An Egyptian Cabaret

8-18-2008

My birthday. Last night was truly an experience. Mahmoud, our driver, recommended a ‘mid-level’ cabaret for my dad and I to go to. The club was on a boat on the Nile that was permanently docked. In fact, we didn’t realize it was a boat until some waves made the whole place rock back and forth about 2 hours into our evening.

We saw 6 different acts that night, I can’t remember them all in detail, but I will list them. Each act had a different band, as the evening progressed, the bands became bigger, and the talent became better. With that said, by 5 AM my ears were going to bust from the headliners – 2 Arabic sisters singing and their band that took up almost the whole stage. The first act of the night was a single female singer, with a smaller band, a lot of duff players, and a single keyboard player for melody. Next, was a dancer, shaabi singer (who was my favorite of the night). After this act, a female singer with some male back ups came with a larger band. After her, a Saudi themed act came. I say themed because their entire repertoire was not strictly gulf. And finally after this act we saw a male singer and dancer combination. Both dancers of the night were more interested in mingling and making sure to look nice and lip sync the songs than actually dancing, which is what I expected from this level of cabaret.

People watching at this event was much more entertaining than the entertainment itself. My father and I were seated behind a Saudi who was in Western style. He seemed to be a regular as all of the singers and dancers greeted him before they performed. Directly behind us were two women completely veiled in abayas – both of which had a very hard time not staying in their seat for the Saudi pieces. To our left were a couple of women decked in full Arab fashion which includes – eyes, earrings, bracelets, and hair (if not covered by hijab). They were coolly smoking shisha all night lulled by the music and enjoying lip syncing to the songs as well. Apart from these tables, there was one more table across the way that was also a sight to see – a group of Saudi men. Dancers take notice – learn your gulf and Saudi dance and music! To the performers, knowing this music and dance was like knowing an ATM pin number. Sing a Saudi song – get showered in 100 Egyptian Pound notes. Quite simple. Get a Saudi to dance on stage with the music? More showers of money. It was like the money was confetti to these Saudi men. What a sight to see!

My dad and I seemed to get the VIP treatment, for every act that got on stage, there was a shout out to all the Saudis, and all of the Jordanians in the room (namely my dad and myself). The staff waited on us hand and foot – a little much for this American girl. At one point the waiter cut my fruit for me, which just made me laugh. Since it was my birthday, my dad ordered a cake for me and the two Arabic singer sister sang happy birthday in their loudest decibel possible. The hafla was great fun to watch, but a little torturous as I had to rein myself in from dancing. Good Arabic girls don’t get up to dance at the fall of a hat – a feeling I think I’m going to have to get used to as my stay progresses. I wanted nothing more than to rip that stage (and those stationary dancers) into a oblivion with just me, my zills, and my red scarf…but that was not an option. A little light dancing here or there, that’s it!