Faten Salama's Al-Massraweya Workshop

On Saturday, April 30th, I went with a friend to a workshop hosted by Za-Beth that featured Faten Salama, a wonderful Native Egyptian Master Instructor.

Faten presented her Al-Massraweya Workshop, which not only featured the basics of certain styles but also a historical background to the dances.  I felt like the workshop moved so quickly, and we really could have spent much more time on each of the topics she taught.

We started with Nubian, which is from the southern part of Egypt and Sudan.  She stressed the importance of knowing the history of the dance, especially since Egypt and Sudan were basically the same country hundreds of years ago.  This dance style was quite earthy and is similar to Khaleegy, but it seems more appropriate to perform it with a group since it is folkloric.

We then did a little bit of cane in a more Ghawazee style.  It's actually quite interesting to me that this style has come up for me quite a bit in the past couple of months.  In one of Amira Jamal's classes we focused on cane, Amina Goodyear's class focused on cane, and now Faten taught us more of the basic Awalim style of using the cane.  While most people think about doing tricks with the cane, it's really about mimicking the male posture and pride.  Whereas, with the Saidi style of using the cane is a lot more playful.

After a bit of a lunch break, we returned to learn more about Melaya Leff.  I had realized that I totally had a more appropriate veil, but I just didn't pack it!  Still, practicing some of the moves she taught us with a silk veil helped, though the feel of it would be completely different with a heavier Melaya.  It was fun trying to wrap ourselves in the Melaya and then twirling it in our hands.  Melaya is such a playful dance!  I could definitely learn more about it.

Throughout the workshop, Faten would play various styles of music including pop music and would dance to them while we followed her.  It was an absolute pleasure watching her dance, and I could feel myself feeling absolutely joyful as we danced along with her.  I realized that we probably should have stayed for the show just to watch her dance, but the night ended up going in a completely different direction.

I really feel like each section of the workshop could have lasted much longer.  It was unfortunate that the day went by as quickly as it did.  Also, the space was a bit too small for the large amount of workshop participants.  We had to be careful with our canes and our Melayas, just to make sure we didn't smack someone in the face.  Hopefully, she will come around again and will have an even bigger space.

I'm definitely inspired to learn more about the styles she introduced to us.  And clearly, I need to think about using the cane a lot more, since that's what the belly dance universe seems to be trying to tell me.

Faten Salama Workshop and Participants
 It's a bit blurry..but there were a lot of pictures being taken,
and I didn't want to force it.

Dancing With The Georges Lammam Band at Peña Pachamama

As I was planning to drop in on Amina Goodyear's Thursday night class, she invited me to a Friday night "open mic" to dance with the Georges Lammam Band at Peña Pachamama, a South American restaurant.

Georges Lammam is an extremely talented violinist and singer.  I mean, absolutely amazing.  I would definitely recommend going straight to You Tube to hear some of his music.

What's funny is that while I knew I recognized his name, I didn't realize why or from where I knew him.  But I'm so glad that I didn't realize it until later, because I'm sure that I would have been way too nervous to have actually said yes to this opportunity!

So, on Friday, April 22nd, I went to dinner at Peña Pachamama with two dear friends who had never seen me dance before.  I tried to stay calm, but I could feel the anxiety building.

There were 5 of us dancing that night, and we each had 2 songs to dance to.  I asked to dance to Aziza and Betwanes Beek.  I went second.

When Georges introduced me, he mentioned that I was a guest from Boston, and truth be told, it made me feel super special.  I'm definitely proud that I've had the training and inspiration of the dancers in Boston.

One of my friends tried to take a video, but he was promptly told that videos weren't allowed.  So, I took some screen shots from the video instead of posting the video here.  Not the best quality, but it's something.

I am really very proud of myself for going for it!  When Amira first asked me, I asked one of my fellow belly dance friends what she thought.  Of course she said, "Of course you should do it!"  So, I knew that if I asked anyone else, they would say exactly the same thing.

I kind of thought that perhaps it's a too-good-to-be-true type thing, so perhaps it just wasn't going to happen.  But it happened; my first time really participating in an open-mic event without relying on the safety of my teachers.

I'm really very proud.

Dropping In: Amina Goodyear of San Francisco

Since I was planning on being in San Francisco for 4 days, I figured that I should look for a teacher who might have a class I could take.  I found out through Shira.net about several teachers who seemed to be a good fit, but I decided that I would check out Amina's Performance class.

Amira Jamal's classes have had a focus on performance, so I knew that I could feel comfortable if we had to dance solo.

Since I was still learning my way around San Francisco via Muni, I made sure to plot out my trip to make sure I could get there early enough to introduce myself.  When the bus dropped me off, I couldn't believe how steep the hill was!  I'm not really sure why Google Maps insisted that I got off at that particular stop when there was a stop closer to the bottom of the hill and not too far from where the location was.  But the view was spectacular!

So steep! Cars have to park at a 90 degree angle!

Amina's class is in the basement studio of her house, which was really neat!  Considering how much studio rentals can cost, this was a great space to have.

There were about 5 of us in total, and it seemed like they had all been taking Amina's classes for a while.  I'm so used to the teacher leading the stretching, but Amina and her students seemed to be stretching mainly on their own depending on what their body needed at the time.

Amina then lead us through several run-throughs of several songs.  We would mimic her dancing and try to keep up.  She would redirect us when we weren't doing specific movements correctly, but for the most part we just followed along with her dancing.

I realized that this was somewhat of a middle road between my two main teachers in Boston.  Amira Jamal has us work on movements based on a warm-up drill, but we also do a lot of free dance, which has helped me hone in my improvisational technique.  Najmat goes through several short combinations which we would drill, and she would help us hone in on the specific muscle movements and steps.

Amina was right in the middle.  She was having us follow her movements, but they weren't necessarily choreographed.  It was quite a different experience, but I enjoyed the challenge.

She then showed us a video of ghawazee dancers with canes, pointing out that while they were dancing together they weren't necessarily doing the same exact movements.  A second video showed us two male dancers using larger canes in a tahtib, which is mainly danced by men and simulates martial arts.  The raqs al assaya would be the dance that is mainly done in a dance set.

We were then instructed to each dance with a cane, but not to do any of the tricks associated with it, such as spinning or twirling the cane.  After each person danced, we were giving a critique.  After all 5 of us danced, we danced a second time as a chance to improve based on the critique.

It made for a much longer lesson than I anticipated.  Nonetheless, it was quite a valuable time!

Amina pointed out that I have the tendency to not make enough eye contact with the audience - which is definitely true!  In an effort to connect with everyone, I quickly run through each person as fast as I can.  Instead, I need to learn to linger a bit longer to make the person feel like I'm dancing just for them.  My boyfriend would love for me to look at him a bit longer, so I've heard this critique before.

She also said that I have the tendency to move too quickly.  I need to feel the beat more than be 100% on the beat, if that makes any sense.  I do end up scribbling a bit, especially if I feel nervous or unsure about what's coming next in the music.  But I know I need to slow down a bit in my movements, add some more gooeyness in it (as Najmat would say).

Overall, it was a great lesson.  I enjoyed meeting all these Bay Area dancers and seeing the talent the West Coast has.  Though her style was different from what I expected, Amina has a lot of experience and expertise in the dance.  It was definitely a pleasure to take a lesson with her.