Thread: Experience an Egyptian Zar performance

While in Egypt I attended an Egyptian Zar performance at Club Makan. The club is not at all like a night club here in the US. It's in a very old building and the drinks served were Mint Tea, if you got anything at all. Some of the music was similar to the old Metkal Kenawi recordings. My favorites from the show were the man who played the nay, the singer pictured below, and this man who strapped a belt that had a ton of little metal hanging things around his rear and proceeded to "play" it by shaking his rear end rhythmically-it was amazing the sounds he produced and he shook a different instrument with his hands in a counter rhythm and sang. He's an amazing one man band! ..g.: This is maybe the instrument called a manjour, with many goat hooves instead of metal things??
The show is promoted by the Egyptian Center for Culture and Art and is part of one of their goals to present Egyptian oral and traditional arts that are rarely practiced today to a wide audience. Visit their site here: http://www.egyptmusic.org/index.html
click on musicians and then at the bottom of the list on zar. It will open in a new window and you can read the bio and then check out the videos, in #5 you can see the "rump shaker", #6 looks to me to be in Club Makan and most of the other clips are in a larger place.

wow, thanks for that. I'd heard of the place on the BBCWorld show that was highlighted here, but it's great to hear from someone who's been

They are just great !!!
On NileGroup Festival November 2006 we had a Zar night with this group.
They were great... but nothing near the real zar that experienced at low beduine houses behind the Pyramids... that was... I just cant describe it.
Zar is not a performing dance its a secret living ceremony.

Maria Aya

Originally Posted by MariaAya

... but nothing near the real zar that experienced at low beduine houses behind the Pyramids... that was... I just cant describe it. Zar is not a performing dance its a secret living ceremony.

Maria Aya

Thank you for saying that.
Yasmin