.:: Majida Anwar's Blog ::.

Get the Scoop for the Atlanta Belly Dance Scene

2011-08-25T07:26:00.001-07:00

By the way, if you're ever interested in what's going on in the Atlanta belly dance scene, Barbara's Yalla Y'all is a GREAT blog for upcoming events. She's on the ball, whoo hoo! http://yalla-yall.blogspot.com/

Marketing Food For Thought

2010-10-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I conducted a campaign-based marketing class at TribOriginal. The class went great, and I enjoyed our discussions! Here are the notes for anyone who wasn't able to attend or didn't get a copy.

1. It’s all about timing - Whether you are planning an event, wanting to increase the numbers in your classes, or book more gigs – timing is everything.

Time for participant prep
Might be longer or shorter in your area/ city/ student base
Are your students procrastinators or planners?
Document your success based on how far (or how close) to your event you advertise

Timelines: MAP IT OUT starting from the event going backwards (flyers, social, email, newsletter, etc)
This happens 8 weeks in advance
This happens 6 weeks in advance
This happens 4 weeks in advance
This happens 2 weeks in advance
This million and one pieces need to happen the week of

Seasons (Holiday and Industry specific)
Holiday seasons impact the general public’s willingness to participate in your event
Industry specific events can limit the disposable income of your target audience or current student base
Other festivals, workshops, etc
Touring groups
Adjacent industries that cross over – Burner events, burlesque, etc

2. Location, location, location - Sometimes you can only reach so far with your marketing efforts - literally. Be realistic as to who from your marketing base can attend an event based on travel.

GP Rule of Thumb - In today’s environment, belly dancers are EVERYWHERE. The general public won’t travel for more than 20 minutes to a class due to the current economy and gas prices. While we don’t always have the ability to get prime locations, clarification is key.

INCLUDE ADDRESSES - We live in a world of smart phones and GPS’s – don’t forget to add an address AND phone number to all marketing materials

3. Supply and Demand - Events happen every weekend. More events are happening in more localized areas. While the enthusiasm for dance is great, your marketing base will become jaded with too many events. Be aware of your community.

SUPPORT your fellow artists and guess what? They will probably support you too! Utilize other’s events as a means of networking and collaboration.

Don’t become insular – Event after workshop after event will eventually wear on your local student base. Broaden and vary your efforts for networking, performance, and event planning to broaden your base of ‘touches’.

4. Personas – Whom are you trying to reach? Everybody? No, not really. Putting bodies in your events or classes is always a concern, but inviting the right target market to your event is way more efficient. How do you define your target audience? Create the ideal persona of who you want to reach, and reach them in their channels of communication:

Demographics: Gender, Ages (what is your typical age spread in your classes/ events?), Location (are they near enough to care about the event?), Income (can they afford your classes?) , Mobility (are they willing to travel?)

Psychographics: College students looking to try something new?Housewives wanting to have fun for an hour? Fellow artists who want to try a new discipline? Other dance students looking to cross train?

Online/ Offline Digital Behavior: How is the best way to reach your persona? What is your persona’s digital communication of choice? (Social Networks? Email? Message boards? ) How often does your persona go online? Are there local hangouts where your persona frequents? Who influences your persona to engage with you? (Friends? Other dancers/ artists?)

5. Go forth and be social, digitally speaking – it’s free, everyone is doing it, and you should too. Here are some Facebook tips every starving artist should adhere to:

• Get a Facebook Fan Page
• Comment on photos
• Tag/ Untag your photos
• Comment
• Create events
• DON’T MAKE IT ABOUT YOU
• Tag other people
• Comment on others’ photos, statuses, and notes
• Offer advice, message, and

6. Degrees of Separation – Drip, drip, drip. To me, this is the most important aspect of marketing. I hear dancers/ sponsors say all the time – I posted a million Facebook statuses, flyers, emails, and still no one came! Ok great, you did everything right accept one small detail – did you make sure to extend beyond your close networking circle? If you are planning an event, want to fill your classes, or just have a rockin’ hafla – you have to make sure that not only does your close network know what is going on, but their friends understand, and their friends understand, and their friends understand…you get the picture.

Sheet Music Resources - UPDATED 9/29/10

2010-09-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Updated this post on 9/29/10 with more resources.

I've taken it upon myself to get musicians in Atlanta to see my point of view - that Middle Eastern music is amazing and should be played often! In doing this, I've also taken it upon myself to collect a large amount of classical Arabic sheet music. Here is a list of sheet music resources that I've found to be very helpful:

http://www.angelfire.com/music4/bilbilau/sheetmusic.htm - UPDATED 9/29/10 Great resource for Balkan, Turkish, and SCA-type music

http://www.istanpitta.com/cds_books/ - UPDATED 9/29/10 Avatar's Early Music Books. His arrangements are well thought out, giving a little more ornamentation that your normal melody lines that are written out. I've only focused on the handful of Eastern music in his collection, but can't wait to dive into more.

http://www.khafif.com/rhy - Jas's great percussion site, complete with midi sound clips

http://www.khafif.com/rhy/abc.html - Jas's resource for some sheet music, in ABC notation and sheet music

http://www.issaboulos.com/archive/ - Archive of Middle Eastern sheet music, amazing resource.

http://www.maqam.com/store/p/20-Arabic-Music-Songbook.html - Great source book with lots of tunes + lyrics in Arabic.

http://ifdo.pugmarks.com/~seymour/midipage/ - AMAZING site I stumbled across with stuff from all over the world

http://www.alsiadi.com/index.html - Has a great selection of free music, but you have to download scorch to see the music.

http://www.dorku.com/ - Carmine and Melissa's transcribing project, some free pieces and a lot for sale for about .99 cents each

http://www.bellydancesheetmusic.com/ - Melissa's continuing project for sheet music

http://www.arabicmusicalscores.com/buysheetmusic.php?cat=all - For purchase sheet music, mostly Egyptian and Lebanese

http://pentagrammi.wordpress.com/2005/05/25/spartiti-musica-araba/ - Random blog with some cool stuff for free

http://www.maryellendonald.com/CDs&BooksAvailableforPurchase.htm - Mimi Spencer's and Mary Ellen Donald books - great song books, clear and organized, some with song lyrics.

Now Accepting Students for Private Sessions

2010-09-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not currently offering weekly classes, but I would like to extend the opportunity for students to schedule private sessions with me. First lesson includes a 30 minute dance consultation - let's figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it - and then we'll dive into your hour session.

These sessions will help you get on the right track for your dance aspirations. I don't teach trends or tricks; I teach technique an...d theory - and I'll work you HARD. We'll take the sessions at a pace that is comfortable, yet challenging for you. If it's easy, you're not learning! Private sessions are for specific feedback to accelerate your dance growth, so constructive criticism is an essential part of these sessions.

Topics include:

- Musicality
- Music Theory
- Arabic Styling
- Drills
- Zills
- Spin Technique
- Veil Technique
- Shimmy technique
- Layering drills
- Choreography

I may have you work on other technique before we approach your topic of choice. This is a good thing. Great dancers build proper technique and then can easily extend that technique to their inspiration. Don't hurt yourself or compromise your dance integrity!

