Another slow day...getting sick? (10.30.07)

I am writing this on Monday, November 5, and the photos were taken last Tuesday, October 30. Thus, I actually have very little recollection of what I did this day. The photos are of the drive to Heliopolis with Mohamed Shahin for one of my dance classes and of the atalier that we went to afterwards so that I could look at costumes.

PHOTOS ONLY - Sightseeing in the markets (and Randa Kamel again) (10.29.07)

Worn out (but still dancing) (10.28.07)

Shar Hashamaim Synagogue next door to hostel Saying goodbye to all Zizo's merchandise
Soraya
Sylvana & Moustapha at Soraya show
Soraya in action

I guess I am getting the hang of this Cairo time thing, since I didn't get up until 11 am for my free breakfast at the hostel. I had class with Mohamed in the afternoon, and after my poor showing in the studio on Friday night I knew I had better get some practice in. I floated from room to hall to room in the hostel, trying to find a good place to practice this rather large-floor-space dance, and ended up sharing a large foyer space with Zizo as he was packing up the merchandise to send to his wholesalers. I have to admit that at first I was nervouse about anyone being around who might be able to watch me, especially an Egyptian. Things go better when I realized that he had better things to do than to watch me stumble around pretending to be a dancer. Things got even more relaxed when I started digging through his box of goodies as it was being packed for shipmnet. I would use a chiffon skirt for one song, a velvet skirt for the next one, and back to a double layer chiffon & sequin skirt for the next one. I was at it for an hour and a half (for only 2 minutes of choreography), and managed to work myself into a lather despit all of my costume changes and a break to chat with a Canadian dancer that came through the hostel.

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I finished my "rehearsal" at 2:45 but then was picked up at 3:30 by Mohamed for our two hour session in the afternoon. We managed to finish the choreography to his edited version of "Raks Bedeya" and I am very excited about it. There are a few dubious transitions for me, but the finale is awesome and I now need a place to perform it! We are going to start on Tuesday with Saidi / cane dancing and I am going to start hunting for a good costume at the end of the week.

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By the time I got back to the hostel at 5:45, I was completely spent. That finale was very energetic and I felt like I was back in one of Yousry Sharif's NYC workshops with the spinning and arabesques and sweat. Knowing I had yet another show to go see in the evening, I tried to nap before dinner with no luck. The staff at Let Me Inn made dinner for everyone in the hostel (this place is so nice to us! The floors are a little disgusting, prompting me to tell them that I would buy them a vacuum cleaner, but it has been a great decision to stay here.)

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After dinner I tried again (unsuccessfully) to nap, and ended up getting ready and heading out to the Cairo Sheraton around midnight for the show with Soraya. I met Moustapha, the Abu Dhabi based banker that I had crossed paths with the day before while trying to purchase the tickets in the Sheraton. I don't know what it is about "I am going to a show, you are going to show...why not go to the show and sit together," that gets translated as, "I am now signing up to be your young American girlfriend," but there were a few awkward moments in an otherwise pleasant evening. The opening band was less than inspirational, but not bad. Soraya came on stage with her 20-piece band at around 2 and she was indeed TINY! I had seen her costumes as works-in-progress at Raqia Hassan's atalier on Thursday, and it was very interesting to see them on her. According to Raqia, "Soraya only likes glue...no sewing like the Americans."

I was completely shocked when Soraya came out in 3-inch silver heels to dance, and danced in them the whole time. Her style (in my eyes) is a lot more active than Randa's. She acts out many of the lyrics in the music and seemed to shimmy or somehow wiggle almost the entire time. Of course the music was amazing, and we closed out the show at 4:00 am.

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I had cup of tea and some chocolates with Moustapha afterwards and then headed home in a taxi against Moustapha's protests that it was too late and I should wait until first light. No way. I was again shocked when I arrived back at the hostel that there were four people hanging out in the common room, so I was up until 5:00 am chit-chatting and rehashing my evening with the Canadians and Americans staying up all night until their early flight the next morning.

Making friends and influencing people (10.27.07)

Eman Zaki & Raqia Hassan's doorsNile from Gezira Island

Cairo Tower Sylvana, Moustafa, Geri at Egypt Museum
El Abd Bakery

Zizo and his merchandise
My favorites
The technique lession with Raqia Hassan actually happened this morning although not without a funny story to go with it. I arrived at her house a little early, sat down in one of her living room chairs, and watched some of the activity of the house as it played out in front of me. Saturday is apparently cleaning day, and Raqia and her claning person shuffled up and down the hallway with loads of laundry and etc. in their hands. I was eventually brought into the home "studio" and we began our lesson.
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It was very good to get this one on one instruction. Raqia has a clear eye and a very specific idea of the "right" way to do oriental dance and she gave me several techniques I had to drill before we moved on.

