell us we are not ‘evolving’ enough or are
boring, need jazzing up a bit and tell us how we can change
or do it better. How can you remove our accent, our cultural
identity and still call us ‘Scousers’?? I know this is a bone
of contention with many, but I do not mind expressing my
thoughts on the matter because I want people to think about
what they are engaging in and why.
15
16
Main Photo by Tracey Gibbs
. . . I think we need to constantly evaluate what
we do, look at the wider implications and actually
care about them. I think it is much nicer to taste
and feel the individual flavours in dance . . .
to the ‘American style’ multi style as opposed to Middle
Eastern. I will say that teaching can still be a bit sketchy
in parts. There is evidence that people are still starting to
teach without enough knowledge and experience under their
belts and education in the dance needs to continue as long
as you are dancing it doesn’t end when you start teaching.
There is often a common misconception that beginners are
the easiest to teach; the opposite is true of course. People
have often been drawn to the superficial packaging of the
dance only to find out there is so much to learn, it can be
quite daunting. We need to strike a balance of meeting some
of the expectations people have when they join a dance class
but not totally indulging them in Oriental fantasy and fiction.
We have some great festivals here and some fine dancing, I
think we need to be head strong and keep moving forward in
the right direction.
We have a lot of great fusion and ATS in this country but
the Middle Eastern forms of the dance need to be as equally
strong and sometimes it looks like the weaker relative, which
is a pity. People often think I am against fusion or ATS but
this is so not true. I just believe in the correct use of labels
and I worry that people are losing interest in ME dance
because they are not happy with what they are being offered.
Fusion and ATS are so much more accessible and it appears
to especially attract the young. I think the two scenes being
mixed so much often leads to confusion and new dancers
coming into the scene think it is all the same thing. A person
in a sequinned bedlah dancing to Akon does not equal ‘belly
dancer’. The costume and some moves maybe there, but
otherwise it is a fusion piece of belly dance moves and image
with Western pop. An ATS dancer may look at it and think
‘cabaret’ and a Fusion dancer will think the same because
of the costume. I strongly believe in clearer definitions...
I know many ATS teachers feel the same and get annoyed
when Fusion dancers called themselves ATS.
I think we need to constantly evaluate what we do, look at
the wider implications and actually care about them. I think
it is much nicer to taste and feel the individual flavours in
dance.
Who are your favourite dancers past and present?
I love Fifi Abdou, Suheir Zaki (I am teaching a workshop
on her style at the next JOY festival), Zeinat Olwi, Zizi
Mustapha, Aza Sherif. I like mostly feisty Egyptian dancers...
I confess to not watching a lot of Samia et al. the fixed cinema
fantasy style dancing is not really that interesting to me.
These days I like Camelia she has a nice blend of Oriental
and feisty spirit, Aziza has an old style elegance about her
but I think she is starting to change. There are nightclub
dancers I really like but they are not famous, I like their
old style and use of technique which is driven from the hip
slide with great isolations. I like Aida Nour’s sassy style.
I love watching Nawarra here in the UK she is a force of
nature and I never tire of watching her, Khaled is an amazing
technician and performer and you can’t help but say WOW
when you see him. Ozgen another stage master who I never
get tired of watching. For fusion styles I like Mira Betz for
her quirkiness, and I like the true “improv” ATS style of
Jesse Stanbridge. There are so many people I enjoy watching
perform; I actually have a very long list! I just love good
dancing.
Dance teachers? That is a different thing for me. I like
Lulu Sabonghi a very generous and sincere teacher. I love
learning from Khaled he brings his passion for the dance to
every class and is also willing to take part in conversations, I
find him very giving. I enjoyed Camellia when she was just
teaching technique; Sara Farouk is an excellent teacher and
Yasmina. There are many, many who I have enjoyed being
tied up in knots with over the years!
Who are your favourite costumiers?
I have to confess to being a Mamdouh Salama girl. He
doesn’t even put a tape measure around me and knows
exactly what will work for me. Other than that I love Eman
Zaki of course and Shimmy Shop, the quality of Mandy’s
costumes is second to none.
Where do you get your music from?
These days I get my music from Arabic download sites.
CD shops in Cairo have closed own one by one as the
download industry has taken over. It’s a shame really because
it was good to own the physical CD. The guy in the Khan El
Khalili is still there.
What’s your current favourite track to dance to
and why?
I am a huge fan of Fadl Shaker’s Arabian Nights album. I
personally prefer to dance to music with vocals as opposed to
Megance as it is not my forte but I am going to push myself
to do one very soon. I am definitely rooted in Beledi style so
naturally lean towards these styles. I do occasionally dance
to instrumental but not as often. I also listen to Assala Nasri,
Maryam Fares, Shereen, Warda, Sharifa Fadel, George
Wassouf and Kazem El Saher amongst many. Right now I
am absorbed in Sha’abi listening to dozens of tracks to select
for the CD and surrounded by Sherif with all his film clips!
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18
Jo Wise interviewed by Jo Hirons
The question that I always find the most
intriguing and often the most unpredictable
– how did you discover Egyptian dance
or did it discover you?
19
Perhaps unusually for dancers of “my generation” I was
already a dancer. I’m a child of the late ‘50s and by the
1960s I’d become a very young hippy. Swept along by the
romance, idealism and creativity of the time but too young to
be defined by the politics and social upheaval, I’d set myself
free but had no clear idea of what to do with my sense of
freedom. I would always be off doing something unusual
and so it was a perfectly normal thing for me to take up a
suggestion that I might like an evening class in Expressive
Dance. I went along, jumped about, improvised, expressed
myself for all I was worth – and began to seriously consider
becoming a dancer. The 60s revitalised all those old Isadora
Duncan/Mary Wigman ideas about the natural need for the
human body to dance and dance was once again being taken
seriously as a means of artistic endeavour rather than mere
entertainment. I took more classes in modern ballet and
contemporary dance, all bare feet and leotards, and knew all
of a sudden and absolutely that this was something I just had
to do.
Back then you couldn’t just go down to your local college
and enrol in a course of Contemporary Dance, but I wasn’t
going to give in. I eventually found a full-time three-year
course at a private college. How on earth was I to afford to
live!
For those three years I had to work to pay my rent and
every other living cost. I couldn’t waste a single moment –
free time was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I regularly wondered
what I was doing launching myself into a proposed career
in Contemporary Dance when there wasn’t any work and
seemingly hundreds of people chasing every opportunity. I
joined a couple of short-lived dance companies, but the Arts
Council stopped awarding grants and so many projects fell
apart or came to nothing before they even got started.
I had started teaching even before finishing my course.
Everybody was doing it. There was such an appetite for
learning dance but absolutely no future in being a performer.
I taught all sorts of classes, even aerobics. Some were ghastly,
but others were special. For a while I taught Dance Therapy
to psychiatric patients. The idea was to get people moving
rather than sitting in chairs doing nothing. Those sessions
were brilliant – the staff and even the tea ladies joined in. It
was during this time that I began to realise that choreography
and the use of space was one of my passions. I had all sorts
of ideas, but no real chance to develop them.
So when did you find Egyptian dance?
From even before my first dance classes I realised that my
body was naturally blessed with an unusual flexibility and
ability to use isolations. As I progressed as a dance student I
developed that flexibility and made it one of my strengths, my
“dance signature”, if you like. When people saw me moving
my middle bits around so freely the throwaway comment
“You should be a bellydancer, huh-huh”, was never far from
some wag’s lips. It used to drive me nuts – but then there
started to be bellydance classes advertised around town and
I thought: why not?
I took my first classes. I became hooked. I found the wags
were right after all – I really did have a natural aptitude for
bellydancing. I was teaching within two years and within
four years it had taken over my whole life and was my only
source of income.
20
What were those early classes like and who did
you study with?
My first lessons were with Wendy Buonaventura in a nice
carpeted community centre. Those classes were enjoyable,
but I needed to learn with other dancers not with amateurs
and in a proper dance environment. I wanted to learn faster
and more in depth than the rest of the class. I get hungry for
things.
I then found classes being taught at the Pineapple Dance
Studios by Tina Hobin – I went for about six weeks and she
was good fun, but she was having some personal problems
and I had to find another class. I went back to Wendy who
was running classes at a studio in Holborn and also at an art
gallery where there was also another teacher called Selwa
Raja, who reinvented herself as Suraya Hilal. I studied
with Selwa/Suraya for four years. Both Wendy and Suraya
have their own styles of dancing. I learned an awful lot
of technique, especially from Selwa. I also found it was
possible to love their style but find it just a little bit peculiar
at the same time.
I came across an Egyptian video of a Fifi Abdou concert.
Can you imagine it? All opulent, sassy, feminine, powerful,
emotional, passionate, seemingly effortless – so full of
technique that every nuance seems absolutely perfect and yet
a radically different style from anything I had been taught.
That was it. I knew how to do this dance but now I wanted to
get a real Egyptian feeling for it.
What did you do?
I went to Egypt, and after that I branched out on my own.
I went to Egypt as often as I could and went to see as many
shows and performances as possible, in Cairo and in Luxor.
I made friends with musicians who tipped me off whenever
something exciting was happening. Wherever I heard there
might be a dancer that’s where I went – hotels, night-clubs,
parties, weddings, and street entertainments. If I managed
to get to speak to the dancer then I would ask for private
lessons. I got by as best I could in English and a few bits of
Arabic picked up along the way. In general the dancers I met
were pleased to give lessons. Someone from England asking
for dance lessons was rather unusual then and I probably
benefited from their curiosity. None of them, as far as I know,
were past or future stars. I wish I’d kept a record of who I
took lessons with, but it didn’t occur to me at the time.
I also used to bring back armfuls of cassettes and videos,
and, being in London, I could also get hold of music and
videos in the Edgware Road. Again I quite often had no idea
who I was watching or learning from. Apart from the big
names – Fifi Abdou, Lucy, Mona Said, Nagwa Fouad, Nelly
– most of the dancers were unidentified, but the videos kept
me going until I could get back to Egypt. There was no other
way of continuing to improve.
By this point, I had been dancing for two years in a Greek
restaurant. Style didn’t matter too much there, because it
wasn’t what the audience was interested in. I’d also done
Turkish places where the style was more authentically
Turkish. In 1980 I moved on to dancing in London’s Arabic
nightclubs. I learned a lot from the other dancers and also
from the musicians and singers. Performances went on all
night – you had to keep learning things to keep going and
you had to know what you were doing. The audiences in the
clubs were almost entirely Middle Eastern and they expected
a proper Middle Eastern dance show. I would do a Baladi
set of maybe 15-20 minutes, followed by an Oriental set of
at least two long dances. I needed to be adept at everything
from taqsims to tabla solos and to spice up my routines with
veil-work, folkloric tableau, sagat-playing, and stick-work:
constant variety. I had to be able to adapt my routines to be
suitable for wedding parties and for visiting VIPs. It wasn’t
at all unusual for Arabian princes and princesses to put in an
appearance at London’s clubs: I was even invited to dance
for their private parties on many occasions as well!
Things might seem so much more accessible these days
with the immediacy of the internet and Youtube, but being
there right at the end of the golden age of London’s Arabic
club-scene seemed somehow a lot more real. I learned so
much and got to see some legendary names, such as Aboud
Abdel Aal actually performing live in London.
Tell me about the music
The early 80s really were the end of an era for Arabic
music. Up until this point all of the music coming out of
the Middle East had been produced on vinyl and came from
Beirut. The seemingly endless Lebanese wars put paid to
this. The recording studios and processing plants either shut
up shop or were bombed out of existence and the rest of the
world abandoned vinyl for cassettes. It took Cairo such a
long time to catch up and start producing music again, so for
ages we all taught using music from the 1970’s, which was
the last time anything had been properly recorded.
I used to haunt record stores looking for old albums, things
produced in the Lebanon or the States. I’d been spoiled by
so much live music. At the same time, I had a “modern ear”
and all those 70s recordings with their twangy guitars and
overblown vocals were starting to sound a little dated. That’s
why I used to bring so much back – always looking for
something that felt old but didn’t actually sound old, or else
for something new that had the depth of the old. I think I was
one of the first London dancers to bring back Nubian music
and to incorporate Nubian dance into my repertoire.
Bellydance started to spread across Britain in the 1980s –
what was your experience?
I had been aware of other people beginning to teach,
but apart from my fellow nightclub dancers I didn’t really
know them and I certainly didn’t know anyone from outside
London. At that point I was earning most of my living from
performing, with just a few classes running alongside. I
could certainly have made enough money from cabaret
for a few more years, but I was getting bored with it. I’ve
always had a low boredom threshold and I got to hate always
working the nightshift and hanging around waiting to go on.
It started to affect my health – at one point I actually broke
out in a plague of boils! If I was unwell or on holiday there
was generally much discussion over who would be my shortterm replacement. So-and-so, they said, was not such a hot
dancer, but at least she was young and pretty... or sometimes
they said that so-and-so was a great performer but getting
old… That made me think. It was time to get out before they
said that about me!
I began by looking for more teaching and embarked on a
three-year course to become a qualified trainer in Alexander
Technique. People were looking for something a little more
focused than aerobics and I thought that would be something
I could do long term. Little did I know!
Other UK dancers suddenly started to make contact. There
were newsletters and networks and gatherings – a lot of hard
work to organise in pre-internet days! I found myself starting
to teach dance workshops rather than classes and travelling
outside London, too, to find unexpected numbers of students
in places like Leeds and Manchester.
What happened then?
I decided to try running a Summer School. It sounded
wonderful – a whole week of dance classes and performances
– and so I went ahead and set the ball rolling. I didn’t think
it would happen. I was gobsmacked when the cheques and
letters started pouring in. It really was something I could go
ahead with, and there were enough people wanting to come
along to get other teachers – Maggie Caffrey and Maureen
O’Farrell – involved. We had our first Summer school and
after that teaching Middle Eastern dance really did take over
my life.
