Thread: Magency/Majency

This is sort of picking up on something alluded to by NandaDncer in the Classical Egyptian vs. Modern Egyptian thread (http://www.bhuz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1795) about the 'Egyptian routine'.

So - I understand the magency to be a piece of music composed for, or used especially by, a particular dancer - it 'announces' him/her to the audience...am I correct in this assumption? Does anyone have anything else to add about the concept of the magency? I am also interested in finding out where the word comes from (sounds European rather than Arabic???) Googling 'magency' or 'majency' brings up pretty much diddly squat(!) so all input greatly appreciated.

And also - what are the other elements of the 'Egyptian routine'?

D

mis en scene i believe is the spelling. it's french. the theory is magenci/magency is bastardized arab/french. it is an intro/ fan fare/ announcement. often it is a song that just states the dancers name repeatedly. after that you would do an oriental section, a baladi (not literally the rhythm but something folksey) & tada a drum solo. i've been told if you want to be modern replace the baladi with arab pop. this is a simplified answer i'm sure somebody else has more info. tina

Thankyou tina!

Mise en scene = magency
Mise en scene = setting the scene

All makes sense now!

Thanks for running through the routine too - that also makes sense.....g.:
D

There was a big thread on old bhuz on this at some point. I haven't gone to do a search but it basically said what Tina says above....

Isn't it funny how words get corrupted? :)

"Magency" also sounds to me like "majesty," which is also kinda fitting considering that you're making your big entrance.

Lucy

I believe the origin of the word is French. It is definitely not Arabic or English. Its the introductory/opening piece of the dancer. So its the first piece in a routine. Dancers that do long sets like the dancers in Egypt who do 45 minutes 1 1/2 hour sets, will come on stage with a 10-15 minute magency, often accompanied by a veil.

Originally Posted by deelybopper

This is sort of picking up on something alluded to by NandaDncer in the Classical Egyptian vs. Modern Egyptian thread (http://www.bhuz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1795) about the 'Egyptian routine'.

So - I understand the magency to be a piece of music composed for, or used especially by, a particular dancer - it 'announces' him/her to the audience...am I correct in this assumption? Does anyone have anything else to add about the concept of the magency? I am also interested in finding out where the word comes from (sounds European rather than Arabic???) Googling 'magency' or 'majency' brings up pretty much diddly squat(!) so all input greatly appreciated.

And also - what are the other elements of the 'Egyptian routine'?

D

Oh, one more thing, dancers will often have this piece of music composed for them (if they can afford to pay the musician) and yes, as the opening piece, it does "announce" them.

Yes, when I used to work in an Arabic nightclub with live musicians, the band leader decided that I need a majency. But he didn't compose one

Since there were various singers plus me during the evening, this music would always work as the announcement that I was coming on. He also played it in the end when I was leaving.

MEISSOUN

I'm so glad that this thread came about. I asked a bunch of Arab speakers (musicians, too) about it and they had no clue.

Now what does that say about the DC musician scene?

Why couldn't it have been mizensaan instead of megensi?

Originally Posted by danidance

There was a big thread on old bhuz on this at some point. I haven't gone to do a search but it basically said what Tina says above....

Hi dani - am searching for this thread, but so far no luck...can you remember, even vaguely, what it's title was?
D

It was easily a few years ago. I am trying to remember who actually posted the explanation - I think it was one of the British bhuzzers - Afra, Sunshine, Kharis, etc.

Again - the whole thread boiled down to what Tina said above - there was a lot of discussion to get to the fact that it was a bastardization of mis en scene.

There is another possibility that is closer in sound and also what the French would say for an entrance piece - the dancer is appearing or emerging:
émergence in French.

That would make so much more sense!

Originally Posted by SamiraShuruk

There is another possibility that is closer in sound and also what the French would say for an entrance piece - the dancer is appearing or emerging:
émergence in French.

That does make sooo much more sense...I can sleep at night now. Thanks, Samira!

Originally Posted by danidance

It was easily a few years ago. I am trying to remember who actually posted the explanation - I think it was one of the British bhuzzers - Afra, Sunshine, Kharis, etc.

Again - the whole thread boiled down to what Tina said above - there was a lot of discussion to get to the fact that it was a bastardization of mis en scene.

Thanks dani - have searched, but to no avail, it must have been in 'the time before the archives'

I also like this theory of 'emergence' - it sounds more like magency....hmmmm
D

I've heard the term "mergenci" used too. hmmmm, now trying to remember where I got that from. Because I look at "magency" and think "is that right?". The last discussion that I remember brought up the mis-en-scene as explained by Tamra Henna (LA) in her classes. She spent a bit of time dancing in Cairo too, so I always think she can be a trusted resource for all things Raks Sharki. Ok, I am getting a flash about something in "Habibi" . . . darn, I'm going to have to go thru those all copies and look for an article now!!

When I have been talking to my Egyptian musicians they say "emerjenci" which sounds, when pronounced by them, like the French word, as Samira said. But I don't remember them using this word 25 years ago. It is the equivalent of our "intro" piece. A regularly working dancer (in the Middle East) tries hard to have one written for her. It hopefully becomes one of her signature pieces - think Sit al-Hosn for Nagwa Fouad. Mona Said has one too (rainbow costume on the beladi DVD?). Hassan Abou Saoud wrote one for me in the early 80s that I still use.

Hi, I remember a fairly in depth thread about this on old bhuz too but I vaguely recall it being US dancers talking about it, Leyla Lanty rings a bell though I haven't gone for a look yet.

I have archived an email from the MEDlist by Jalilah where she explains the majency very well but I can't for the life of me find the darn thing, when I do I will post a quote.

As Tattooed1 said "mis en scene i believe is the spelling. it's french. the theory is magenci/magency is bastardized arab/french. it is an intro/ fan fare/ announcement."

The majency is the entrance piece... You know those compositions starting with the malfouf and working through various rhythm changes.

Just out of interest...the prevalence of "pre-composed" Egyptian music is a 20th century invention itself, courtesy of Abd al-Wahab "He introduced exact replication of a notated composition as an important standard in [Egyptian] musical performance." (Danielson, The Voice of Egypt) And that was through the 20's and 30's which of course coincided with the rise of Egyptian cinema. I think accounts of live performance between that time and the 70's might show us how it all developed.