Don't understand Dina. Enlighten me

[Bahtya]

I find that I like what I call "old school" style of dance. So I thought I'd watch clips of some so the dancers that are mentioned so often. Suhair Zaki, Fifi Abdou, and Dina. (I know there are more)

I related to Fif's and Suhair's dancing (loved it) but could not understand Dina's. The only You tube clips I could find were grainy bits that just showed her striding around, posing, then doing a very small dance movement, then striding around the floor some more. Does anyone have a favorite Dina clip they want to share so I can see her true style?

Also, Couldn't find much history on Suair Zaki and Fifi Abdou (found small bio on fifi). What do you know about them? I know there are other "old school" style dancers out there too. What are your favorites? Tall order, I know.

[ejaghana]

I didn't understand her for years...I think she's an acquired taste that some people will never understand.

[*Shira*]

You might want to get a video called "Legends of Belly Dance". It is sold by Hollywood Music (Pe-Ko Records) and it contains dance scenes from a number of Egyptian movies featuring dancers such as Soheir Zaki, Samia Gamal, Tahia Carioca, and others. It's a nice tool for introducing yourself to the famous dancers of yesteryear and figuring out which ones you like enough to buy more videos of.

As for Dina, I didn't "get" her until I saw her dance in person at the Ahlan wa Sahlan festival in Egypt. I think she dances differently for dancers than she does for the Gulf Arabs who make up the majority of her audiences.

Dina was a young, up-and-coming dancer back when great dancers such as Fifi Abdo, Lucy, Soheir Zaki, and Nagwa Fouad were dominating the scene. In order to get attention in the midst of such a pond full of big fish, she tended to out outrageous stuff, like wearing outrageous costumes and doing over-the-top moves such as her butt wiggle thing. The Gulf Arab tourists, who were the primary audience for belly dancers in Egypt, tended to respond well to Dina's sexy shtick, which helped her rise to prominence.

Dina CAN do a damned good dance show when she knows her audience is educated about the dance and capable of appreciating it. I hated the show I saw her do in 1999 in a nightclub full of Gulf Arabs - it tended to be exactly what you've described - strutting around, posing, bending forward to give the audience a good look at her cleavage, strutting around some more, some butt wiggles, etc.

But then I saw her perform at the Ahlan wa Sahlan event about 5 years later, and it was as if I was seeing an entirely different dancer. This show, performed for an audience of dancers, showed emotion, musicality, and technique, and suddenly I became a fan.

[lizajuk]

Friends who see her live say she is wonderful. Tight control and subtle subtle moves. I have seen her on film nd some I loved, some er....
I love Mona Said as well as Fifi..so sexy and beautiful, great energy.
I'd love to see Lucy live. I have seen some really powerful stuff from her and I know Fifi always rated her.
Aida Nour is still great but one of my favourite dance routines on film is her in Frankfurt.

[Ameera]

I've seen Dina dance live at the Montreal workshop show and loved it. On the other hand I was not impressed by a lot of YouTube clips of her, so I guess the audience she dances for really does make a difference.

One of my favourite DVDs is "Dina in Monte Carlo". She does a lot of very small tight movements there, but watching her pick up on subtle acsents in the music kept me mezmerized for hours.

Here's a clip of young Dina: [ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=YbZNwFNeqfg]YouTube - Dina دينا 1990 ****Zara's favourite part 3 full version[/ame]

Enjoy!

[kahaz]

I'm not a huge fan of Dina except for one thing: I've never seen anyone channel Betti Page so effectively!

Seriously, if most of us tried some of her moves/costumes, we'd look like cheap hookers on the prowl. But, she looks just sweet and lovely.

It's really not fair, but I mention this quality to my students.

[bintbeled]

I was completely lukewarm about Dina until I saw her live. She's a skillful dancer -- even her "drunken walk," which Dr. Mo Geddawi calls a broken Arabesque, is incredibly difficult to do well. But seeing her live, and close up, I was just enchanted. So much passion in her face, so much musicality in her body... This is the performance that won me over (although my own video of it is better):

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orPW8Fsohvk&NR=1]YouTube - Dina Pretty in Pink[/ame]

I love her fast turns and the way she stops on a dime.