For the next eight years I poured all of my energy into that
with the Summer School becoming the pinnacle of each year’s
activities. I expanded things. I found teachers who could
teach different styles of dance and I brought in musicians
from the old clubs and from the World Music scene. I’ve
always been very keen for student dancers to experience live
music – there’s nothing better for helping you to understand
the dance. I made sure everything was broken down properly
and inclusive rather than exclusive. My attitude was that if
I could create an environment where everyone was smiling,
happy, and relaxed then all of us, teachers and students alike,
could go on a voyage of discovery.
By this point there were lots of other teachers gathered up
in little pockets around the country. Some were incredibly
supportive, but others were very defensive and protective of
what they saw as their own livelihoods. I’ve always tried
to avoid getting involved in politics. My motto has always
been to be as good as you possibly can – that way people
can’t help finding out that you’re doing something different
and their curiosity gets the better of them. They come along
and make up their own minds, or at least hear what others are
saying first hand.
So, onwards and upwards then?
Very much so. All this showed me that the UK was caught
up in a tangle – desperately eager to learn anything and
everything and at the same time so complacent because it was
teaching itself in isolation. By now I had seen the standard
of teaching in other countries, particularly in Germany and
I knew we had to do something to raise standards and to
provide a professional dance training for teachers. I knew I
couldn’t do this on my own – I’m hardworking, passionate
and stubborn, but I don’t enjoy the practical side of things
like form-filling and finances. One day I was having a good
old rant to Maggie Caffrey and she just said: Let’s do it
together!
I’d known and respected Maggie for years: she really
21
was the one person who could do all the things I couldn’t
and we knew we could rely on each other. We got together
and thrashed out all the things you would need for a proper
course on teacher training for Middle Eastern Dance –
history, music, anatomy, safe-practice, how to plan lessons,
how to evaluate, encourage and motivate students, and how
to do this whilst continually developing your own dance. We
cajoled, bullied, and supported each other – and somehow it
happened, the JWAAD Teacher Training Diploma Course.
It’s been a lot of hard work over the years. Maggie
retired a few years ago. Kay Taylor is now Head of
JWAAD Professional Training and has taken over a lot of
the responsibility, which leaves me just enough free time
to develop other courses such as a two-day professional
performance course. We’ve designed and redesigned the
Teacher Training to meet the changing needs of British
dancers and it has gone from strength to strength. With
accreditation from the OCN it is now finally achieving
the academic and artistic recognition that Maggie and I
could have only dreamed of when we started it off, and is
developing into two interrelated Diplomas, one for teaching
and one for performing.
By now we had some very good teachers and performers in
the UK, but we also still had some very ineffectual ones. We
had no recognition and certainly no international reputation.
That’s why I started the Fantasia Festival in London to
promote UK teachers and teaching as much as to promote
the dance. It was the first festival located in a big city and so
easily accessible by all. I wanted students to come from all
over, and teachers too, from Yorkshire, Scotland, Cornwall,
wherever they were based. I wanted students to be able to
evaluate their teachers by seeing the very best that the UK
had to offer, and also for teachers to be given the support
and ongoing training that’s available in nearly every other
profession. Of course things didn’t quite go according to
plan. We ended up inviting international teachers to draw the
crowds and international teachers made contact wanting to
come to London.
I’m loving teaching this at the moment, not just in the
UK, but overseas as well. In the Professional Development
Course I take a small group of dancers and try to find what
it is that they have that no one else has. It’s really interesting
watching someone connect with the dancer inside and I’m
learning too, and seeing new things every day. I hate it when
students are turned out as perfect clones of their teacher. You
can have all the technique in the world – and thanks to the
resources now available British students really are achieving
this – but there’s something else to this dance, something that
comes from the individual.
So there are still journeys of discovery to be made by the
performer as well as by the teacher?
Performing is an odd thing, revealing and concealing
who you are at the same time. A lot of dancers say they’re
not performers because they just dance at home or in class,
but that’s perhaps because we’re conditioned to think of
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performing as something unnatural rather than natural. I’m
recognising that I personally will probably always need
something that equates to that nervous energy just before
you step out on stage, for the hectic days of putting a show
together, and for being ready in spite of everything. I don’t
think I will ever let that go.
I began putting performing groups and dance companies
together almost as soon as I began teaching Middle Eastern
Dance full time. Back in the ‘80s I had Sharqi which was
made up of my best students. We didn’t do much, a bit of
street theatre and the summer festivals. I didn’t care for
it long-term – too many lumpy fields, broken glass, and
tripping over the cables from the band, but great fun all the
same.
In the ‘90s I had Masriat, a proper dance company putting
on proper shows with lighting and technicians and the whole
rig. We were a very small cast of dancers which made things
just about affordable.
Of course once you come to the end of something you
always say you’ll never do it again, and somehow you always
end up coming back to do something even bigger and even
more hectic. So here I am now with Johara, a touring dance
company with 15 dancers putting together a theatre show
of Middle Eastern dance with modern fusion elements. We
have folkloric and authentic sections drawing from the past
as well as elements drawn from Bollywood and hip-hop. My
dancers are all different shapes and sizes, from 5’0” to 6’3”.
It’s a real challenge to make all these elements work together
and to develop costumes and routines that show everyone
and the dance off to their best advantage. I love all that stuff.
I’m getting a real buzz about choreography. That’s
something left over from my early days as a contemporary
dancer. Being a choreographer is a very different skill to that
of being a dancer, and learning how to use everything you’ve
got, particularly if you’re working with a group is an exiting
challenge.
So no chance of easing off then!
Not a chance of it! When I first heard about this “British
Bellydance Project” of yours I thought: I’m still here! I’m
not history yet and I’ve no intention of being history, not
for a long time yet! I might have been involved in dance for
three decades, but that’s just numbers and I’ve never been
too impressed with those. What excites me is where I’m
going next week, or the week after, how I’m going to get
those costumes delivered and fitted in time, where the next
piece of funding is going to come from, when I’m going to
get the next course module accredited, and where I might
possibly have left my passport. I might long to put my feet up
and put the kettle on, but if I did that I’d just get bored, and in
any case there’s no chance of me doing that. The phone will
ring and it will be one of the girls with a costume crisis, or
someone else with a good idea for…
There’s a lot happening and I don’t think I’ll ever not want
to be a part of it.
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If you’ve been following this series of articles so far, you’ll know that I’m slowly going through a
vast collection of old dance cassettes in search of the history of British Bellydance music and
these are now slowly dwindling as I run them through the computer and digitise anything that
I don’t already have. I’ve thus far taken you through my discoveries from the early Noughties,
Nineties, and Eighties, when first the audio cassette and then the CD was king, when music
could be shared quickly and cheaply for the first time, and when there was an explosion of
dance teaching and dance learning brought about by these portable and practical means of
bringing music to class. Every now and again, though, I come across recordings from an earlier
age: there’s the unmistakeable clunk and hiss of a needle hitting a groove and we’re back in
the age of vinyl. If we want to look at the resources available to would-be British Bellydancers
in the decades before CDs and cassettes then we need to go back to a time when music was
round and black and shiny.
Bellydance UK
Retro Discovery
By Jo Hirons
Before we do that, though, we probably ought to look
through early history of recorded music and discover how
Middle Eastern music became available in the West in the
first place. So, starting right back at the very beginning,
American inventor Thomas Edison came up with a working
and saleable recording-and-playback device in 1878. In this
same landmark year, the first piece of music ever replayed,
from tin cylinder, was a cornet rendition of Yankee Doodle
Dandy. Others developed commercially viable wax cylinders
in the early 1880s, and Emile Berliner patented the use of flat
discs in 1889. These devices were popular enough to convince
manufacturers of their future potential, but recordings lasted
little more than three minutes; power for both recording and
playback was generated by short-lived, unreliable batteries
and primitive motors; and the reproduced sound carried so
short a distance that the listener had to lean into the machine
to actually hear it. It was an intensely personal pleasure and
recordings often reflected this by being quirky, offbeat and
unusual. Do not be deceived by images of cosy Victoriana:
playback devices were the desirable playthings of the technogeek with pocket money.
24
It is evident from extant recordings, and from catalogues of
alas long-vanished pieces, that the new technology appealed
directly to those with a mania for collecting. It also attracted
those with a sense of the changing world who wished to
preserve sounds and music that would otherwise be lost.
Recordings were made of Arabic, Persian, North African,
and especially Turkish music during these early years: these
were presented as exotic colonial curios, or fragile relics of
Eastern Empires that would soon be swept away by coming
modernity. The singers and musicians were almost entirely
recorded in the States or in Europe and were presumably
living there or else touring with theatrical shows. One reason
for this was the almost total inability of the equipment to
function in hot or humid conditions.
The first three decades of the twentieth century saw
inventions and advances come by leaps and bounds: stable
batteries, high-quality cables, reliable motors, increased
amplification, vocal and instrument microphones, and
mass production. As soon as their equipment could travel
safely the collectors and thrill-seekers were off to harvest
the musical treasures of the world. Travelling salesmen also
hawked equipment to the far-flung corners of the world: by
the Twenties Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Cairo, Constantinople,
Tehran, Damascus and Beirut were all producing their own
recordings for home consumption.
These early recording years also saw mass migrations of
peoples from the Far East, from Eastern Europe, and from
lands under the sway of the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
Many were economic migrants seeking life in the old
cities of Europe or the new boom towns of America. Many
others were fleeing persecution and political unrest: Jews
and Roma from Eastern Europe; Assyrian, Maronite, and
Armenian Christians. Maps were changing and small nations
disappearing. The arrival of the Old Church in Europe and
the States is enormously important for understanding how
the teaching of folkdance first became popular in the West.
There is not space to tell that story here. Suffice it to say that
the New Church welcomed the Old Church and undertook
to chaperone its integration with the rest of the flock. At the
outset, not having a shared tongue, an ancient and universal
language was called upon, and within a few short months
a Church, which had, only a few years before, condemned
music and dance as pernicious distractions, found itself
actively encouraging them and hiring out its halls and public
places for their performance. In the States in particular there
were sizeable immigrant populations and the recording
companies, who had been selling “race records” to the
black community for some time, spotted another marketing
opportunity. By chance, deep Russian voices, massed
eastern choirs, and high, sweet violins were also just what
the engineers wanted to test the proficiencies of their new
recording techniques. It was a good time to be a musician:
a life of adventure, if not exactly luxury, could offer an
attractive escape from the grinding drudgery of work, and
fortunes could just possibly be made.
In the new cinema, Arabic and gypsy musicians shared
the silent screen with Rudolph Valentino long before the
audience could actually hear them, and as soon as the talkies
arrived, musicians and singers joined the ranks of glamorous
stars. Developments in the manufacturing of steel strings,
and of resonator instruments created a craze for Hawaiian
music, and then for Mexican, Spanish, and Gypsy music.
With the music came stages full of dancing girls and with
the arrival of colour film a full-blown passion for wildly
exotic costumed extravaganzas. This was just the sort of
escapism needed to carry many though the dreary days of
the Depression and then through the darker days of WWII.
The recruiting posters cried: “Join up – and see the world!”
and for the first time ordinary people did just that; when
they came back many of them wanted to relive the sights
and sounds not of the horrors of war but of the romanticised
rest of the world. The South Seas, the Mediterranean, the
Far East, North Africa… it didn’t matter. Escapism and
exoticism romped away as never before – and this time they
coincided with the advent of the long-playing record. The LP
arrived in 1948 and promised 20 minutes per side – untold
musical riches! For the next 30-odd years this would be the
music medium of choice and for many this is the Golden Age
of Bellydance music.
In the Middle East the film, television, and recording
industries burgeoned, and taking cues from American and
Indian cinema put musicians, singers and dancers on screen.
The industry demanded more and more copyists, arrangers
and composers. Singers became stars as never before. Just as
25
microphones and amplification allowed guitarists to emerge
from the backing band in Europe and the States, so they
allowed the virtuoso oud-player to escape from the orchestra.
A casual trawl of old movies reveals Golden Age stars hailing
from all over the Middle East – and that’s just the named
dancers, singers, and musicians on centre-stage. Another
interesting game is to count how many record-players turn
up in old movie clips. LPs came pouring out of the recording
studios of the Lebanon to meet rising consumer demand:
radio and television concerts, film soundtracks, music by and
for the latest stars, and instrumental arrangements produced
by popular orchestras. It was inevitable given this glut of LPs
that some of them should begin to arrive over here. There
weren’t any specialist dealers, at first, but those in the know
could point you to the shop or market stall where, if you were
lucky, the proprietor might have desirable purchases hidden
away beneath cooking pots, bolts of cloth, and everyday
vegetables.
Fabulous though such finds might be for the would-be
British bellydancer of the post-war years, it was the States
which were actively producing far more recordings aimed
specifically at the Middle Eastern dance connoisseur. This
had begun with immigrant musicians performing for their
own communities: as the communities grew their need for
entertainment grew, and particularly for the sort of musicians
who could turn their talents to any event and any style,
giving rise to the comedic advertising tagline – “Weddings!
Funerals! Bar-Mitzvahs!” When Prohibition banned the sale
of alcohol between 1920 and 1933 eating establishments
began to offer music as a means of getting paying custom
though the door. For the customer the thrilling prospect
that girls might let their hair down and dance was a form
of much-missed intoxication. Ordinary Americans began to
be musically and gastronomically adventurous, and to enjoy
living dangerously. Cinema and popular culture’s enduring
love affair with the romantically foreign meant that the better
musicians could begin touring and making records.
The States’ Middle Eastern communities were not as
widespread as its European ones, and they came together
more through shared culinary heritage than shared race or
religion. Their “house bands” were mongrel entities made
up of Jews, Christians, and Muslims playing a rag-bag mix
of Arabic, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, and Eastern European
tunes. Their music also lost a lot of its more challenging
elements, partly to compensate for the different tunings of
available instruments, and partly to make it more accessible
to a wider audience. Successive waves of incomers arrived
after WWII – just in time to cash in on the resurgent exotica
boom. Their nightspots and restaurants filched entertainment
and décor straight out of the screen’s Arabian Nights and
offered the adventurous American diner the daring and
exquisite delight of bellydancers.
