Arab Dance Seminar

After meeting Karim Nagi at the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive, I knew I had to learn more from him. So, rather than going up to Montreal this year for Ahlan Cairo Nights, I decided to stay right here at home – for the Arab Dance Seminar was taking place only 15 minutes from my house. I did not know what to expect. I had a misconception that folkloric dance could be boring, but I knew that I would enjoy the Debke, the Saidi, and the Raks Sharki portion of the weekend. I did not know that I would fall in love with Khaleegy dance, or participate in a mock Zeffa procession! I knew that Zaar involved a lot of hair tossing, but I did not know that it would be a transportative, transcendant experience.

The first day took place at the YWCA Theater. It began with a lecture on Arabic weddings, a participative lesson on the rhythms we would focus on that weekend, a lecture on Arabic music as it pertains to weddings – including a sing-along!, and some video footage. During this time, there was the opportunity to do henna and I think that if I had had more energy, I would have stayed longer. I had come straight from work and was completely exhausted and ready to sleep by the time the evening concluded. However, it was extremely valuable to attend this first session, especially for the cultural information. The Arabic language is important too but for those of us who had studied it before, it was a review. I didn't mind though as my pronunciation really needs all the help it can get.

All of the instructors were well-spoken and educated in their field of knowledge. The weekend was very scholarly, and yet it was very physical and we experienced what we learned. We staged a mock Zeffa procession to understand all the roles people play in the zeffa. We learned how a bride should behave, and how the family behaves, and what kinds of dancers are hired and how they would act. With live drumming, we sang the Zeffa song we had learned and clapped along.

One of my favorite sections was the Khaleegy dance taught by Kay Hardy Campbell, an expert on Khaleegy dance who has lived in Saudi Arabia. I was so glad that I had purchased a thobe for the event and felt like a beautiful Gulf princess in it. A few of us fell in love with Khaleegy that weekend and I hope to be involved in some Khaleegy group performances soon.

Cassandra Shore is a gem from Minnesota, and it was a privilege to have her in Boston. Her dancing at Saturday night's concert brought me to tears, her style reminding me of Sohair Zaki, her connection to the music during the taqsim, and of course, Leilet Hob played and sung live. I know that was just a string of phrases rather than a sentence. She also taught Raks Sharki, and I just wish we had gotten further with the choreography but I think there were many varied experience levels in the room. Najmat's instruction prepared me well for what we learned. Her saidi class was inspirational, with new moves I hadn't seen before – that I used the next time I did Raks Assaya. I would love to spend another day learning from Cassandra.

Amel Tafsout taught Bedouin dance and led the Sufi spinning section on the final day. She's also a fascinating woman and I enjoyed listening to her stories throughout the weekend.

Karim taught a completely different Debke class than the one I had had before, so I learned more variations on debke steps. It's still a challenge to integrate all those aspects that would come naturally to an Arab person, but I am learning and I find it easier to do debke now when I'm at the Arabic restaurants.

The final hour is difficult to write about. It would be difficult to understand if you had not attended. With Karim drumming, Kay, Amel, and Cassandra led a meditative session with breathing, spinning, and Zaar. The experience left a big emotional impact, and was a powerful way to conclude the weekend.

The whole experience left me renewed in my passion for Arabic dance.