My hubby, who is quite a dance connoisseur by now, had the chance to see Dina live last year, and he had the same reaction. He can't stop raving about her. We Dina!

[nisaasaintlouis]

Here's a clip of young Dina: YouTube - Dina دينا 1990 ****Zara's favourite part 3 full version

Enjoy!

That's my favorite Dina clip. I like her earlier style. I guess what I like about her is the great subtlety of her torso movements. She really DOES have outstanding musicality, when she's not doing the odd things like the stumble.

[Safiyah]

it took me a while but I am a really big fan now. My favorite is this performance. Very emotive, loooove the little accents.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDqcXrRww7o]YouTube - Egyptian - Belly Dance - Dina[/ame]

[Candi]

I love Dina live but on video not so much.Lucy does a good show and she is entertaining and has a lot of charisma but ..she's not a particular favourite of mine.She's got a good band though.

[Zumarrad]

HookedNovice, none of those dancers you've named are what I would term "old school" at all - they're fairly modern Egyptian dancers, most especially Dina. Old school Egyptian is more Tahia Carioca and Samia Gamal. I'm interested to know why you think this dancing is "old school"?

<i>she looks just sweet and lovely.</i>

That's one of the things I love about Dina's performance persona, actually. She's almost like a little girl having fun, NOT in a cutesy sickly weak way but just in a very wholesome way. I know she's got a vavoom body and her costumes show a great deal of it, but she is very unselfconscious with her sexuality. She doesn't pull "sexyface" at all. (I don't class her emotional,screwed up, supposed Orgasm face as a fake sexy face at all.)

[yasmindiab]

it took me a while but I am a really big fan now. My favorite is this performance. Very emotive, loooove the little accents.

YouTube - Egyptian - Belly Dance - Dina

Safiyah, thank you for posting this. I've never seen this clip, and I loved it. Beautiful, expressive...and I LOVE her costume!!! I'm usually not a fan of Dina's costumes, but this one is lovely. :)

[Bahtya]

HookedNovice, none of those dancers you've named are what I would term "old school" at all - they're fairly modern Egyptian dancers, most especially Dina. Old school Egyptian is more Tahia Carioca and Samia Gamal. I'm interested to know why you think this dancing is "old school"?

<i>she looks just sweet and lovely.</i>

That's one of the things I love about Dina's performance persona, actually. She's almost like a little girl having fun, NOT in a cutesy sickly weak way but just in a very wholesome way. I know she's got a vavoom body and her costumes show a great deal of it, but she is very unselfconscious with her sexuality. She doesn't pull "sexyface" at all. (I don't class her emotional,screwed up, supposed Orgasm face as a fake sexy face at all.)

I call it "old school" because I am still pretty inept at recognizing distinct styles, (Turkish, Egyptian, etc) ..l;, When I say "old school" it's only a term I use in my own mind for "traditional looking belly dance." I don't necessarily think their dancing is old school, I just like a more traditional looking dance, like Suhair Zaki or Fifi Abdo. I know most on here can pick up on the nuances waaay better than I can. Hope I explained that okay.

[Bahtya]

Okay, Now I see better clips of Dina., Although I still don't get the one where she's in pink. Yes I like her facial expressions, but in this clip she isn't dancing as much as in the others. But now that I've seen your clips you posted I get a better picture. This is the kind of clips I kept finding on You tube of Dina, Yikes.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXmZx_xTl0E&feature=related]YouTube - Dina Dancer[/ame]

[Bellydancingcaroline]

Friends who see her live say she is wonderful. Tight control and subtle subtle moves.

I agree, seen her live in Cairo, and wow, so charismatic. There's something missing when you see the very same performance on film.

[emma-bessa]

Okay, Now I see better clips of Dina., Although I still don't get the one where she's in pink. Yes I like her facial expressions, but in this clip she isn't dancing as much as in the others. But now that I've seen your clips you posted I get a better picture. This is the kind of clips I kept finding on You tube of Dina, Yikes.