Of course, it’s no good being daring and adventurous if
your friends don’t get to hear about it, so a souvenir of your
experience is desirable. Punters could also buy into images
of scantily-clad females on the grounds that these were once
again cultural and artistic. House bands and club-owners
soon got wise to the possibilities of expanding their earnings
by selling records. By the Fifties celebrity bellydancers were
among the darlings of the gossip pages: Samia Gamal married
a wealthy Texan, only to be publicly dumped for “Turkish
Delight” Nejla Ates. The Arabian dance scenes in Fanny, the
Broadway musical featuring Ates, were ludicrously popular:
26
far more so than the rest of the story about life in a French
port. Nai Bonet danced in Las Vegas at the tender age, so
it is claimed, of just 13. The demand for bellydancers far
outstripped the arrival of talented performers and celebrity
professionals from the Middle East. Canny Americans began
taking lessons.
With the Sixties bellydancers were kitsch, cool and
everywhere as Elvis, James Bond, the crew of the Starship
Enterprise, The Monkees, and the Men from UNCLE could
confirm. More and more Americans and Europeans were
experiencing the real Middle East through jobs in the petrol
industry or providing the oil-producing countries with
building, shipping, engineering, and telecommunications
expertise. Record companies started to pitch bellydance
albums at the bored housewife looking to spice up her
marriage. Dance lessons were being offered to American
women in nearly every major city and in discovering dance,
women were also rediscovering the power of femininity.
Celebrity teachers and performers began to put out their
own bellydance music, and teach-yourself records. There
were also bellydance pop records: Nai Bonet’s 1966 novelty
single Jelly Belly claimed there were more bellydancers in
New York than all of Egypt and the craze for Surf Guitar
instrumentals revisited several Middle Eastern standards, not
least Misirlou.
The Sixties also brought a rather more serious side to
bellydance vinyl. In the UK in particular the Folk Music
revival had become almost inseparable from the Labour
Movement and indigenous music of all sorts suddenly
became the preserve of earnest young academics. Collecting
mania took off once again and intrepid adventurers lugged
their portable reel-to-reel recording devices all over the
world. No desert, no mountain, no tribe, no village was safe
from them. The music of North Africa, of the Sinai Desert,
of Kurdistan, Jewish music from Morocco and Arab music
from Israel: nothing was too obscure or too little understood.
This time there were record companies eager to transfer this
new material to vinyl: big enough to produce music for niche
markets and small enough to be passionately involved in its
production. Nor did the music have to stay obscure: nearly
all of it came with translated lyrics and explanatory booklets.
And if you wanted to play any of it, well, folk guitarist
Davey Graham had popularised the DADGAD tuning to
enable you to make sense of unfathomable tunes. The beauty
of all of this for British lovers of Middle Eastern music was
that it was all produced on recognisable record labels and if
you couldn’t find it at your specialist dealer then you could
almost guarantee that your nearest big city library had caught
the zeitgeist bug for field recordings, and if that failed then
the American record companies positively encouraged Mail
Order – all you had to do was wait and hope your parcel
made it safely through Customs.
The Seventies started off well: more collecting, more
recording, more stellar bands, and more musical experiments.
The arrival of the jumbo jet meant foreign travel became
affordable and fascinating. The coastal resorts of the
Mediterranean opened up to all. The Arabian nightclubs
were booming in Britain and the States and star dancers and
musicians came for long residences. Bellydance began to be
taught in Britain. The market for bellydance records from the
States and Middle East might have seemed unstoppable, but,
inevitably, the Golden Age was passing.
The Seventies saw the deaths of Om Kulthoum, Farid
The Sixties also brought a
rather more serious side to
bellydance vinyl. In the UK in
particular the Folk Music revival
had become almost inseparable
from the Labour Movement and
indigenous music of all sorts
suddenly became the preserve
of earnest young academics.
al-Atrash, and Abdel Halim Hafez, the Big Three of Arabic
music: singers who had been part of people’s lives as never
before were no longer there.
In 1972 the seething cauldron of Arab-Israeli tension
boiled over once again and 11 Israelis were killed at the
Munich Olympic Games. This was the first Games to be
televised in colour and the tragic outcome was seen by
millions who had bought or rented TV sets for the occasion.
Popular opinion sided with the Israelis and a curious thing
began to happen to the record market. Since the end of the
Six Day War in 1967 there had been increasing sales of
Jewish folk-songs and pop music: these now increased still
further and record companies began to reissue older material,
putting together compilation albums of Jewish songs and
cutting out the Arabic ones, even if the original performance
had contained both. Some bands started to lose their Arabic
repertoire and their Arabic musicians. Other bands talked
of being dropped from the airwaves. This was by no means
universal, and in any case more in response to public interest
than any cohesive agenda, but it is a noticeable trend. People
were beginning to wake up to a world that was no longer
romantic.
Further political upheaval continued: as any child of
the Seventies remembers, the TV news was dominated by
Middle Eastern wars, and particularly by the civil war in
Lebanon. Middle Eastern record production stopped almost
entirely in the mid-70s: nothing new came out of Beirut and
almost nothing made it to Britain. Field recordings also had
to stop: in many places it was no longer safe to travel, or
visas and permits were no longer issued. This left just the
American recording artists and those Middle Eastern artists
who had moved or could travel to the States or Europe.
Although wonderful things were still being produced
for the American bellydancer, by the late 70s things were
beginning to get a little stale. Relaxed theatrical censorship
rules meant that bellydancers were competing with
establishments offering shows with more sexualised content:
although the dancers surely didn’t mind the departure of
certain sections of their audience, the cash registers did.
There were also generational issues: club proprietors retired
and sold their businesses; young musicians didn’t yearn
to form new bands for old music; and the languages of
the Middle East were no longer the natural tongues of the
immigrant communities. Even those who delighted in the
music of exotica were abandoning bellydance for the new
excesses of Disco.
27
The final nail in the coffin for American-style cabaret
music was the arrival of Edward Said’s hugely influential
book Orientalism in 1978. This laid bare all of the West’s
alleged prejudices and abject manipulation of the public
perception of the Middle East and its peoples. It is a book of
its time and one that very much needed to be written, but it
is also, alas, a joyless creation. Quite simply, it negated any
sense of fun and enjoyment and advocated their replacement
with political correctness and cultural awareness. Orientalism
informed Western journalists and music critics of the
“correct” way to approach the arts of other countries and
this in turn gave rise to the bizarre notion of World Music in
the Eighties and beyond. Music stopped being about music.
The West sought to relieve its colonial guilt by extending
a paternal hand to the disaffected. Open any CD booklet
from this period and you will learn much about oppression,
hardship, dissidence, and political angst, but you will learn
very little about music. The day of the cheerfully “mongrel
band” was doomed. To be critically accepted bands had to
have a common cultural origin and play the music of their
own people: this enabled their output to be filed in the
appropriate slot in the World Music section and helped the
benevolent World Music audience tick the appropriate boxes
in their culturally-conscious and conscientious collections.
For two decades, right through the demise of the LP, the
rise and fall of first the cassette and then the CD, Middle
Eastern music in the West has run scared of a torrent of
politically-correct brickbats. It is only recently, with the
near-universal uptake of download music, that this has
begun to change. Music lovers are adding things to their
collections on the whim of “I like that” rather than the diktat
of “I am required to like that”. It doesn’t matter any more
where music comes from or how old it is. It doesn’t matter
either whether it’s produced by an established company or
by a band that gets together down the street. It is the medium
and its immediacy and that is all. This new technology
reminds us that making and appreciating music is one of the
world’s oldest pleasures and it really can exist without the
moneymen and the armchair politicians. It is perhaps for this
reason, and the inevitable transition to a new generation, that
the contents of those old vinyl discs are once more being
sought out by today’s bellydancers. Wonderful things are
being dusted off and reissued, and dancers are reacting with
surprise to find out that some of those old musicians are
still alive, still playing, and have in fact continued to play
since the days of vinyl, just beneath the radar of political
correctness. Retro is resurgent, what was kitsch is now
cutting edge, and, perhaps because the present is so troubled,
the past is once more playful.
It is for all these reasons and more that whenever I drop
one of those old bellydance cassettes into the machine and
hear the evocative sound of a falling needle I hold my breath.
What will it be? Where will I go? Baalbek or Boston? North
Africa or North Beach? In the next article I’m going to look
at some of the records that made it through to the early days
of Bellydance Britain – and let you know how you can get to
hear, or, even better, get your hands on the fruits of Vintage
Vinyl.
28
From
Starbucks
to Stage
Behind the scenes of the
Tarab Dance Company’s show
Stephanie Jagger
By Claire Novis
Photo’s by Alan Smith
It seems nearly a lifetime ago that I and the Tarab girls sat crowded around a tiny table piled
high with mugs of lattes, mochas and caramel macchiato, discussing what direction the
Tarab Dance Company should go in. In fact, it was more like a year and a half ago.
Having joined Tarab in 2004, very much the green and
inexperienced dancer, it was very strange to suddenly find
myself in the position of being the longest serving member
of the dance company. The membership of Tarab has always
evolved over time, but with the last of the original line up,
Kay Taylor and Anne Kingston, deciding to stand down, it
felt as if Tarab was entering an entirely different era. The
news of Tarab choreographer Ali Whitworth becoming ill
had also made me consider whether I wanted to continue or
not. Buoyed by the enthusiasm of the other Tarab members
Anna Bisco, Heather Charlton and Sabrina Owen, however, I
decided that it felt right to take forward what Ali, Kay, Anne
and all the other members had worked so hard to achieve
over the years.
The first coffee fuelled meeting of the new Tarab crew was
an exciting but nerve wracking one, especially for brand new
members Vanessa Clipsham, Nisha Lall and Naomi Howard.
With all the changes, deciding how to take Tarab forward
should have been bewildering, however, whether it was
down to the caffeine or the girls’ sheer enthusiasm, ideas and
inspiration started to flow very quickly. We soon realised that
we could never be the same Tarab as the “old Tarab”; but that
we had different skills to offer, different fortes to showcase
and therefore we needed to go in a different direction.
Ideas for what we could include in the show started to
flow very quickly – if anything slightly too quickly! Our
problem was how to tame what we had come up with and
tie them together into a show. Making the decision of which
concepts to leave out and put on the back burner was harder
than coming up with them in the first place. Soon, however,
we realised that what we were talking about seemed to focus
on the misconceptions of bellydance, the hang ups about
“what bellydance is”, and how the dance form continues to
evolve. So, our show concept crystallized as an exploration
of the perceptions of bellydance in Egypt and the West and to
look at what happens when the influences from these regions
29
Vanessa Clipsham
come together. We wanted to retain the core Egyptian styles
that we love within the show, whilst incorporating some of the
westernised styles and oriental fantasies that are so popular in
the West. With Tarab’s roots, and our own interests, so firmly
entrenched in Egyptian Dance, though, the final decision to
explore the east meets west aspects of bellydance was not
one we took lightly. Would we alienate some of Tarab’s loyal
supporters? Would we attract a different type of audience?
We decided that it was something we had to try and find out,
and so “Rihla – The Journey of Bellydance” came into being.
Once the concept for the show had come together, we
embarked upon our rehearsals, bringing the final new
members of Tarab, Sarah Pulman and Stephanie Jagger, into
the team. From past experience, we have found that having
intensive weekend residential rehearsals works best. We
spent the weekends learning choreographies and planning
the roots of the show such as technical issues and fundraising
ventures. Most importantly, though, the weekends gave us
space to sit and enjoy a meal together, catch up and bond
as group. It is in this relaxed environment that ideas really
seemed to spark between us, and we came up with some of
our best (as well as also our most ridiculous) ideas.
Rihla has taken many rehearsal weekends to get into
shape. As well as our solos, there are seven group, triette or
duette numbers in the show, meaning that we have had plenty
of material to learn. Fortunately, the girls are quick learners,
and we even managed to rattle through our eight and a half
minute finale piece in a weekend. Tarab split choreographic
duties between the groups, giving lots of opportunities for us
to develop our choreographic skills, learn from each other’s
styles and approaches to the dance and provide a varied and
30
interesting dynamic to the show. Choreographing for Tarab
is a great but very rewarding challenge. My challenge for
choreographing the finale number was to reprise the themes
and elements of other choreographies within the show,
to represent our message of modern bellydance being a
patchwork, evolving as it assimilates elements of dance that
both proceed and surround it. Fortunately, the wonderful
content that the other girls came up with for the show was
more than enough to inspire me.
But the Rihla show is not just about the dancing. Whilst
we knew we were being ambitious with the project when
we sat drinking our coffees that very first morning, I think
I had completely underestimated how much work would be
needed behind the scenes to bring it to fruition! As well as
the choreographies, costuming and organisation of theatres,
the show has taken us on an adventure into so many other
aspects of the production of a show. As part of this, we
have roped in hoards of Tarab friends, family and partners
to help behind the scenes on everything from photography,
videography, costume making, web design, show promotion,
drumming and front of house – it is dangerous to know a
Tarab girl… there is no escape from being dragged into the
midst of the Tarab world!
To make the show feel truly professional we felt that we
needed expert advice on the sound production, lighting and
programme design to make sure that they truly enhanced and
added to the feel and energy of the piece. Whilst I am thrilled
at how it has all come together now, the journey to get there
has been hard work and, after a few false starts, the key to
getting there in the end has definitely been the great team of
guys we’ve pulled in along the way to help us.
Photo’s by Alan Smith
Nisha Lall
Anna Bisco
The show narrative provides the linking thread to the
show, leading our audience with us on our journey through
bellydance. It follows the dancers discussing their thoughts
on what bellydance really means today, and how they should
tie it all together into a single finale piece that represents
what bellydance is to them. The narrative is set against a
back drop of gradually developing Arabic rhythms to reflect
the progressive crystallization of the dancers’ thoughts.
