Portfolio

Arabic Dances

Oriental Routine – Arabic, Turkish or Vintage Oriental

Belly dance music arranged in a classical style, with many dramatic changes allows the dancer to enter, greet her audience and then show some of the range of her abilities. It is an opening standard of the all the greats of belly dance from Sohair Zaki to Nesrin Topkapi. It is often arrangements of classic Arabic music, but can also be a new composition.

Cane Dance – Saidi, Baladi or Lebanese

Cane dancing, also called “raqs al assaya” is a playful take on a men’s martial art dance called the tahtib. In the tahtib a long stick (assaya) is used as a weapon and points are given for hitting sensitive spots. The women have taken that same weapon to show just how dangerous it can be in the right hands. The woman’s assaya dance is very sweet, playful and flirtatious, done with both a straight stick and a crooked cane.

The Said is Upper Egypt (southern Egypt) and the Saidi style of cane dancing is very earthy and folkloric. The women wear a galabia (long dress) and dance to the very distinctive Saidi music with mizmar and tabla.

The Lebanese version of this dance tends to incorporate elements from Debke and has a little bit of a showoff quality to it. It is often performed to music appropriate for Debke as well.

Arabic Pop

Modern and fun, there are several Arabic popular artists putting out great dance music. This can be just an upbeat belly dance performance, or a great time to get the audience up and dancing. If you give me a little notice I’d be glad to incorporate your favorite song or artist. Some of my current favorites include Nancy Ajram, Haifa, Nourhanne, Shereen, Hakim, Mohammed Mohie, Turbo Tabla, Rashid al-Majid, Cheb Jilani. There are also some great techno remixes of classic Oriental music out there, if that interest you. I love to discover new artists, feel free to let me know who some of your favorites are.

Sagat (Finger Cymbals)

Traditionally used in the Middle East, sagat, also known as zills are small metal cymbals worn on the fingers of the dancer. She plays these to add a lively and fun accompaniment to her own dancing.

The Classics

For those of you who love a soulful Om Kulthoum song, or can’t get enough Abd El Halim Hafez, I would be glad to bring the classics to life for you. Classic Arabic music is some of my favorite music to dance to. Some of my favorite artists include: Om Kulthoum, Abd El Halim Hafez, Farid El Atrache, Warda, Mohammed Abdul Wahab, Baligh Hamdi, Feiruz. I also love old folk music. Please send me your requests.

Taksim

Usually the slow portion of the dance where a solo instrument improvises and the dancer interprets that instrument. Usually a part of a larger oriental piece, sometimes it stands alone as a very moving and beautiful portion of a performance.

Egyptian Baladi Taksim

A Baladi, usually played by an accordion, starts slow and then works it’s way gradually into a frenzy. It was used at Egyptian celebrations as a good way to get the reluctant dancers in the family to showing their skills slowly.

Khaliji Thobe Nashal Dance

Khaliji refers to the people of the Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE & Oman. The Khaliji dance I present is a woman’s dance, done with a large ornate thobe that is worn over the top of a party dress. Women of the Gulf dance in groups to celebrate weddings, graduations and holidays.

Hagallah

The Hagallah is a coming – of – age dance for a young girl (the Hagallah). It is done by one young girl, dressed in a long kaftan, whose face & head are totally covered. It is about celebrating a young girl’s reaching puberty, to tell her how beautiful she is becoming & what a wonderful wife & mother she will make & what a lucky man the one who marries her will be.

The Hagallah is also often performed at weddings as a celebratory dance. The Hagallah spread from Libya to Egypt via Libyan worker migration. Being mostly populated by Libyan immigrants people in Mersa Matruh region of Egypt often still dress the way the Libyans did.

One possible translation of the word Haggal means bird but a bird that flies across the Sinai Dessert and when it steps on the sand, it does a funny walk because the sand is hot. Some say that this is the accented shimmy walk imitated by Hagallah dancers. Another possible translation from Arabic is “to hop, skip, leap, or gambol.”