Please message me if you are interested and we can schedule your first session. $35 an hour or $60 for 2 hours, travel expenses apply to teach in your home.

You can also send an email to majda dot anwar at gmail dot com

Thanks!

The Integrity of Dance: Choreography and Expression

2010-04-05T10:02:00.001-07:00

It's 6:45 PM on a Saturday and I'm getting ready for a show. We're at a local workshop show filled with local dancers performing. This is the first time we are performing one of our pieces with four dancers instead of three. The pinnacle of the piece involves a complicated Cross and Box pattern where we flip flop from one to the other. I'm not too worried about it since The back stage area is actually another ballroom that allows us plenty of space to rehearse our piece one more time before going on stage.

"Make sure to take small steps and make your shimmy bigger. The larger steps mess up the formation." Our director said, as we kept our zills quiet in respect to the other performers.

I practically make no steps to go into the formation, which gets hard when I get excited on stage. Ziah, Teejei, and Aziza remind me of this and I laugh it off.

"If I screw up on stage, I'll just make a joke of it" I said, knowing that a little touch of humor always saves me in a choreography. I've lost a shoe, ended up backwards on stage, and ripped a tear in one of my skirts, but some a performer's ability to get over the mess ups is key to a great performance. Humor works for me, and people seem to look forward to the expressive facial expressions I'll make when I do miss a step, ahem, or three like in our piece Dunje.

As we wrap up our mini-rehearsal, I think about what this choreography will look like in two years. It'll be beautiful and interesting to watch not because I'm about to run into Ziah and laugh about it, but because we'll be so comfortable in the music the audience will see the music for how we interpret it with our dance.

My dance company always has to rehearse before a show. Our choreographies are complicated, and need to be rehearsed in the space before we perform or we are very discombobulated! I love having that confident feeling of nailing a choreography, and I think this really boils down to an integrity of dance all of us strive for. It will take Awalim an average of 1.5 - 2 years until we feel a choreography is solid enough to emote the music in a way without worrying about the choreography itself. I LIVE for that feeling. By intense practice, rehearsal, and multiple performances of one piece, you're able to grow as a performer and listen to the music in ways you never heard before as you were worrying about your steps. Think about it this way, when you go to a concert to see your favorite band, do you go to see their new stuff or your old time favorite song?

The integrity of dance, for me, lies within your dedication to your movement. From the control of a choreography you are able to handle a degree of expressive freedom you don't always feel when improvising. You start to hear the music at a level of detail that will lend your expression to shape the music in a visual manner without worrying about which movement to do next. Its truly a beautiful experience.

"But I did that choreography last time!" Oh, what a slippery slope that statement is!

Don't throw away a choreography because you did it "last year" or even four years ago! It's still in its infancy as a piece. Years from now you will notice things about your dancing you didn't notice when you first created it. Think of choreography as an extension of your creative expression, why would you want to throw away what you've worked so hard on just after 1 or 2 performances?

Next Post - Dance Integrity: Ethics in Our Industry

Video: The performance from the workshop, Piece: Dunje

TribalCon 2010

2010-02-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Another TribalCon successfully completed, and damn am I inspired. For me, this TribalCon was also a great reminder about my love of music, or really, my love of PLAYING music. I took a big step this year and performed a piece on violin for the student troupe's performance of Veselba. It's been a great path getting back into playing violin and Saturday's performance felt great along side the musicians Darbuka Dave, August Hoerr, and Teejei to bring the piece to life for the students. Thanks guys, that really meant a lot to play with you!

This year's Friday night hafla was a great chance to play with some of my favorite musicians. I loved range of music everyone brought to the party, including Balkan, Middle Eastern, and even the Tetris song (Thanks Joachim!). Of course, no hafla would be complete with out a total jam out with our davul line led by the amazing Nevik. That really gets everyone on their feet. ATS fun was had by all, and Denys led and taught folk line dances around the ballroom, yet another basis of dance that belly dancers rarely are able to access.

Every year at TribalCon I am regenerated by the drive, thoughts, knowledge, and artistic expression of the teachers AND attendees. It's great to see so many dancers and musicians taking care of our art form. TribalCon really isn't just about dance, but what the artist needs to complete their training and further their own expression of the art, whether its dance or music. I felt this firsthand for the first time this year through the classes, and it was truly an experience.

Donna's lecture on Thursday evening was invigorating. I love how she is not afraid to cover topics we as dancers need to address to overcome our still existing misnomers of the art form. The lecture bounced from hyper-sexuality, to religion, to history, and back to our practice in the industry today. She challenged us to be informed and take these matters to deep thought so we can be prepared to respond to these issues informed and well spoken to our audiences. Oh, and her reading list is absolutely a must for any aspiring belly dancer. Period.

I loved Asharah's presentation on the history of tribal belly dance, diving into the roots of from Jamilar Salimpour to Carolena to our modern interpretations. I think it's so important to know your history as tribal fusion dancers, and this was presented in such a way that was succinct, and very well thought out. Asharah's workshop made my inner history dork giddy with joy talking about my favorite subject of belly dance in the 60's and 70's in the U.S. She then took us through a series of particular dance moves of the Jamila Salimpour method and how those basics were changed overtime to morph into today's American Tribal Stye vocabulary.

Jen Speiden's anatomy for dancers class has been a TribalCon staple for a few years now. This year was the first time I was able to attend the class - and it was AMAZING. As dancers we need to take care of our bodies to elongate our ability to dance. Jen showed us proactive examples of ways to protect areas that tribal belly dancers use very often, namely our rotator cuffs, abdominals, iliopsoas, and our spine and how they correlate to dance movement. She also explained how our bodies move so that we can avoid injury from trying to torque our body in unsafe ways. It was a great class, and I truly look forward to next year's class.

Sunday also held the music and dance discussions. Both discussions centered around inspiration in music. The dance discussion also touched on the practice regimen of our teachers, how to handle burn out, and how to handle the post-event 'blah's. Across the board, the teachers agreed that cross training, finding new inspiration in and out of the dance form, and knowing your own tolerance limit was paramount to overcoming your dance obstacles, oh and yoga.

Its Sunday night, I'm home, and the hustle and bustle of classes, vendors, and music is still echoing in my head. I'll try not to get the post-event blues, but it'll be hard after this weekend. Gulf Wars is in two weeks, that is something to definitely look forward to. I plan to play music every night with my friends and exchange more inspiration and ideas, so I guess I should go practice now...

Oh, and if you want to know more of what happened this weekend, check out Aziza Nawal's Note on FB

Salons Update

2009-06-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

We've been having a great time at the salons. This summer is the trial run for what I hope will turn into a weekly meeting of musicians working on all kinds of Middle Eastern and Balkan music. Here are photos and audio of some of our sessions:

May 10th Recording

May 10th Photos

May 31st Recording

May 31st Photos

If you would like to come to a salon, JUST SHOW UP! We work on a lot of stuff and no you don't have to know how to read music and no you don't even have to know how to play an instrument! Plenty of people come and grace us with their voices. I think the lyrics to these songs are very important, so come on down!