We were fortunate to be introduced to our sound engineer
Paul Thornton through my partner’s work. Paul recorded
and produced the narrative for us, with the assistance of
percussionist extraordinaire Adam “Rhythmic Ginger”
Warne. Paul is used to producing thrash metal bands, and
I dread to think what he must have thought being faced
with three excessively nervous and shamefully giggling
girls to record the voiceovers. Unfortunately, on the day we
had set to do the recording there was a power outage at the
recording studio. Undeterred, Paul set about to make sure
we could still get the recording done; expertly bedecking
his dining room with duvets, pillows and sleeping bags. We
found ourselves in a relaxed, yet surreal, acoustic bubble ;
all the less threatening for the totem pole of Paul’s sister’s
cuddly toys balanced in the corner of the room, which were
apparently there to help deaden the sound! Paul guided us
through the recording process despite our nerves and limited
acting ability to produce a soundtrack that we are very proud
of.
Lighting for the Tarab shows has always historically been
difficult for us. Touring from theatre to theatre, we have had
to rely on lighting technicians at the different venues, who
have had little time to familiarise themselves with the show.
We decided we really needed to get a lighting designer on
board for the shows to ensure that the lighting played a more
integral part in the feel and flow of the piece. After false
starts with others, and much appreciated help from Tarab
friends in the interim, the power of Google eventually came
to our aid in finding Louise Gregory. Louise is a full time
theatre lighting technician, but was just setting up her own
business as a freelance lighting designer when we found her.
She readily took on the challenge of designing a lighting
scheme flexible enough to take on the very different lighting
set ups at the different theatres, using her incredible eye for
colour and images from the show’s promotional identity
to tie the show together and bring it alive. We knew she
would fit right in by her enthusiastic reaction to our mention
of sha’abi style fairy lights; something which we are now
thoroughly convinced of having now seen her dancing along
in the control box to one of the numbers during the show!
We had put so much thought into the concept for the
show that we decided that it was really important to have
a programme to accompany it, to provide more background
information to our audience. There were so many thoughts
that we had had regarding the perceptions and reality of
bellydance that we could not physically fit them all into the
show narrative. Having a programme would enable us to
communicate our message in a far more detailed way than
we could within the show narrative, and also credit the efforts
of many of those who have helped Tarab with the show. We
wanted something glossy and beautiful that people would
enjoy owning and be able to keep as a memento. The talented
Ric Gibbs did a beautiful job designing the programme,
which compliments the dynamic feel of the show perfectly.
31
Sabrina Owen
The show days themselves are the culmination of all of
our efforts, but we still cannot afford to sit back as the hard
work continues throughout the whole day. In the morning
we gather from around the UK, and launch straight into
our pre-show preparations. Whilst the lighting rigs are set
and technical checks made, we get rehearsing the group
choreographies, finalising positions and getting our make-up
sorted for the show ahead. Having made sure we look like
overly made up drag queens close up, we then head for the
stage for the technical run through, finalising staging for the
theatre we are in, running through key lighting transitions,
and making sure our make - up looks more sultry than scary
from a distance so that we don’t scare our audiences off!
After a short break, we dive straight into the show proper.
The show opens with a fabulously fun, laid back folk
choreography by Ali, a fitting and joyful celebration of all she
has done for Tarab. From that point on, the show whirrs past
us in a flurry of quick costume changes, gathering together
of props and rushes to wait in the wings. We draw breath for
what feels like moments before embarking on the second half,
and then, suddenly, the show is over. So far, I’ve felt slightly
dazed after each show, but with an overwhelming sense of
pride about the show and happiness from working with the
Tarab ladies again. Hopefully our love and passion for the
dance has come across to our audiences. The audiences have
certainly been fabulous so far, and we have been thrilled
by the great feedback including “[the show] celebrated all
the great things about bellydance – friendship and love and
passion included” and “[the] show was brilliant – clever in
narrative and bringing all the styles together in fun, most
enjoyable, interactive performances. Loved it all”. At the end
32
of the day, exhausted yet with the buzz of adrenalin still in
our blood, we head back to the reality of day to day life, and
look forward to doing it all over again.
Developing the Rihla show has undoubtedly been the
biggest challenge that I have ever been involved in, but also
one of the most enjoyable and rewarding. Physical tiredness
from the rehearsals and staying up all night planning, doing
paperwork and writing copy are all worthwhile once I am
together with the girls and sharing what we have achieved
with an audience. Tarab is a not for profit company – we all
dedicate our time, travel and costuming costs for no other
reward than the incredible development opportunity that
Tarab gives us – being able to work in new and exciting
ways, with a truly inspirational group of ladies, which has
certainly changed my dancing for the better immeasurably.
For this show, we have been very fortunate to receive some
funding from the Big Lottery fund to help us, among other
things, with the technical side of the show and to put on free
community bellydance taster sessions everywhere we go to
lure others into the bellydance world. With this, combined
with fundraising, the past investment of Kay Taylor of Farida
dance into the company and a lot of our own cash, we have
been able to produce a show which we are truly proud of and
we are convinced that both dancers and newbies will enjoy.
As Heather said in rehearsals “the only problem with being
in Tarab is that I won’t be able to watch this show”. We hope
that many of you will be able to come and share and enjoy
what we have created with us.
Tarab’s tour of “Rihla – The Journey of Bellydance” will
be continuing around the UK throughout 2012. Check out
www.tarabdance.com for details.
Photo’s by Alan Smith
Claire Novis
I thought it was about time we had one around here. There is a wealth of different experiences in
the dance and I had hoped to attract them onto a local theatre’s stage but applications were thin
on the ground by mid-September so when the university asked could they have the date for an
assessment, I moved the show to a local parish centre and re-advertised for dancers. Whether
or not it was the magic word . . . BAR . . . or not I am not quite sure but the requests for slots
and guest tickets poured in and I ended up with a very full house.
NADA’s North West
Performance Platform
Photo by Ian Woodward
By Liz Jarrett
Our guest dancers Bev Smith’s “Egypta” were heading
across the Pennines to join us and of course we ended up
with not just two delightful dances but a bazaar and a fashion
show.
Travelling up from Wrexham came the magical Goth
Fusion group, the Weird Sisters. They often support
Merseyside events and no one could be more welcome with
their innovative and fascinating dancing. Tracey Gibbs’
Manchester ladies graced the dance floor with a Golden Age
(and Bev’s costumes) tribute. It was a charming and intricate
choreography with gold and pink -clad ladies changing
places and moods. Not the only Golden Age number-there
was also Gill O’Flaherty‘s Jewels of the Nile, deftly handling
a classical routine.
Soloists included local teachers Barbara Murray, Lynn
Campbell, Sarah Garrish and Carol Holloway with a
pleasing variety of pace and style – silk veil, techno-beat,
Shamadam and classical. Maureen Holmes from St Helens
was elegance personified in her solo and also danced with
her El Ghawazee ladies in a cheerful Nubian style number.
Sue Powell-Green (who also fed us) and Rakkassah are the
most colourful ladies, so “together” on a fast paced number
as only a long-established class can. Another group that
aren’t usually together but who were on the night was an
ITS co operation between Raven, Tantrum and Jo Taylor.:
intriguing and satisfying to see the style like that.
Tantrum and Sakura were two more tribal fusion duets:
the former Indian inspired graceful dancing with very scary
fingers! The latter was a powerful demonstration of Gypsy
Caravan Improvised Style. Gill’s Nile Tribe danced a gentle
and mesmerising fusion with silk fan veils. I’ll mention my
own mates :Sue, Hilda and I looking rather rustic with our
Bedouin Fused tribal dance. Yes it was a mixed platform
reflecting the different routes belly dancers have taken in
the area. Our Monday group (so originally named Monday
Monday) danced with our canes to a modern Egyptian piece
and I would say that Belly Dance was still the driving force
behind a mixed platform which while not purely Middle
Eastern was very entertaining.
The show ended on a very Egyptian note with our guest
solo dancer and leading light of the North West: Anne
Kingston.
I think the whole show worked and I hope to repeat it
in 2012 . . . yes I’ll stick with a BAR . . And I also hope to
hold a workshop in conjunction with that event and sneak in
another and that’ll make it well worth being a NADA North
Westerner.
33
Anne Kingston
Heike and Diana from Tracey’s group
Beverley Smith and her group Egyptia
34 34
Photo’s by Ian Woodward
Maureen Holmes
Memories of
Ali Whitworth
From Angie Cochrane, Brenda Colville, Cynthia Johnston, Dot McBride, Jane Allen,
Jenny Strong, Julia Shepherd, Sandra Bootes and Ursula Robinson.
Rakassa is a club promoting Middle Eastern Dance
and music in Carlisle. Ali was the driving force in
setting it up in September 2007. The aim was to provide
opportunities and events for the learning and performing
of belly dance in Carlisle and surrounding
areas.
Many Rakassa members had previously
attended Ali’s classes in the 1990s through
adult education classes in Carlisle and
they continued with her when she set up
on her own.
Later Ali and Tine Valois began classes
together at Wigton Road, taking turns to
teach beginners and improvers. This was
very successful. Many of us also went with
Ali and Tine on a wonderful holiday to
Cairo, arranged and accompanied by Kay
Taylor in October 2006. Happy days! Then
sadly for us, the lovely sparkly Tine left us
and returned to her native Denmark early in
2007.
After Rakassa was set up later, Ali
continued the classes with her usual enthusiasm and flair.
She regularly taught us new choreographies and tried
to improve our techniques with gentle bullying, such as
“No chicken wings!”, “Lift your heads up”, “Smile” and
occasionally “No, no, nooo!!” but often also “Well done!”.
She was unfailingly patient and encouraging no matter how
hopeless we were at times, although, in our defence, it must
be said, her choreographies could be complicated! It was
such an achievement though when we (nearly) mastered
them and it really boosted our confidence.
Ali encouraged us to perform in the many haflas she
helped to organise both in Carlisle and Penrith, and also at
the Culture Bazaar in Carlisle. Workshops
were arranged, including one with a ballet
teacher, another for salsa and also one for
drumming. We tried various styles with the
usual props – veils, sticks and zills. Such
fun! In all, a lovely cosy belly dance world,
all taken care of by Ali.
At the end of the lesson, 15th June 2009,
Ali told us all that she had been diagnosed
with cancer of the pancreas and was
cancelling all her commitments. We were
stunned. She looked so well and in fact
continued to teach us for some time, often
while seated, with Annie keeping a watchful
eye on her. Pure grit, determination and an
indomitable spirit kept her going until she
could go on no longer.
We miss Ali very much. When thinking
of her, so many memories come to mind – her lovely
welcoming smile, her constant enthusiasm and patience, her
boundless energy as well as always being encouraging and
an inspiration. In fact, she was a wonderful teacher.
Ali’s aim was to promote the learning and love of belly
dancing. In this she was successful. Perhaps this is her
lasting achievement.
35
Dream of an Egyptian Night
The legend of
the goddess Hathor
Bringing Ancient Egypt to Life
By Ellie Atkinson
Many people are fascinated by the art and the culture
of Egypt, especially that from during the reign of the
Pharaohs. Ancient Egypt was full of complex legends
and stories about the various gods and goddesses which
can sometimes be hard to understand or follow. Béatrice
Grognard recently brought the story of the goddess
Hathor to life in Bristol on 28th October 2011. Originally
an archaeologist, Béatrice is well placed to help people
explore the legend of Hathor. Béatrice chose Hathor as
she is the most important goddess to women and dancers.
Hathor has many incarnations . . . the bloodthirsty lioness,
known as Sekhmet; the benevolent cat Bastet and of
course the cow-headed woman
of Dendera, Hathor. Hathor is
goddess of music and dance,
protector of families and helper
of childbirth and fertility...so the ideal
subject for an Egyptian dance show
featuring a female cast.
The music was carefully selected from all the
different genres of Egyptian music, from the
classical greats to the lesser known Coptic
songs and Sufi chants. Béatrice’s extensive
knowledge of Egyptian music including her
own recordings introduces the audience to
the many facets of Egyptian music.
36
The backdrop to the show was numerous slides of ancient
sites, priceless artefacts, beautiful sculptures and paintings.
All carefully selected to exactly match the scene portrayed...
demonstrating Béatrice’s immense attention to detail and also
her inspiration for her choreographies. The costumes were
simple but refined and symbolic of the characters featured.
The show opens as the udjat (eye of Ra) leaves Ra’s
palace in a fit of rage in the guise of the goddess Hathor.
Béatrice conjures up the anger of the goddess as she travels
to Nubia and transforms herself into the bloodthirsty lioness
Sekhmet, determined to destroy mankind. Béatrice’s unique
contemporary approach to Egyptian dance is evident. Her
dance is inspired and informed by Egypt but transmitted
with her European style to be something quite magical
and creative.
Drums sound, Ra has sent Shu, Thoth and Bes
to soothe the goddess. The gods fight with Sekhmet
and try to calm her. The gods played by members of
Béatrice’s Tarab Dance Company danced with grace
and character. They each challenge the goddess in
turn. Finally Sekhmet is thrown into the waters of the
First Cataract.
Hathor is reborn in the benevolent form of the
cat goddess Bastet, protector of families and
households. Béatrice performs a contemporary
solo which embodies the being of cats...it is a
carefully studied piece based on the four magnificent pedigree
cats who live next to her dance studio in Brussels and often
take part in the classes, workshops and rehearsals there.
The company return at the reunion of Ra and Hathor in
Philae. Here, Hathor becomes the cow goddess who brings
renewal, gives birth to and nurses the gods. The company
pay their respects to Hathor with a piece inspired by the
images of worship which can be found on the walls at Philae.
The company take to the stage with a new interpretation
of Leylat Hob and as they dance as priestesses of Hathor
they drive away evil and maintain harmony. The company
displayed their love of dancing and the unique connections
found between dancers on stage during their improvisational
moments.
