Two Weekends, Two Workshops

It just so happened that two amazing workshops from two of my favorite instructors were offered this month, and so momentarily I returned to my past life as the kind of person who attended multiple workshops per month. As a new mother, it is no easy feat to get away – and yet it was extremely restorative to put my mind into dance and music again.

Amar Gamal taught last weekend. It was a choreography to We Darret Al Ayam, a classic. The choreography contained all the signatures of Amar Gamal, the Latin fusion she is known for, along with the Egyptian style dance steps. Badriya and I agreed though - it was lacking in Egyptian flavor if only because every moment was filled with something complicated - not a lot of contemplative moments. It did however have incredible musicality - the movements were timed to the unique accents of that song. Amazingly, she taught the combinations to different music, which they were still usually quite well-matched to. But it all fell into place when we started the choreography.

I have to admire Amar Gamal as a teacher - as she really observes her students. She adjusts the material for them, suggests adjustments for those falling behind the level of the class (and there were a few), makes individual comments, and even teaches in different ways in order to address different styles of learning. For example, rather than insisting "you must count" (as Suhaila does) or "you must only just listen to the music", she did both. Now, I'm a "listen to the music" kind of girl and hate counting, so it was wonderful that the choreography was so keyed to the music that I only had to listen to the music to know what happens next. Amar and I also had a nice conversation about motherhood, since she's expecting in December and I am the proud mother of a two-month old. She is carrying pregnancy so beautifully – and can still do those arabesques that so bedeviled me by the time I was in my sixth month.

Just as much as the first workshop was about dance, the second workshop was about music. Karim Nagi taught a three hour workshop filled with more Arab music information than you'd think could fit into that timeframe. Some of the concepts were familiar, but others really expanded my horizons. We began with Fakkarouni, and he analyzed every element of it with us - from the lyrics, word by word, to the structure of the melody, to the emphasis on dancing to the lezma's (can't pronounce/spell the actual plural of lezma) rather than the voice. Oum Kolsoum's voice calls for small movements, not competing with her, and the lezmas - when the full orchestra kicks in - albeit briefly - is where you accent and lock and pause before returning to the smaller movements. I will be listening to Oum Kolsoum's music in a new light, and will have to figure out how this applies to instrumental versions.

We then went on to Taqsims, first addressing the maqams - and I feel like I know more about maqams now - and then the structure of taqsims. I learned that taqsim means "division", and the division refers to the pauses between phrases. While working with Michael Gregian in Amira Jamal's class had prepared me to dance to taqsims adequately, I received even more insight from Karim's workshop. For example, we learned how they begin - and how they typically end. We were even able to distinguish the different maqams when mixed together in a single 2-minute taqsim!

The final segment was on drum solo. We learned about responding to the dums and teks, as well as variations in speed and volume. Finally we learned how to take cues from the drummer, as well as dictate cues to the drummer. Now I'm typically cautious about working with drummers. In my experience, drummers do not work with you. You follow them - or else you look stupid when you try to cue them and fail. One of the first times I danced to live music, I tried cueing the ending – as I had learned in a workshop – and the drummer just kept going fast and furious for another 3 minutes – after I had put my hand down and back up into a final pose. And yet, most good drummers that teach dancer workshops will tell you that they watch you and you can direct the direction of their drumming - and Karim taught us some ways to do that in particular with him - a body language that could also be taught to other willing percussionists. It would be interesting if this actually worked, an experiment best tried when not having to communicate your show's needs over loud club music.

I really love Karim's workshops, though I confess that I am so awed by his star power that I cannot bring myself to talk to him. So often I figure the workshop instructor is being mobbed by everyone else, and probably would just like to go on with his/her day without another fangirl. On the other hand, talking to Amar Gamal went so well, I might try to get over my shyness to talk more often. In fact, Amar remembered me from past workshops and a contest she judged - to my surprise since she must meet thousands of dancers. So, perhaps we fangirls are not so invisible or different from the dancers and musicians we look up to.

Baladi at a Beach Party

It was so wonderful to perform for an audience again! I have been dancing in my studio alone for so many months, that I had forgotten the joy it gives me to connect with others when I'm dancing. The Bellydance Beach Party was one of the most fun haflis that I've attended in a long time, a perfect combination of social dance and conversation with performances of all kinds. I love the fact that a hafla provides the opportunity for us to see dancers who no longer perform in nightclubs, like myself - pregnant – or some of the more experienced dancers who still have all the skills and performance talent, but do not perform in nightclubs as much anymore.