The Hagallah is traditionally performed without any music except the clapping and chanting of the men of the village. The line of men are called “Kefaffin” (clappers).

Mahmoud Reda, a choreographer famous for bringing folkloric dances to the stage had music composed for his version of this dance which I use in my performance, my choreography also draws heavily upon Reda’s original choreography. The costume has also been adapted for stage.

Maleya Leff

This theatrical dance is from Alexandria, Egypt. A melaya is a large, black shawl made of nylon or silk, in which the women wrap themselves completely from head to toe. It is a modesty garment for when they leave the house. The word leff simply means “to wrap”. The idea behind the dance is the woman is seeking the local men’s attention by flirting from behind her wrap. A very fun dance.

Zeffa

A ceremonial procession, which used to lead a bride through the streets from her old home to her new, music and entertainers helping to lead the way. Often a belly dancer leads the procession playing finger cymbals and wearing a candelabrum on her head. Now the same procession can be used to lead a bride and groom around and into the reception hall, often followed by a performance for the bride and groom.

Basic Debke

Debke is the popular line dance of the Levant (Palestine, Lebanon, Syria). Choreographed versions can be very complex and exciting. However, for the general populace a more simple easy to follow version is quite fun. I can teach a few steps, and lead a group in a fun and simple debke dance.

Turkish Dances

Turkish Rom

Turkish Rom is the dance of the Roma (Gypsy) people of Turkey. Earthy and full of energy and humor, it’s a wonderfully fun style of dance.

Turkish Pop

Modern and fun, there are several Turkish popular artists putting out great dance music. This can be just an upbeat belly dance performance, or a great time to get the audience up and dancing. If you give me a little notice I’d be glad to incorporate your favorite song or artist. I’m still discovering my favorite Turkish artists. I adore Tarkan and Sezen Aksu. I would love to hear what your favorites are.

Turkish Folkloric Line Dances

Somewhat similar to Dabke from the Levant, Turkey has it’s own fun and varied line dances. These can be prepared in a choreographed presentation or simplified to lead a fun and simple group dance.

Specialty Dances and Vintage Oriental

Vintage Oriental Belly Dance Routine

Put together in the classic American style using Turkish, Greek, Arabic or Armenian elements in the music. This is a great alternative to a straight Arabic show, especially to an American audience that enjoys a little taste of everything. It opens with a lively entrance, finger cymbals flying, followed by a slow and sultry Taxim with veil and floorwork, next a fun number to engage the audience, followed by either another prop (like sword) or a drum solo, and an exciting exit. This can be configured to include your special requests.

Veil / Double Veil

A wonderful Western addition to belly dancing. In the Middle East the veil is used for little more than a frame or cape, which is often quickly discarded at the beginning of a dance performance. However, Western dancers have made it an extension of their bodies that often fills an entire piece of music. Brilliant, elegant movement fills the space around them in color and shape, as the fabric of the veil adds dimension to the performance.

Drum Solo

Definitely a show off moment for the dancer. She interprets the dums and teks of the tabla (aka derbeki) and shows off her shimmies.

Sword Dance

There is some documentation of dances done by women with swords in the Middle East, but what these dances looked liked exactly isn’t known. One very famous fictional example is the dance of Morgianna in the Arabian nights where she saves Ali Baba from the leader of the forty thieves. Modern dancers have taken the idea and created their own interpretations. The mystery and power surrounding the sword make it a very dramatic element of a dancer’s performance, where she can show off her balancing skills.

Floorwork

Outlawed in Egypt several years ago, but still popular elsewhere, this traditional part of a belly dance performance shows off a dancer’s strength and flexibility as she dances on the floor. This is often used to demonstrate difficult balancing skills with a prop like a sword or candelabrum or skills like isolating shimmies and belly rolls.

Fun & Games with the Audience

Everybody loves to have a little fun. We can plan an audience participation portion, right into the program. Maybe you’d like to have a little shimmy contest between the different division heads at the company, a special dance lesson for all your girlfriends or crafty homemade finger cymbals for the kids to play along. Depending on the audience, there are all kinds of possibilities.