Thread: Feedback requested on my meleya blurb

I will be performing a meleya luff dance in a show on saturday (dance school recital) and have the opportunity to include a little blurb about it in the program. I want to keep it short and understandable, as the audience will be mostly friends and family of the dancers and organizer. I have come up with the following and would love some feedback, suggestions, grammer help, etc:

The meleya luff, typically a large black wrap, is a modesty garment that was popular in Egypt in the mid-1900’s. The meleya luff dance is a character dance created by Egyptian dance master Mamoud Reda. The dance is meant to portray the quintessential baladi girl out and about, flirting with boys and having some light-hearted fun.

Thanks in advance!
amanda

Looks good to me.

Sounds good to me! Only correction would be the spelling of Mahmoud.

Great.

Possibly change "a modesty garment that was popular in Egypt" to "a modesty garment that was worn in Alexandria and Cairo" - or similar as it was an urban (and lower Egypt) thing.

I would explain that a baladi girl is from the country. Other than that it looks great, and is similar to what I've used.

Originally Posted by laura 2

I would explain that a baladi girl is from the country. Other than that it looks great, and is similar to what I've used.

No, "of the country" - true many of the urban working class from the rural areas - within a couple of generations - but this isn't Elly May Clampett in LA. The beledi people are the majority in Cairo and Alexandria.

Originally Posted by kashmir

No, "of the country" - true many of the urban working class from the rural areas - within a couple of generations - but this isn't Elly May Clampett in LA. The beledi people are the majority in Cairo and Alexandria.

Honestly, I struggled with using the word baladi without further explanation but didn't want to add another sentence just to explain that and couldn't think of a good single word explanation that would make sense. Figured "of the country" wouldn't translate right because, yeah, Elly May and such. So I left it without explanation, kind of decided that they probably won't know who the h*ll Mahmoud Reda is either so what can you do. At least I am able to give a little context to the performance!

Thanks to everyone for your feedback!

My understanding - and someone can correct me if I'm wrong - is that the garment itself is called melaya (sheet) and the luff part indicates how it is worn (wrapped). So to be super accurate (if I am right), you would say "the melaya, typically a large black wrap..."

Hi Amanda! I just sent you an email b/c I was wondering if you would pretty please let me borrow from your blurb? I'm attempting a meleya leff number soon & think it is a good idea to give a little explanation before the dancer, for those non-dancers out there...I sent you my email address to if ya wanna email me privately.
..g.:

-Tahma

Originally Posted by zumarrad

My understanding - and someone can correct me if I'm wrong - is that the garment itself is called melaya (sheet) and the luff part indicates how it is worn (wrapped). So to be super accurate (if I am right), you would say "the melaya, typically a large black wrap..."

Yeah, I read somewhere that meleya just means a big piece of fabric and luff categorized it as a modesty wrap or something. Forgive me, I've had some wine so my memory is cloudy at the moment!

Originally Posted by zumarrad

My understanding - and someone can correct me if I'm wrong - is that the garment itself is called melaya (sheet) and the luff part indicates how it is worn (wrapped). So to be super accurate (if I am right), you would say "the melaya, typically a large black wrap..."

,r:; Okay - strictly "milaya" means (bed) sheet but is sometimes used for "milaya laff" which is the traditional wrap - ie milaya laff is the correct/formal name for the garment but it is derived from bedsheet wrapping

Catch you tomorrow, Z

Originally Posted by sahar_raqs

Honestly, I struggled with using the word baladi without further explanation but didn't want to add another sentence just to explain that and couldn't think of a good single word explanation that would make sense. Figured "of the country" wouldn't translate right because, yeah, Elly May and such. So I left it without explanation, kind of decided that they probably won't know who the h*ll Mahmoud Reda is either so what can you do. At least I am able to give a little context to the performance!

Thanks to everyone for your feedback!

Maybe cut "beledi" and say "working class"? or even "salt of the earth"? ..g.:

Thanks for the clarification, Kashmir. I guess I wasn't thinking about the connotation of the wording I chose, but I appreciate your bringing up the distinction. Sometimes it's hard to put these ME words and concepts in a way that the GP will understand, and I wind up oversimplifying. For this reason, sahar_raqs is probably correct to just leave it as baladi.

Everything I would have said is here, and then some!

In fact, I'm spinning off a beledi thread...
Kashmir, I'd love it you'd expand on your comments there!

http://www.bhuz.com/forum/showthread...1736#post61736