An important function of the temple at Dendera was the
healing of the sick and using a beautiful and haunting baladi
piece Béatrice evokes the memory of this. Members of her
company dance as they are healed by the divine dreams
visited upon them by Hathor.
For those whose prays are not answered by the temple
of healing, Hathor plays an even more important role. As
the Mistress of the West she accompanies them on their
last great journey and offers her protection. The company
split, the mourners and the deceased. Using Sufi inspired
movements they display the grief and anguish of losing a
loved one, whilst Hathor offers comfort and support to the
one who must travel on.
It is said that when Ra the Sun God is sad, Hathor entices
and entrances him until a smile lights upon his face. Dancing
to a beautiful classical piece Béatrice mesmerised the
audience until all were filled with light, heat and life.
Finally Hathor’s time has come to an end with the advent
of Christianity and Islam. In honour of Hathor the dancers
perform a magical rite which allows those who know the
secret of the song to row towards the fiery staircase of
purification and resurrection. The dancers spin for what
seems like an eternity, still and yet constantly changing and
evolving. A sight rarely seen outside of Egypt and the Middle
East, the dervish turns are a fitting end to a magical show.
The show will also be accompanied by a weekend of
workshops for those seeking an introduction to the unique
dance style of Béatrice Grognard. Béatrice is a kind and
generous teacher who gives feedback to each individual
student whilst leading them on a magical journey of
discovery of their own dance.
See www.tarabofegypt.com for more info about Béatrice
or email: [email protected] to take part in the
workshops.
37
Liz’s New Frock
By Rita Williamson
Facebook is a grand tool and it is a constant delight to me to see the things that people post
(both good and bad). I am always entranced by the things Liz Jarrett posts as she has a real
knack for finding the most obscure clips of old Egyptian films and dancers. A little while back
she posted such a clip of two dancers… a weird dream sequence with show-girl strutting and
high kicks segueing bizarrely into a ‘golden age’ Egyptian style dance.
Here’s the link, do have a look….
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6XYD7iwXEU&list=FL8l4g
zijLyTM&index=2
1
2
4
38
3
5
Liz’s FB comment was simple, ‘I want those frocks’.
Although I was a tad perturbed she might be thinking of the
fur trimmed bunny-girl outfits, I knew the Egyptian style
dresses would be great to do. We soon came to an agreement
and Liz was off to think about fabrics. Within days back came
the email: ‘I bought some fabric, couldn’t resist’. She had
found a lovely lilac/rose mesh covered with silver sequins.
We were ready to copy the dress.
Now I made something similar a few years ago for Anne
Kinston and Tine Valois for a ‘Liz and Lin’ style dance they
did for the Tarab Troupe. Their’s were see-through fine black
mesh with a glittery print on it (we later had to add modesty
skirts!).
The thing about copying ‘historical’ costumes is that you
have to bear in mind the person who is going to wear it now.
For Liz this meant doing away with the high, collared neck,
(too hot!) and reducing the level of see-through and making
the leg slits more modest. In addition, she didn’t want a zip
but wanted to pull it over her head to get it on and off, but she
wanted it to be well shaped. With such amendments noted, I
set off to find a suitable pattern to work from.
My starting point for Liz’s dress was to watch the video
(from 3.15 mins.) several times (lots, in fact) to be sure I
knew what we were talking about. Once I thought I had it, I
sketched it for Liz and sent her a pic. Once agreed, I dashed
off to the workshop to start.
To cut out the dress I started with a modern party dress
(Pic 1). (Note: it is abusing the designer’s copyright to use
bought paper patterns to make items to sell. They are meant
for private use only. I use patterns as a basis to resize and
create my own). I liked the shaped shoulders and sweetheart
neckline and thought it was suitably ‘golden-age’ to work. I
extended the bodice to from bust to low hips, but allowed the
lining to extend down the thighs to act as a modest skirt. (Pic
2). The skirt was simple, a half circle on the front section
and one and a half circles for the remainder. The bodice was
lined with toning mesh and the skirt lined using the same
lightweight mesh but in slightly lesser quantities.
Once I had Liz’s measurements, I set up the dummy
and began building the dress. The pictures show progress
(Pic 3). I particularly enjoy the time when the first ‘rough
cut’ is put on the dummy and pinned to a proper, fitting
shape, it becomes a real garment. (Pic 4)
The fabric, being mesh, has it own idiosyncrasies when
sewing to sew and caused a few swear words, especially
when compounded with thousands of sequins. But all in all,
Photo by Tracey Gibbs
6
Liz in action
Making ‘custom-fit’ garments for people you don’t see in the flesh is weird, but works.
These days it is often essential when the internet allows us to deal with people at the other
end of the country who are hard to get to for a fitting.
it wasn’t too bad to work with.
I think the hardest part was cutting the sleeves to shape, it
took a couple of goes. (Pic 5) .
Once the dress was made and trimmed to length, I added
a ruched belt around the hips and added some sequin bling
I found in the drawer (purple sequin diamond motifs).
Ruching a hip wrap is no easy thing and has to be done on the
dummy or body to get it to lay right. Fortunately the fabric
was quite forgiving and camouflaging – take care if you do it
on plain fabrics, getting equal and even pleats and invisible
stitching is a real mental puzzle.
I was happy with the way the dress turned out (Pic 6) and
thought it was a good compromise between the first image
of desire and Liz’s real requirements. Also I was delighted it
fitted so well – often there is a second round of alterations
when making a dress for someone you have not actually
fitted the dress to in real life. Making ‘custom-fit’ garments
for people you don’t see in the flesh is weird, but works.
These days it is often essential when the internet allows us to
deal with people at the other end of the country who are hard
to get to for a fitting.
Now, at a distance, I have one or two niggles with the
dress: I felt the skirt had too much fabric in it and I was
never totally happy with the hip belt. And were the sleeves
right or too short and did it need taking in more at the sides
for a better fit? However, my nit-picking aside, Liz has worn
the dress in anger and says it is great to dance in. She has
unpicked the modesty closure on the front slits and shows off
her lovely legs! I think she looks fab!
Didn’t she do a wonderful job? Liz
39
Just Because Update
Just Because is a charity set up by bellydancers in the UK to support the treatment of
breast cancer in Egypt in partnership with Breast Cancer Foundation Egypt (BCFE). The charity
continues to grow and develop and now engages with bellydancers worldwide to help the women of
Egypt. A whole host of events have taken place over the last year, showcases, haflas, Walk like an
Egyptian sponsored walks, Bralicious decorated bra competitions, cabaret nights, dance competitions
as well as individual contributions from dancers who nominate Just Because as their charity of choice
for work based charitable contributions, who leap out of planes (yes really), who diet for the cause
or who just give because they want to help a good cause
As trustees we find it overwhelming the wonderful
things that people will do for this charity and it has been
enriching being involved with some fund raising initiatives
like Walk like an Egyptian and Bedazzle and Bralicious even
if in a small way. The role of trustees is to steer the charity
forward responsibly and in accordance with the Charities
Commission directives but we do also have fun taking part
and encouraging dancers who support the charity with some
amazing ideas. New dancers are getting involved all the time
as well as regular contributors like Jeanette Taylor who has
tirelessly raised thousands of pounds over the years with
her ever popular halfas. Jeanette was so good at supporting
Just Because that she was asked if she would like to be a
trustee and last year she agreed along with Fiona Jackson
from Shropshire who joined us with a wealth of experience
to develop social media and update the website.
Jeanette commented, “I’ve always been a strong supporter
of the breast cancer campaigns in the UK and have organised
and danced at events to raise money for them. I’m sure that
we know friends and family that have been affected by
breast cancer and some that have died from it. Combined
with my love of Egyptian dance, I’ve been raising funds
by organising my bi-annual Keighley haflas since the ‘Just
Because’ charity was set up. I enjoy working closely with the
other trustees Anne, Fiona and Sandra to ensure that all funds
raised by the bellydance community will be used in the best
way to benefit the Egyptian women, who do not have access
to any scanning, treatment or support networks that women
40
have in the UK.”
More recently Just Because has said a sad farewell to
Tracey Gibbs who, along with Anne was an original trustee,
has driven the charity with her enthusiasm and commitment.
One area where we needed help as the funds have grown is in
the position of Treasurer and Sandra Thompson has now taken
over that role so as trustees we number 4 plus Sara Farouk
in Cairo providing much needed direct communications with
BCFE and Tracey acting as an international ambassador.
Originally the charity’s only aim was to purchase and
maintain a mobile mammography unit for BCFE but units
have since been provided by larger companies like Shell
and BP who work in the Middle East so recently we have
been discussing with BCFE how best our funding can be
used for perhaps smaller projects that the larger companies
don’t consider like the kitting out of smaller clinics in Cairo
suburbs allowing more access for women in poorer areas.
Discussions continue but we do feel that we will soon be
near a stage where we can release money to facilitate better
care and develop ways in which we can release funds on a
regular basis.
So on the cards for next year we are reviewing the Just
Because t-shirts developing new designs, updating the
website and fixing that darn PayPal button or finding an
alternative, developing social media networks, having
further discussions with BCFE about their future work and
developing more support for events. If YOU have an idea for
fund raising events and wish to have a chat do get in touch
Ask
Madam Kay . . .
Rita Williamson asks . . . I’m currently asking folks how
they get their mojo back when their wits and enthusiasm for
the dance has begun to dwindle. With new classes starting
soon I need a kick in the butt, what works for other folks?
Madam Kay says . . .
The first Just Because event by the Wiltshire
Bellydancers, a cabaret showcase with Yasmina
of Cairo. Great to see the Just Because cause
in new areas this year and thanks to Tracey
Jones and the Wiltshire Bellydancers for all
their hard work
Yasmina of Cairo
via the website www.justbecause.org.uk
Finally all the trustees work voluntarily and give as much
time as they are able to the charity and this year has been
tough with a few of us with health problems ourselves or
with our families and it has been difficult so I hope you
will keep supporting Just Because, bear with us as we make
necessary changes and keep spreading the word about Just
Because and what a difference we can make as bellydancers
to the lives of women in Egypt with breast cancer.
Thanks to everyone who has raised money this year
whether it’s a £1 or £100s, every penny makes a difference
and the fact that you have kept on giving whatever you could
and organising events during tough financial times is just
amazing.
Thank you from Anne, Fiona, Jeanette and Sandra.
I think we all go through low periods and lose our mojo.
As a student it can be because you are not progressing as
quickly as you want to. As a teacher, you get exhausted from
planning interesting classes and thinking up new material. In
the current economic climate, numbers are fluctuating and
it can be hard work keeping a class going which has low
numbers. Sometimes life is so busy, you don’t have the time
to focus on your dance or classes so it can feel like a constant
hard slog. For each person it will be different. Here are a few
things I have found that worked over the years:
1Go on an intensive course where you actually feel like
you have developed after a week of dancing. I used to find
that after a week of summer school, I felt my dancing had
improved. I would come away fizzing with new ideas. It may
be blatant self advertising but I sincerely believe that if you
want to plan ahead for a dose of inspiration, come to the
Farha Festival in Luxor in May 2012.
2Not everyone can get away for a week - or afford it.
Weekend festivals or workshops can be equally inspiring and
give you new ideas for classes. I can recommend JoY! The
best festival in’t North!
3 Create time to plan what you are going to do through the
term. Then, even if your life gets really busy, you have a
plan!!!
4Go see a show - there are some excellent shows being
created by UK dancers ... Johara in London and the Tarab
Dance company with their fabulous show, ‘Rihla’ in the
North. ‘Under the sun’ by the Arabian Dance Theatre. These
might give you ideas for choreography either for you as a
dancer or your classes. Non belly dance shows can be equally
inspirational.
5 Try out a different dance form - things like ballet and jazz
can be useful and give you lots of ideas.
6‘You only get out of it what you put into it’ ....... advice
from my mum .... it made me think and got me back on track
when I was having a low period.
7 Work on the ‘JFDI’ principal .... ‘Just f***** do it!’ Once
you get back to class, you will remember why you teach. A
good class can energise you as well as your students.
Here’s hoping you find your mojo again.
Madam Kay
41
Diary of a
Tarab Groupie
a Completely Unbiased Review
of the Tarab Show
By Umalini Kathirgamanathan
Firstly – I loved it! As a true groupie I followed them from
Leeds to Sheffield. I have to say it was even better the second
time in Sheffield – like much of Arabic dance having extra
time to enjoy the dancing helped me appreciate it even more.
The show kicked off with a fantastic dance – a lovely folk
dance number performed by the company to recreate the social,
fun side of women getting
together, away from men,
and just having a boogie.
For me it was my favourite
as the dancers definitely
looked like they were
having a fantastic time
dancing together which is
what I really value about
belly dancing – sharing
the joy of this great dance
with other women.
To
illustrate
the
‘journey of belly dance’
an enormous variety
of Arabic dancing was
portrayed on stage – pretty
much every type of belly
dancing was covered from
tribal to golden age to pop.
Pre-recorded
narration
from
the
company,
between dance numbers,
helped guide the audience
on this journey. Fabulous
drumming by Adam Warne accompanied these commentaries
which helped the commentaries fit seamlessly into the show. The
narrations discussed different styles of belly dance and people’s
perceptions of belly dance in the western culture. I found these
commentaries interesting and easy to understand as I already
had some belly dance knowledge.
Highlights of the for me were the beautiful costumes, the sheer
personality in all the dance numbers, a dazzling Hollywood style
dance by Claire Novis, a fun Khalegee number by three of my
belly dance teachers (see no bias!), a lovely oozy Beladi number
by Sabrina Owen, a fun Meleya dance in gorgeous dresses,
an audience participation dance to a fun shaabi number (best
42
of all I didn’t participate), the prop-tastic Vegas style number
with fabulous animal print isis wings, a lovely fun-filled Arabic
pop number by Vanessa Clipsham, a clever drum solo by Anna
Bisco, an earthy quirky Saidi dance by Heather Charlton, an
intense smiley tribal fusion dance by Nisha Lall… alright there
were a lot of highlights!
