Thread: Dance Tours to Egypt?

I was wondering if anyone could post the various dancers that do dance oriented tours to Cairo. I know Morrocco does one and Artemis has one to Turkey.

Astryd does dance tours in Cairo......

DanceAstryd.com

She is an excellent source for dancer's.....

This coming year, Morocco's tour will include both Egypt and Turkey, with an optional Nile cruise. I'm trying to figure out whether I can work it into my schedule!

Lucy (Scheherezade Imports) organizes a tour that includes shopping, tours, Ahlan Wa Sahlan and optional Nile cruise to Luxor and Aswan. I've heard wonderful things about it.
Scheherezade Imports

I LOVED the Scheherezade Imports tour! Three of us went last summer. I would recommend it without qualification. Glad to provide details if you're interested; the website is Tour Egypt. Lucy Smith, the owner, is great!


I have also taken Morocco's tour and enjoyed it, but it's just not as good as Lucy's, IMHO.

Latifa

Originally Posted by bintbeled

I LOVED the Scheherezade Imports tour! Three of us went last summer. I would recommend it without qualification. Glad to provide details if you're interested; the website is Tour Egypt. Lucy Smith, the owner, is great!


I have also taken Morocco's tour and enjoyed it, but it's just not as good as Lucy's, IMHO.

Latifa

I just checked the site and they don't have the cost listed. Do you remember how much it was when you went. It will probably be a bit more this year.

Wow thanks, please keep the list going! ..g.:

Originally Posted by leenanyc

I just checked the site and they don't have the cost listed. Do you remember how much it was when you went. It will probably be a bit more this year.

We had some additions to the cost -- an optional Nile cruise, plus pyramid view room at the Mena House. It was just over $3000.

Originally Posted by bintbeled

We had some additions to the cost -- an optional Nile cruise, plus pyramid view room at the Mena House. It was just over $3000.

Wow, that seems very reasonable!

If you want something of shorter duration, not focused on a dance festival . . . try Kay Taylor's tours.

Individually tailored holidays of a lifestyle

Other bhuzzers have been on these and enjoy them. I recently decided that I would spend part of my next stay in Cairo with Kay's group, then go on to do some other things . . . right before the Nile Group Festival, lol, so of course I am going over there to take some classes. She told me that she has a couple of open spots in the April trip?!

Originally Posted by mihnea

I was wondering if anyone could post the various dancers that do dance oriented tours to Cairo. I know Morrocco does one and Artemis has one to Turkey.

Leyla Amir is doing a "Dancer's Dream Tour" in April. It also includes a Nile cruise and a master class with Leyla and one with Tito.

Leyla Amir
Egypt National Tours

..g.:

Originally Posted by Samira_dncr

Leyla Amir is doing a "Dancer's Dream Tour" in April. It also includes a Nile cruise and a master class with Leyla and one with Tito.

Leyla Amir
Egypt National Tours

..g.:

And we have decided to go....right Samira???,r:;

A friend and I are taking a tour through Hannan's studio. We're going in March:

Hannan's Bellydance Studio

It sounded to us like a good balance between seeing the sights and having some classes. Our husbands are going along too!

I second cbarros's recommendation for Kay Taylor's tours. I went on one last February and it was fantastic. You didn't really stop to breath/sleep for a week but it was amazing. Just to give you an idea...in that week I:

- saw performances by Doaa, Asmahan, Randa, Lucy and Dina
- visited a 'seedy' Cairo nightclub
- went to a party hosted by Yasmina (of Cairo) with live music from Feret el Negoum (I *know* I've spelt that wrong, sorry!)
- had semi-private lessons with Randa and Raqia
- visited costumiers: Madame Hekmet, Hanan, Eman and Raqia
- Other things that I can't remember!!!!!

Some of these were included in the package price, others were optional extras, but the extras were *so* worth it. Those were the highlights for me...there were also shopping trips to Yasser's and Mahmoud's and also guided tours of Pyramids and Old Cairo.

The tour I went on is called 'Discovering Cairo'. She runs another called 'Rakassah' for people who want to go more to focus on tuition with particular dancers. Kay is brilliant at accommodating everyone's needs, and is often organising extra stuff on the fly the whole time you're there.

Originally Posted by TanyaLV

And we have decided to go....right Samira???,r:;

LOL...yeah. Definitely working on that. teee heeee...

..g.:

Originally Posted by bintbeled

We had some additions to the cost -- an optional Nile cruise, plus pyramid view room at the Mena House. It was just over $3000.

Her preliminary prices are just a little above that this year. Considering prices have gone up so much it's really reasonable. Lucy Smith is VERY kind and helpful and she has a lot of experience with these tours. The people who I've spoken with who have gone with her ALL rave about it. She's got a lot of extras and goes the extra mile to make sure her people have a positive experience.

