Thread: How do you wrap a melaya?

I want to play with creating a melaya leff dance, but how do you wrap a melaya? I haven't been able to find any info on the web about that.

One side over one shoulder and the other side under the opposite arm and held all tucked in one hand. (Geeeeez not easy to explain with words. But if you look carefuly at this video of Mahmoud Reda's troupe member:

There are several different ways of wrapping. Head can be covered or free. Usually one arm is out. A really traditional wrap is folded so your arms are pretty free ie the folding holds it mostly in place - so your milaya can be used to store groceries and kids. With dance some times there's a cheat holding it at the belly and twisting - this limits your manipulation - essential in dancing with it but makes your butt look very seeexy.

Try this - drape across your back with one shoulder free. Gather vertically. Tuck the covered side in your uncovered armpit. Fold the uncovered side under on the covered side.

I have some old wmv clips (remember those) on my Milaya Lef page - along with a bit of text.

This is the basic wrap-up I learnt:
- drape upper edge over your shoulders (or head),
- grasp upper edge holding it out and down and a little forward (so it doesn't drop off shoulders), and start collecting fabric up in each hand: if you have one of the melayas with the paillette'd band in the centre you are working down towards that.
- adjust melaya so the central band is close in at your waist.
- transfer right hand bunch of fabric to region of left armpit and hold it there with pressure of left arm.
- flick the end in the left hand anticlockwise (outward?), not letting go of the scrunch in your hand, so you end up with the full width of it in your hand and the end hanging free.
- right hand can take left hand edge of melaya and hold it over your face as required. The arm and shoulder can stay inside the wrap, or you can wriggle it out.

Even if it drops off the shoulders, the melaya stays up as long as you keep the armpit bunch in place and keep some tension in it with the left hand.

My teacher doing this (first 11 seconds!): Meleya - YouTube

thank you for this thread !many many years ago, a dancer/teacher tried to explain this...she also refered to it when teaching veil...how liberating to remove baby, food, hair hider/hauler of sorts.
now it all makes sense the history ,how to put it on , somewhat the basic "roman" tie..THANKS!