Having the luxury of
watching
professional
belly dancing every
Thursday night, at the
Spice Lounge in Bradford
and the Spice Bar in
Leeds, has given me high
expectations of belly
dance performances. I
found that the stage gave
a completely different
atmosphere
–
still
enjoyable but less invasive
leaving more opportunity
to concentrate and enjoy
the dancing. I think that
this would help non-belly
dancers as the half-naked
dancing happens at a
distance rather than right
in front of them while they
are drinking – at least they
know that they are safe
looking at the stage!
So what next for this
Tarab Groupie? Well I’m going to convince family and friends
to see the show with me if the performances are located close
to them. Due to the awe-inspiring oriental fantasy routine by
Stephanie Jagger, the Shakira number, drum solo and Hollywood
dance, I am convinced that non-belly dancers will definitely find
something to enjoy and will then appreciate the other types of
belly-dancing including an emotional Om Kalthoum solo. In
particular, I’m looking forward to going with young children
as the show definitely has a lot of wow factor from the glitz of
the costumes, the awesome use of props and the opportunity for
audience participation.
Yasmina of Cairo
An interview with Aziza of Cairo
On the 14th of December, voters in the governorate of Giza and several
other areas of Egypt went to the polls. It was only the second round of voting,
with two more cities still to come later in the month, but results already in put
the Islamists firmly in the lead. Speculation was rife in the city regarding the
implications of an impending Islamic-led government, and at the Mena House
Hotel, location for Raqia Hassan’s Winter Seminar, an atmosphere of grim
defiance tempered with faltering optimism seemed the order of the day.
“Impossible that Egyptians should be made to live under
strict Sharia law – impossible that music, dance, art in all its
forms, should be marginalized – even prohibited, in a culture
such as Egypt, that has enjoyed millennia of artistic freedom,’
were the sentiments echoed by all those working in our field.
Oriental dance is particularly under threat since even under
previous governments it has been a form of expression that has
been tolerated, rather than celebrated.
Yet in this cloud of uncertainty Aziza strides into the hotel
on this sunny winter’s afternoon carrying a newspaper she
proudly displays before us: ‘The Egyptian Weekly’, carrying a
story about the Mena House dance event, and featuring herself
in particular. ‘Aziza of Cairo’, a rocket of raqs sharqi, teaches the
art of oriental dance in Europe’ runs the headline. Wildly mixing
its metaphors, it then goes on to describe her as a ‘butterfly
of dance’, and one of its new leading lights, developing and
teaching new steps and preserving the legacy of Egypt’s finest
dance stars of the past, Samia Gamal, Tahia Tarioca etc etc. The
Egyptian Weekly is a relatively new magazine, less than two
years old, and covers sport and the arts as well as politics, with a
refreshingly open outlook.
‘This is something to be pleased about,’ Aziza points out,
‘especially at a time like this! It proves that Egyptians are still
interested in art and music and dance, and not worried about
bringing a dancer into the spotlight.’ And especially, one might
say, when Aziza herself has no track record in Egypt as a celebrity,
but has come up through the cabarets and Nile cruise boats in the
traditional way, and is virtually unknown by Egyptians.
Ironically, at the exactly the same time that the ultra
conservative Salafeen, a fundamentalist sect that promotes an
extreme Sunni version of Islam with a way of life imported from
Saudi Arabia have come out of the woodwork and are rapidly
gaining power, another mini revolution has been taking place
at the opposite end of the spectrum. As well as several local
channels devoted entirely to shaabi street music there’s a new
satellite TV channel broadcasting from within Egypt called ‘El
Tet’, which shows exclusively belly dancing 24 hours a day!
With wall to wall footage of dancers lifted from Youtube and
all manner of eclectic sources, any dancer whether inside Egypt
or out might suddenly find herself up there on the screen. There
are dancers performing at international festivals from Moscow
to Italy; illegally obtained clips from past Ahlan wa Sahlans
43
(available in any case at the Khan el Khalili market as bootleg
DVDs) and all manner of performers – an explosion of flesh,
inventive choreography and daring costuming, where once you
had to depend on old black and white movies for belly dance
clips on national TV.
This interim period of uncertainty in Egypt has in other words
proved fertile ground for all manner of views and opportunities.
Which survive and which become subsequently repressed
remains to be seen. If a strict Islamic moral code becomes
the order of the day then dancers like Aziza may well find
themselves out of a job - in Egypt at any rate. Which leads to
an interesting truth: come such a scenario Aziza, 25 years old
and just emerging onto the international stage thanks to her
‘discovery’ by Raqia Hassan, might turn out to be the last dancer
to slip under the net and have her immediate future secured by the
love and admiration of foreigners. In the space of the past year
alone, she has travelled, performed and taught in no fewer than
seven countries, travelling with fellow performers like Soraya,
Katia, Mohamed Shahin, Ahmed el Khatib, and of course with
Raqia herself. She has been introduced to a mass audience of
dancers in Russia, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Ukraine and
Morocco, hungry for a new name after devouring what Dina,
Randa, Dandesh and other Cairo names have had to offer.
‘Where are the talented young Egyptian dancers representing
a new generation?’ foreigners have frequently asked. Answer:
Here she is!
Aziza comes from Alexandria, traditionally a fertile nurturing
ground for dancers with a wonderful oriental feeling. Aida
Nour, Dandesh and many other past performers hail from Alex,
though eventually they have had to come to Cairo to advance
their careers. Aziza attended music academy after completing
school, where she spent a year studying singing. She comes
from a ‘normal Egyptian family’ with no connection to the arts,
though her brother plays tabla and it was he who took her to
enroll at the academy. ‘But by the end of the course I felt that I
wasn’t vocally talented enough and that I loved dance more,’ she
admits. Naturally her family was not keen for her to become a
nightclub dancer.
‘My father was no longer living but my brothers were against
the idea. My mother could see I had talent and that it was
something I felt strongly about, but she warned me that I would
be entering an alien world and it wasn’t going to be easy.’
She went ahead anyway, aged nineteen, and made her cabaret
debut to ‘Set el Hosn’ after practicing at home and watching
dance clips of old movie stars, plus a bit of Fifi Abdou and Dina
thrown in. To this day, she says, she has never taken a dance
class and is self- taught (though Raqia Hassan has latterly later
given her instruction on teaching workshops to foreigners). After
several years of working the Alexandrian nightclub scene she
arrived in Cairo and shortly afterwards met her husband Yasser,
a police officer. ‘He has helped me a lot in terms of giving me
advice, keeping an eye on my welfare and generally being
there for me’ she says. Yasser, who has accompanied her to the
interview, is surprisingly open about his feelings regarding her
choice of career. He didn’t ask her to stop dancing after they
married (as is common in Egypt) and respects her love for the
dance, asserting that ‘a dancer can be respectable even when
working in a less than respectable environment. It all depends on
her own behavior and the choices she makes.’
Aziza has had, and continues to have, a successful career in
the world of the Egyptian cabaret, a world in which (as those
of you who have spent time in any such establishments will
know) just about the last thing the performer is required to do
44
is really dance! Like Randa before her, she discovered this fact
and has been equally frustrated by it. It takes a special kind of
performer to keep her integrity in this situation while keeping the
management and customers happy – not to mention the orchestra,
who depend on the tips she makes. And through all this to retain
a love for the music and dance despite the demoralizing lack of
appreciation for one’s art.
‘I was disappointed at first,’ says Aziza, ‘that the audiences in
the cabarets had this attitude. But then gradually I began to attract
customers who seemed to appreciate my ability to interpret the
music they loved, and they would ask for songs of Abdel Halim
Hafez and Um Kulsoum so they could enjoy both watching and
listening. At the end of the day they are Egyptians, and Egyptians
do understand the difference between a talented dancer and a
poor one.’
In due course Aziza came to learn that Egyptians were not
the only ones appreciating oriental dance. She was introduced
to Raqia Hassan by Yousry el Hefni, a top class musician known
incidentally to UK dancers as Randa’s tabla player of many
years, and later part of the Farha Tour and Farha Festival.
‘When Youssry told me about Aziza I was interested to see
her,’ recalls Raqia. ‘He had been giving her training himself in
rhythm , and thought she had potential. There were some issues
regarding her presentation though that were a problem, and I
made some suggestions; I saw her again a year later. What I liked
about her dance was her natural baladi feeling, something that
dancers like Randa had moved away from. I felt it was important
to remind the foreign dancers what the real oriental dance looks
like, undiluted by ballet and folkloric influence.’
Raqia has always had a keen eye out for new Egyptian talent,
and decided to introduce her to her to a foreign audience at the
2010 Ahlan wa Sahlan Festival. Rapidly her new fans were
seduced by Aziza’s oriental grounding, which in some ways has
given her a more organic feeling than ex- Reda Troupe members
whose adherence to group step patterns is never entirely absent
from their oriental repertoire.
‘What I love about Aziza’s dance,’ commented one dance
teacher from Australia attending the Winter Course, ‘is her ability
to vary her energy, to be incredibly dynamic and incredibly soft –
both ends of the spectrum. She is herself – not copying anyone
else’s style.’
These comments regarding the naturalness of an oriental
style versus the influence of other dance forms is very topical
right now. In the short space of time since Aziza arrived from
Alexandria it is possible to see clearly the influence of other
dancers on her performance, despite the observation above. And
that is inevitable and natural also. The more dancers like Randa
and Aziza travel and watch other dancers, especially professional
dancers coming from other dance forms, the influence can go
both ways.
‘When I learned about foreigners taking classes in Egyptian
dance and began to enter the world of festivals and workshops,
I was amazed to see how well many of them could pick up
and learn raqs sharki,’ Aziza says. ‘It opened my eyes to the
possibilities of new steps and developments in the dance, and that
encourages me also. Oriental dance is continuously developing
here in Egypt also, from the time of the old movie stars until now.
What I have noticed about the dancers in some other countries
is that they know how to present a show and often have good
performance skills. Also, when a dancer has a background in
ballet, folkloric and other dance forms she can bring something
extra to the oriental steps. Her style will be cleaner and clearer,
and become more beautiful.’
Oriental dance is continuously developing here in Egypt also, from the time of
the old movie stars until now. What I have noticed about the dancers in some
other countries is that they know how to present a show and often have good
performance skills. Also, when a dancer has a background in ballet, folkloric
and other dance forms she can bring something extra to the oriental steps.
Her style will be cleaner and clearer, and become more beautiful.’
45
“Some people say that foreigners don’t have feeling for the dance but I
have seen many that do,’ I do think though that they tend to rely too much
on choreographies and would benefit from concentrating on improvisation –
preferably to live music! I have watched dancers who perform well with a CD
but when they are working with a live band they are no longer inside the music.
46
Baladi versus ballet; Egyptian dance over the past century
has swung to and fro across this fence, and the mix looks set to
continue.
Aziza is enthusiastic about the abilities of foreign dancers, but
is there anything, I wonder, that she might criticize, or give advice
on? “Some people say that foreigners don’t have feeling for the
dance but I have seen many that do,’ she tells me. ‘I do think
though that they tend to rely too much on choreographies and
would benefit from concentrating on improvisation – preferably
to live music! I have watched dancers who perform well with
a CD but when they are working with a live band they are no
longer inside the music. I know it is not always possible for them
to have a live band, but this is what would allow them to grow
and to feel the music better.’
Speaking of live music it is easy while watching Aziza to feel
the passion and deep connection she has with each instrument.
‘I adore the kanoon and the violin,’ she says. ‘The accordion is
of course for baladi, and the tabla is the base of everything. To
be honest I don’t get on too well dancing with a CD; I can’t put
my soul into it.’
‘Ah’, I can imagine many readers thinking…’if only we had
the choice!’
So Aziza’s appearance on the festival scene has been greeted
enthusiastically by the foreign dance community, who are
usually surprised to learn that Egyptian dancers of this calibre
don’t emerge very often.
‘It is not that there are not good Egyptian dancers out there,’
Aziza insists. ‘There are, though often they are lazy and don’t
push themselves to improve their level. The problem is that we
don’t get to see them. Not everyone has had the good fortune like
myself to be introduced to Raqia Hassan.’
What are her goals and ambitions now that she has come this
far?
‘Each dancer from the past had her own unique flavour and
style, and my goal is to develop my own style – it is pointless to
try to dance like someone else if you want to make a name for
yourself.’
Given the current political climate, and the likelihood of
increasing conservatism, I feel compelled to ask Aziza about her
hopes for the future of the dance within Egypt. Is she optimistic?
“Extremely!’ she replies with conviction. ‘ For one thing, it
could change the kind of environment with which oriental dance
is associated in our society. If the kinds of places where dancers
appear in a salacious way no longer exist, then the dance itself
will be presented in a ‘cleaner’ way, and that will be something
positive. It could raise the standard and make it more acceptable
as an art form.’
This is a novel way of looking at the situation – and I can’t
help wondering myself how dancers would pull off such a
transformation in public opinion when in some ways the division
between conservatism and liberalism is widening before our very
eyes. As dancers appear in more and more daring costumes, to
take one example, attitudes are likely to become more polarized.
If many families at weddings are not willing to risk hiring a
dancer in a growing conservative climate, fewer dancers will be
able to make a living. But for Aziza at least, a future in dance is
perhaps already secured.
‘When I began dancing I had many dreams,’ she tells me, ‘and
I am happy to say that lots of them have already come true.‘ I am
lucky enough to be performing for people who appreciate dance;
I have already travelled and have opportunities to keep travelling
and developing as an artist. El Hamdullah, I am blessed.’
47
The Baladi Blues & Guy Schalom
Sadaaqah in Doncaster
48
The NADA
Live Music Tour
has been born.
The concept is simple;
workshops with live music
for dancers, community
workshops to introduce
people to the dance and an
evening with live music for
everyone to boogie to and
some special performances
with the band.
