Thread: Baladi Progression?

This is a term that I have heard a few times here on Bhuz and when I asked my teacher about it she had no idea what I was talking about. (She has over 10 yrs so it isn't from lack of knowledge) Can anyone explain to me what is meant by this phrase? I know baladi is a dance style and a rhythm but progression?

Baladi progression is also sometimes called baladi taksim, taksim baladi, ashra baladi or tet baladi. It is a specific type of music that usually goes from a taksim, into a call/response, and into what we call a baladi or similar rhythm. It's considered very Egyptian.

Here are a few links:
"Baladi" by Hossam Ramzy
Belly Dance Stuff: Styles -- Egyptian Baladi
Things for the Belly Dancer to know about Middle Eastern Music by Shems

I think there was a pretty extensive thread here on bhuz about it not that long ago. You might try searching here as well :-)

Attempt at short answer: Its an improvisational music form from Egyptian folkloric traditions featuring improvised solos form one instrument or a series of solos by several instruments. The piece generally starts with no percussion and the percussion joins melody instrument gradually. Energy in the music builds gradually to a climax and may end in a drum solo. There are cliche patterns in the music like the tet, and call and response, so each baladi progression, though improvised, can be recognized as a baladi progression.

So for example Souher Zaki Fi Balady from The Masters of Bellydance Music CD? I think I got it. Thank you ladies!

Originally Posted by NazirahDances

I think there was a pretty extensive thread here on bhuz about it not that long ago. You might try searching here as well :-)

I will try again. My search skills are like that of a six yr old. Although come to think of it, my 5 yr old niece can google search better than me!

Here's a clip of me doing a beledi progression.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VfwqD8Ez6U]YouTube - Norma, Detroit Belly Dancer, Live 11-7-98 Part 5[/ame]

If you're interested in learning more about Baladi Progression check out Ranya Renee's Baladi DVD. It is packed full of information, highly recommend it! :-)

can someone explain to me what the tet pattern is?

[QUOTE=mahsati;623791]Baladi progression is also sometimes called baladi taksim, taksim baladi, ashra baladi or tet baladi. It is a specific type of music that usually goes from a taksim, into a call/response, and into what we call a baladi or similar rhythm. It's considered very Egyptian.

Here are a few links:
"Baladi" by Hossam Ramzy


I just read the whole article, it's wonderful, a great way to explain baladi, but I will never be able to look at a ferret again without remembering this passage, lol:

were in El Hossein and we were walking behind this Baladi woman, she must have been about 28 years old we were about 16 or 17, she was dressed in a long galabeya that was loose but when the melaya was wrapped you could see that magnificent "COCACOLA" shape of her body. There was a certain part of her back side that moved independently like two ferrets fighting in a sack, so rhythmically Tareq and I started singing the maqsoum to her walk:

Dom tak Trrrrak Dom Retitak...

........... two ferrets fighting in a sack, lol ........

Originally Posted by sacrosanct

can someone explain to me what the tet pattern is?

I can recognize it but I don't know if I can describe it in words. It involves accented notes on counts 2 and 4. Like this:

one TWO three FOUR

Originally Posted by Linnyg

This is a term that I have heard a few times here on Bhuz and when I asked my teacher about it she had no idea what I was talking about. (She has over 10 yrs so it isn't from lack of knowledge)

Don't feel bad about it. I know a native who had danced most of her life without having heard the term until Western students asked her about it. She just calls it "accordion ta'asim" (or whatever instrument is taking the lead). Native dancers don't make much of a fuss about naming the dance moves, so it's not surprising that they don't spend a lot of time labeling the music at that level, either.

I know baladi is a dance style and a rhythm but progression?

The "progression" comes from the build up of instrumentation. It starts with a slower-tempo taqsim, one instrument at a time, and builds to an up-tempo, full-band arrangement. Many of the popular ones are accordion based. Hassan Abou El Seoud was a master of the style.

Originally Posted by naiyahayal

........... two ferrets fighting in a sack, lol ........

I can state for a fact that two ferrets fighting in a sack have absolutely no rhythmic quality whatsoever. They are far more Ornette Coleman than baladi! ..l;,

Originally Posted by calianaamar

If you're interested in learning more about Baladi Progression check out Ranya Renee's Baladi DVD. It is packed full of information, highly recommend it! :-)

Totally agree! This video helped me out in more ways than one - in fact, I still get something new out of it EVERY TIME I watch it! This video will remain part of my permanent collection of belly dance DVDs. Not giving this puppy up! ..l;,

Originally Posted by norma

Here's a clip of me doing a beledi progression.