You can either join the Atlanta Gypsy meet-up or the Google group I started to keep up with dates and details:

http://musicians.meetup.com/335

http://groups.google.com/group/memusicatl/

Drum Solo Construction

2009-05-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

This past week I taught a drum solo workshop in Orlando, and I had a great time creating a workshop based on “how to construct a drum solo.” I know from personal experience, creating a drum solo that is memorable, show-stopping, and awe-inspiring is a daunting task. What I did notice while researching drum solos, however, is that most Middle Eastern drum solos have common elements if made for a belly dancer, more specifically they will probably have the following elements: Entrance, Answer and call, Pop/slap, Beledi resolution, Shimmy section (could also be finale), Finale punch line.

Entrance – introduces the dancer, the percussionist(s), and sets the tone for the rest of the piece. Could be a recurring rhythms such as ayoub or malfouf, a unique rhythm set that spaces between each riff, or a simple roll to warm the percussionists fingers.

Answer and call – a “power of four set” where the percussionist introduces a riff, and another percussionist (maybe the dancer utilizing zills) answers. Dancers could utilize this section with intricate isolations and musical interpretation.

Pop/ slap – literally referring to the pop and slap technique on the doumbek, these “power of four” sets gives a different texture to the rhythms and riffs the percussionist is presenting. The dancer should in turn give a different texture to her movement with level changes, directional faces, and internal isolations i.e. percussive belly rolls.

Beledi resolution – usually by this point of the drum solo both you and the percussionist have almost pulled all of your “tricks”. The percussionist then starts a basic beledi rhythm as a break for everyone including the audience. Middle Eastern audiences will clap in catharsis and familiarity to this rhythm. The dancer should relax at this point and conserve her energy for the build up to the finale, doing simple or folkloric steps. Awalim has used this break as an opportunity to use ATS in our choreography.

Shimmy section – exactly what it says, the part that everyone waits for. The percussionist will utilize rolls in which 95% of the time the dancer will answer with hip shimmies. Be creative with however you want to interpret those rolls; if you have a mean belly flutter, by all means, dazzle us! I know I was when Zoe Jakes pulled this technique at the latest BellyDance SuperStares show with percussionist Issam Houshan.

Finale – finales are the absolute peak of your drum solo, whether the last section builds or speeds in tempo with a traditional fellahi, or goes crazy with a million poly rhythms: make sure you save your highest point to be your final point. If you have lead your audience as you should with a drum solo, they should jump out of their seat when you end on this high note.

So, what are the pieces I pulled this information from? The following pieces:
Amer’s Drum Solo: Arabesque Dance Company
Naima’s Hip: Hossam Ramzy
Cat’s Meow: Susu Pampanin and the Cairo Cats
Rejoicing in Upper Egypt: Musicians of the Nile
Missr!: Raquy and the Cavemen

More “classic” drum solos can be found from the following albums:
Raquy Danziger – Naked, Jordan
Hossam Ramzy – Sabla Tolo Vol. 1,2,3
Issam Housham – The Dancing Drum
Susu Pampanin– Dancing Drums
Carmine Guida – Shake ‘Em Up Belly Dance Drum Solos
Sohail Kaspar - The "Magic" of John Bilezikjian
Mary Ellen Donald – Gems

Sheet Music Craziness!

2009-04-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

I read sheet music. I was trained as a musician to read sheet music. Learning pieces by ear has been a challenge to say the least, learning Middle Eastern songs by ear? HA! I need some guidelines before I can dive off that cliff. Over the last couple of weeks I've bought some Arabic sheet music compilation books and CD's with sheet music files. I found these on all corners of the inter-webs and beyond. I'll share my initial thoughts with each as I become mroe familiar with each through practice and usage. Some initial thoughts include:

Mimi Spencer's song book (pink book pictured) is great for developing belly dance sets, very clear and to the point with clear notation. Can't wait to accumulate that entire collection of music.

Maqam.com's sheet music book (blue book on left) has a lot of pieces from the Levant which is nice as most of these song books carry a lot of Egyptian pieces. The lyrics are inlcuded in Arabic, which is useful if you can read Arabic. Transliteration only goes so far in my opinion, and if you're going to play and especially sing Arabic music, start learning the Arabic language. You'll be surprised at how much you miss out when you don't. I'm not fluent but I see this as an excellent way to practice and learn.

I've leafed through most of the others, but haven't had a chance to really dive into them. I'll be figuring out a better format of posting reviews and will start those soon.

Next post: Important terms for Arabic music: do you know what iqaat, muwashah, qasida, takht or wasala mean? My next post will include a glossary of terms for Arabic music.

Play in the Park

2009-04-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend was just delightful. I sat in Piedmont Park for about 4 hours playing tabla with some other drummers at the Atlanta Burners Play in the Park event. I met some very cool people and worked on my slap for a while. I almost have it...We played around with a couple f rhythms I'd never tried before which was nice. We kept the rhythms going for a good length of time feeding off one another's variations of the rhythm. I guess you could say my "ess" was on! This is one of the pics I found from Facebook, one of the only times I switched my tabla for this other drum.

Then to top off a great day, my family and I went and had dinner at a new Arabic restaurant in Woodstock called Mediterranean Buffet. The name is horribly cheesy but the food was fantastic and not only because they had malfouf! After dinner we hung out with the owner and smoked sheesha. Victoria came over for a while and I took out the tabla again and did my first attempt at a drum solo for a belly dancer, all relaxed and non-showy. It was really fun, and gave me inspiration to work harder on tabla. The restaurant was fairly large and I hope it works out as the owner is very nice and wants to create a community...we'll see if that can happen with a Middle Eastern restaurant in Woodstock, GA.

Video Clips from trip

2009-03-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

AUC Folkloric Troupe August 2008

Randa Kamel - Nile Maxim December 2008

Sufi Troupe at Al Azhar Park November 2008

Maybe, just maybe

2009-03-02T19:29:00.001-08:00

Plans are in the works to go back to Misr with my friend Dave for the month of November...!!

Some last photos

2009-01-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

Its been some weeks since I've been back in the country. School has started back, and time has ran away from me. Egypt was the adventure of a lifetime...a culturally shocking experience that this southern girl will always keep close to her heart. I do plan on coming back to Egypt, and when I do, I'll revisit this blog. But for now, I will leave with some of the last remaining photos and videos that I haven't posted yet.

Ma'a Salam ya Misr.

Sharm el Sheikh

Nile Cruise and Arabic Music Ensemble Concert Photos

Zaar Concert

Updates and coming home

2008-12-21T02:39:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days in Cairo have been full of amazing adventures...and then the internet cut out of the entire Middle East. Really. A ship off the coast of Alexandria weighed anchor and cut the main DSL line giving Egypt, the Sudan, and some other countries internet. The entire country of Egypt was without internet for 48 hours.

