Thread: That Egyptian Feeling - blog by Luna of Cairo

Very interesting and thought-provoking article about that "Egyptian feeling" in dance. I've never been an Egyptian purist myself, though I am fascinated with Egyptian dance. There's a lot of good stuff here, but the thing I'm curious about is the "sloppy and sluggy" characterization that she and others in the comments are talking about. Hmmm, I can't really put my finger on that one.

But there's lots here to stimulate discussion. Discuss away! I hope people who are more knowledgeable about Egyptian dance will contribute their insights.

Kisses from Kairo*: Feelings About Feeling

I often think that Egyptian stylization is far more languid and less rushed/pushed than other stylizations. I am not sure if that is what they mean by sluggy, but that languid, relaxed feel is one of the things I look for in Egyptian style. Not early, not directly on center time, and not quite actually late to the beat, but more like dancing on the 't' of 'beat' instead of the 'b'. :)

I think sloppy and sluggy is what I have referred to as "raw".

I agree with the point that the overemphasis on aggressive, mechanical technique interferes with creating authentic Egyptian feeling, and it's something foreigners are very prone to do (especially considering the way classes have evolved), but how did this article escape mentioning the person most likely to inspire students to supersize their dancing to the point of fail? Foreign dancers who "know better" (the ones sincerely trying to understand Egyptian style, as opposed to dancers who don't know, don't particularly care, are just doing their own thing and calling it "Egyptian") have been slavishly following Dina for a long time. Outside of Egypt, Dina has basically defined contemporary Egyptian dance, she of hammy singing along, mugging expressions, overly dramatic hip circles, and staggering walks. She's Dina being Dina, and it works for her, because in the language of Spinal Tap, her knob goes to 11. Doing what she does doesn't automatically work for someone else, particularly if they can't tell when she's dialing it up to the max for artistic effect, and they think that's the middle of the possible range. I can't remember the last time I saw a student claiming to do Egyptian dance who wasn't drawing from Dina's style. In practice (on the other side of the world), copying what Dina does has effectively become how you prove you're doing Egyptian style.

I don't know, maybe Luna doesn't hate Dina?

I'm not hating on Dina, and I could imagine there are political reasons why a dancer working in Cairo would be hesitant to write about her by name. Dina has been the dominant dancer in Egypt for longer than the average student has been taking lessons, and she's where a lot of these ideas about "Egyptian style" are originating. Unfortunately, Dina doesn't have much control over foreign students who latch onto her style in a naive "If a little is good, then more must be better" way, especially when so many of the foreign teachers propagating her influence have not had much opportunity to study from her in person.

Thank you for sharing!Interesting thoughts:-)


I agree fully with her observation on using modern pop songs that´s not made for dance:
"Over the past few years, there’s been an increasing tendency amongst influential Egyptian teachers to act out entire songs. This is happening because they select newer pop songs that are instrumentally and compositionally inferior to the older classics, and that shouldn’t be danced to! Because these songs have absolutely no musical complexity, no rhythm changes, and no stringed instrumentation, the only thing you can do is act out the lyrics by playing charades."

Amen.

However,up here in Scandinavia(northern Europe)contests are still quite uncommon...

She must be thinking of southern and eastern Europe/former Soviet countries when she mentions "but particularly so in Europe, where the belly dance culture is extremely competitive. On any given weekend, you can find competitions happening all across the continent. This results in dancers striving to outshine each other any way they can"

Dancers around EU:is contesting common in your country?

For me, 'sloppy' is about not always having the need for perfection/exactness.

I agree with alot of what Luna says in this article.

I would also like add a few of my own observations and experiences as to why I believe some of these things may happen.

I was talking to an Arab singer who was having a moan about the general standard of the dancers he had worked with in London. He was complaining that they didnt respond to the music correctly etc. etc. At first I was nodding in polite agreement thinking that perhaps he had worked with inexperienced dancers, and then I started thinking about what it was like for me about to go on stage and dance not knowing what I was going to get because 'one night bands' very rarely stick to an agreement.
I said to him, look, you have no idea how hard it is dancing to 'live' music', it's not that dancers dont know the song, but sometimes they barely recognise the way they are played. We do not have our own bands to work with and we are totally at the mercy of muscians.. I have tried plenty of times to gain feeling to something which is being 'rehearsed' as I perform and it's flaming connect with an out of tune singer!

Sometimes we have to make a silk purse out of sows's ear (as my grandmother would say)

Decent music is not always available to dancers, so they do have to listen to new music coming out.
I know dancers in Egypt have brought out some decent Cd's but they are very over used.

The other thing about dancing 'live' is that there are moments of standing still, pauses, relaxed moments, walking around and audience interaction. Recorded music does not allow these moments so the performance takes on a different and almost continuous/relentless air.

Dancers in Egypt are always in the driving seat but elsewhere, we are sat at the back of the bus on a bumpy road.

It's very difficult to balance the feeling of a CD as your environment is usually the dictator.

It is a complex situation to balance.. I believe it does often involve alot of acting too. I once had a discussion with a fellow dancer whom I really respect, it was about not acting and authenticity of feeling when we dance. I argued that much of the time it is not possible when you are flying by the seat of your pants trying to follow where the band is going whilst wanting to strangle to tabla player who is not paying any attention to you at all. If I was to be authentic in this situation, I would be the one throwing myself to the floor and pounding it with my face looking like I was chewing a wasp.

Originally Posted by emma-bessa

However,up here in Scandinavia(northern Europe)contests are still quite uncommon...

She must be thinking of southern and eastern Europe/former Soviet countries when she mentions "but particularly so in Europe, where the belly dance culture is extremely competitive. On any given weekend, you can find competitions happening all across the continent. This results in dancers striving to outshine each other any way they can"

Dancers around EU:is contesting common in your country?

In the UK competitions are relatively new, but there seem to be more and more of them springing up. British dancers don't generally seem all that competition-focused, those I know who have competed have done it as a personal challenge or for the judges feedback rather than seeing bellydance as some kind of competitive sport in which to 'outshine' others. OTOH, for the competitions that aren't limited to local UK dancers, very competitive dancers seem to be travelling all the way here from Eastern Europe and elsewhere in search of more prizes and glory...

Originally Posted by Roshanna

British dancers don't generally seem all that competition-focused, those I know who have competed have done it as a personal challenge or for the judges feedback rather than seeing bellydance as some kind of competitive sport in which to 'outshine' others.

Neither do scandinavians in general,most dancers here sees competing in art as a strange concept.
However I enjoy to view contests in foreign festivals,and our students who have entered has shown me their score sheets with comments-great to get detailed feedback:-)

Originally Posted by emma-bessa

However,up here in Scandinavia(northern Europe)contests are still quite uncommon...

She must be thinking of southern and eastern Europe/former Soviet countries when she mentions "but particularly so in Europe, where the belly dance culture is extremely competitive. On any given weekend, you can find competitions happening all across the continent. This results in dancers striving to outshine each other any way they can"

Dancers around EU:is contesting common in your country?

I think she was talking about Eastern Europe.