Review: Ranya Renee’s Two Disc Instructional DVD on Baladi

My favorite new DVD has got to be Ranya Renee's first in a series of three DVDs on Egyptian Dance, this one on Baladi. I have longed for a video or workshop about baladi, not just a choreography demonstration, but something that explained the essence of baladi. Baladi, in terms of this DVD and Egyptian dance, is a specifically Egyptian dance performed to their baladi (or country) music. Ranya explained that baladi can mean other things in the surrounding Arabic countries. It is commonly done at weddings and parties, by both men and women, but Raks Sharki performers will often do a baladi section to their full routine. The DVD is all I hoped for, and then some. It is actually a two DVD set, containing 3 hours of material.

The first DVD focuses on the baladi music, and movements stylized for baladi. She spends the first 30 minutes explaining the music, with live musicians, one of whom grew up on Mohammed Ali Street in Cairo. He demonstrates on the accordion how the baladi is different in Alexandria, Upper Egypt, at a street wedding, or a nightclub. Ranya Renee also had the drummers demonstrate the different rhythms you will hear in the progression, and how they play off the accordion. She demonstrated the differences between a women's street baladi, men's street baladi, and a nightclub baladi. Then, she demonstrates each style, in costume.

On the second half of the first DVD, she teaches techniques for each section of the baladi and demonstrates how to make them more "baladi" style. The drills are separated into movements for each musical section, the taqsim (musical improvisation) that starts each baladi, then the call & response section, the maqsoum rhythm – slow and fast – and the 2-beat Ingerara. The ingerara section (the fast section at the end of a baladi progression) was a challenge in the past for me. I always felt like I couldn't dance that fast and didn't have enough "fast moves" to fill the time. I would look for baladi progressions with a very short Ingerara. With Ranya Renee's DVD, I am no longer limited, except my own endurance!

The technique section begins with posture and even an advanced dancer should not skip over it. First, it is taught in a most charming way using props to demonstrate. The use of the amusing props, such as a miniskirt to show how your muscles are tight but fluid around that area, or the zipper up the pelvis to show how you are "zipped up" through those muscles, brought the points home to me in a new way. I have talked to several others about this DVD and all have remarked on this section, how it made them feel very different. Given these postural changes – and understanding the muscle mechanics – I feel I am getting a juicier look to my abdominal isolations.

With all this in mind, she talked about framing. She demonstrated the hows and more importantly the whys. I was thrilled that Ranya showed that you can in fact use your arms in baladi to express the music. I had a private lesson where I was taught not to use them as much, and I found it a little restrictive. It is just a matter of understanding how to use the arms. The abdominal core and hips are still the main focus of musical expression in the body. Ranya also talked about making it personal, letting the music sing through your body. As this music has always moved me to dance, I felt freer hearing this – I had let other people's hang-ups about what you should and shouldn't do creep into my mind until I became insecure dancing baladi. I loved the way she described this dance as one where you feel confident in yourself, your body – proud and strong.

While the movements she teaches in the instructional section will all be very familiar – aside from a new type of "jewel" that I had not seen before – the student may find they feel entirely different when engaging the muscles as instructed in the postural section. The fluid taqsim moves were quite delicious with that sense of holding and fluid tension in the core! The ingerara section could serve as a workout in itself – Ranya has endless energy.

The second DVD focuses on improvisation, as baladi is an improvisational dance. Ranya talks in general about improvisation in baladi, and then leads the student into drills. There are three baladi progressions on the DVD for improvisations. For each one, she discusses the music, danced through it twice, and then goes into the drills. It was not clear to me if the dancing section was intended for the student to watch, follow along, or dance alone to the music. In the drills, Ranya loops sections of the music over and over and you can follow along with her, although there is no voice instruction. You also have the option to flow into the music and dance your own improvisation. However, I found it instructive to "follow the bouncing butt" so to speak, and follow what Ranya chose to do – to try to capture the essence of it into my own body.

In summary, this DVD is extremely economical for everything you receive with it. I am looking forward to the next in the series – on Modern Cairo style.