Thread: Pharaonic dance: a good video example?

So... my teacher has announced we will do a pharaonic choreo this session.

I am skeptical... but I think it's because I have had very very little exposure to this dance style. Can anybody point me to a video they think is a good representation of the style?

How would you characterize the dance OUTSIDE of the stylized arms? What type of music goes with it?

Thanks.

SADLY, the one excellent Pharaonic example is by Horatio Cifuentes on a video that is no longer in distribution.
He is dressed as a Pharaoh (duhrrr...hee...) and he uses short candles in each hand. His music is the music that is on the Suhaila Salimpour's "Dances for the Sultan" (the one where she is wearing her rendition of a Pharaonic outfit).
It was such an outstanding example in that he was positioned entirely "sideways" like in the hieroglyphs.
His movements were very stiff, some very exaggerated undulations and pelvic tuck movements. As if he stepped from a frieze.

I remember that vid! He used Farid el Atrache's "Souk Elabid", I think.

The music you can use Dance of the Pharaohs By Omar Faruk. I haven't seen a good pharaonic number in a long time

Alrana

Originally Posted by Azhia

SADLY, the one excellent Pharaonic example is by Horatio Cifuentes on a video that is no longer in distribution.
He is dressed as a Pharaoh (duhrrr...hee...) and he uses short candles in each hand. His music is the music that is on the Suhaila Salimpour's "Dances for the Sultan" (the one where she is wearing her rendition of a Pharaonic outfit).
It was such an outstanding example in that he was positioned entirely "sideways" like in the hieroglyphs.
His movements were very stiff, some very exaggerated undulations and pelvic tuck movements. As if he stepped from a frieze.

gosh, I would love to see that dance/performance.

There is a video of Dina playing cleopatra somewhere on Youtube. Maybe someone here at Bhuz has it. Some of the background dancers do pharonic movements.

ETA: Here it is.

[ame="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=odvPUihLTjE"]YouTube - Egyptian - Dina - Cleopatra[/ame]

Elena Lentini did the most amazing Pharonic choregoraphy to a Natacha Atlas song a few years ago in her weeklong workshop.

It is highest on my list of the things I have learned from her. I do not have a video of it though. I have been working with that same song again recently though.

Originally Posted by mehndidancer

The music you can use Dance of the Pharaohs By Omar Faruk. I haven't seen a good pharaonic number in a long time

Alrana

Which CD of Faruk's is it on?

This article on my web site suggests a couple of videos and some music: What Is Pharaonic Dance?

Originally Posted by auraevans

Which CD of Faruk's is it on?

Fire Dance

In my limited experience of Pharonic dance, the appropriate music is anything very very New Age and ponderous. Because back in the Pharonic days, nobody ever had any fun, and they most certainly didn't smile, for dancing was Srs Bznz.

Someone - I have to check back and remember who - was selling a Dr Mo video with his comedy Pharonic piece on it, and while it does become hilariously funny in the second part, at the beginning it's straight Pharonic, Egyptian-style. I don't like Pharonic but I didn't mind parts of this piece. It was very Reda and had a slightly Saidi quality from memory - which is not surprising because Dr Mo believes Saidi is the dance of Pharonic times - and some of the postures were very recogniseably lifted from various well-known temple carvings.

There is footage on YouTube somewhere of Tito doing a Pharonic choreography workshop, and it really seems to be arm and hand positions that dictate its Pharonicness more than anything else.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

This article on my web site suggests a couple of videos and some music: What Is Pharaonic Dance?

Thanks, Shira, I hadn't run across that page in your encyclopedia, er, I mean website.

I enjoyed your article and will check out some of the music recommendations. By the way -- you have found the nicest possible way of saying, "Look, don't be an idiot." ..g.:

Ahzia, is that the video you are talking about?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IJhGpLq32s]YouTube - Oriental Fantasy Show "Talisman" - Part 2a[/ame]

Originally Posted by carolabrie

Ahzia, is that the video you are talking about?

YouTube - Oriental Fantasy Show "Talisman" - Part 2a

Tigerb:
The video as posted by Mlle. Labrie says no longer available but go directly to YouTube and type in the title as it is here: c'est ça! c'est ça! (Merci Carol!!)

Albeit just a tiny clip of the whole dance, it's awesome!

Originally Posted by Azhia

Tigerb:
The video as posted by Mlle. Labrie says no longer available but go directly to YouTube and type in the title as it is here: c'est ça! c'est ça! (Merci Carol!!)

Albeit just a tiny clip of the whole dance, it's awesome!

Woo! I wish I could see where he went with that. Thanks!

In my search for interesting Pharaonic dance on YouTube I found this clip of a Russian (apparently) troupe doing Pharaonic dance to, of all things, Warda. I was surprised to find that I rather liked it!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXG96hQp0Q8"]Temple of Isis[/ame]

(I'm not sure how to do this embedding thing.)

Wow, I'm reading this and thinking I should revive my troupe Pharaonic dance, The Lamentation of Isis. I was inspired by Pharaonic tomb paintings, some ballet moves by Maurice Bejart, and the third act of La Bayadere. One of those dances that has been performed only once, at considerable expense. Sigh...