YouTube - Dina Dancer

I *totally* understand what you mean-
Samasem always said to me that Dina(and later Randa)were revolutionary dancers that introduced a new approach and techniques in raqs sharki-
but all I saw was clips just like that!

Then I went to a live show and could finally see past Dina´s mini and the oozing cleavage,
and decided I loved her stage presence and individual way of doing steps.

Here´s another clip I think you all will like,
in the first she is dressed to be on a theater stage just like in the one Safiyah posted(easier to concentrate on her dance instead of costumes):
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcghWy7pWms"]YouTube - Dina - World's most imitated dancer[/ame]

Wonderful song here,anyone know what it´s called?
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgotw7eOLh8]YouTube - Dina Egyptian Bellydancer[/ame]

[Vasha_Hatal]

She hears the music differently from other dancers, thus her dancing is completely different. Her musicality is amazing.

She is much better live than on tape, she does a ton of subtle little things that are hard to pick up on in videos.

[gisela]

I like her too. The first times I saw videos of her I couldn't see that she was doing anything at all, just couldn't see her moves, so obviously I was not impressed. After a few years dancing and watching more videos I've come to like her very much. Also she definitely has a big place in raks sharki "history" for several reasons.

[Lauren_]

I'm not a fan of Dina's cleavage or minis. But I LOVE the delicacy and power of her style.

I could watch her quiver and emote to oud and kanoun taxims all day long, but I can't find any of that on youtube.

However, this drum solo shows the kind of delicate control and power she gets with her unique technique:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a5Gaoib3Wg]YouTube - Dina- the Egyptian Bellydance Star[/ame]

I gather by 'old school' you mean 'not tribal?' It's not really fair to call Dina old-school since she's still at this moment THE top dancer in Cairo, reportedly commanding $9,000 for a wedding performance (unless something has changed recently?) She's an innovator who has dramatically influenced modern Cairo style dance in recent years.

And she's a contemporary of Rachel Brice, Sharon Kihara, et al, her style is as modern as theirs, just a different interpretation and a different kind of music.

[damiena]

Dina is my undisputed favourite dancer. I have seen her perform live twice and she took my breath away. I loved her even before I saw her live, but she has such energy and projects so much emotion on stage, and some of that gets lost on video. I love her crazy costumes and overabundant cleavage, because it makes her more...well, her!

[*Shira*]

I gather by 'old school' you mean 'not tribal?' It's not really fair to call Dina old-school since she's still at this moment THE top dancer in Cairo, reportedly commanding $9,000 for a wedding performance (unless something has changed recently?)

Are you sure she's commanding $9,000 for a wedding performance? Two years ago she was charging 9,000 Egyptian pounds which (considering the exchange rate at the time) was equivalent to about $1,500. Of course, that's still a lot of money!

[Lauren_]

Hmmm... well, unless I could find the original article, I couldn't be sure, but I did think it was dollars. I assumed that was the full charge and she was paying her orchestra out of that figure, so $1500 wouldn't be much at all...

[*Shira*]

Hmmm... well, unless I could find the original article, I couldn't be sure, but I did think it was dollars. I assumed that was the full charge and she was paying her orchestra out of that figure, so $1500 wouldn't be much at all...

Could you be referring to what I posted on tribe.net in this thread?

What Dina costs - Belly Dancing - the Shira.net Tribe - tribe.net

Now of course, that's what it costs an EGYPTIAN to hire her. If one of us or a Gulf Arab tried to hire her, I'm sure she'd charge a lot more.

Yes, I do think this amount represents the fee for not only Dina herself but also for her orchestra. By Egyptian standards $1500 is an ENORMOUS amount of money. It's hard for us to have a perspective on this, but their annual wages are much, MUCH lower than what we would consider (by our standards) to be poverty level.

[cbarros]

Dina is my undisputed favourite dancer. I have seen her perform live twice and she took my breath away. I loved her even before I saw her live, but she has such energy and projects so much emotion on stage, and some of that gets lost on video. I love her crazy costumes and overabundant cleavage, because it makes her more...well, her!