Many women told me that they were amazed at how I can still dance at this point in this pregnancy, and even though I know I have slowed down a lot, I am proud of myself for doing as much as I have. I was glad to inspire some people. I hope my little baby enjoyed it too. As we watched the other dancers, I would drum the beat on my stomach – maybe he will pick it out and come out drumming – or dancing. Either one would be fine with me!

Thank goodness for stretchy baladi galabeyas – the only costume that still fits. I had told Zehara that I knew I'd be doing some kind of baladi – after all, it's the only costume I could wear! The crowd was great for baladi too – they really seemed to enjoy it, even with Badriya and I both performing baladi-style one after another. I loved the crowd today – could have kissed them. I had been so long without performing that I wondered if I had lost my ability to perform – it was good to see that I have not.

I performed the choreography I've been working on, Dr. Mo Geddawi's choreography to "Balady Yo'Kal". It is a super-cute choreography, and easy on my body. I also was able to make it mine, with expressions and nuances. I realized I was working with a semi-circular audience, so I worked in directional changes into the choreography. I must have had it memorized so well that I could do that, make eye contact, smile, express myself – and still not forget what I was doing. I think I only forgot one bit of choreography, towards the end, so I just did 16 counts of the next thing instead of 12 – and it was a travelling move so it gave me extra time to cover the stage. Normally when I do choreography, I feel it makes me more remote from the audience, unable to connect because I'm trying to remember the next step. The trick, I suppose, is practicing so much that the dancing goes on auto-pilot. It's been a great way to get my cardio workouts in – doing three repetitions of a 5 minute song. I've also spent HOURS with the DVD. To the point where when I see the dancers on the DVD (it's a live workshop film) make mistakes, I wonder "how could you forget that part – we've done it so many times." Then I remember – they are doing it for the first time live in the workshop but I've replayed this DVD dozens of times by now.

Now that I'm done with my last performance until I return after giving birth, I am going to focus on skill-building. I have two DVDs to work with – the new cheeky girls "combination nation" and Dr. Mo's melaya leff choreography DVD. I recently heard the new Saad El Soghayer album, which has a great song on it for melaya leff and I want to learn the style so that I can dance to that song at a future hafli.

I am writing this in Microsoft Word and I must tell you that it has no clue what to do with all these Arabic words or bellydancer names. Most of my blog post is highlighted with red for misspellings.

Review of World Dance New York “Love Potion” Bellydance Fitness DVD

Love Potion from World Dance New York is the unofficial sequel to Luscious, a previous entry into the bellydance fitness market with the same instructors: Neon, Blanca and Sarah Skinner . Using American bellydance technique, they put together a drill session and workout. In addition to drilling the movements, the instructors make note of head angles, posture, and grace – the little details that make the dancer. As always, beautiful and flattering costumes are worn by the three instructors, varying by each section, and each of them trade off leading. The DVD is split into 7 different sections, each with a different inspiring name such as "Creative Flame" or "Goddess". There is a feel-good element to the DVD as well, little mantras uttered at the beginning of each section about loving yourself, talking about how shimmies give us joy. So, if you need a bit of a psychological boost, this DVD may just give you one. If not, these sentiments easily fade into the background.

It is more advanced than Luscious, as few movements are drilled consecutively and everything is mapped quickly into a combination. The viewer is expected to pick up on the combinations quickly and follow them, which is the reason why this is more of an intermediate/advanced DVD. There is, however, a beginner's practice flow, which goes through each of the sequences slower. I actually consider this to be a good thing, as the DVD will keep me entertained even if I repeat it over and over, which as a fitness DVD, I intend to do.

The movements themselves are not advanced – ranging from smooth moves like pelvic circles and infinity loops to hip accents and shimmies. You will get a core workout if you are utilizing proper posture, maintaining your core, and – as my teacher says – squeezing your princess. After the 40 minutes, I'm actually feeling it! For the cardio aspect, it's hard to gauge, since I'm 8 months pregnant and we don't seem to have the air conditioning on. I was sweating, but I don't know if the average person would. You might even see it as a "interval" workout, since the sections varied from undulating and circling movements to the more intense hip drops, accents, and shimmies, and back again.

