How do all get your culture fixes???

Emma_Williams

New member
I am hoping to go to Cairo this year to take classes and to absorb all the culture. I am also having lessons this year with those teachers who have danced/taught/worked in Cairo. I am trying to listen to lots of Arabic music (this is fab but i have no idea what he/she is singing about haha). I am hoping to see an Egyptian musician in the summer....but how else do you all get culture rich?

I do not want to simply dance this dance....I want to get it...feel it and give it the dedication and respect it deserves.

So what do you all do to take ti that step further than just a dance?

answers please :)
Also....what would you avoid doing/trying so you dont offend people or look totally weird??
 

Emma_Williams

New member
sorry i meant cairo next year....i wish this year haha

this year is Italy for me....how i will cope not dancing for 10 days i dont know.....ipod i fear and crazy round the room dancing hehe
 

walladah

New member
Talk with people!

It has been the only way since the beginning of time!

Oh, take care, though, do not be alone while wandering over and there! But do talk with people! Ask questions that start with "why" and never ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no. Open a discussion!

Do enter stores (f.ex. clothing) that are not targetting foreigners and tourists!

Be curious! (but not a leach)

and have fun!
 

Kashmir

New member
Learn Arabic - ideally Egyptian for conversation. No, you won't be able to actually be able to have a conversation (unless you are a gift linguist) but you may be able to tell maid you want your room made up later rather than now :D Also consider learning Arabic script. This way Cairo will look less foreign and you can amuse yourself while stuck in traffic by trying to read the signs.

Things not to do. Don't attach yourself to a young Arabic man who will "show you around". Over there just going into his house, during the day, could cause problems. Staying with him is totally out of the question. Find his sister :D

Don't ignore the local dress code in so much as you wander around in public with bare arms, legs, or cleavage - or tight form-fitting clothes. Yes, there are young local women (such as students) that wear tight jeans. But you'll notice they seem to always travel in a group of women - and their heads are covered.

Drinking and smoking is acceptable for tourists but is still considered low class in women.

Things to do: Have fun. Be (a little) adventurous.
 

Emma_Williams

New member
Thanks very much everyone for the tips on travelling to Egypt but i was wondering what people do more in their own country??? Pretend i cant go to Egypt...which ways then are good at gaining a good understanding of the egyptian/middle easter culture and dance?
 

Kashmir

New member
Thanks very much everyone for the tips on travelling to Egypt but i was wondering what people do more in their own country??? Pretend i cant go to Egypt...which ways then are good at gaining a good understanding of the egyptian/middle easter culture and dance?
You can still learn Arabic. Even if you get someone from somewhere else in the Middle East you'll still learn quite a bit. My MSA teacher was educated middle class Lebanese but she made a point of including music and taped bits off Lebanese television to bring to class. We went and ate at her friends' restaurants and talked about "home". When I tried learning Egyptian from an Egyptian teacher I actually really only learnt about the culture - as a language teacher she was useless.

Do you have a local Egyptian club or society that would welcome a little one in the corner? (Best not tell them you are a belly dancer though). Do any ESOL teachers need someone to hold their bags? Basically find Egyptians and talk to them - or rather listen while they talk.

Also videos such as "Umm Kulthum - A Voice Like Egypt" , Natasha Senkovich's "The Bellydancers of Cairo" and Yasmina of Cairo's "Journey of Desire" will also give you a window in.
 

walladah

New member
given that I still try to make

my Turkish perfect, I am not able but know some words in Arabic only!

So, the gate to Arabic culture and to Middle East in general is music! Old and new, fusion and traditional, instrumental and songs, anything that defies western scales, arrangement and square-rationality!

I also love reading, but I avoid western travellers' travel stories or novels in general. Why do not you read any of the Naguib Mahfouz's books! He has been awarded a Nobel prize!

My favourite is "Arabian Nights and Days"!!
 

karena

New member
If you're interested in learning Arabic, students might offer Arabic for English. I know people do here. Here as in where I live, not the virtual here.

Other than that, I suppose it depends on how you like to understand things. I'm a word person, so books, that's how I understand my own culture too (I know I also live in it too). Or if you like films then films. Or yes of course knowing people, if you are a gregarious type who chats to lots of different people.

Sorry that is just blah blah blah isn't it! I was just going to post the first point, but then thought I'd also try and answer more generally :lol:
 

Emma_Williams

New member
Thanks Guys....I think I may get myself some arabic lessons but i am going to be studying for some science classes and maths so I can become a teacher in September so another course might break me but I may nip into town today and pick up some audio courses or something
 

onela

New member
Enjoy your trip! My former boss loves to visit Cairo, she goes almost every year. Last time I spoke to her she was knitting a baby sweater for friends in Egypt that just had a baby (is it ever cold enough in Egypt to merit a sweater? ;) ) She lost her passport last time she went though (her own doing- eeeep!). I wish I had made better use of my trip to Istanbul, but we were only there a short while and I lost my debit card (my own doing too) so there wasn't much opportunity to catch any shows or anything anyway :( It just solidified for me that I'll have to go again on a belly dance pilgrimage!

