Thread: Emirati dance

Can anyone help?

I got a request for a show for emirati dance, from UAE. I do khaleegy but admit it is more of the generalized kind that we usually find in North America, probably not too regionally accurate. I havn't had any resources to help me learn any more specifics.

I know that regions have various styles. Can anyone clarify what makes emirati style a little differnt than others. I know this is a big question but any info would help.

Thanks!

Could you ask them for more specifics? At some point "regional accuracy" boils down to neighborhoods, families, and tribes. (Which Lebanese debke is the "real" one? Sort of all of them!) A Bedawi dance from Dubai in an ethnic costume might be a disappointment to someone who wanted to see a contemporary, urban, party-style dance sans thobe from Abu Dhabi, although both are equally authentic choices. Is it possible the group looking to hire you is just hoping to impress some Emiratis with a "taste of home," and they are thinking in terms of generic Khaleeji (i.e., just not "belly dance") themselves? Presumably, they're not hiring you as a dance historian and ethnographer, so I would think anything that got away from the fakelorified Western version of the dance would be sufficient. Did you look at the videos in this thread? http://www.bhuz.com/forum/belly-danc...egy-clips.html

You certainly can't go wrong with choosing a song by an Emirati artist, but consider that they might be equally impressed if you used a current hit or a classic by an artist from another part of the Gulf. You won't know until you understand exactly what they're hiring you to perform.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Is it possible the group looking to hire you is just hoping to impress some Emiratis with a "taste of home," and they are thinking in terms of generic Khaleeji (i.e., just not "belly dance") themselves?

Exactly Tourbeau. It is a conference with many members coming from Dubai and the organizers just want to have something to present to them.

But any information is still good to help me tailor my proposal to the audience.

Most of the web sites I go to for streaming music lump all of the Gulf artists together. I don't know of anyone who stands out as an Emirati "home run" artist for that crowd. I can point you to some links, though.

6rb.com has an Emirates page here اغاني اماراتية or here if you can't decipher Arabic and need to go through Google's whacked-out translation tool
Google Translate

Nogomi.com sorts "Khalig" separately from "Saudi Arabia," "Kuwait," and "Yemen," and that pretty much just leaves Oman and the Emirates, so there should be some artists to explore here: Nogomi.com - Largest Music Community On Internet brings you always latest albums and news (In English, but apologies in advance for the truly annoying pop ups.)

PM me if you need specific help navigating the links. HTH!

Wow thanks alot Tourbeau!!
That's kind of you to send those links. I will definitely check them out.

This whole thing has just left me wanting to know more, go beyond the khaleegy that I think I know.

Hi Samantha - Tourbeau's right, the delegates won't be expecting something exactly like home, more a generic "Khaleej" style and they'll be very pleased too.
If the guests are from Dubai you could use a song by Hussein al Jassmi a local singer who is very popular in the Gulf region. That'll go down a treat. Dance as Tourbeau has said, even in a small country like the UAE, has so many different forms. Here are some photos I took of a local dance group on UAE National Day in Dubai last year and another of local girls preparing to perform at the camel races. The dance style most of us were(are) taught as being "Khaleej" is regarded here as old fashioned, I showed a couple of YouTube clips to a Kuwaiti friend who giggled and said "My mom dances like that."..g.:

Originally Posted by Aziza_UAE

Hi Samantha - Tourbeau's right, the delegates won't be expecting something exactly like home, more a generic "Khaleej" style and they'll be very pleased too.
If the guests are from Dubai you could use a song by Hussein al Jassmi a local singer who is very popular in the Gulf region. That'll go down a treat. Dance as Tourbeau has said, even in a small country like the UAE, has so many different forms. Here are some photos I took of a local dance group on UAE National Day in Dubai last year and another of local girls preparing to perform at the camel races. The dance style most of us were(are) taught as being "Khaleej" is regarded here as old fashioned, I showed a couple of YouTube clips to a Kuwaiti friend who giggled and said "My mom dances like that."..g.:

So you will have to elaborate for us how the girls themselves dance these days. We wouldnt want to look like someone's mom's when we entertain lol :)

Originally Posted by Aziza_UAE

Hi Samantha - Tourbeau's right, the delegates won't be expecting something exactly like home, more a generic "Khaleej" style and they'll be very pleased too.
If the guests are from Dubai you could use a song by Hussein al Jassmi a local singer who is very popular in the Gulf region. That'll go down a treat. Dance as Tourbeau has said, even in a small country like the UAE, has so many different forms. Here are some photos I took of a local dance group on UAE National Day in Dubai last year and another of local girls preparing to perform at the camel races. The dance style most of us were(are) taught as being "Khaleej" is regarded here as old fashioned, I showed a couple of YouTube clips to a Kuwaiti friend who giggled and said "My mom dances like that."..g.:

Thanks so much Aziza! Even having a song by a popular artist will help. And your pictures are really interesting!

Originally Posted by david

So you will have to elaborate for us how the girls themselves dance these days. We wouldnt want to look like someone's mom's when we entertain lol :)

hihi David!
That's not the look I'm going for either!

Originally Posted by SamanthaFortunata

hihi David!
That's not the look I'm going for either!

Hello :)
Sorry, I couldnt hold back on my curiosity :)

Here are a few clips of Hussein al Jasmi to whet your appetite.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANjUnJpRDBk&feature=related"]Performing 'Al Tarf’ in Dubai[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_rVaBTx0Mo&feature=related"]In Kuwait [/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqBng7IN3oo&feature=related"]In Carthage[/ame]

You can download his music from the net, I’m lucky, I can buy his CDs from the local shop

Originally Posted by Aziza_UAE

Here are a few clips of Hussein al Jasmi to whet your appetite.

Performing 'Al Tarf’ in Dubai

In Kuwait

In Carthage

You can download his music from the net, I’m lucky, I can buy his CDs from the local shop

He is fabulous :)

You realize you are setting yourself up for a Bhuz visitation invation, right? We want to go to that local shop too! :)