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.