Outi Of Cairo...

[flimflamgirl]

...taught a fantastic 3-day series this past weekend in New York. She is great! I wish I could study with her regularly - I liked having my butt kicked like that. She's really rigorous and makes you seriously work. If she comes to your town, sign up!

- Leela

[jamielynn]

I took a mini workshop with her weekend before last in Austin and was amazed! She illustrated the difference between what I think of as Egyptian style dance and "Cairo" bellydancing.Her best advice for me "don't move too much". I always have a tendancy to dance "every move I know"! One thing I have noticed is that a lot of the Egyptian dancers sing along with the song they are dancing to-that takes a little getting used to, but it's obvious they are intensely feeling the music.

[Jaseena]

Jamie, when you say "Don't move too much", did she mean keep it simple or make the moves more "internal"?

[jamielynn]

She meant keep it simple. Keeping it internal is definitely part of it-hence the emotional impact of Cairo dancing. But specifically she was saying keep your moves to a minimum and clean and precise. That's what I'm working on. Jamie

[Elianae]

I think a lot of Western Bellydancers move a lot more than Egyptian dancers. I know I do. Sometimes I tucker myself out and think maybe I should be a more "chill" dancer. Hmmm....

[Sashy]

Jamie, when you say "Don't move too much", did she mean keep it simple or make the moves more "internal"?

Not that i've taken any classes with Outi,but i think she means in the Cairo style is you don't need to move to all or too many beats of the music.If one examines clips or Egyptian bellydancers you wont find the sooooo much movement per se.
Outi,please chime in and clarify...g.:

[flimflamgirl]

I definitely do too much when I dance. Even my simplified, do-less style is too much when compared to what I picked up from Outi this weekend. I really want to learn to dance in this much more deep, intense style.

I wonder...when dancing for more Western audiences, would it be good to temper the "do-less" style with a little bit of the traveling and the big stuff? I love, love, love that Cairo style that I've seen, but I wonder if people who are expecting a dancer flying all over the place might be confused by it?

- Leela

[shems]

wish I could have been there.

[jamielynn]

Regarding traveling and such, Outi actually did during her performance move around the stage quite a bit-pretty dramatic "flying all over the place" ( I like that phrase!) So it's not so much the moving around as it is limiting your number of moves-focusing on a few really dramatic and emotional moves and then travel and interact with the audience in between the inward focusing moves. Jamie

[kat_hines]

I didn't have the pleasure of getting to see Outi perform, but I did take two of the workshops this past weekend, and was completely floored by her focus, direction, and beautiful movement.

She gave us a talk during the drum solo workshop that I really liked - and said something along the lines of "you want the audience to watch you not because you're moving so much but because they're afraid that you will stop moving". It really put a spring in my step for the performance I had that evening - as I was more likely to own my space after that lecture and punctuate my dancing pauses.

I agree with FlimFlamgirl - she was completely deep and intense - a style I want to invest myself in as well.

[outi]

Thank you so much ladies!

I'm happy that you got some new stuff to work on and new challenges. That was makes us grow as dancers - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Sometimes the difference in dancing and style is very subtile, but it's there. It's difficult to express in writing.

So anybody who missed me this time and want to have second chance - you got it. I'm planning my next USA Tour during Ramadan 2009. That would be from mid August to mid September. Anyone interested sponsoring? As it seems at the moment I'm coming to NYC and Austin. There would be time for one or two other cities. You can send me email or PM.

[RaqOn]

I love Outi! BIG fan! I bow down!

Sign me up for hosting you for next year in the Northeast (NH, VT, ME, & MA)Darlin!