dancing to songs without lyrics

cathy · 12-01-2007, 01:55 PM

There seems to be a custom of dancing to versions of songs without lyrics. I know you are supposed to learn what the lyrics are (when the song is sung) and what they mean even if you are using a piece of music without singing.

But I was wondering where this practice came from and whether there are "rules." I have seen plenty dance to songs with words too, but Om Kalthoum for instance. Dancers usually tend to use the version without words. Is that just because they think the audience will be more distracted by having both? Or are you the dancer kind of "channeling" the words?

Did this whole genre of ME songs having versions recorded without the singer come about BECAUSE of dance? Or would plenty of people want these no-lyrics versions of ME songs anyway?

I have also seen Egyptian film clips where there is a dancer and a live singer, totally interacting.

Comments? Thanks, Cathy

Kashmir · 12-02-2007, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathy

I have seen plenty dance to songs with words too, but Om Kalthoum for instance. Dancers usually tend to use the version without words. Is that just because they think the audience will be more distracted by having both? Or are you the dancer kind of "channeling" the words?

I believe that Om Kalthoum was (is) so revered that people would not dance to her music - and if they did they would not dance while she sang. That is, they would only dance in the instrumental bits. Given that some of Om Kalthoum's songs are an hour long taking out the non-lyric bits and just dancing to that seems to make sense.

However, I also think that some dancers may use the versions [of other songs] without words either because they are dancing to a non-Arabic audience and don't want to present "foreign" stuff, or they are dancing to an Arabic audience and don't want to get it wrong. With the latter, it doesn't help as many in the audience will know the words any way.

Personally, I always try and find out what a song means and key phrases (even for an instrumental version) - however it isn't always possible.

Aradia · 12-03-2007, 07:31 AM

Also keep in mind that some of those songs are 50 minutes long, so the part we dance to is just the introduction, or just the balady. Basically we are taking a snip out of a very long song and using it for our show, so I think musicians started recording those snips for dancers to use, and of course without Om Kalthoum's voice.

12-01-2007, 01:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
cathy Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brooklyn, New York Posts: 424	dancing to songs without lyrics There seems to be a custom of dancing to versions of songs without lyrics. I know you are supposed to learn what the lyrics are (when the song is sung) and what they mean even if you are using a piece of music without singing. But I was wondering where this practice came from and whether there are "rules." I have seen plenty dance to songs with words too, but Om Kalthoum for instance. Dancers usually tend to use the version without words. Is that just because they think the audience will be more distracted by having both? Or are you the dancer kind of "channeling" the words? Did this whole genre of ME songs having versions recorded without the singer come about BECAUSE of dance? Or would plenty of people want these no-lyrics versions of ME songs anyway? I have also seen Egyptian film clips where there is a dancer and a live singer, totally interacting. Comments? Thanks, Cathy

12-03-2007, 07:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
Aradia Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 38	Also keep in mind that some of those songs are 50 minutes long, so the part we dance to is just the introduction, or just the balady. Basically we are taking a snip out of a very long song and using it for our show, so I think musicians started recording those snips for dancers to use, and of course without Om Kalthoum's voice. __________________ Aradia of Las Vegas.....www.AradiaLV.com