I have lots of pictures and stories to post, but in my last few days here in Cairo, I am trying to save my moments. I should have the following posted before the New Year when I am back in the States with a fast internet connection:

- Pictures from Sharm El Sheikh
- Pictures from Luxor, Aswan, and everthing in between
- Pictures and video! from the traditional Zaar I saw in Cairo
- Write up of the Sufi Dance troupe of Egypt (no video at the performance hall)
- Write up of my experiences from my sufi dance lesson with Said Tanoura

Youtube videos of the following:
- Sufi dance show with both Sufi and Istaradi styles at al Azhar park in Islamic Cairo
- Folkloric troupe I saw in Giza - Saiidi/ beledi style
- AUC folkloric troupe - Saidi + tahtib + fellahi styles at AUC campus
- Zaar performance from Makaan cultural center off Saad Zaghlul in Cairo
- 3 separate performances of Randa Kamel on the Nile Maxim, pretty good lighting!
- Video my myself being taught sufi dance, you wouldn't beleive how heavy those skirts are!

Musical Salons/ Jam Sessions in the ATL

2008-12-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

Salam aleikum min el Qahira!

This past semester I’ve learned so much about Arabic music. I really don’t want to loose what I’ve learned, so I’d like to see if anyone in the Atlanta area is interested in coming to weekly music rehearsals/ jam sessions/ learning sessions about Arabic music. I would like to be able to share what I’ve learned so I can practice and not forget it! Any instrument would be welcome, just keep in mind that quartertones are harder to play on some instruments than others.

I have some sheet music from this semester in Cairo, but I’m open to learning things by ear as well, which is how it really is done. The sheet music is all in C as I play the violin, so any of you b flat player be prepared to transpose the music if you want to play it.

We could hold it at different locations in the Atlanta area or agree to have it at a central place. I don’t profess in any shape, form, or fashion to be an expert in Middle Eastern music, just a student who wants to grow her skills with en ensemble! I would like this to be very low key and fun and hopefully a way to grow a handful of students and musicians that appreciate and want to perform Middle Eastern music, especially so that when the big names come in town, we can really benefit from their instruction.

So, who is interested?

Arabic Percussion

2008-11-26T02:14:00.000-08:00

Last Monday two guests artists, Met’hat Mamdua and Khaled Abu Higazzi came to my Arabic music theory class class to give a lecture on Arabic percussive instruments. Mr. Met’hat is a very accomplished tabla player, who plays for Arabic singers all around Egypt - including Amr Diab! He also is involved in a Turkish band that recently played at the Sakia el Sawy this month. Mr. Khaled, who gave most of the lecture, specializes in the riqq and also performs regularly with ensembles and Arabic singers. After the lecture, which is summarized below, both musicians accompanied the class for rehearsal for our concert next Thursday.

Khaled started off the lecture by introducing the main percussive instruments of Arabic music. There are three main instruments, the tabla, the duff, and the riqq. The tabla is a goblet shaped hand drum that can come in up to four different sizes. The largest size is called a dahola, and the smallest is played by acclaimed percussionist Raquy Danziger. The standard Egyptian tabla weighs about six to seven kilos. The drum head, or the ra’ima as it is referred to, used to be made of fish skin, but now is made from synthetic materials. The reason for this change was the constant hassle of retuning the fish skin head as the material would stretch. Drummers would have to heat up their drums on heating pads to make sure the drum head would not stretch to be out of tune. Now, with the synthetic head, drummers do not have to have that hassle or worry about temperature change as much as in the past.

Players lay the tabla on their lap with the head of the drum facing in towards the opposite knee. The doum, or the strong beat, is normally played with the right hand giving an even base tone. The tak, or the weak beat, can be played by both the left or the right hand and in many different styles that include the normal tak sound on the very edge of the drum, or within rolls, pops, and snaps. The third type of sound is ‘es’. Es is the filling of silence between the doums and teks, or the heartbeat of a darb (darb is Arabic for rhythm).

The next instrument Khaled introduced was the riqq. The riqq, or the Arabic tambourine as it is sometimes called, is a small frame drum played upright with two hands. The doum and tek are opposite of the tabla as the doum is played on the edge of the drum frame, and the tek is caught in the middle of the drum. The es is mostly emphasized by the galagel, the five groups of four sets of cymbals set around the frame of the riqq. Like the tabla, the riqq used to have a ra\ima made of fish skin, but now it is synthetic. Another interesting feature of the riqq is that its frame is tunable. Players may tune a riqq higher or lower for different sounds throughout a piece.

The third instrument introduced was the duff. The duff is a large frame drum that keeps the heart beat of a darb. Duff players do not play ‘es’, rather they play the doums and teks of a darb whilst the tabla and riqq players elaborate. The duff is mostly recognized with the zeffa, a wedding procession in which a distinct darb is played for the bride and groom as they walk together through family and friends being presented as newly weds. A cousin to the duff, the maz’har is a duff with cymbals. The maz’har is slightly smaller than the duff, but both are considerably bigger than the riqq.

Arabic percussive sections change according to the type of ensemble. The two most popular ensembles are the takht and the firqa. A takht is a small chamber ensemble that consists of a qanoon (similar to a zither), kamanga (violin), ney (wind instrument), oud (the grandfather to the lute), and percussion instrument, most often the riqq. In these ensembles and smaller firqas the riqq is the lead percussion. When in larger ensembles, such as a firqa, the tabla becomes the lead instrument for the percussion section. In addition to this, the riqq is usually featured in pieces with longer darbs, while tablas are mainly used for shorter darbs and solos.

Pics of Mohamed Ali Mosque in the Citadel

2008-11-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

Just an afternoon at the citadel, after we went to al-Azhar park and saw an amazing Sufi show...which I may post on youtube at some point.

Photos from Ibn Tulun Mosque

2008-11-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Photos from Ibn Tulun Mosque in Said el Zayeb, a section of Cairo. It was a beautiful mosque and we had an amazing view from the minaret.

Trip to Dubai!

2008-11-23T13:15:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I had an amazing eye popping trip to Dubai, aka the adult Disney land of the Middle East.

Yes, I have a ton of stories not shared yet on this blog, but I highly doubt I will get to them all. I will try to post my pics of my trip to the mosque Ibn Tulun and Islamic Cairo as soon as they can load.

For now, here's Dubai!

Only in Cairo...

2008-11-07T19:22:00.001-08:00

I love Cairo, but Cairo and I have a love hate relationship. Some days it is so hard as an American to function in this city….every little errand takes days to take care of. No one here makes to do lists – its too daunting to see on paper and that list will never be completed. My current battle is the kitchen in my new apartment. There is a pipe that’s broken inside the walls and I know this because we’ve had floods not only from under the sink but also under the stove. Explaining this concept to my bowab (the door man and maintenance man in Egyptian apartment buildings) and to the plumber was absolutely impossible. They’ve ‘fixed’ the problem about 4 times now, each taking days because timing and their willingness to see their job didn’t fix the problem.

But with headaches such as this, and others such as being stuck in an elevator or having your taxi’s car break down, there are some moments in Cairo that are truly magical. Tonight for instance, my friends and I went to the café at the Om Kuthoum hotel to some shisha and hang out. We got to the café at around 2:30 in the morning after a party we attended. We’re sitting down and chatting when we notice a group of people sit down to the left of us. There is an older man with the group who is blind, and some other very distinguished looking people with him, notably a woman who sits to his left. This man began to sing in an improvisational style that hushed the entire outdoor café. It was as if everyone’s hearts drifted to this man’s singing. The waiters were complete engaged in this man’s voice, and no one could do anything for a couple of minutes. The most beautiful thing about it was as he began to fade off from his song, the woman to his left picked up the improvisation. Her voice was just as beautiful. I’ve heard about this kind of passing of poetry, but to see it at an outdoor café with such talented voices was just amazing. It was a moment that made me remember the charm of Cairo and the beauty of the Arabic language.