• The moves we covered were:



• Hip sways walking F & B (alternating palms U & D)


• Hip pops walking F & B (alternating palms)


• Hip circle stepping R & L (I need to work on balance for en pointe dancing)
  
• 1/2 hip circle (R only, L only) while walking sideways


• Walking forward with alternating 1/2 hip circle


• Walking forward w 1/2 circle and accented trailing hip


• Figure 8 up with straight legs, same with 2 hip drop accents.

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The amusing/frustrating part of the experience was that she would come in, show me a move, and then disappear to answer the doorbell, play with her granddaughter, or fold laundry. I would be left trying to figure out if I was doing it right or not and I certainly don't want to keep drilling the "wrong" technique. I was ready for my hour to be up and forked over the 400 LE before fleeing the premises.
*
However, right before I left I asked her about Soraya, a dancer that I keep hearing people mention, and was told that she was dancing at the Cairo Sheraton this weekend. I decided to start walking back to the downtown area over the Nile and lo and behold stumbled upon the Cario Sheraton. I went in to try to get information and a reservation for a Soraya show and ended up picking up a new friend as I was sent to three different desks before finding someone to ask about price and times. Moustapha Ali is the name of my new friend and he isa 50-something banker originally from Alexandria but now living in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He has been in Cairo for over a month working on opening a new branch of his department (delinquent loans or something) and I think he was thrilled at the idea of meeting someone not related to his work. We made arrangements to go see the show on Sunday night (why not) and then he ended up walking with me over the bridge to the downtown area as we chatted about his kids and the differences between Egypt and UAE.
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I invited him to join me at the Egypt Museum where I was going to meet Geri Olson, the Minnesotan from Let Me Inn, to share the cost of the cost of a guide. In the end we were treated to the guide by Moustapha and enjoyed a very informative 2-hour tour of the highlights of the Egypt Museum by Georgois. I think Moustapha would have happily come along to anything that I had planned, as he said he hasn't taken time to be a tourist anywhere in the world, but I think going out tomorrow night will suffice. We took a cab back to the hostel, I grabbed some internet time, and then took a nap until 7:00 when I was to be picked up by Mohamed to see the Sufi whirling dervishes at the Al Ghouria complex (see Tanoura entry).
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We had ice cream on Talaat Harb after the show, and I wasn't over my sugar need when he dropped me off so I decided to try my hand at the famous El Abd Confectionary. There wasn't nearly enough sugar in any of the cookies, so clearly I am going to have to go for straight chocolate this afternoon.
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When I got back to the hostel I stayed up far to late looking at all the sparkly things that Zizo was packing up to send to his wholesalers in Europe, and I managed to get a pair of gold dancer slippers out of him in addition to the silver ones he already gave me. He is a very funny guy, but I think that everything that comes out of his mouth is said in a half-joking manner so I never know when he is being serious and when he is full of s***. It has been fun to banter with him over the past week, though!

Tanoura (Skirt Dancing) (10.27.07)

Segat Player at Ghouria Complex

Sufi Dancing at Ghouria Complex

More Tanoura dance

On Saturday night, Mohamed Shahin picked me up to go to the Al Ghouria complex for a free "performance" of Tanoura, or skirt, dancing. I have not known to much of the history of Tanoura, since most of the time when I have seen it, it has been in the context of a dance performance. However, the members of this group are actually Sufi, and while there is a stage and lighting and all of the elements of a good performance, it was also very clear that it was religious in origin.

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The music was the first thing to start - 2 Rebabas, a Salamiyyah, and a Mijwiz. They played a 5 minute drone as a line of percussionists came on stage. Two tablas, 8 tars, and a segat player. The music was incredible. Absolutely amazing, not just because of the music, but also because as the evening progressed the percussionists began to dance and a singer and additional musicians were added up in the balconies. The music was all religious in nature, with the melody musicians wearing red sashes with "La Allah illa Allah" written on them. (There is no other god but Allah." After a 10-15 minute performance wear each musical instrument was featured in a call and response, the singer and the master dancer appeared. The man who danced probably spun in a CW circle for almost 20 minutes, and has he did I watched his expression changed from calm meditation to ecstatic smiling. He responded to the words of the singer with outstretched arms and head movements and it was very apparent that this was absolutely a form of worship. Mohamed told me that you see these dancers (and others of the Sufi sect) out on the streets when Muslims celebrate the prophet Mohamed's birthday.