Unfortunately for me, any trips to Egypt or Turkey or anywhere else generally won't be anytime soon, though thanks to technology, we are able to access more than ever before from home. Without the internet (especially youtube) I don't think I'd know as much about belly dance specifically, or the world generally.

I have an academic background in historic costuming, so right now my middle eastern research revolves around studying historic dress of the middle east. (I breifly worked in a medieval townhouse in England, and was quickly tired of the English re-enactors who frequented our facility for festivals and events talking about medieval Europe like it's the only thing that ever existed, especially in relation to my own country- there were people in North America before the European settlers, though that's really a different kettle of fish. To get back on-topic, I've since discovered that middle eastern historic dress is pretty interesting, and very beautiful- I'd like to do a repro sometime soon.) I'm hoping that my historic costume research will help me to be creative with belly dance costuming <3 Maybe in the future, I'll pick up another language though I don't know if I have the energy for that anymore, I'm already bilingual English/French.
 

Daimona

Moderator
I have an academic background in historic costuming, so right now my middle eastern research revolves around studying historic dress of the middle east. (I breifly worked in a medieval townhouse in England, and was quickly tired of the English re-enactors who frequented our facility for festivals and events talking about medieval Europe like it's the only thing that ever existed, especially in relation to my own country- there were people in North America before the European settlers, though that's really a different kettle of fish. To get back on-topic, I've since discovered that middle eastern historic dress is pretty interesting, and very beautiful- I'd like to do a repro sometime soon.) I'm hoping that my historic costume research will help me to be creative with belly dance costuming <3 Maybe in the future, I'll pick up another language though I don't know if I have the energy for that anymore, I'm already bilingual English/French.

Ooooh...
Onela: Care to share some preliminary results or resources for the rest of us? Pretty please?
(So far I've just seen this: MAX TILKE: ORIENTAL COSTUMES THEIR DESIGNS AND COLORS)
 

onela

New member
Ooooh...
Onela: Care to share some preliminary results or resources for the rest of us? Pretty please?
(So far I've just seen this: MAX TILKE: ORIENTAL COSTUMES THEIR DESIGNS AND COLORS)

Cool! I've never seen that one.

So far as far as books go, I really like Women's Costume of the Near and Middle East by Jennifer Scarce. It's available at a university in the city where I live, I've taken it out before but didn't have enough time with it. I need to get my hands on it again to read properly and take notes. I'm trying to familiarize myself with the Ottoman Empire generally so I've got a copy Ottoman Centuries by Lord Kinross that I am perpetually terrified to crack the spine of (I'm terrified that a book that big will swallow me whole!). Less medievally and I suppose more anecdotally, this lass on deviantart is working on an 18th century Ottoman costume which is pretty cool, I haven't had the energy for dA lately but go check out her gallery, it's well organized and if she's done much to it it'll be there.

I'd really like to do more research on my own, so next time I have occasion to be in London, I want to spend a lot of time at the V&A- they have awesome stuff on display that I took blurry photos of as I rushed through the exhibit area (also regret not visiting the exhibit about Diana Ross and the Supremes, I bet there's a lot to be learned from that exhibit for any costumer!). I hope that on my next visit, I have the time to sit and sketch for a few hours. I wonder if they're receptive to facilitating access to their textile collections to researchers, besides my costuming background I'm also a museum professional so I'm always trying to find a way behind the scenes to see how other people are working.

That's all I got so far, if I pull together any good research or resources I'll be sure to brag about them here at the forum :)
 

shiradotnet

Well-known member
Get some Egyptian movies with English subtitles and watch them. As you do, ask yourself, "Are the characters being depicted considered high-society or low-class? How do they behave, and how do they interact with other social classes?" You can find out what year the movie was made at The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and that will help you understand the point in time - Egypt in the early 1950's was culturally quite different from Egypt today, for example.

Some good places to start:

Love Street. Romantic drama. Stars Abdel Halim Hafez and Sabah. Young man from low-income background is hired to be a music teacher in a school for rich young women. In one scene, Hafez sings Oolooloo as Nagwa Fouad dances around him in her silver screen debut. From the late 1950's.

Inspector General. Comedy. Stars Ismail Yassin and Tahia Carioca. Mid 1950's. Set in a small rural village. Corrupt mayor stresses out when he learns an inspector is coming to town. Has a couple of good dance scenes by Tahia Carioca.
 
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