Egyptian Dance Has Lots of Rules

Those of us who grew up learning dance in the 70’s were heavily influenced by the musicians we worked with. In those days it wasn’t uncommon for Greek, Armenian and Arabic musicians to play together on the same stage. Hence, we combine many of those ethnic styles into our version of belly dance. America, the melting pot.

Here it’s different. If you speak to any Egyptian, they will tell you emphatically, that belly dance is theirs, no one else’s. The Turks and Lebanese might disagree, but that’s another story.
Anyway, I am surprised when our teacher corrects the class on a certain shoulder move she see us doing. ‘No, no she says, that‘s folkloric, not for belly dance.’ And another time, ’No, that move for Saidi, not Balady.’ Even hands have their do’s and don'ts. There’s a lot to learn here. Then there is Shaabi, the new street-style dancing, our version of hip-hop, I think. Some moves crossover, but others not. Throw music into this mix. When the singer chants (no beat), we usually refer to it as ’taqsim.’ Here it’s called mawal, or horl (sp?), but each requires different moves by the dancer. Try as we might, many of us can’t hear the difference.

Also different from dancing in the US, here the song is the song. When you dance, the song is played the way it was originally written. It's always the same and the dancer knows what to expect. I am planning to dance to Sawwah at the closing show. Sadly for me, the original isn't the version I know. Happily, I just stumbled on the original in my iPod, the Souher Zaki version. In this original there's a long taqsim in the middle. I can't tell from listening if it's a mawal or horl, so who knows, I may be committing some mortal Egyptian sin during my performance. If I don't return to the states look for me in belly dance prison. :-)

Our days are exhilarating but exhausting and passing too quickly. There is so much to absorb and Randa is a high energy teacher. ‘Come on! Come on! She exhorts at the 4:00 hour, are you sleeping?’ I can’t believe we only have two more days of classes. I’m looking forward to them and plan to absorb as much as possible.

It’s hard to be in Cairo and not see the awful effect of international broadcasting on their economy. People that I’ve spoken with here say that while CNN was busily broadcasting the fantastic from Tahrir Square last January, the rest of the country went about it’s daily business. I mentioned earlier that Tahrir Square looks nothing like it did on TV. It’s small, smaller than Burnside Park which is in downtown Providence near the Biltmore Hotel. Sadly, as a result of all the publicity, tourism, a major industry here, dried up. People are really hurting.
Last night the hotel manager told us that the drop in tourism caused this hotel to close for almost three months last spring. A beautiful four-star hotel, closed, and all the staff with no work. Even now, they brought in staff for our ‘convention,’ but they may reduce once we leave. I really hope the tourists come back and things improve soon. It’s an amazing place.

Tomorrow is a big day, ‘Day out with Randa,’ a break from our dance routine and I’m excited to see what she has in store for us.