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What was very interesting was watching the percussionist/dancers as they were transformed in front of our eyes. Starting somewhat reserved and stiff at the beginning, by the end of their ritualized dancing they had rapturous smiles on their faces and were drenched in sweat as they hopped, spun, twisted, and lunged. I watched one guy lose control and start spinning for about 5 minutes with the guy in the middle as the rest of the group continued to dance around him. Equally amazing was the fact that when the dancers stop spinning, they stop on a dime with no apparent dizziness or disorientation.

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A group of Saidi musicians including 4 whining Mizmars and a double-sided drum were the next up, and were followed by the entire musical company and 3 dervishes finishing the show in a stunning 15-minute spinning frenzy. I am considering going back there on Wednesday night and arriving even earlier so that I can see it again, but Karim suggested something else for Wednesday night so I will just have to see.

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Afterwards I was able to ask Mohamed a lot of questions about life in Egypt and about his dancing and all in all it was a very powerful evening.

Taking it Easy (10.26.07)

Breakfast room at Let Me Inn

Climbing on Felucca
From the bow
Egyptian party boat

Sylvana & Cap'n

Sharia Talaat Harb during prime shopping hours
Restaurant GAD
Sylvana & Keith at GAD
Mohamed Shahin

http://www.mohamedshahin.com/

I purposely didn't make any plans during the day today, as it followed the late late night at the Dina show on Thursday. I woke up at 11:30 just in time for breakfast and spent the early afternoon chatting with people in the hostel and then a couple of hours at the computer working on the blog.

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I am having a great time in Cairo, but there is a part of me that feels I am not "doing Egypt" to its full extent. I thought about heading up to Alexandria or down to Luxor/Aswan, trying to see as much as possible while I am in the country. On the other hand, it feels SO great to be in a place more than two days and NOT have to pack my suitcase to move on to the next place. It is not like I am having a problem staying busy in Cairo. Between dance classes, shows, wandering around, and shopping, I am having a hard time getting more than 6 hours a sleep a night and I am never in the hostel. When I am here, I am typically on the internet (when I can get it) or eating. Despite the inner debate, I think I am here for the next week. Travel is a pain in the butt and no fun particularly if you are doing it alone and without a tour guide. Besides, I am seriously considering trying to come back for the Ahlan Wa Sahlan Dance Festival in June. I need to check out trial schedule at work and then start saving both money and vacation time!

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At around 5 pm, two other hostel residents (Geri (Minnesota) & Keith (Canada)) and I hopped into a black and white taxi to try to catch a sunset felucca ride. Feluccas are ancient broad-sail boats that can be seen everywhere on the Nile. Unfortunately for us, daylight savings time was a couple of weeks ago, meaning that sunset is early. By the time we reached the area with the felucca captains we had missed sunset, but still had a really relaxing boat ride watching night fall and the moon rise. Our captain was a sweet older man who was desperately trying to be our tour guide...in Arabic...and it was funny to hear him shout the words louder and louder as it was clear that we were not understanding him. While we were out there, our boat crossed paths with what can only be described as an Egyptian party boat. It was adorned with neon green lights and completely enveloped in a bubble of thumping arabic pop music and the loud laughing and talking of the 400+ passengers.

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We got back to shore at around 7:30 and wandered through the streets near Talaat Harb trying to find dinner. We finally settled on the Egyptian version of Shoney's that both Geri and Keith had eaten at the night before. Gad is a "fast food" restaurant in which the booths hold about 10 people, you are added to what booth has enough space for your group. Throughout the course of the meal we kept having to get up and down to let the people near the window on the inside and out.

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I stuffed my face and got a thirty minute nap in before the next activity of the day...a dance class on "Cairo Time": Let me explain Cairo time - I assure you that it is quite differen from US time, and I am not sure whether the standard egyptian generally takes more naps, sleeps later, or just needs less sleep that then average American, but everything here operates much much much later than anything in Winston-Salem. I suspect that Cairo would even give NYC a run for its money on being a 24-hour city. During the night downtown, the streets are clogged with people until at least midnight, and the stores are open until at least 11. In Giza I saw a few boutique that were still open at 2:00 am, but who they catered to I have no idea. I only describe this because my dance lesson with Mohamed Shahin tonight was at 10 pm and lasted until after midnight. Ahh...Cairo time.

