[elisagamal]

going back to the original post - yeah, it does seem that more people are doing it these days. and the costumes are super easy to find (hello, there are like 30 of them at the bellydance store!).

the reason I do it:

in seattle, I saw it once ten+ years ago when sahra saida was in town with her band. and I was at the 96 raqia tour when she taught it. at the time, I had NO IDEA what this was all about. what is this big black veil thing and what's up with the goofy dress? a couple years ago leila taught a melaya leff workshop here and I became determined to get a routine going - *because I wanted to do something different that nobody else was doing.* I wanted to move into the niche. I've only ever seen one dancer in town do melaya leff (she copied the routine from sahra's video). right now I'm the only one. it's nice to be able to offer that if somebody is looking for a folkloric routine for their show instead of the same-old cane or khaleegy.

and I have to say, melaya leff is hella fun. I love it. you get to wear something different and sassy and use a new prop and get into the character and be all binty fresh. :) when I perform it, I have a little blurb for the announcer or the program that explains why it looks so different from the rest of the show, what with the costuming, music and attitude. I'd never spring melaya leff on the unsuspecting, out of the blue. ;)