A journey into the Samaii Rhythm

2008-11-02T12:22:00.001-08:00

On Friday, October 31st, I attended a concert at the Culture Wheel in Zamalek. The featured band was a group of musicians originally from Alexandria called the Samaii band. This concert was a showcase of songs all played in the darb Samaii, which is a 10/8 rhythm used in Middle Eastern music. The Samaii rhythm is most recognizable in the West by the Lebanese song Lamma Bada Yatathana. The concert lasted for only one and a half hours, and there were a total of 17 songs performed, with only one or two featuring a different rhythm. Below I will try to recount the songs I heard with the help of the program notes. The entire concert was in Arabic, as well as the program, so translations may not be correct. The band was quick to start its set right at 8 PM…a rarity that you see in Egypt!

The band itself consisted of five musicians. They sat in a semi circle with the main singer sitting in the middle of the musicians. To the far left of the stage was the violinist, whose name was not included in the program list. Next to him was one of two oud players, Abdu el-Qadr el-Amir. After Mr. el-Amir, the main vocalist, Fajr el-Jazawy was seated in the middle. The next musician and the second oud player named Hassan Aly was seated next to Ms. El-Jazawy, and finally on the far right of the stage was the riq player and only percussion for the ensemble, Daha el-Jazawy, Fajr’s sister.

The program notes for the concert was a huge help to my Western ear to decupher each song. It contained the name of each song, the maqams for each, the darb (if it was different form the Samaii), and the composers and lyrists for each. The songs were labeled into four different categories. The first was “musiqi” which referred to a piece that had no vocals. The second was a “mushaa” which, from what I could find, is a more poetic song. The literal translation from my Arabic dictionary was “a post-Classical Arab poem made of stanzas”. For these songs, the chorus, verse, and instrument solos were much more apparent than the non-vocal pieces. The next category was simply songs, no exact label, just the title of the song. I was not familiar with any of these songs, but they seemed to be more modern. The last category was the arrangement, which is called “tanweyat”. There were two of these pieces throughout the night. Again, I could not decipher the different pieces from each because I was not familiar with the songs, but it was noticeable through the number of choruses and verses.

The first piece played for the evening was simply entitled “Samaii Musiqi” and featured no vocals. I think this was the equivalent to a longa in that it set the tone for the rest of the evening’s songs. The piece was played in Hijaz maqam and lasted only a couple of minutes and featured stops between darbs to accent the Samaii rhythm. The second piece was Lamma Bada Yatathana. I was personally very excited because I recognized this piece, the one of only two that I recognized throughout the night. The maqam for Lamma Bada was Nahawand and the Samaii Thaqil rhythm was featured in this piece. I’ve heard many versions of Lama Bada, and this one was very classical. The singer had a very sweet voice, but I couldn’t help but compare her voice to Fairuz. The song was said to originate in southern Spain under Moorish rule, so I’ve heard Spanish versions as well as Arabic versions.

The next piece in the program was called Beyyah el-Huy which was one of the only songs of the night that featured a different darb, malfouf. The darb changed into Samaii for the chorus and changed back to malfouf for the “kubles” of the song. The fifth song also featured a maqsoum rhythm, to be honest the rhythm changes shone through each of the songs because the music changed so much. The next couple of songs were very similar to each other to my untrained ear. It was hard to decipher especially because the darb was the same. The last song of the first portion of the night was another instrumental song. This piece featured improvisations from each of the musicians minus the vocalist. I don’t think these were true taqsims in that there seemed to be more of a play between the musicians and each had solos for very short periods of time. Each musician was able to show off their instrument, and the audience was appreciative of each solo with clapping and even some whistling.

While the number of songs in the second set was 8 instead of 9, the length of the second set was much shorter. The first piece was a song about Alexandria, the vocalist explained a little about the song before they played it, the only interaction the band had with the audience besides playing. The second song, Saalama ya Salaama was the second song of the night that I recognized. This must have been the classical version of the song because it took me until the chorus to realize that I knew the song. The tempo was much slower than the pop rendition that I am familiar with. The sixth song of the set, Ya Salaah el Zain got a great response from the crowd. I even heard a zaghareet! The closing number of the evening was a piece by Farid el Atrache. This again got the crowd excited, partially I think because it was a song the crowd recognized. After the last song was through, the ensemble stood, bowed, and left the stage. It was a quiet ending to a quiet evening that explored the Samaii rhythm through classical pieces, poetic songs, folkloric melodies, and more modern pieces.

New apartment pics!

2008-10-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

Finally! Fast enough internet to post pics!

My new apartment!

2008-10-21T09:53:00.001-07:00

After months of broken promises from the American University regarding its very unsuccessful move to the new campus, the majority of international students have decided to move out of the temporary housing – before they move us to yet another location. My friends and I have found an amazing apartment in Zamalek, 5 minutes from the corniche, and right above a grocery store. What more could you ask for?

In other news, this week the AUC folkloric dance troupe started rehearsal. We are currently learning a beledi routine that is 10 minutes long. This is a sort of audition process. The choreographer is a very well established dancer and choreographer here in Cairo, and he is kicking out butts! The technique for Egyptian style taught by Americans is different enough, let alone learning from an Egyptian! It’s a completely different aesthetic, body posture, and movement from the tribal style I have become comfortable with over the last three years. It’s becoming painfully obvious how much raqs sharqi I’ve forgotten…nothing like six hours a week of practice to help me remember!

Before these rehearsals started, I had a private session with Astryd Farah before she left for the States. Her choreography was beautiful, and I appreciated the attention to detail of the lyrics of the song. Hopefully she will be coming to Atlanta in the future for a workshop. Besides her session and the session with Raqia, trying to contact instructors here is hard because everyone is teaching workshops in Europe or North America at the moment.

My music lessons are going very well. We learned Sidi Mansour this week in class. Dr. Wael also gave us a paper on the Early – Islamic era of oriental music. He will be giving us papers on all five of the eras of oriental music. We have to write summaries on each section, I will post them here for all of my scadian friends ☺ I’m going to start taking qanoon lessons twice a week instead of one to learn as much as I can before I go back.

As far as traveling goes – my friends and I are planning to go to Sharm el Sheikh in the next weekend or so and I’m going to Dubai!!

Random photos with AUC friends

2008-10-09T05:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a bunch of photos from some field trips we took before school started and during Ramadan

Pictures from Jordan!

2008-10-09T05:20:00.001-07:00

Jordan Part I

2008-10-09T03:29:00.001-07:00

Choosing to study abroad this semester in Cairo this semester was luck – both good and bad. Bad because AUC decided to move its entire campus to a new location when no one was ready including the new campus itself, and good because Ramadan was in the month of September, meaning that we got a lot of days off for the two Eids. For the first Eid, I decided to take a nine-day trip to Jordan to meet my cousins for the first time. Jordan was beautiful, and my family was amazing. I met all of my aunts’ children, their children, and I believe I saw every ancient rock in Jordan and then some.