49
At NADA we face the ongoing challenge of finding new
ways to create opportunities to bring together both the dance
community and non-dancers to meet and dance. When NADA
was first formed the dance scene was very different and NADA
was actively involved in supporting several local haflas across the
country which were growing in popularity at the time and proved
to be a great way of supporting our members.
In recent years, much to the delight of those dancers that enjoy
a good knees -up, there is a hafla somewhere nearby almost every
weekend! It became clear to us on the NADA committee that
haflas were a flourishing and possibly even saturated area which
there was less need for us to play a part in going forwards as there
is no point in us duplicating and competing against all the other
wonderful stuff going on out there!
After a lot of deliberation about where there was a current
need on the dance scene for we decided to focus on helping more
dancers and non-dancers experience the joy of live Egyptian
music. There is some great work going on out there at the moment
by events organisers such as our former NADA Co-Coordinator
Kay Taylor (and her projects including the Farha Festival and
Tours), Anne White (who regularly hosts live musicians at Planet
Egypt), Tracey Gibbs (who has strived to bring live bands to
events such as RAQS Britannia) and many more. We however
felt that there is more to do to give dancers and the general public
the opportunity to enjoy live Arabic music and wanted to invest a
good chunk of the NADA kitty to enable this to happen.
For many dancers the thrill of dancing to a live band is a once
in a lifetime opportunity which sadly means there’s not many
chances to practice! Workshops with live music are also still a
rare thrill and often a little scary for dancers the first time! In
addition to this for those that have been to Cairo there is nothing
quite like seeing a dancer perform with her band and perhaps the
lack of this live musical element is something that makes it harder
for non-dancers to attune their pallet and enjoy a music and dance
performance to Arabic tunes?
From this need the NADA Live Music Tour has been born.
The concept is simple; workshops with live music for dancers,
community workshops to introduce people to the dance and an
evening with live music for everyone to boogie to and some
special performances with the band. We are really please to have
3 fabulous hostesses on board following their applications to get
involved and be sponsored by NADA to participate in the project
and a great band to help bring more live Arabic music to the UK
in Feb 2012!
Introducing the Band:
The Baladi Blues & Guy Schalom
We’ve been talking about this for well over a year now and I’m
very excited that we are finally doing it! It’s important to me and
the rest of the band because we want dancers and music lovers to
see how powerful live music can be. For anyone who’s heard our
music on CD then they’ll know that we play the urban Egyptian
dance music known as Baladi.
Whether or not audiences have heard our music before, seeing
the band live will bring Baladi music to life for them. They’ll get to
see how we interact on stage and inspire and challenge each other
to play better. Audiences will gain a better understanding of how
Baladi music is created.
Also, dancers will experience how we involve dancers into our
improvisations on stage. We shape our music to match what we see
in front of us. When there is a solo dancer performing with us, we
50
effectively have another band member. The dancer’s interpretation
of our music affects how we perform and it becomes an extremely
fertile creative platform.
Also, when we’re performing to a group of ‘non-performing’
dancers, who have simply come to let their hair down, again, we
shape our music to match their energy and pace. Either way, the
dance becomes an integral part of our music. Recorded music
can’t adapt in this way. That’s what makes live music special and
that’s why we want people to experience it firsthand.
It will be interesting for us to work with a range of teachers over
the weekend and to perform with a number of dancers who are new
to us. The buzz we get when we go on stage with new artists is
one of our main rewards for working this way with Baladi music –
much of which is improvised.
Also, it’s exciting to bring world class musicians, performing
at the peak of their abilities, to local venues at a reasonable price.
Thanks to NADA this can be done. So we are grateful for that
opportunity.
Another aspect which makes my band – the Baladi Blues
Ensemble – different from many others is that we use no electronic
instruments. Every note you hear has been created by ‘human
hand’. This allows us to play from the heart and to interact with
the dancers and audiences more closely. This is because listeners
respond most strongly to the emotional, creative and spontaneous
aspects of our music – the ‘live’ elements.
For dancers, these opportunities can help take their dance to a
whole other level. Experiencing how musicians respond to the
dancers in front of them and interact with each other, will give them
a solid understanding of how Baladi music works. This knowledge
will help them improve their own performances and raise their
confidence with live music.
And, importantly, it’s fantastic fun. Watching musicians interact
with each other and with the dancer is inspiring.
We have strong following in the North, but we are really hoping
to see new faces at these events too. Baladi is amazing interactive
music. It is at its most powerful when experienced live. It’s also
fun to watch and listen to the various characters in the band. And
that’s best done in person. Face to face.
The band members will be myself on tabla, Sheik Taha on
accordion, Ahmed el Saidi on saxophone and Adam Warne on
duff/doholla.
I’ve been drumming for well over 20 years. I learnt most of
my Egyptian music in Cairo and Luxor. I lead the Baladi Blues
Ensemble creatively and focus on the interaction between artists.
Our accordionist, Sheik Taha, can only be described as a legend.
He has written many songs that are now part of Egyptian folklore
and he is one of the most influential musicians in the development
of Baladi.
Ahmed el Saidi is, for me, the greatest living Arabic saxophonist.
We’re very lucky to have him with us and he has a reputation for
being a great showman.
Adam Warne (aka Rhythmic Ginger) lives in Leeds and is well
known to NADA members. He is an expert on riq and frame drum.
We have just released our latest CD, Baladi Blues 2: Tribute to
the Masters. So if anyone wants to hear our music before they see
us live, then they should get hold of that.
We are currently working on our next CD which is a tribute to
the work of Egyptian composer, Baligh Hamdi. Hopefully that will
be available by February and NADA members could be the first to
get their hands on this!
We also perform up and down the country and throughout
Europe so please visit our website for our latest tour dates.
www.guyschalom.com
Anne White
Kay Taylor
51
Introducing the Hostesses:
Sadaaqah (South Yorkshire/North Lincolnshire)
Our group, Sadaaqah, are a friendly bunch of like-minded
dancers that share a passion about bringing live Middle Eastern
music to this area (South Yorkshire/North Lincolnshire) so that
dancers and the wider community can experience the amazing
different instruments and rhythms that make it so magical.
When NADA were promoting the opportunity to get involved
in this project, we applied immediately because it combined all
those elements that are so important to us – live music, dancer
development and community inclusion. We all love the Baladi
Blues Ensemble; their music is spellbinding and is truly “Urban
Egyptian dance music at its absolute best”….they are also really
nice guys! I defy anyone not to want to get up and dance to
them.
We’ve asked Kay Taylor to come across and teach a
workshop for dancers which includes dancing to live music
from some of the band. We want to dispel the myth with some
dancers that dancing with a live band might be terrifying – it’s
anything but that, it’s fantastic and they’ll never look back!
Kay’s approachable and fun style really appeals to all dancers
and her skill at putting dancers at ease with live music will be
perfect at this event.
The evening hafla with the band will be brilliant. All the tips
and skills from Kay can be put to good use as everyone will have
lots of time to boogie to the Baladi Blues Ensemble’s wonderful
music. There will also be a chance to watch some performances
with the band including one from Kay, and shop, chat and
generally have a great time.
It’s important for the development of a dancer to be able to
dance spontaneously and with improvisation. Choreographies
to recorded music are most popular but can be limiting if
a dancer doesn’t do anything else. Watching a dancer and
musician interact with each other and ‘play’ with the music is
just incredible – even the people watching feel involved in it as
they’re drawn in to the magic and fun of it. The opportunity to
dance to live music should be grabbed whenever it arises - it will
develop a dancer’s understanding of the different rhythms, their
ability to recognise and dance to different instruments, enhance
their musicality and so improve their dancing skills.
Most of us in Doncaster have to travel quite some distance
to other cities to access live music (and in some cases other
countries!). We’re in a bit of a live music wilderness here so
that’s why we try and bring as much of it here as we can.
Introducing the non-dancing community to the joy of dancing
to uplifting music is so rewarding, and we really hope we can
get lots of people to come and have a go. All the group teaches
belly dancing and there something very special about seeing
absolute novices fall in love with the dance and the music.
We’ll be putting on 2 open level workshops and providing
lots of information about aspects of Egyptian dance and music
throughout the day, and are sure many of them will want to come
to the evening event to see and hear more.
For more information email: [email protected]
Find us on Facebook or phone: 07927 612634
52
Janet Rose in Nottingham
I wanted to get involved in this project as I was present at the
Friday evening event at JOY and had a fantastic time and when
I saw you could apply for funding to do the same in your area; I
thought this was a great opportunity, not to be missed.
What will be special about the Nottingham event is that
people will have the opportunity to dance to live music by world
acclaimed musicians – a rare opportunity in Nottingham. I like
the idea that the focus is on the musicians, who will be bring their
wonderful talent to Nottingham.
Dancing to live music is a wonderful experience as the
interaction with dancer and musician is a very special connection.
Whenever I have danced to live music it has always been a
very exciting journey of discovery, it is my vision that dancers
in Nottingham should be able to experience this with the best
musicians in that field. I am delighted to invite Anne White as
special guest dancer and who will also be running the workshop
on the Saturday morning. I have also invited some amazing
dancers to perform on the Friday evening; they are Loveday,
Tatiana Woolley, Diana Mehira, Clair McGregor and of course
myself.
I currently run an event called Sahara Nights and am very
lucky that Asif and Pauline Qureshi who lead the band The
Nomads have played at Sahara Nights on a number of occasions
with great success. Drummers, mandolin, keyboard all in this
band, and as I am learning drumming myself with Asif, I have
played at these events (still a beginner) but it is amazing to see
everyone up and enjoying themselves. Having Baladi Blues
Ensemble come to Nottingham is not just for the dancers but
also for the musicians in the local area to come and enjoy and
learn from them.
I think that the response from the local community will be very
good as they will recognise that we are lucky to have this funding
that enables Nottingham to have this amazing opportunity. For
people who have never heard Egyptian music played live before
– I think they will be pleasantly surprised by the range, quality,
and richness and how it taps into your very soul. Nottingham
will welcome Baladi Blues Ensemble with open arms. Thank
you NADA for making this opportunity possible.
For further information on the evening event and the workshop
please visit www.bellydanceworld.co.uk
email: [email protected]
Habiba Dance (Susanna) in Edinburgh
I founded Habiba Dance to promote performance and
teaching in traditional, expressive and theatrical forms of
Egyptian Dance. It’s been quite a few years since we last had a
NADA event up here, and we never get the opportunity to have
live music. It will help reinvigorate the dance community here,
bring people together and hopefully bring people back to Arabic
music - the real music at the heart of this dance.
On a personal level, I’ve had the opportunity to train with live
music at a number of occasions over the past few years and it is
absolutely unparalleled. I would love to have the chance to teach
what I’ve learned. And dancing in particular to musicians like
Taha would be such an amazing experience for the dancers here.
For more information
email: [email protected]
www.habibadance.com
Janet Rose
Habiba Dance
53
Due to space restrictions, it is not possible to include all details
of events. Please contact the organiser or see the NADA website
JANUARY
2012
NEWCASTLE
Bellylicious Show in Newcastle
28 January
Bellylicious Show in Newcastle
For more details contact Galit- [email protected]
BURSCOUGH
Hafla
28 January
The Stanley Club, Burscough
Hafla, Burscough
For more details and for performance applications
please contact Sarah Garrish, 07815 549581 or email [email protected]
Tickets are available now
NOTTINGHAM
NADA and Friends Community
and Dancers Workshops
3 - 4 February
This evening will be hosted by Janet Rose and will include dance performances along with
music from the fabulous Baladi Blues Ensemble along with lots of time to boogie with the band! The live band will be lead by Guy Scholam an International drummer, Urban Egyptian dance
music at its absolute best! Soulful accordion and saxophone improvisations energised by
powerful Arabic percussion - all presented with a charming and enigmatic stage presence.
In the Baladi Blues Ensemble, Guy unites three of Egypt’s most renowned master musicians:
saxophonist Ahmed El Saidi, quarter-tone accordionist Sheik Taha and master percussionist
Hassan Reevis. Ahmed El Saidi shot to fame as saxophone player with the Nubian groups of
Ali Hassan Kuban, Shams Hussein and more recently: Salamat. A seminal figure in the
development of Egyptian Baladi music, Sheik Taha was accordionist for legendary singers
Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Ahmed Adaweya and has accompanied the greatest
Egyptian dancers including Samia Gamal, Fifi Abdou and Naima Akif. Hassan Reevis has
played with Egyptian superstars Abdel Halim Hafez and Ahmed Adaweya, he is one of Egypt’s
most respected percussionists. Adam Warne will be doing percussion. The evening will be a
mix of dance performances but the focus is the audience getting up and boogieing to live music
(fantastic). Don’t miss this rare opportunity to dance to amazing talented musicans.
Pre booking advised.
There is also a great opportunity to come along to a workshop on Saturday 4th Feb with live
musicians. Taught by the amazing Anne White (How to Dance to Live Music) again a rare
opportunity. There will be performances from teachers in the Midlands area belly dance world,
dancers confirmed are: Tatiana Woolley, Claire McGregor, Diana Mehira, Anna Bisco, Malika .
A new bigger venue with a big dance floor and better viewing for audience.
Mapperley Plains Social Club: www.facebook.com/pages/Mapperley-Plains-SocialClub/10092381332 1868
This evening is for the marvellous price of £5 PRE BOOKING ESSENTIAL
Please make a paypal booking to [email protected]
Janet Rose Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
This will be a morning of workshops hosted by Janet Rose and will include a community Belly
Dance workshop alongside a workshop for Bellydancers with Live music from members of the
baladi Blues Ensemble. The Belly Dancers workshop will be taught by the amazing Anne White.
The theme of the workshop is dancing to live music, living in the moment of the music introducing , establishing, and changing rhythms for dancers with the tabla “in the moment”
responding to the melody how to add expression and musical direction * building intensity and
sophistication into musical phrases, non verbal communication with dancers and band.
Teaching will be layered to simplify/challenge dancers according to their level and experience You will gain a lot from this introductory session which will include hand outs.