YouTube - Norma, Detroit Belly Dancer, Live 11-7-98 Part 5

Originally Posted by calianaamar

If you're interested in learning more about Baladi Progression check out Ranya Renee's Baladi DVD. It is packed full of information, highly recommend it! :-)

I just got this a week ago and haven't had time to watch it yet.

So out comes the ONE AND ONLY DANCE STEP THAT IS TRUE AND TRADITIONAL AND KNOWN TO ALL EGYPTIAN WOMEN , THE HIP SWERVES.

Hip Swerves?

Hip drops, the kind of twisty folkloric kind. That's always been my interpretation, anyway.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Hip drops, the kind of twisty folkloric kind. That's always been my interpretation, anyway.

Yes, that's what I understand a "Hip Swerve" is as well....my teacher calls the pull back/drop a "swerve" and the push fwd-drop a "curve"....

I think I know that one. I think.

Originally Posted by Linnyg

This is a term that I have heard a few times here on Bhuz and when I asked my teacher about it she had no idea what I was talking about. (She has over 10 yrs so it isn't from lack of knowledge) Can anyone explain to me what is meant by this phrase? I know baladi is a dance style and a rhythm but progression?

Baladi Progression is referring mainly to the theatrical presentation of "Baladi style" dance that country folk living in the city do in their homes and at functions. There are normally 10 stages, hence the name Ashra Baladi ( Ashra is Arabic for 10 ). So the "progression" is referring to progressing through the 10 steps of Ashra Baladi.

It was basically like a 10 part smorgasbord showing the different aspects of Baladi that Mamoud Reda came up with. Ordinary folk don't necessarily follow those steps rigidly, they just dance to the style of music as part of a social activity.

Here's a clip of the lovely Suheir Zaki. You can watch the first part of her show on my channel,

youtube.com/NormaDancer2

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogZdAdB3NpA]YouTube - Suheir Zaki, Ya Amarti Show, Part 2, Beledi Progression[/ame]

Thank you for sharing Norma! I love Suheir!

Originally Posted by calianaamar

Thank you for sharing Norma! I love Suheir!

Me too. One of my main influences.

Originally Posted by norma

Here's a clip of the lovely Suheir Zaki. You can watch the first part of her show on my channel,

youtube.com/NormaDancer2

YouTube - Suheir Zaki, Ya Amarti Show, Part 2, Beledi Progression

I have this in my favorites!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Hip drops, the kind of twisty folkloric kind. That's always been my interpretation, anyway.

Ooooh. I was thinking jewels.

By twisty hip drops, do you mean what's going on from 1:43-1:49 here--sort of a percussive backwards hip twist while leaning back?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53qYEaPXTvQ]YouTube - Lebanese Belly Dancing - Jihan Al Masri[/ame]

Originally Posted by HubicRuzz

Baladi Progression is referring mainly to the theatrical presentation of "Baladi style" dance that country folk living in the city do in their homes and at functions. There are normally 10 stages, hence the name Ashra Baladi ( Ashra is Arabic for 10 ). So the "progression" is referring to progressing through the 10 steps of Ashra Baladi.

It was basically like a 10 part smorgasbord showing the different aspects of Baladi that Mamoud Reda came up with. Ordinary folk don't necessarily follow those steps rigidly, they just dance to the style of music as part of a social activity.

As I understood it from my musician friends, "ashrah" in this case is musician slang meaning "about 10 minutes". So that if, say, at a street wedding, one of the guests at the wedding wanted to dance some baladi, the musicians would communicate to each other, "Let's play 'ashrah beledi' for the guest."

With respect, I would doubt there is any connection to Mahmoud Reda on this one.... A lot of times there is more than one explanation for the origins of slang though, that is true.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Hip drops, the kind of twisty folkloric kind. That's always been my interpretation, anyway.

This confused me for a long time too, what exactly Hossam Ramzy was referring to, as i always thought of the term "swerve" being more of a figure-eight type move. It was a dancer from the UK that told me basically that same thing about the big twisty hipdrops though... Even in English we have these different vocabularies!!!

Reda and baladi are sort of diametrically opposed, so I'd be very VERY surprised if he had anything to do with the creation of the baladi progression...

Originally Posted by ranyarenee

As I understood it from my musician friends, "ashrah" in this case is musician slang meaning "about 10 minutes". So that if, say, at a street wedding, one of the guests at the wedding wanted to dance some baladi, the musicians would communicate to each other, "Let's play 'ashrah beledi' for the guest."

With respect, I would doubt there is any connection to Mahmoud Reda on this one.... A lot of times there is more than one explanation for the origins of slang though, that is true.

I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle.

It's like asking where did belly dance originate from. You'll get 10 different answers from 10 different experts. I think that is the frustrating think about Arab culture. Some of this was never documented in written form, it was just passed on aurally down the line.