My last name is Qaqish. Qaqish is a Christian family that has a long history that has thankfully been well documented. The Qaqish family has been in Jordan for the past 400 years. Before, we were a tribe based in Syria, and before that, we inhabited the gulf region. Our family is a Christian family, one of the few in Jordan. We come from the village of Salt, a small city in picturesque mountains close to Palestine west of Amman.

In a nutshell, we went to Petra, As Salt, Madaba, Mount Nebo, the Dead Sea, and Jerash. I also experienced Jordanian home cooked meals at their finest including Maqlooba, Malfouf, Kufta, and of course Mensaf!

The country of Jordan is cleaner than Egypt. In Cairo alone, there are 28 million people living in the city. Jordan’s population for the whole country is under 10 million. While Jordan is much smaller, it is also much less crowded than Egypt. The people of Jordan are very prideful and calm, and all are very patriotic and very proud of their King Abdullah and the late King Hussein. Amman is very different from the sentiments of the crowded and rushed cities of Cairo. Even the call to prayer seemed more musical and beautiful compared to what I hear in Egypt.

As Salt

My cousin Amer and his wife Joanna (and their 1.5 year old Faris!) took me to Salt to see the church where my dad and his 7 brothers and sisters were baptized. The church itself was about 450 years old, and we were there for a while so I could take photos of everything there. Before we left, I lit a candle to make a prayer. After wards in the twilight before the sunset, we drove around the countryside, up and down the mountains and hills that made As Salt. When it became dark, we stopped off the side of the road and I saw the outline of Palestine in lights.

More to come about the trip!

Music Reborn

2008-09-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

It’s been at least 5 years since I’ve picked up my violin. Five years ago I was first chair in my high school orchestra and I dreaded going to rehearsal. I felt like such a fake. I didn’t practice multiple hours a day so who was I to think I could actually play the violin? My technique was not where it should have been for someone who had been playing for seven years. I knew that. I also knew that I would never amount to any sort of musician. My fears and worries came to a boiling point when I visited a potential college in the spring semester of my senior year. I had a nervous breakdown before my audition for the music program, and I was so upset I didn’t even play my piece. After that I basically lost all passion for the violin, until last year.

Being in a community of artists at home has really sparked my need to play the violin again. Going to Pennsic and seeing other musicians who weren’t practice-crazed and worrying about their next concerto really gave me hope that I could play my violin and actually enjoy it! Pennsic gave me the inspiration to explore Arabic music, and it just so happened that I am able to take six hours of music courses here at AUC.

The first class I signed up for was the Arabic music ensemble, which of course had to be taken in conjunction with Arabic music theory. I feel like I am at a music workshop similar to what you would find at TribalCon or Triboriginal for four hours a week! My instructor, Dr. Wael has a PhD in sound engineering, plays the Qanoon professionally, and also is a professor at the Cairo Music Conservatory. He is very patient with us three Americans in his class and I feel that I am going to learn a lot. In addition to these classes, Dr. Wael invited us to rehearse with the AUC Arab Music Ensemble twice a week, which is comprised of other AUC students who play a variety of instruments Arab style. This ensemble also plays for the folkloric troupe, which I plan to join. ☺

So if these courses weren’t enough, I found that I could take private lessons through the University as a part of my course load…aka I don’t pay anything extra! I signed up for Qanoon lessons with Dr. Wael and lessons with the violin instructor, Dr. Munir. I met with Dr. Munir last week at the last minute, registering for the class the same day. I didn’t have my violin but we talked about what I would like to accomplish in my time here, and my past experiences with the violin. Dr. Munir is very serious about music; it’s his life. He received his PhD in music in Russia circa 1976 and also teaches at the Cairo Music Conservatory. For as intense as he seems to be, he also seems to be infinitely patient and willing to work with me. I have my first lesson with him this Tuesday, and while I am slightly terrified, part of me thinks this is for the better.

This past weekend my friend and I took a visit to Mohammed Ali Street to pick up a tabla for her, and castobans and rayesh for me (the finger tools needed to play the Qanoon). We bumped into Khamis Henkesh and his shop. I was a bit star stuck, so we jammed with him a bit on his multiple tablas he hand makes. I also met up with Dr. Munir to pick up the SCALE BOOK OF DEATH. I looked at the first page and I can barely do the first two measures – but this is a good thing, really. After gawking at the music in front of me, Dr. Munir then proceeded to give me his life story and how he used yoga to improve his violin technique and avoid carpel tunnel. He wants to challenge me in both the Eastern and Western style; we’ll see how far I can go…

Sexual Harassment in Egypt

2008-09-19T01:08:00.000-07:00

My experience in Cairo so far has been a reaction to the culture. In preparing myself to be in Cairo, I’ve heard sooo many things a woman should to avoid being harassed. For those of you who I told about the wet hair thing, totally not true – my Egyptian friends laughed at me when I asked! But it pretty much boils down to this – whether or not you are wearing hijab, abaya, niqab, or nothing at all you will be harassed at some point.

Walking just outside of our hotel, men will generally make kissing noises, or try to gain your attention with the 2 phrases they may know in English. These men vary from little boys who may run up to you and pinch your bottom, to the Egyptian soldier trying to look cool in front of his peers. Even drivers will honk in a specific rhythm (supposedly mimicking “Ana Bahebek” or I love you” to get your attention.

Whatever they do to try to get your attention, men here see harassment as cool. It’s a boost to reassure their masculinity. As a foreigner, my fellow international students and I are treats for their eyes, something new and exotic. This is how it was explained to us by AUC administration during our sexual harassment meeting. We will attract attention no matter if we cover our hair, legs, and arms or not. But, the extent of harassment varies greatly because of what you wear and how you act.

So what to do and what not do? One of the best things you can do is to dress modestly. Loose, layered clothing that is neat and clean. The more distinguished you look, the better off you may be. Do you need to cover your hair? I’ve found it’s really up to you. Some places, like the pyramids for example, it’s actually very convenient because of the sun and you fend off vendors trying to sell you cheap turbans.

When I go to Khan el Khalili, I don’t cover my hair, but I do make a point to dress much more moderately. The vendors in Khan are rather funny. Don’t be surprised if you go and you hear phrases like “Spend you money here, make you very happy” or “Come to my shop, and marry me, I promise I shower everyday”

Some things that I have learned besides how to dress are what to say. The Arabic survival course really helped because the Egyptian dialect of Arabic is very different from the Modern Standard Arabic I’ve learned in the States. Greeting someone with Salam Aleikum without a smiling face will release the tension of ‘them vs. you’ and asserts you as a dignified person. The immediate reaction to Salam Alikum is Aleikem aSalam, which really lets this person know that you are not flirting or wanting other behavior besides respect. If someone will not stop trying to get your attention there are two phrases that greatly help.