The DVD is set to new-agey music. Most of it was OK. As a huge fan of Arabic music, the music on this DVD didn't really get going. It did make for nice backdrop music, but I wouldn't run out and buy the CD. The last section, where many of the combinations are joined into a dance, is set to a composition called "Goddess". I found myself feeling a little funny about the music – I just don't go in for this sort of thing, sung in English. It's very goddess-power type stuff. I don't object to the message, but it's not really my thing either. Luckily I was alone in the dance studio because otherwise I would feel pretty silly dancing around to "I'm a Goddess, Set me Free" if anyone could see me. That said, it's really nice to see the combinations and movements displayed in a dance, that was obviously connected to the music (as dance should be), and the dancers/instructors on this DVD display grace and, well, a goddess-quality when they demonstrate this section.

I should also mention that either of the two workouts on this DVD, Love Potion and Beginner Flow, can be done without voice cues, with the music only.

Overall, I got exactly what I ordered, a fitness dvd that works my core, drills my bellydance vocabulary, and keeps me entertained as I do it.

Dr. Mo’s Entertaining Balady Routine DVD

As I've written previously, I became enamored of Dr. Mo Geddawi's teaching at Ahlan Cairo Nights in Montreal last month. At the workshop, I purchased two of his DVDs and one CD (Delli Ya Delli II) from Little Egypt. I had enjoyed his teaching so much that I wanted to take it home with me, but I didn't know whether the DVD would be as good as being in the classroom. This DVD I will talk about now is the Friday Night Workshop from Ahlan Cairo Nights 2008, the Balady routine. I also picked up the Melaya Leff routine and will probably write about that in a later post. This particular video is available here from Little Egypt: http://www.littleegypt.com/caironightsvideo.htm

This routine was taught to one of my favorite songs on the Delli Ya Delli II CD, the Balady Youkal. It's a 5 minute baladi song that starts with singing and then goes into a baladi taqsim progression. I have to say that this DVD was so much like taking class with Dr. Mo! Everything was filmed, from little stories and explanations he gave in between, and the repetitions of each part of the choreography, and even rewinding of the music and waiting for it to start. Normally, this verbatim reproduction of the workshop can be a disadvantage in these DVDs – but since Dr. Mo is such an organized teacher, it works very well. The DVD set contains 2 DVDs, each about an hour and a half long. The choreography is very clear and easy to learn, partially because of his explanation of the steps, and the whole thing is peppered with his thoughts on dancing and choreography.

The last DVD in the set contains a Q&A section where he talks about what makes a good dancer, the difference in talents between dancing, choreography and teaching, and even advice for a professional dancer to maintain her audience's interest and her performer's mystique!

One thing I had to learn about the Little Egypt DVDs. Each DVD tends to have two sections. The first section starts out always with an advertisement for Little Egypt's store. If you think that this is just an ad and skip to section #2, you miss the entire first section of the choreography. For a long time, with all my Little Egypt DVDs (I also own Dina Montreal 2007), I thought that the whole workshop wasn't filmed and that we only got select parts of it. It didn't seem to make much sense just jumping into the choreography. Of course, with Dina, I knew that we weren't really learning a choreography – it was mostly following the bouncing butt. But with Dr. Mo, I knew how he taught the choreographies in big sections, breaking it down into smaller combinations, so when the DVD started out in the middle of the song – I knew I had missed something. That's when I realized that you have to tell your DVD player to play the first section, and then use the "skip" button on your remote to skip the LE advertisement.

I am eagerly awaiting Little Egypt's release of the 2009 DVDs from the workshops I attended in Montreal. I really adored both the Baladi and the Oriental routine we learned. Something I like about his choreography is that I never find it awkward to execute, once I've gotten it down. I loved the Yousry choreography that I learned in April, but parts of it still feel uncomfortable on my body. Perhaps Dr. Mo's choreographies are simpler than Yousry's, or just better suited to my dance style – I'm not sure.