Originally Posted by SamiraShuruk

Her preliminary prices are just a little above that this year. Considering prices have gone up so much it's really reasonable. Lucy Smith is VERY kind and helpful and she has a lot of experience with these tours. The people who I've spoken with who have gone with her ALL rave about it. She's got a lot of extras and goes the extra mile to make sure her people have a positive experience.

I couldn't agree more. Last year she had one tour coordinator for every 9 people, *plus* some "mentors" who had traveled with her before. So, if someone had a costume fitting, there was someone to go with her. Or, if someone wanted to go shoe shopping for the third time ..l;, there would be someone to go with her, and maybe go out afterwards. It's very personalized, with as much hand-holding as you want. Since my hubby and I are pretty comfortable in Egypt, we didn't need the hand-holding, but it was nice to have someone else handle arrangements and take care of headaches.

thanks guys. i'm trying to go again this year. i really didn't enjoy ahlan wa sahlan that much. i wanted to go with Rocky again but I don't necessarily want to do the festival and I don't want to stay for 2 weeks. I need to find a trip that's a week thats tailored to what my group and i want to do. mostly see touristy stuff, see famous dancers perform, take some private lessons, visit costumers, and see luxor and aswan for a day or two. does kay do something like that or is it more of a big group and having to do extra stuff they all want to do?

Originally Posted by rakgirl

thanks guys. i'm trying to go again this year. i really didn't enjoy ahlan wa sahlan that much. i wanted to go with Rocky again but I don't necessarily want to do the festival and I don't want to stay for 2 weeks. I need to find a trip that's a week thats tailored to what my group and i want to do. mostly see touristy stuff, see famous dancers perform, take some private lessons, visit costumers, and see luxor and aswan for a day or two. does kay do something like that or is it more of a big group and having to do extra stuff they all want to do?

Well, you can see deeleybopper's details about the trip above. That follows along fairly well with the itinerary that Kay sent me for April . . . a mix of touristy stuff (pyramids trips is optional so if you have been before you can plan something else for the day), shopping in Khan al Khallili, visiting costumers, see some dancers perform (one is a Nile cruise, one the "seedy" nightclub, with options to do more), with some free time to do other things if you want . . . if is a fast and furious week from what I can tell. Kay can setup more private lessons if you want to do more studying than touristing.

You handle your own flight arrangements and what is covered by the package costs are detailed in the itinerary. And they are always small groups! You stay 6 nights at a small 3 star hotel in downtown Cairo (I've stayed there before and it is not too bad and you can walk lots of places from the hotel). I think the one that I signed up for is 12 ppl??? It is one of the customized trips that she is doing for groups this year and not the regular offering (I think the group chose their itinerary based on what Kay normally does) . . . but she said to ask about going with one of those groups and I did.

She doesn't include Luxor/Aswan, but I am sure that if you wanted to go . . . she can point you to the right ppl in getting that added on at the end or beginning but you'd probably be on your own if you don't bring your own travel companion. For the April trip, I am thinking of going to Alexandria for a couple of days after the group leaves.

You can always contact Kay and discuss options . . . maybe you can get your own customized group trip setup. ..g.:

thanks i'll check into it.

Originally Posted by Samira_dncr

LOL...yeah. Definitely working on that. teee heeee...

..g.:

I can fit in your suitcase!!!! Take me with you!!!!..cr.: ..cr.: ..cr.: ..cr.:

Originally Posted by rakgirl

thanks i'll check into it.

I highly recommend you contact Astryd also. She will work with you to give you exactly what you want...I went on her tour last April, it was fabulous and we got so many extras. We shopped the Khan el Khalili--including Yasser's and Mahmoud's shops, visited Eman and Amira--didn't go to Raqia's because she was out of town, visited the touristy stuff, Nile Cruise show, saw Saroya, Asmahan, Randa, and Dina, the tanoura show, the zar show, ate at some great Egyptian restaurants in Zamalek and one in Giza, took private and semi-private lessons with Mona, Randa, Liza Laziza, Diana Tarkhan, Shalaby, and Mahmoud Reda, shopped downtown Cairo...Astryd worked really hard to make the trip perfect for everyone -- so you've only to tell her what you want and she'll let you know if its possible! ..g.:

sounds good

Egypt National Tours, LLC has been doing dancers tours since 1984. They offer tour sponsorship for those who want to "lead" their own group. Their office is in Cairo with a U.S. base in Las Vegas. They have a pyramid too!
Their tours are highly personal and affordably priced! This year April 1-10, 2008
Leyla is sponsoring a tour with a Master class with Tito Seif and Leyla Amir plus a lot of dancer goodies and all the traditional sightseeing so you can bring a friend or loved one Details: Leyla Amir, Las Vegas, Egypt tours, dancer, performer