1. Walk over to them sternly, make the sternest face you can, and say “3yb!”. Aiyb basically means shame and will remind these men of the days their mother would chastise them for being bad. You can also make the tisk tisk tisk hand gesture with this for added emphasis. My residence director has had great success with this phrase, and practicing saying Aiyb with a stern face is very amusing – although don’t crack when you do it for real!
2. The second phrase, which really should be used if a male is staring at you is “Ghud el Basr” (I may have not transliterated that correctly). This comes straight out of the Quran and means “Avert your gaze”. Saying this sternly will also be chastising as you are reminding the male not only that he shouldn’t be staring at you, but also that you

These phrases are more for men and boys that you won’t be in contact with everyday or that say something really inappropriate. For males that you come in contact with in a daily basis, i.e. shopkeepers, or kids on the street, if you set a tone initially that you mean business and you are not to be mocked or harassed they will respect you for it. They will even become protective of you if they see someone trying to harass you in or give you a hard time!

Besides these things, the number one most important thing to do IS TO IGNORE THEM. Men want to see a rise from you, no matter positive, negative, angry, or whatever. By ignoring them, or pretending that they don’t exist, they will stop immediately. If they continue to persist in getting your attention, the phrases above should be used. Also, don’t walk the streets of Cairo by yourself; go with a group, especially one that is mixed with males and females. It really helps. This has been my experience in Egypt thus far, and it has been useful. I haven’t had more than the usual phrases, kissing noises, and marriage proposals. ☺

Taxis in Cairo

2008-09-18T03:07:00.001-07:00

Taxis in Cairo are an adventure to say the least. My friends and I use them all the time to get form place to place when we don't feel like using the metro, or when we have missed the shuttles the school provides to Zamalek and City Stars, the local mall that is closest to us.
There are two types of taxis you can get in Cairo, a black and white cab and a yellow cab. Yellow cabs are usually a little nicer, and the drivers may speak some English. They work on a meter system, so you know how much you owe when you get to your destination, but be careful! These drivers rarely 'have change' - meaning they try to stiff you if you don't have exact cash. I've taken a yellow cab when I'm going to a new area, and it made me feel safer and my friends have used them for moving or going to the airport.

Yellow taxis however, are not for day to day. You have to order them at least an hour in advance, and they are a little on the expensive side. Now, if you want the real Cairo experience, get the black and white cab. A black and white cab is usually independently operated with 2 to 3 drivers sharing shifts on one cab. There is no air-conditioning, the doors on one side won't work, and you're in a better cab if it has side view mirrors and if the doors stay closed. There is an unwritten protocol to black and white cabs that you must follow:

1. Ask someone before hand how much your ride should be. Black and white taxis are not metered, but on a negotiable rate. I try to not tell them how much I will pay before I get in, but instead wait until we reach the destination, hand them the money, and walk away. I've had the occasional irate driver who wanted more because traffic was bad, or thought he could get more by taking the longer way.

2. Drivers will try to scam foreigners. If you ask how much before you get into the cab, they will try to over charge. Negotiate, settle on a price, and stick to that price. Drivers might complain about the traffic, the heat, or anything else to guilt you into paying more.

3. Practice your Arabic! I've found that trying to communicate in Arabic with the drivers means a better fare. I've also had my better conversations with the nicer drivers, and they appreciate your effort to speak Arabic. One of my favorite memories of Alexandria was when my friends and I piled into a cab and the driver blasted Amr Diab the whole way back to the hotel. He even let our male friend honk the horn to the beat of the music!

4. Girls should not sit in the front seat if it can be avoided, especially if you are wearing a skirt.

5. Do not pay the driver until everyone has gotten out of the cab. Hand money outside of the cab from the passenger's side, don't say anything, and leave. I've heard of drivers being so angry as to get out of the cab, grab someone on the shoulder and demand more money. Thankfully this has not happened to me yet, and I don't plan on it happening. Knowing how much you should pay really helps to avoid this, and if you are firm about your price, the driver won't make a scene.

6. NEVER get a cab straight out of a hotel. Most of the drivers here are 'contracted' by the hotel...meaning they will charge 5 times more what should be paid. My friends took a cab from one hotel to the other, less than 5 minutes, and paid 25 pounds. I pay 20 for a 30 minute cab ride from Heliopolis to Zamalek. Take a little walk down from your hotel and grab a taxi, it'll be cheaper and you'll have a nice stroll along the Nile!

Follow these simple rules, and getting around Cairo is very easy. The metro is super cheap - 1 pound aka 20 cents one way, but I haven't explored this option as much as the taxis. The metro does have women only carts. You can ride in the other carts, but I feel at ease in the women's carts (less stares and kissy noises) and they are usually much less crowded less stuffy.

Wust e-Balad

2008-09-14T14:36:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday night my friends and I went to a concert near Khan el-Khalili. We were told that we were going to see an Arabic-Jazz fusion band. What we really saw was even better. The name of the band was Wust el-Beled, literally meaning downtown country or downtown and they were fanstastic! Their music is a blend of Western and other world influences with Arabic routes. They ar definitely a big deal in Egypt, as I bought their CD at the Virgin Mega Store the next day! One of their songs, Sidi Omar is a must to listen to.

When we got to the mosque, we weaved through alley ways and a souq to get to the venue, Dar el-Harawy - and we saw a HUGE crowd wedged into what was kind of make shirt outdoor concert venue. At some poine there were chairs and seating, but by the time we got there, everyone was standing on the chairs, children were dancing on top of cars, and people were watching from rooftops of buildings that surrounded the venue. My friends and I were able to wedge ourselves into a primo spot where we stood on chairs and watched the rest of the concert, which was free because of Ramadan.

This is one of the more magical moments I've experienced in Cairo. Finding the venue through a maze of a bazaar, dancing with an entire crowd of Egyptians, and listening to live music under a clear night sky and bright moon will be a memory of Cairo I won't forget.

Update!

2008-09-08T03:38:00.001-07:00

Lots of wonderful things have happened - I visited Alexandria, went to the pyrmaids again, survived my Arabic survival course, classes started on the new campus and oh! I had a private with Raqia Hassan...

But...

My computer is dead, the internet is down in the hotel, and internet is barely running on campus, so a more detailed account of Alexandria and taking from Raqia will come soon.

Tonight I go to my first Arab music ensemble class, very excited about that.

Video Clip from Bedouin Night Dinner

2008-08-25T14:54:00.001-07:00

This is a short video clip of the Saiidi dance we saw at dinner. This show was really nice, there were 3 female, and 3 male dancers. They did 4 sets, with 6 costume changes, it was soo awesome! There was also a Sufi dancer who spun for at least 10 minutes, it was beautiful. I will write more when I have time...I just posted the video, so it may be a little while before it is processed - so be patient!

Photos from Zamalek!

2008-08-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a slide show of the activities I've been doing with the residence halls of the American University of Cairo, I may be able to fill in the details later but some of the activities include:

- My dad dropping me off at the dorm
- My dorm room in Zamalek
- Another trip to Khan el Khalili
- A falluca ride on the Nile
- Dinner and dance show with Nubian, Sudanese, Saiidi, Alexandrian, and Sufi dancing

Photos from the Pyramids!

2008-08-22T11:32:00.001-07:00

More Cabaret and some disapointment...

2008-08-21T13:20:00.001-07:00

I survived! I guess it was inevitable to not be sick when traveling to another country...Before leaving, the health center at Georgia Tech prescribed me some ‘traveler’s medicine’ for situations like this. That was my lifeline!