To learn more about Dr. Mo and his theories, there is a great interview with him at the Gilded Serpent. http://www.gildedserpent.com/art43/cebdrmo.htm

Nourhan Sharif teaches Raks Assaya

May 17, 2009 – Pawtucket RI at the World Music and Dance Center

Nourhan taught Raks Assaya in Pawtucket RI this weekend. She included a lot of cultural information in her workshop – and not only about the Assaya. The first half of the class was mainly working across the floor with a variety of movements, the same movements that appeared later on when we picked up the assayas. It was hard work for my current shape. I completely agree that your chest should be more forward than your hips – but it's a bit hard to do that when your stomach has outpaced your breasts like mine has at this point. I just hope she realized I was pregnant and not just pudgy with terrible posture! I'm having more trouble keeping my balance when I turn these days as well. And forget about floorwork, which surprisingly there was some in this choreography (Ghawazee style). I have to believe that I will get my dancing mojo back along with my old body after I give birth. In the meantime, I'm giving Kai lots of great exposure to Arabic music, which I hope has an influence on him.

There was one embarrassing moment when she asked if anyone knew a rhythm and I volunteered Saidi. She asked me to describe it, so I said "dum tekatek dum dum tekatek". I think she must have heard me wrong because she said "No, that's not right." Then she told us it was Dum tekatek dum dum tekatek (same thing for the record, if you can't sound it out through the text)….even though I knew it was a matter of hearing, I still felt I had to prove my Saidi chops for the rest of the day. I know my music! I may not be the best dancer but I care deeply about the music and the culture! The important thing is that we all learned from it, we then worked on the Saidi rhythm of course. Which you kinda need for Raks Assaya!

The workshop was challenging in a completely different way than Yousry Sharif's workshop in April. The choreography, when we got to it, was simple and most of what we were learning was basic. However, it was hard work! Nourhan has beautifully muscled calves and the rest of her legs must be similarly stacked because I certainly would be if I worked out like that every day. Also, when I say it was basic, I mean that it wasn't complicated – doing it correctly is another matter. I know I certainly need a bit more practice with my cane, especially when we started spinning it backwards and with our left hands. I learned Raks Assaya initially from Nourhan's video, so I was familiar with the material, but I always need more practice and it was valuable to have the real thing, live and in three dimensions, and be able to ask questions.

It was a tight workshop space-wise. Somehow we managed not to hit each other with the canes, but there wasn't enough room at times to extend your arms. Across the floor exercises can be difficult when people are not familiar with how much space they take up and are not careful to see the person in front of them. I do not take huge steps – I tend to make small steps – so it takes me longer to get across the floor than people who take longer strides when they dance – even though I'm tall, I try to keep my feet closer together when I dance. I also believe those coin belts should be banned. If I ever run my own studio, I will ban them. Someone's coin belt burst and spilled coins and beads all over the floor. Sarah and I were the only ones to be picking them up - maybe we're the only people with sensitive princess feet. They are also so noisy. Too bad they don't come with silencers.

Bellydancing in Mexico

This is a long overdue post about my fantastic trip to Mexico City, where I experienced the generous hospitality of Sharid Sana, fellow bellydancer and Mexico City native.

February 28^th, 2009

We arrived in Mexico City to be greeted by Sharid Saná and her boyfriend. It was such a joy and relief to see the big pink sign with my name on it. I literally jumped for joy. Sharid could not be a nicer person, and although we were stuck in traffic for an hour and a half, she was very good-natured and we talked about bellydance most of the way, talking about teachers we've taken with and workshops we've attended. I had made up a little present of the By Dancers for Dancers 4 DVD, and I was thrilled that she didn't own it already.

Alli and I caught up on some sleep; then Sharid picked us up for the evening. I knew we were going to a Lebanese restaurant, the first one she danced at, and the one she considers to be like a family – the way I feel about the Middle East Restaurant. I did not know that in two days she had put together a hafli! She invited some of the best dancers in Mexico City to perform along with the members of her two troupes. The restaurant, Al Andalus, is beautifully appointed with a marble floor, tiled walls, high ceilings and lots of plants. Any of us would be so lucky to dance in such a place. And their food was top-notch, some of the best Lebanese food I've had – particularly the kibbe.