Pre booking ESSENTIAL
Price is £10 (£5 with a NADA voucher)
Please make a paypal payment to [email protected]
Contact Janet Rose (Malika) To book visit www.bellydanceworld.co.uk
4 February
Federation House Social Club
Claremont Road, Carrington
FEBRUARY
www.nada.uk.com
DONCASTER
4 - 5 February
NADA and Sadaaqah Dancers
present Workshops with Kay Taylor
plus an Evening with the Baladi Blues
Ensemble
Doncaster Catholic Club (First floor),
Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BY
Saturday 4 February. Community Workshops
12.30 - 1.30 with Jacky Oruc - Belly Dance for Beginners with 5 Easy Moves
Learn 5 belly dance moves to take away with you and put them all together to some fun
uplifting music. Just £2. 1.45 - 2.45pm with Trisha Champion - Belly Dance with Veils
Borrow some of our lovely veils and learn ways to use and dance with them to some beautiful
inspiring music. Just £2.
12.30 - 3pm Free - Relax and watch a video/presentation of the where belly dance came from,
how the dance and perceptions of it have changed, the musical instruments and rhythms that
give belly dance music that unique sound and how it is danced to now by different cultures.
Chat to the Sadaaqah Dancers and NADA members on site about any aspect of belly dance
and how you can find out more.
3pm - 5pm Dancers Workshop with Kay Taylor and Baladi Blues Band
The Joy of Working with Live Music
Kay explores the sheer exhilaration of working with live music. We all tend to be terrified as we
don’t get access to it, but it really is a wonderful experience. A fantastic introduction to dancing
with live music. £10 or £5 with your NADA voucher.
8pm Hafla (Doors open 7.30) with the amazing sounds of the Baladi Blues Ensemble.
Performances to the live music by Kay Taylor and guests and lots of time for everyone to dance
to the band. Souk. Tickets just £5.
54
FEBRUARY
Sunday 5 February
Masterclass with Kay Taylor
10.00 – 12.00
Westwoodside Village Hall, Nethergate,
Westwoodside, Nr Doncaster
Sunday 5 February - Masterclass with Kay Taylor. 10am – 12pm
Developing Your Own Style’ - A fantastic opportunity for more experienced dancers which will
involve individual work and feedback from Kay. Kay helps you find your stronger areas and
explores how to make the most of them. Working from breathing and basics, building your own
character and style. Strictly very limited numbers to allow for the individual work. £25.
EDINBURGH
Sunday 5 February
2.00pm - 11.00pm
FREE Egyptian Dance Taster Workshop for Beginners. 2pm - 3pm
Cost: FREE, YES FREE, £0, Absolutely Nothing! Come and try this fun, accessible belly
dance workshop. This will be a fun filled introduction for complete Beginners, brought to you by
Elspeth SwishandHips of Dance Base. This event is suitable for all ages and abilities.
Bring your friends!
NADA and Habiba Dance present
Live Music event in Edinburgh with
Guy Schalom and the amazing Baladi
Blues Ensemble
The Spirit of Baladi - Live Music Workshop for Dancers 3pm - 5pm
Cost: Only £10 (or just £5 for NADA members who redeem their voucher).
Susanna will teach a workshop for dancers on ‘the Spirit of Baladi’, accompanied by master
accordion player Sheikh Taha, with percussionist Adam Warne. This is an incredible opportunity
to learn to connect with and dance to traditional Egyptian music, melody and rhythm, and to
explore moving the soulful sound of Baladi accordion - played by one of the leading musicians
of this incredible art form. This workshop is suitable for dancers who are at least familiar with the
basic moves of Egyptian Dance, from Improvers through to Advanced dancers.
EVENING CONCERT and Party with Live Music. 7.30pm (Doors 7pm)
Cost: The amazing price of only £5
This unmissable concert and party will feature authentic live music from the fabulous Baladi
Blues Ensemble, along with dance performances and lots of time to boogie with the band! Lead by Guy Schalom, the Ensemble features soulful accordion and saxophone improvisations
energised by powerful Arabic percussion - all presented with a charming and enigmatic stage
presence. The evening will be a mix of dance performances from some of Scotland’s favourite
Arabic Dancers (including Lorne McCall, Susanna from Habiba Dance, Elspeth, Kerimeh and
other special guests), and a chance for the audience to get up and boogie to the fantastic live
music. Don’t miss this rare Opportunity to dance to amazing talented musicians. Pre booking
advised.
Bookings: For all details, venue and bookings go to:
habibadance.com/Events.aspx Or email: [email protected]
A
Aberdeen
Maureen Phyfer
07590 295012
Aberdeen
Elaine Robertson
01224 723282
Eva Green
020 8393 7485 / 07775 872227
Addlestone
Amble, Newcastle, Pegswood, Ashington Angela Noble
01670 787223
Ashford (Middlesex)
Angelica Khessib
07780 835389
Atlanta, Georgia U.S.A.
Ramona McConney
Eleanor Shirkie
01290 424270 / 07515 968277
Ayrshire (Tribal)
B
Bangor, Northern Ireland
Bedford, Biggleswade
Biggar, Lanark
C
Carterton (Oxon), Fairford (Glos)
Carlisle
Carlisle, Keswick, Fellside Villages,Penrith,
Eden Valley, Borders
Chester-le-Street Chester, Cheshire D
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Kristyene Boreland
Bev Sabbatella
Kate Deacon
07821 697116
01767 314800
01899 308485
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Nicola Livermore
Sandra Bootes
01285 713411
01228 596389
[email protected]
[email protected]
Jessica Lewis
Alexandra Logan Rosie Sedgwick 01768 870440 / 07811 544960
07876 080000 01244 851395, 07743 490726
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Derby
Rachel Rafiefar
07949 653832
Doncaster
Jacqueline Oruc
07815 296762
Doncaster
Siobhan Waring
07909 223010
Dubai
Sarah Ward+971501880497
Dunfermline, Fife
Lynne Hastie
01383 514295 (eve) / 07913 518269
Dumfries & Galloway (Shimmy Shakers)
Pat Pickering
01387 820558
Dumfries & Galloway (Shimmy Shaker)
Ebby Sigmund
01557 332345
Durham Gillian Hutton 07963 792156
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
55
E
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh (Central)
Edinburgh, Musselburgh
Edinburgh, London, Aberdeen
Ellesmere Port
Habiba Dance
Hilary Thacker
Moyra Banks
Caroline Evans
Elspeth Alexandra
Juliana Brustik
Susie White
07758 304699
0131 556 7976
07840 838861
0131 228 2683
07748 183171
020 8533 0955
0151 637 2289
[email protected]
Beatrice Curtis
07787 990291
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
F
Farnham, Guildford
G
Gainsborough
Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow, Motherwell
Glasgow, Paisley, Stirling
Glasgow (Tribal Workshops)
Grimsby, Broughton, Barton Upon Humber
Greenock & Glasgow (Tribal)
Guisborough U3A
Trish Champion
07976 973990
Sarah Pulman
0141 560 3345
Val Waldron
0141 423 2566
Joanie Ward
0141 427 9261
Ann McLaughlin
0141 558 6967
Deirdre Clitheroe
Fay Lowe
01652 680908
Lorri McAuley
0141 884 8504
Brenda Elliott
01287 638154
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
H
Halifax
Alex Gledhill
01422 245776
Amanda Craine
Halifax, Huddersfield
01422 886464 / 07981 639471
Rosemarie Flint
01277 374378
Harold Hill
Lisa McKain
0121 358 7806 / 0121 424 0705
Heartlands Hospital (Birmingham)
07887 711272
Hebden Bridge
Jo Hirons
07875 501031
Huddersfield
Ann Wear
07523 720773
Sandra Thompson
07730 309429
Hull
Huntingdon, Covington, Vanessa Clipsham
01480 435718
Thrapston, Rushden
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected],
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
I
Idle (Bradford)
Isles of Islay and Jura
Isle of Skye
Amanda Teasdale
Paula Ellen Davidson
Rebecca Johncocks
01274 620859
01496 850175
01470 572360
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
J
K
Keighley
Jeanette Taylor
01535 662849
Kettering
Elizabeth Hopkins
07763 465590
Kings Lynn
Ann Croucher
01406 359919
Kirkcaldy, Fife
Annette McCann
01383 872907
Kirkcudbright
Delya Wilkinson
01557 330005
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
L
Lancaster
Laurencekirk, Fettercairn
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds Area Supply Teacher
Leeds (Garforth)
Leeds & Guiseley
Leeds, Harrogate
Leicester
Leicestershire
Lincoln
Liverpool
London
London & Nationwide
56
Desna Mackenzie
07966 504931
Gail Oates
07593 970076
Houda Webster
07759 837743
Wendy Headley
07776 125651 / 0113 278 0364
Sabrina Owen
07872 987021
Natalie Ashton Eaton
07791 316039
Helen Rix
Jane Coello
0113 260 1152
Heather Charlton
0113 393 0504 / 07989 574734
Anna Bisco
07710 403742
Beverley Smith
0113 305 3788 / 07946 041795
Julia Crabbe
07775 331831
Sarah Richardson-Goodlad 01530 831537 / 07907 202555
Karen Rastall
01522 524990, 07968 716724
Hilary Shepherd
01704 834550 / 07952 966246
Josephine Wise
07531 357846
Cathy Selford
020 7286 7059
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
M
Midhurst (West Sussex)
Manchester
Manchester, Bury
Manchester, Salford, Nationwide
Manchester, Nationwide
Malton (North Yorks)
Ruth Mason
Mindy Meleyal
Katy Carmichael
Michelle Pender
Tracey Gibbs
Larissa Collins
07889 976196
0161 998 2982 / 07786 068274
07780 708544
0161 707 5896 / 07733 115043
0161 707 7843 / 07801 413161
07790 542987
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
KayTaylor
Claire Novis
0191 519 0305
07801 276015
[email protected]
[email protected]
Tessa Kirkpatrick
01603 702170
[email protected]
Gill O’Flaherty
Gwen Booth
01704 506386
01865 712521
[email protected]
[email protected]
0033 6070 22465
01590 682407
[email protected]
01768 361040
01772 811732 / 07815 549581
01337 827761 / 07902 914583
01733 241035, 07748 591452
0191 586 6297 / 07930 688282
01722 783048 / 07843 079574
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Maureen Holmes
0151 426 1524
[email protected]
Ann Hall
01634 713229
[email protected]
N
Newcastle, Sunderland, South Shields
Newcastle (Jesmond),
Killingworth (West Moor)
Norwich
O
Ormskirk
Oxford
P
Paris
Raphaelle Masson
Pennington, Milford-On-Sea & Lymington Angie Hole
Penrith, Appleby, Kirkby Stephen,
Shap, Lazonby
Rita Williamson
Penwortham, Wigan
Sarah Garrish
Perth
Violet Shears
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire Clair McGregor
Peterlee, Easington
Mandy Sabri
Anne Kingston
Preston, Longridge
Q
R
Rainhill, Knowsley, St Helens, Halton
Ravenstone, Coalville, Loughborough,
Rochester, Gillingham
& Gravesend, Kent
Rochester NY & Glasgow
(Tribal Workshops)
Deirdre Clitheroe585-953-3623
[email protected]
Sabine Dawson
Siouxsie Cooper
Rowena Harrison
Wynne Smith
Cis Heaviside
Jessie Stanbridge
Tine Valois
Liz Jarrett
Carol Holloway
Jan Hudson
01722 742843
07813 918374
07743 974256 / 01507 327354
01724 784034
0114 221 7246 / 07979 685071
07894 533656
0045 9864 3030
01704 214175
01704 536878
0113 255 1886
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Julia Bisby
Debbie Phillips
Carrie Meadowcroft
& Kathy Carman
Carol Goodwin
Jill Henderson
07786 868369
01727 855829 / 07815 074381
[email protected]
[email protected]
01744 607774 / 07954 417578
01480 370059
0191 565 7270
[email protected]
[email protected]
S
Sailsbury, Wiltshire
Sale and Nationwide
Saltfleetby (Nr Louth, Lincolnshire)
Scunthorpe
Sheffield
Shoreditch (as Moirai Tribal)
Skive, Thisted, Denmark
Southport, Privates and ATS
Southport
Stanningley (Leeds)
Stocksbridge, Meersbrook,
Eckington (Sheffield)
St Albans
St Helens
St Ives, Willingham, Cottenham
Sunderland
T
W
Wakefield, Dewsbury
Catherine Clarke
07980 334902 / 01924 267349
Watford, South Oxhey
Dawn Harvey
020 8421 5178 / 07850 310978
Westhoughton, Bolton
Louise Heaton
01942 818023
Wirral, Chester
Caroline Thorpe
07714 342511
Workshops and Taster Sessions
Christine Emery
07720 679143
Nabila Bergmann-Sabha
0049-(0)30-847 164 40
Worldwide
Forli (Italia)
Warda Bucciarelli
+39 339 568 1167
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
57
NADA Membership Form
Please return your membership form to:Heather Charlton, 20 Carrholm Crescent, Leeds, W.Yorks. LS7 2NL
Enquiries to:- [email protected] or telephone 0113 393 0504
I would like to join NADA, my details are:-
Name
Address
Postcode
Email
I teach and would like my details (Name, Phone, Email and Town) to be included (please tick)
In the Magazine
On the Web SIte
Please give details below of any events you are planning to organise and want to be included in the next
magazine. These will be passed on to the magazine Editor and included if there is sufficient notice given.
NOTE: Your membership details will be held on a computer system so that we can process them efficiently
and deal with the issue of reminders and the magazine. They will not be accessible over the internet or used
for non-NADA purposes without your agreement. If you want to check these details at any time please contact
the Membership Secretary.
Please tick this box if you DO NOT want us to pass on your details to other dance related organisations.
I enclose a Cheque or Postal Order (please do not send cash) made payable to ‘NADA’ for:
Please Tick
Membership £20
Signed
58
Overseas Membership £20
Date
£