Ooh, cool video of the Temple of Isis dance! I really liked the dramatic belly pops in the middle.

Okay, I'm not familiar with this style of dance at all. Who was the first to do it and what makes people feel drawn to perform it? Is there a spiritual connection involved? Are people trying to speak to the goddesses through movement or simply portray their version of ancient Egyptian culture?

Shira, loved all your info, just curious about everything else ,r:;

Originally Posted by maliam

Okay, I'm not familiar with this style of dance at all. Who was the first to do it and what makes people feel drawn to perform it? Is there a spiritual connection involved? Are people trying to speak to the goddesses through movement or simply portray their version of ancient Egyptian culture?

Hi Maliam! The tradition of doing theatrical dances based on Pharaonic themes goes back to the early dance of modern dance - to Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, etc. In other words, early 20th century. I don't know which may have been the very first to do a Pharaonic dance, but it's definitely from that era. At that time, there was an intense interest among Europeans and Americans in the Middle East. The Salome story was a huge fad, due to Oscar Wilde's play and Richard Strauss's opera based on it, and the archeological discoveries in Egypt had everyone all a-twitter.

I really don't know who the first belly dancer may have been to do a Pharaonic theme. It's been out there a long time. When I was a beginner back in 1981, I bought an Eddie Kochak record that had a song on it labeled "Pharaonic", which was my first introduction to the idea that a belly dancer might portray a Pharaonic theme. I think Delilah was the first to put it on a video (her Dance to the Great Mother), which was back in the 1980's. Home video was in its infancy at that point.

I still have an old Eddie Kochak tape, The special Silver Anniversary Album. The pharonic song was called Dance Dina.

Phaedra did a Pharaonic dance early on for Bobby Farrah's troupe but I'm not sure what year. She had a gorgeous metallic gold costume.

Thanks Shira! Just to totally make sure I get this (as there are moments in my life when I completely miss the target) this dance is purely for entertainment reasons? Just a recreation of what our imagination says Ancient Egyptian dance was like. No religiosity?

Originally Posted by Azhia

Tigerb:
The video as posted by Mlle. Labrie says no longer available but go directly to YouTube and type in the title as it is here: c'est ça! c'est ça! (Merci Carol!!)

Or just click on the title of the clip in the post.

Wow. That was the first Pharonic style dance I've ever really enjoyed. The costume and candles against the simple dark background helps a lot, I think. The fact that he has a really nice body and the lighting flatters his skin tone doesn't hurt the enjoyment, either.

Or maybe I just like my Pharonic dances to only be a few seconds long. ..g.:

Originally Posted by tigerb

In my search for interesting Pharaonic dance on YouTube I found this clip of a Russian (apparently) troupe doing Pharaonic dance to, of all things, Warda. I was surprised to find that I rather liked it!

Temple of Isis

(I'm not sure how to do this embedding thing.)

I can see why the candles inspired them to want to do a many-armed pose at the beginning -- and their technique was effective.

But it seemed VERY odd to me to start out a Pharaonic dance with a representation of a Hindu goddess. Like a mixed metaphor. There are no many-armed deities or mythic creatures in the Egyptian pantheon, that's a strictly Hindu thing.

I admit, they lost me there and I didn't watch much further, so the rest may have been fabulous.

It's all made up. 100 % fantasy. So it's only religious, if you make it so ..g.:

But there is no historical background and the ancient Egyptians CERTAINLY did NOT dance like this!

Imagine finding some pictures of Suheir Zaki and then trying to reconstruct the way she danced. With no music and no knowledge of raqs sharqi. That would be a rather awkward affair for sure....

This is also why I find most Pharaonic dances so silly. Actually, I find the entire idea of reconstructing a dance by using poses from a wall painting quite silly.
And most of the time, the result is simply boring...

MEISSOUN

Thank you, Meissoun, that's exactly how I feel about it.

And those poses had more to do with the style of ART than the style of DANCE.

Of course, an interpretive dance could make reference to those paintings, but I'd expect the choreographer to use them in an informed way.

Katia of Boston had an awesome Pharonic Dance in her theater show "Visions of the East" at MIT last November.
You can purchase the DVD via her website:Katia
I have it and its wonderful.

Thank you once again, Bhuzzers and Shira, for such enlightening discussion and learning... I personally am fascinated with Pharaonic (interpretation) dance.

I do have a silly little costuming question: What is up with the "horns" headpiece that some dancers (usu. a "main" Phar. dancer?) wears??? And sometimes it has a disc in between the horns? ..c::

Many years ago I saw a Pharaonic performance by two dancers who were trained in ballet. They did extensive research on the wall paintings and used the poses in their dance. Their dance depicted some of the ancient Egyptian religious beliefs about the soul's journey after death. The soul is weighed against a feather, and if the soul is lighter than the feather, the individual is rewarded with an idyllic afterlife in paradise.

It moved me to tears.

This was presented at one of Jamila Salimpour's weeklong dance intensives, probably in the late 70's. I don't recall the dancers' names but they were famous for touring with the Incredible String Band.

Made quite an impression, as I still remember it well.

And yeah, I could happily watch Horacio performing just about ANY style of dance! He is amazing.