Dance Samrah Dance

http://www.aswandancers.org/from-the-sala-to-the-stage-to-t

https://www.youtube.com/watch

If you are going to present vintage please do quite a bit of homework. I just saw a horrifying example. By a gorgeous strong dancer. And as with Egyptian or Lebanese it’s nevertheless supposed to be individual but within certain guidelines. Maybe dance in your area is mostly Russo-Egyptian, but you want to show your versatility. Ok, it’s not a bad idea, but please don’t treat it like a parody. Music - need not be campy, amateurish, ‘American’ sound as usually, it wasn...’t. Sagat (zills) - you probably need to study these for more than one year. If you can only play with long stops while moving, then - just - DON’T. Movements - yes there’s an opening - doesn’t need to be circus-like. Yes there were 2 taqasim at least - slow down those wild snake arms. NO - don’t do that giant hip circle ending with head hanging down and butt in the air that only saw existence since the ‘90s (too modern). Try to improvise and resist choreographing every part; you can select some movements ahead of time, but freely add them, or not. No front bumps. In floor work, please slooowww down. Half-time will show off these movements. No Turkish drops with crotch to the audience. Don’t do a drop if you haven’t theoretically worked out a few possibilities for what comes next. Rise gracefully. Don’t flail the arms - more is not better. Veil. Think of the veil as a moving spatial element that enhances your movements. Not a toreador cape. Again, if you did not come up when dancers removed a draped/tied veil & you only learned to enter with it held behind you, you must study many possibilities. Drum solo. You must learn side-to-side timed shimmies (4/4, 8/4, 3/4) and walking shimmies. Choo-choo plus (stripper) shimmer plus isolations is not all there was to it. Tone down the isolations. Don’t add shamadan to faster mid-set music. Btw shamadan is Egyptian style and is best set to specific music and not mixed with AmCab (your label, not mine) variety of ‘vintage’. Don’t throw in lots of props to pad the show. Don’t use Isis or fan wings (they were not used very far back in time). Costume/hair should reflect the actual styles used or you can make a simple costume - but remember, belts were lower and separate from the skirt, there was no Dina bra; there were various cuts and strap styles. It was not de rigeur to appear very large in the bust so bra types were often sectioned in different colors creating the illusion that the cups were not as large. Hair/wig styles can be studied as well but choose something flattering. You don’t have to cut your hair, but you can pin/curl, alter. Please study with teachers who mastered this style. Why? There’s not enough on video to see everything that was part of this style. Really, truly. There was no video prior to about ‘83/‘84 and it was horribly expensive. What exists on film was often directed and unrepresentative of an improvised show.

Not my style, but I like it - https://fb.watch/2fXwXRPkvk/

A little piece of history from al-Ahram (thanks to Raph Cormack) A woman in Cairo arrested selling cocaine in a cafe, where she dressed as a man and worked as a waiter. No-one at the cafe knew she was born a woman. (11th June 1925) Cocaine and heroin addiction became a very big problem in Egypt in the 20s and persisted despite the government’s efforts.