I was so honored by the surprise, and of course so happy to be enjoying Arabic music and dance. Some of the dancers used Latin music, and one even danced to the Pink Panther. All had a lot of personality, and her students are a credit to her. One of my favorites was a special guest, who danced an authentic Raks Assaya. I also enjoyed the duo dancing sha'abi style to El Toto Nai (heck, I sang along.) Particularly impressive was her student Hana Malak, who has studied for only two years but shows incredible virtuosity in this art form.

To complete the amazing surprise, Sharid did a 5-part routine. She opened her set playing zills while swirling a silk veil, the topic of her workshop where I met her in Las Vegas. Then, she performed a double-sword piece to fast music, another impressive feat. The next piece I think was an Arabic pop song, complete with lip-synching and gestures – very charming. I think it started out going "la la la la" (la means no in Arabic), so she was shaking her finger No. I loved that! Then the drum solo – all I can say is that this woman is equal to Jillina. All in all the show was simply amazing – I had only seen Sharid dance to one song (E Hantour) in Vegas – but I remember it was one of my favorites of the whole evening. Tonight I was just in awe.

Another thing that awed me – the friendliness of everyone. All the performers came over to greet me after the show, and I was also seated with some other friends and students of Sharid. To some levels of success, we chatted in a mixture of Spanish and English – mostly Spanish and I tried to express myself – again, to varying levels of success. I just don't have the fluency, to know the words I want to use. Trying to remember the word for Eggplant in Spanish (to describe Baba Ghanoush to another woman who had not had Lebanese food before) left me speechless. Eventually I found myself describing the "a big purple vegetable", it was the best I could do.

Alli was practicing her Spanish too and I was pleased to see her try to talk to people, with the few words she knows. I just love that she is learning Spanish too. I envision many more trips to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries where we will get better and better at speaking Spanish, and taking our kid with us too to also become bilingual. Besides, I already love Mexico and I would love to come here again and again.

After the show and the meal, we sampled some of the delicious desserts offered by Al Andalus in their bakery. To my surprise, as guests of Sharid, we received our little dessert box as a gift. We met the owners of the restaurant, and I had to remember that they probably speak Arabic and Spanish, not Arabic and English as I've come to expect – so I did get a chance to use my Arabic as well. The honey balls, which I had not seen before, were delicious. I also had a pistachio filled roll and baklava. I wish the Middle East back in Boston did more Lebanese desserts.

Mexico City is a beautiful, tree-filled city. The air pollution has been over-rated – it is perfectly easy to breathe here (unlike Cairo or Agra). Some avenues are lined with tree-shaded walkways in their center, and the old buildings in the colonia roma where we are staying are charming. The traffic however is miserable – I am glad we do not have to drive here.

Today we are going to go out with Sharid on the turibus, visiting the centro, and then Coyoacan and San Angel. Whatever we do, I know it's going to be fun.

Ahlan Cairo Nights 2009 - Montreal

I wanted to take one more big dance trip this year, and so I chose Ahlan Cairo Nights in Montreal. I was exactly six months pregnant and I found I was able to keep up with MOST of the workshops, although Randa pushed me beyond my limit. Gone are the days where I could dine on a single Larabar and keep dancing all day!

The biggest surprise of the weekend was the fantastic Dr. Mo, co-founder of the Reda troupe. At seventy years old, he is as strong and lively as a man half his age. He has a calm, kind teaching style, and doesn't hesitate to correct. I liked that he would get down on the floor, hold hands with someone struggling with a move and walk them through it. For each workshop he taught, we got through an entire choreography and they were easy to remember because he has studied how people's memories work. We learned each choreography in a series of blocks. He is also a fan of repetition, returning to something from an earlier part of the choreography. In fact, he told us - if you do something beautiful, you must repeat it - and if you do something complicated, you must repeat it immediately so that the audience can understand just how difficult it was.

He taught a classical oriental routine with Andalusian elements, where Andalusian dance is an imagination of the court dances of Moorish Spain, as there are no records of what their dance styles were like. He also taught a Sha'abi choreography to one of Saad's latest hits. The Sha'abi/Baladi choreography was my favorite - cute, fun, and sassy. But I did feel like a princess with all of the arabesques and turns of the Andalusian routine.

But it was more than the choreography . . . it was the advice he gave on the dance. One of my favorites: "We do not dance to impress - we dance to make people happy". I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't want to share all his secrets - for those, you can pick up a DVD from Little Egypt or attend one of his workshops.