After a day and a half of staying in bed, I was finally well enough to go out again. We had initially made reservations at the Semeramis, but we called and they said Dina (nor any other dancer) was dancing tonight. For LE1000 per seat, I wasn’t about to pay that much and not see some dancing. So after calling around we finally settled on going to el-Leil.

El-Leil is one of Cairo’s oldest nightclubs. It used to be a hub for the stars of dance such as my idol, Soheir Zeki. Tonight, it had a more modest line up although fun nonetheless. I have no photos from el-Leil because photography was not allowed here, and the club had many bouncers to make sure that no photos were taken. It basically had the same set up as the other club we went to, with about 6 acts progressing in size, sound, and talent throughout the night.

This organization of entertainment gave me a thought. Cairo nightlife has it right! Why should the paying customers have to hop from club to club paying to get in each time, trying to find a new place to sit, and when we can pay one price and have the entertainment hop from club to club? Think about it!

So what about the dancer? She was horrible. First of all, let me say that this new style of bra that Eman Zaki started is horrible. The style I am referring to is a demi cub that seems to get smaller and smaller, with the connection of the two cups getting wider and wider apart. Dancers look more like porn stars than dancers – and this dancer was not an exception. Maybe the real reason why she didn’t dance was fear that she would loose her top. Never mind the fact that she oiled her chest up to look very tacky. Otherwise she was very beautiful in her liquid silver and pearl costume, perfectly done hair and make up, and she knew when the song ended and where all the Saudis were in the audience.

I’ve recently just begun to understand something. Let me tell the American belly dance community why a lot of people go on a rant about why this dance should be called ‘oriental dance’ and not cabaret dance. An Egyptian cabaret dancer, a dancer who dances at a cabaret in Cairo, does not hold in her best interest to actually interpret the music or actually pay the slightest bit of attention to dance as an artform. Her number one priority is to flirt and socialize with the audience to get tips for her and her band. She will walk around, chew and smack gum, fix her hair, lip sync to the music, and rarely move around stage while she is ‘performing’. I can only imagine the intricate steps, gestures, and interpretations Dina or Randa Kamel exude while they become the physical embodiment of the dance. I haven’t seen a real oriental show yet, and I hope someone can change my mind about what Cairo has to offer because as of right now, I am disappointed.

Anywhoo, these are my thoughts and opinions as I am experiencing them in the moment…next blog will be about our trip to the pyramids complete with pictures!

Don't drink the water!

2008-08-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

Eating Egyptian food finally caught up with me...

Khan el-Khalili

2008-08-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

8-18-2008

Birthday day. After a fun evening/ early morning partying, my dad and I hit Khan el-Khalili – the largest market for shopping in Cairo. I’ll be visiting this area often, although always with an Arabic speaker! I let my dad wheel and deal for most of the time. Khan el-Khalili is full of merchants selling mostly gift items. Any belly dance or musical instrument on the street seemed to be low quality. We did however find some jewels. Our first purchase was from a man who collected photos of Egypt and Egyptian culture. I picked up about 6 5x7’s of my favorite Egyptian raqs stars. The merchant was genuine and friendly, and loved to tell us the stories behind each of the photos. You could tell who was just trying to get you into their shop, and who was a little more genuine. Our next stop was what made my mouth water. We found a Bedouin jewelry shop – there were multiple pieces of Egyptian, Yemeni, Afghani, Rajisthani, and Moroccan items. Each piece is priced by how much silver is in the metallic blend of the bits that make up the jewelry. The first pice I go for was an Egyptian necklace priced at LE 1480 (~$300)…go figure!

Our last stop was at a very nice caftan shop. We had been beckoned into many, but none were as nice or ornate as these. I must have spent and hour trying on different caftans and finally came down to two that I liked. After which the bargaining began – what an art that was.
1. Salesman throws a number, my dad counter offers.
2. I try on more caftans.
3. Salesman offers again, my dad counter offers.
4. I see another one to try.
5. Salesman then offers some coffee for my dad, and Pepsi for me.
6. He goes to get both.
7. I try more caftans.
8. My dad sees a pale yellow caftan for my mom, the lady in the shop goes to take it down to see if it will fit my mom.
9. New round of negotiations
10. By this point, I voice that I don’t want the burgundy one - this worries the salesman.
11. My dad says not to worry, and I say we shouldn’t get mama one because she won’t wear it.
12. Salesman throws a number and breaks out the calculator, my dad counter offers.
13. Salesman gawkes and we start to leave the store (Haha! The day is won!)
14. Salesman beckons us back in, okay he says.
15. My dad thanks him for his business.

The original offer was LE1900 for two, we left with three caftans for LE750. Whoo hoo!

An Egyptian Cabaret

2008-08-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

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!

First day in Cairo!

2008-08-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

8-17-2008

First day in Cairo! I survived! I’m in another world so different than my own. We got into Cairo airport around 4 am. I had my visa already, and baba had to get one. Never the less, I was questioned if I were really American because of my name and of my family’s name. I’m not quite sure what I would do if my dad wasn’t there with me…

From what I can see, Egyptians have a complete lack of caring for any bureaucracy, my kind of people. If you know someone, or speak like you do, you can usually get what you want. This extends from bargaining, to getting a table at a restaurant, to getting by customs, to traffic – which is crazy! No one pays the slightest bit of attention to road signs or traffic lines, I just keep my head down and not look at where we are driving till we get there or else I’ll just have a heart attack.

My dad and I are staying in a 3 room flat in Cairo, it has all of these very old school touches to it, which you will see in the slide show below. The owner of the building, Mahmoud, is retired from the Egyptian Armed Forces. Most of his family occupies the complex, and also an English family, and a French family. The doorman, Mohammed, is a very sweet man and very diligent about getting things for us. Our driver, another Mahmoud, has been extremely helpful. He gets us wherever we want to go, and gives us inside info about everything. Tonight we’re going to a hafla where there will be a folk troupe performing Debke, Khaleeji, Shaabi, and Saidi styles. Can’t wait to see this, and I will post pictures! Tomorrow we will be going to one of the five star hotels to see a full oriental dance show, Mahmoud is going to see if he can find out where Dina is performing…if she’s even in the country right now!

Frankfurt and Heidelberg

2008-08-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 16, 2008

It’s 4:30 PM Frankfurt time…not sure when I slept last. Our flight left Atlanta on 6:30 PM on Friday; we arrived in Frankfurt around 9:30 AM, just in time for a tour to Heidelberg. The village and castle were lovely, my dad and I were just ridiculously tired. After the tour, we came back to the airport to wait yet another 6 hours before our connecting flight to Cairo, where we will land around 3:30 AM. My dad is with me for the first week for Cairo. We have a flat in New Cairo and a driver for the week. Hopefully we’ll be able to go to the pyramids before he leaves, so much to do and to straighten out with AUC. The new campus housing is not ready yet, so UC has contracted the Hotels of the Egyptian Armed Forces for us to stay in. The hotels are located at Heliopolis, which is next to the airport, but not next to our classes. My dad and I will decide whether or not I will stay with the on campus plan, or find alternative housing. Meanwhile, here are some pictures from Heidelberg!