Thread: The perfect set list for an Arab audience?

What would be the perfect set list (20 minutes or so), in your opinion, for an Arab audience? What would you absolutely steer clear of?

Thanks! I'm dancing for an all-Arab audience special event in a month and I'm compiling a list of songs I may use. Just curious what others would use. Here's what I have as "possibilities" so far:

Aziza
Zeina
Dina (ok, I don't know what the name of this song actually is, but it's a classical oriental)
Lawn Oyounak (Nancy Ajram)
2 drum solos, don't know what the names are
Ma'ak Bartaah (Amr Diab)
Shik Shak Shok (you can groan now if you'd like ;-) )
Shaabi--dont' know the name but I do know it's "safe" for all audiences ;-)

Every crowd is different, even a crowd of Arabs, so the perfect set list for Iraqis will be different than the perfect one for Moroccans, and so on.

I think the most important thing is to find Arabic music that you connect personally to so you can put on a show that comes straight from your heart.

That being said, there are some artists who seem to maintain some pretty lasting popularity. Abdel Halim Hafez seems to have held up better than most, and every Arab crowd will know the words to Zay el Hawa or Sawah.

When I put together a set I strangely find myself reciting that old wedding saying "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue". Then I try to pick out, something old, like a Hafez classic, these will go over well with any older people in the crowd. Something new, like a current dance party hit from whatever country I expect to be most represented, if I don't know then probably Egyptian or Lebanese, goes over well with the young folks. Something borrowed, something that worked out well in a past set for me, or that I saw another dancer use that I think went over really well. Something Blue, something to change the pace of the night, so it isn't all peppy party, this could be anything from a baladi to a sad love song.

And there you go, a formula to a potentially great set.

This. Is. Fabulous! Thank you Shems!!

Echoing what Shems said -
A) find out where most of them are from
Dancing for Persians? Iraqi? Egyptians? Moroccan's? You get the picture

B) you can never go wrong with Abdel Halim Hafez (the AHH Cocktail on Millennium is alway a crowd pleaser)

Have a great show!!!

Thanks everyone. It's not easy to say which country will be most represented. It's an "Arab-American" group, so there will be very many cultures present. We seem to have a pretty large Palestinian population, so I would say a good proportion will be Palestinian, with most of the rest Egyptian or Syrian.

Like I said, it's hard to say. I know (by acquaintance) probably 2/3 of the Arabic families who live here--there aren't a lot--but I don't know from which country they all come. I usually end up finding out by accident when I say something stupid

I don't know why I'm worried. Every.single.one.of.them. has seen me dance at least a half dozen times. And I've danced for this same group before. I just don't want to pull out the same music I used before--I'm trying to find something different!!!

First, I think your setlist looks just fine.

But the thread title gave me some thoughts, so I'll go ahead and ponder them aloud here if you don't mind.

I think it's wise to consider a parallel question: how would you build a perfect set list of English-lyric songs for an English-speaking audience?

Region is part of it, but not the biggest part. Age/generation might be the biggest factor, followed by the purpose and style of the gathering. I wouldn't bring Sinatra for teenagers, or 9 inch nails for seniors. I wouldn't play Bach at a nightclub, and I wouldn't play acid rock at a wedding.

Usually the first question I ask is how many guests are expected, followed by who are the guests expected to be? (Usually knowing the event/venue will answer this question, but sometimes I have to prod a little) Is this a business event? Will there be families/children? Mostly older folks? Or young people? Will I be doing a staged presentation, or dancing in/among the crowd?

Then I tailor my set to the group and the situation.

Good points, Lauren. This audience will range in age from toddler through great-grandpa. It's a country club setting. It's their big annual (or maybe semi-annual) gala. I've performed for them before, and they are always very gracious.

In my experience, they will lean toward the traditional, with a desire for one, maybe two pop or shaabi (clean, of course) songs toward the end that they can get up and dance to with me.

I will be doing 2 20-minute sets. The first set will be during dinner while they are eating, and I imagine I will pack it pretty full of classics plus a drum solo. I'm now thinking Aziza, drum solo, Nebtidi (Fadl Shaker version), pop/shaabi ( I have a version of HElwa Ya Elissar that is cut with a saidi section for cane, I will probably use it).

The second I'm now thinking i'll use Soumboula Hanom (off Virginia's Al Ahram Orchestra cd) as intro, followed by fire (they requested fire, not sure what music I will use. usually I do a slow fire intro then end with a drum solo balancing the tray), then a couple of upbeat pop songs (or maybe shik shak shok and a pop song) for folks to get up and dance with me--- I know shik shak shok is very overplayed/overdanced, but I do know that most of the women that will be there adore it, so heck, I guess why not. It's the other audience partic. I'm struggling with. I have several I love, but they are ALL overplayed as far as I'm concerned after restaurant dancing for 6 years, so that's where I'm stuck. Nancy Ajram and Amr Diab are my personal favorites, but again, I can't think of a single song of theirs I haven't heard a billion times...but then again, I still like Michael Jackson and who hasn't heard "Billie Jean" a billion times?

Oh, I LOVE Soumboula Hanom! I don't dance to it myself, but there's a local dancer who uses it all the time for her restaurant shows and I could watch her dance to it all day.

Shik Shak Shok is overplayed among the bellydancer crowd. My guess is that the average Arab is only dimly aware of it. I doubt it's getting much radio play, at any rate!

Your sets sound awesome.. now I wish I were going to this party to watch you.

It definitely can depend on what type of event it is. A formal nightclub setting will give you more flexiblity than say, a wedding. And of course, if you know the ethnic background you could throw in a song for that. Example, if it was Lebanese, you'd want to throw in a debke for cane. Saudi -you'd want to throw in some khaleegi.

But for parties, I like to keep it upbeat. There are so many songs it's hard to pick!

A couple examples:
Nightclub
An oriental opening such as Aziza, Sahara City, Sit El Hassan
Lessa Fakir
El Leila Helwa
Baladi taxsim
Drum Solo, finale

Party
El Saber -Faad el Saadi
Sawah
Ay Ayn Mouliteyen (Fares Karem version is my favorite if you like vocals)
Drum solo, finale

Originally Posted by Sonja2

Like I said, it's hard to say. I know (by acquaintance) probably 2/3 of the Arabic families who live here--there aren't a lot--but I don't know from which country they all come.

ASK them!(do it)