Egyptian Style?

Mark_Balahadia

New member
I think the majority of dancers who claim to be Egyptian style are not. It's really depressing and I wish more dancers did their research.

WHO is Badia of Egypt? Is she referring to Badia Masabni of LEBANON??
Badia Masabni may have lived in Egypt in her later years but she was very Lebanese.
As for torso isolations being key to Egyptian style dance...uh, NO. Where'd she get that idea?
We have some dancers in my area professing to teach Egyptian style complete with swords, isis wings, veil, double veil and floorwork. hehehe


Regards
Priscilla
 

Farasha Hanem

New member
But what if a teacher or a studio does not have video clips available online? What does a beginner do, if Egyptian ie the style he/she wants to learn? Do some teachers allow...I don't know what to call it...sample classes? Does the student ask to see a teacher's credentials in Egyptian style?

I like A'isha's advice on another topic about watching video clips of one style for six months, but after seeing some bad YouTube clips, YouTube now makes me nervous. :confused: So, I rely on the experience of those here I look up to as mentors.
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Egyptian, etc.

But what if a teacher or a studio does not have video clips available online? What does a beginner do, if Egyptian ie the style he/she wants to learn? Do some teachers allow...I don't know what to call it...sample classes? Does the student ask to see a teacher's credentials in Egyptian style?

I like A'isha's advice on another topic about watching video clips of one style for six months, but after seeing some bad YouTube clips, YouTube now makes me nervous. :confused: So, I rely on the experience of those here I look up to as mentors.



Dear Farasha,
Actually, I meant watch full length videos of native dancers because I think that Youtube clips often give the total wrong impression and are many times out of context.
Regards,
A'isha
 

Farasha Hanem

New member
Where do I go to get reliable videos of authentic styles? Are they available on DVD, and how would I know which ones are worth buying, and which ones are rubbish? I'm sorry for being such a newbie, but I wouldn't want to waste time or money on something that wouldn't be worth the investment.
 
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Aisha Azar

New member
Dancers, etc.

Where do I go to get reliable videos of authentic styles? Are they available on DVD, and how would I know which ones are worth buying, and which ones are rubbish? I'm sorry for being such a newbie, but I wouldn't want to waste time or money on something that wouldn't be worth the investment.


Dear Farasha,
Having spent literally thousands of dollars on bad workshops, bad music, and bad videos, I undersand perfectly.
Here is my list of must haves for DVDs of native Egyptian dancers. Other people will have their contributions to make, too, but I hope they will be sure to point you in the directions of natives. Not that there are not some darn good dancers out there who are not natives, but when learning to pinpoint a elements of a style, I think its best to stick to the natives.
You might look for
Randa
Suheir Saki
Mouna Said
Naima Akif
Tahia Carioca
Aida Nour

I hope this list helps. A good place to begin your search is Saut wa Soura on the net. Another good place to look is Rashid Sale Co.
Regards,
A'isha
 

Tarik Sultan

New member
But what if a teacher or a studio does not have video clips available online? What does a beginner do, if Egyptian ie the style he/she wants to learn? Do some teachers allow...I don't know what to call it...sample classes? Does the student ask to see a teacher's credentials in Egyptian style?

I like A'isha's advice on another topic about watching video clips of one style for six months, but after seeing some bad YouTube clips, YouTube now makes me nervous. :confused: So, I rely on the experience of those here I look up to as mentors.

You should explore Gypsy's youtube channel. She's got hundreds of video clips. A lot of vintage and contemporary stuff and of course the legends of the golden age.

YouTube - gypsy8522's Channel
 

shiradotnet

Well-known member
I did see a You Tube clip, though, of Samia Gamal dancing in this set that looked a bit like a palace with pillars and some 'suppporting dancers' and two men dressed as Egyptian palace guards. She did employ some kicks to the front as she moved around the room, but it was as she was stepping out.. like kick, walk, walk.. kick.. walk walk.. and she had a veil and it was very, very lovely.

