Fabulous Faten!

Here in Boston we were lucky to have Faten Salama come and teach us a portion of her Almassreya curriculum. We sure packed a lot into a single day: Nubian, Saidi, Ghawazee, Mohammed Ali street, Beledi, Melaya Leff, and Khaleegy!

It was nice that we spend a significant portion of time on Nubian, as not many people teach that. Not that I see much opportunity to perform Nubian, but it's always good to expand my education in Egyptian dance. Nubian uses a similar step to Khaleegy, and the music has a distinctive sound to the voice and the drumbeat. I could definitely see the African influence (well, being that Egypt is IN Africa, I suppose it's all African dance), with the chest and the posture. I feel like we don't see a lot of Nubian dance in the USA and it does make you wonder why this particular folkloric dance has been so neglected here. Because the Egyptian stars are doing it – Dina, Leila, Yasmina – they all do Nubian pieces in their sets. Often the CDs created by dancers contain a Nubian song, but to this day, I had never learned it. Again, I don't see myself performing it as it really seems geared towards group folklore and I don't have an opportunity for that, but it is great to expand one's mind.

I enjoyed learning some new cane moves, as well as a new look at some familiar ones. When we got to Mohammed Ali street (Awalim style), that's when I really got into it. I love the gumption of this style – it takes no prisoners! Of course, you could say the same for the Saidi style, in a different way – it is strong and proud and you never forget that the stick is first and foremost a weapon. We learned a bit – not enough – about the Ghawazee and their use of the cane vs. the Saidi style. You could say that about every topic - not enough! I wish we really had the three days that she normally uses, but then I never would have gotten to do it (family obligations and all).

Melaya leff was surprisingly difficult – just learning to manipulate it – get it wrapped quickly and unwrapped. Faten could go from a full melaya wrap to having it over her arms swinging it while she hip-dropped in less than 5 seconds. It is going to take a lot of practice. But I got some great tips on how to wear the melaya and hold it, that I hadn't gleaned from the melaya leff video I own (it's a Dr. Mo choreography). I would also like to know more about why melaya leff and eskandarany are so different – usually they are presented together – even in Egypt when I saw a folkloric show. I wish there had been more time to ask questions about that.

We also learned how to apply these movements to pop music. Most of the pop music today sounds just like our Brittney Spears and Katy Perry – I can hardly detect the Arabic music in this pop, with their 4/4 Western beats. The lyrics are in Arabic, but that's where it seems to end. So, I guess you could say I am not a fan of pop music. If I'm going to dance to pop music, it will be sha'abi. However, overall, the idea that these folkloric movements are the basis for dance – and appear in our dance – came home again and again. Steps I had learned in other choreographies were revealed to have folkloric roots and meanings.