What Damiena says! I've seen her twice in Cairo at the Semiramis and 4 times in the States. I can't do her style but I've done the workshops 3 times anyway and I always go to the show . . . There is just something about her performing that I love and I am always wanting to see her costumes (hehe, overabundant cleavage and all). And she always seems to have a lot of fun during her shows too . . . so you get the energy and emotion and musicality along with the fun. If you go to Semiramis to see the full show with her band and singers, it is really great . . . but not so many other BDers there unless you go during one of the festivals. As for seeing her at AWS, yes, I think I did see her the one time I went, hehe, but I was so far away that it wasn't the same as sitting at the edge of the stage and getting sweat flung on you, lol!! OK, sounds gross I know, but the same thing happened at a Flamenco show that I attended one time. . . ..g.:

[Lauren_]

Could you be referring to what I posted on tribe.net in this thread?

What Dina costs - Belly Dancing - the Shira.net Tribe - tribe.net

Now of course, that's what it costs an EGYPTIAN to hire her. If one of us or a Gulf Arab tried to hire her, I'm sure she'd charge a lot more.

Yes, I do think this amount represents the fee for not only Dina herself but also for her orchestra. By Egyptian standards $1500 is an ENORMOUS amount of money. It's hard for us to have a perspective on this, but their annual wages are much, MUCH lower than what we would consider (by our standards) to be poverty level.

I'm sure I didn't get the original info from Tribe, since I've only been to Tribe a few times. But Nuringa might have published that same info elsewhere, and I may have misread/misremembered it.

[habibiyaeini]

Yes Dina takes a bit of getting used to. I never liked her at the start. I thought she looked drunk and stiff. But there are some great clips of her and some have been posted here.

[Bahtya]

Well I've certainly been enlightened. Thanks. I guess she can be an acquired taste and since I probably will never see her live, the clips give me a bit more insight. Okay, so I won't use Old school, but what do you call the kind of classic belly dancing that I see Suhair Zaki and Fifi Abdo doing? I like that kind. I didn't mean for the term old school to sound negative; on the contrary, it's the style I like the best!

[Zumarrad]

I myself like to call it "belly dance" but that's just me.

"Egyptian" is a good start.

[Lauren_]

I'd call it Egyptian style.

Dina is usually referred to as 'modern Egyptian' or 'modern Cairo-style.' Other dancers in that style include Randa Kamal, Nour, Asmahan, Orit of Israel, and Soraya.

Fifi is usually considered beledi, both she and Soheir can also be called Golden Era. Their contemporaries would be Mona El Said, Nagwa Fouad, Lucy, Nadia Gamal.

Their period overlaps slightly with the Golden Age of Egyptian Film stars, like Taheya Carioka, Samia Gamal and Naima Akef.

Some people use 'Classical Egypian' to refer to both Golden Era and Golden Age of Film stars. There's certainly some overlap between the two periods, as young Fifi, Soheir and Nagwa were in the later films.

So a simpler breakdown would just be Classical Egyptian (dancers whose style can often be traced to Badia Masabni) and Modern Egyptian (Dancers whose style can often be traced to Mahmoud Reda, usually by way of Raqia Hassan).

[bellydancewear]

I love Dina, she is my favorite! I love her because to me she is all a woman should be. She is educated, hard-working, pushes the bounderies of social acceptance, a beautiful dancer, and emotional person, a sweet and kind person and loving mother. I have taken many workshops with her and seen her perform numerous times. I saw her have an emotional breakdown, seen her stop a workshop when her son wanted to tell her something, and even talked to her briefly myself about various stupid things. She is AMAZING!!! In one of her workshops she worked hard at making sure we were understanding which muscle she was using to make a particular move. She stopped to watch everyone and corrected us over and over. I have seen the music just take over her and she couldn't stop dancing, what a beautiful site! And for me she is the epitome of what Egyptian belly dance is. She holds the music in her body and then lets it ooze out slowly. She is kind to her students and doesn't act like a diva at all to us. She is happy to teach everyone, and answer questions. She dances for us with all her emotions and doesn't hold back a thing. I admire her and look up to her more than any other dancer. She is strong and believes in herself and we should all be like that.