Hi there...I will chime in with some info about what I offer :-) My tours are intended to be very tailored to meet your needs and to give you not only tons of dance instruction (you tell me who you want to study with!) and dance shows, shopping, etc, but to give you a true sense of Cairo and what it's like to live there (stay in my neighborhood just down the street from my house! :-)) I bring only a handful of people at a time, so the groups are small and personal...I'm listing a little info below, this is from my website on the "Tours" page: Astryd Farah deMichele ~ International Middle Eastern Dance Artist. Please email me if you are interested...I have a few more spots available for this spring! astryd@danceastryd.com ~ All the Best ~ Astryd Farah

...Testimonial from a past participant...
"Astryd's Cairo dance tour was an amazing experience! It was great having a guide that has lived there for over nine years, has personal relations with the master teachers and top dancer's and speaks the language. I felt very fortunate to have her knowledge and experience to guide me through my first "dance tour" of Egypt! She catered to my needs and made my experience truly fulfilling! I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a guide that is familiar with every aspect of the Cairo dance scene; setting up master classes, seeing the best shows by top dancers and making appointments for the best costume designers in Egypt. The tour exceeded my highest expectations...Thank you Astryd!" ~ Kajmir, Ashland, Oregon USA

Astryd's Personalized Cairo Tour for Dancers & Musicians includes:
• 10 nights hotel accommodation, sharing a clean & comfortable 4 star double room
• All breakfasts, welcome dinner plus all dance show dinners (see below).
• Airport transfers and all transport within Cairo for tour itinerary.
• 10 – 15 hours of dance classes per individual; this includes group classes, semi-privates and/or privates. (Option for more!).
• SEE The hottest shows in Cairo featuring stars currently on the stage; dinners included. (Option to see "non-famous" dancers too!).
• Bellydance show on a Nile Cruise Boat, dinner included.
• Tanoura/Whirling Dervish show & Music concert(s): traditional and/or other
• Sightseeing: The Great Pyramids, The Shpinx, Egyptian Antiquities Museum, Mohammed Ali Mosque, Salah el Din Citadel and Coptic Cairo. Option for other daytrips by request including Sakkara, Memphis, Alexandria and other destinations.
• We will go to Cairo's HOTTEST costume designers to order yours CUSTOM - made to fit your body like a glove!
• Shopping in Cairo's famous Khan el Khalili - the world's largest outdoor bazaar.
• We'll visit the famous Mohammed Ali Street for musical instruments.
Extensions available for:
• Nile Cruise Tour in Southern Egypt (Aswan to Luxor)
...and more!

I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Astryd last month in a few semi-private workshops. She is a great instructor and a bonafide good human. I was so impressed with her that I have plans to travel to Cairo with her this spring. We need a few more participants to make the April tour happen. Any takers?

Originally Posted by mihnea

I was wondering if anyone could post the various dancers that do dance oriented tours to Cairo. I know Morrocco does one and Artemis has one to Turkey.

You can contact these Sydney based dancers

Amera Eid ( Egyptian, worked in the middle east for 10 years )
Amera's Palace

Terezka Drznik ( Kasehi Chai's teacher )
Tours & Retreats

Originally Posted by floreatmanon

I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Astryd last month in a few semi-private workshops. She is a great instructor and a bonafide good human. I was so impressed with her that I have plans to travel to Cairo with her this spring. We need a few more participants to make the April tour happen. Any takers?

I looked at Astryd's April trip too . . . but it is going later than I wanted to go and I was trying to be in Cairo for the Nile Group Festival too!! LOL, now I am going even earlier because I had to come back for Fifi in Dallas!! So I am tagging along with Kay's group . . . and still trying to figure out how to get on one of those Luxor-Aswan cruises . . . probably I can't get that worked out anyway, but I think I'll check with a travel agent once I am there.

Originally Posted by cbarros

I looked at Astryd's April trip too . . . but it is going later than I wanted to go and I was trying to be in Cairo for the Nile Group Festival too!! LOL, now I am going even earlier because I had to come back for Fifi in Dallas!! So I am tagging along with Kay's group . . . and still trying to figure out how to get on one of those Luxor-Aswan cruises . . . probably I can't get that worked out anyway, but I think I'll check with a travel agent once I am there.

Leyla may chip in here...but she has a tour office in Cairo and they do the cruises all the time. You could probably join a group with her company. Their website is Egypt National Tours

Thanks Samira..Yes.. Egypt National Tours has an office in Cairo and we do the tours year round for dancers, traditional, religious. We also offer "tour sponsorship" if you want to lead your own group, and styleize it to fit your needs. The Dancers Dream Tour April 1-10,2008 includes the Nile Cruise in it's price. Check it out
Leyla Amir, Las Vegas, Egypt tours, dancer, performer
Egypt National Tours