One important thing you need to understand about Samia Gamal when you watch clips of her work: in a typical movie, she would do only ONE raqs sharqi dance scene, and then other dance scenes would be in more Western dance styles. (Exceptions exist, but for the most part this applies.) Her other dance scenes tended to be based on Western dance forms, such as the European music halls, Broadway-style production numbers resembling those seen in Hollywood movies, modern dance, etc. The movie Afrita Hanem is an excellent example of this.

I'm not sure, but I think the scene you described above is one of the dance scenes from Habib el Omr. If it's the scene I'm thinking about, the dance style really wasn't Oriental at all, but rather an interpretive dance piece that brought in a lot of influence from modern dance.

Moumoud Reda did this step in a workshop I attended where he did a bit of a grapevine to the side, turning a bit to the right and the left and then at the end he went a bit up on his supporting foot, and had a pause with the other leg in the air about a foot and a half off the ground before he started the other way, so it was a little kick. This was a candelabra dance, though and it was very impressive to think of him keeping the candelabra balanced while doing this.

This sounds like you're describing Reda's Arabesque. He uses Arabesques a lot in his choreography. I tend to not really think of these as "kicks" though. With a kick, the energy is directed outward in the direction the foot is kicking. With Reda's Arabesques, the energy is more harnessed. Samia Gamal occasionally used Arabesques even in her Oriental pieces.
 

Farasha Hanem

New member
thank you

You should explore Gypsy's youtube channel. She's got hundreds of video clips. A lot of vintage and contemporary stuff and of course the legends of the golden age.

YouTube - gypsy8522's Channel

Thank you, Tarik, I just added her to my subscriptions. You're a wonderful help. Thank you, A'isha, for your list of Egyptian dancers, and thank, you, gypsy; now I'll have many hours of vids to study and enjoy. :)
 
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Aisha Azar

New member
Youtube, etc.

Thank you, Tarik, I just added her to my subscriptions. You're a wonderful help. Thank you, A'isha, for your list of Egyptian dancers, and thank, you, gypsy; now I'll have many hours of vids to study and enjoy. :)


Dear Farasha,
You are very welcome, Just try to remember when viewing small Youtube clips that they are telling only part of a story. Many times the problem is that out of context of whatever whole medium the clip was taken from, that the clip might or might not give you an accurate picture of what was happening. This is especially true of movie clips where the dancer is under the direction of someone else and may not even be actually dancing in her natural fashion.
Regards,
A'isha
 

Phoebedances

New member
One important thing you need to understand about Samia Gamal when you watch clips of her work: in a typical movie, she would do only ONE raqs sharqi dance scene, and then other dance scenes would be in more Western dance styles. (Exceptions exist, but for the most part this applies.) Her other dance scenes tended to be based on Western dance forms, such as the European music halls, Broadway-style production numbers resembling those seen in Hollywood movies, modern dance, etc. The movie Afrita Hanem is an excellent example of this.

I'm not sure, but I think the scene you described above is one of the dance scenes from Habib el Omr. If it's the scene I'm thinking about, the dance style really wasn't Oriental at all, but rather an interpretive dance piece that brought in a lot of influence from modern dance.



This sounds like you're describing Reda's Arabesque. He uses Arabesques a lot in his choreography. I tend to not really think of these as "kicks" though. With a kick, the energy is directed outward in the direction the foot is kicking. With Reda's Arabesques, the energy is more harnessed. Samia Gamal occasionally used Arabesques even in her Oriental pieces.


Samia was influenced by western dance, i did realize that, I just thought it was interesting that she put the kicks in her number. I've never seen a complete movie with her in it (maybe someday!!!) so I didn't know that usually only one dance number was raks sharki, however, or that she did so much purely western dance in her films. Thank you for sharing that with me.

Reda's move may have been an arabesque variation - he kicked more to the front, but it did have that 'lilt' to his movement.
 

shiradotnet

Well-known member
I've never seen a complete movie with her in it (maybe someday!!!) so I didn't know that usually only one dance number was raks sharki, however, or that she did so much purely western dance in her films. Thank you for sharing that with me.

Fortunately, it's much easier than it used to be to see full-length movies featuring legendary Egyptian dancers, complete with English subtitles. You can get the DVD for Afrita Hanem from Amazon.com (and lots of other places). (That's the name it is sold under.) You can also find another of her movies, A Glass and a Cigarette (sold under that title) on Amazon.

Afrita Hanem is my favorite of the four movies of hers that I've seen so far.
 

Warda_gamila

New member
This choreography has exactly what I don’t like. It lacks musicality.

I don’t object to the multi-fusion part, although it is not to my taste.

What I really dislike is that they move independently from the music. Where is the expression? :confused:

Never mind “Egyptian style dance”, I refuse to call this “dance”.

Yeah, I completely agree. They don't express the music at all and plus I don't like belly-dancing overflowing with too many "jumps" or moves that are not very sensual. It was a weird mixture, I didn't like it much to say the truth.
 

Phoebedances

New member
Fortunately, it's much easier than it used to be to see full-length movies featuring legendary Egyptian dancers, complete with English subtitles. You can get the DVD for Afrita Hanem from Amazon.com (and lots of other places). (That's the name it is sold under.) You can also find another of her movies, A Glass and a Cigarette (sold under that title) on Amazon.

Afrita Hanem is my favorite of the four movies of hers that I've seen so far.

Oh, I'll put those on my wish list then. I wonder if they have subtitles?
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Samia was influenced by western dance
One of the reasons I enjoy Samia Gamal so much is exactly because she embraced so many elements of western dance and made them middle eastern. She has long been one of my models for AmCab, NOT that she is in any size, form, or description an AmCab dancer, of course. Hmm. I know what I want to say, but my brain seems to be on perma-freeze today; hope this makes a modicum of sense to someone. She did the opposite of what a good AmCab dancer does- Samia succesfully took western dance elements and reinterpreted them for the middle east, an AmCab dancer takes middle eastern dance and reinterprets it for the west. Yes, I know, many knowledgable people firmly believe it's no longer belly dance once it is Americanized, so I may as well say now that I respectfully disagree and please don't renew the everlasting argument over what is and isn't BD here.
 

Phoebedances

New member
Thank you for letting me know.. they will be more interesting if I know the plot. :)

Shanazel, that's one thing I do enjoy about Samia, too. Even using western moves, she still is so undeniably Egyptian!
 

shiradotnet

Well-known member
There are several Egyptian movies I can recommend which are available with English subtitles. Some of them are sold under their Arabic-language titles, while others are sold under their English-language titles. Here is a list of my favorites, and I've used the title that the DVD is sold under:

  • Afrita Hanem. One of the five movies that Samia Gamal and Farid al-Atrache made together. I love this movie - it's an entertaining, light-hearted comedy about a mischievous genie! Look for it on Amazon.
  • Glass and a Cigarette. Stars Samia Gamal. Was made after her romance with Farid al-Atrache ended, so he's not in it. This one is a drama. In the plot, a famous dancer retires from public life when she marries a handsome young doctor. Look for it on Amazon.
  • Shore of Love. Stars Tahia Carioca as a nightclub dancer who is the mistress of a handsome rich bachelor. She's not happy when he falls in love with someone else! (Warning: near the very end of the movie, the English subtitles abruptly end. By this point, you can figure out how the movie ends even without the subtitles.) Also stars Leila Murad, a singer with a lovely voice. Look for it at FineArt Film!, Arabic DVD or Arabic DVD
  • Tamra Henna. Stars Naima Akef. Sort of an Egyptian interpretation of the plot of My Fair Lady. Look for it at enter.html or Arabic DVD

All of the above have excellent dance scenes.
 
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