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Mohamed (www.mohamedshahin.com) is a native Egyptian who was recommended to me by Karim Nagi (www.turbotabla.com). He is everything that Karim promised he would be: honest, personable, well-spoken, and an excellent dancer of both folkloric and classical styles. I asked him to teach me technique in the context of teaching me a choreography and for the last two sessions we have been working on an oriental/saidi choreography to Raks Bedaya (dancers - this song is on one of the BDSS CDs). My technique is terrible, I am nervous when I dance alone, and I am very glad to be working through it slowly enough to try and correct small things like hand-positions, balance, and positioning. I think we will finish this choreography on Sunday afternoon and then start working on Saidi and Khaleegi next week.

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I got back to the hotel after 12:30 and forched myself to go to bed (it wasn't hard) in order to be ready for the technique class with Raqia Hassan tomorrow morning.

A Strange Day of Dance (10.25.07)

Flower vendor in Dokki, Giza

Raqia Hassan's living room Atalier with "Princess", women, & Raqia
"Shokolade"
Raqia & Shokolade
Tee-shirt in Market. Too small :(
New costumes!

Owner of store - Mohammed Kamel
Manager & designer - Mohamed Ali
Band at Semaris Intercontinental

Moustapha, my very sweet waiter
Dina and 25-member band
Dina
Birthday wishes

I am writing the draft of the Thursday blog on a scrap of paper pilfered from my waiter, Mustapha, and the Semiramis Intercontinential Hotel's nightclub, where it is well after midnight and I am at a table for one waiting to see the famed Egyptian dancer, Dina, perform. I have to admit that after the Marriot show with Randa, so far I am disappointed and am afraid it is not going to be worth the hefty pricetag ($100+). First, while there was not a bad seat in the horseshoe shaped theater at the Marriot, here I am second tier in a club with very low risers. Secondly, the music is AWFUL. Whereas the other club had a very energetic band and great music, the 4 singers and one keyboardist are regaling us with the Egyptian version of soft rock into an amplification system that gives their voices a cheesy dramatic echo. I think they are using the Karaoke versions of many songs, since at one point the backup singers stopped singing, and there were still at least two voices coming through ;).

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At this time of night, there are only 15 other people in here, and one of them is Kay Taylor, a woman that I met at Raqia Hassan's house this morning (more on that bizarre experience to come) and leading a tour group from England around Cairo. Perhaps I have been in the South too long, since this is the second time that I have been disappointed by the reaction I am getting from other dancers I have met in Cairo. She was also cool, but also is shouldering a big responsibility for shepherding a dozen brits around Cairo, so perhaps she just has other things to worry about than giving me a few tips about where to go and who to see.
*
As for my strange day: This morning was to be a $60/hour (expensive) technique class with Raqia Hassan, a very famous teacher of Egyptian dance who organizes the now behemoth Ahlan Wa Sahlan dance festival each June in Cairo and is one of the principal teachers of many well known dancers here, including Astryd Farah DeMichele and Randa. We have been going back and forth over email since May and over phone since Tuesday, and I took a $5 taxi ride out to her house in Dokki at the appointed time for my first lesson. I was invited warmly into the apartment and sat down opposite Ms. Hassan in her living room to get aquainted. We chatted 15 minutes or so before the room starting to feel like a subway platform at rush hour, with people coming in and out. I think there was a son, a brother, a daughter-in-law, a granddaughter, and a cleaning lady. None of these people seemed to acknowledge my presence as they stepped over me and my bag, and finally at 11:45 a British woman walked in, gave kisses all around, the next thing I knew I was in the back of a small Fiat or something like that with Raqia, strange British woman, and Shokolade the dog, with two women and a 2-year old in the front seat. I figured out we were on our way to Raqia's atalier/costume designer and we entered yet another decrepit building with an elevator installed sometime in the 30s and last inspected in the 50s.

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The costumer's shop was on the 5 floor and consisted of several rooms with couches and worktables and ~8 women sitting around hand-beading costumes. There were three men there as well, two of which were gluing costumes on a new costume for Egyptian dance star Soraya, and one of which, likely head honcho, cutting fabric. The whole costuming thing over here is fascinating, because in the US if it sparkles, it is a completely acceptable bellydance costume. But in Cairo, there are clearly fashions and trends. This year it is minimal beadwork, with bras that are less to cover and protect and more to act as a shelf for the breasts to rest inside (see photos above of Dina for case in point). A lot of the dresses have big slits in them, and include matching shorts underneath to prevent it from being too scandalous. We were taken into a locked back room with a couple of old couches and plastic bags piled 2 feet high on a shelf overhead and two of Raqia's girls started pulling costumes off the shelves and showing them to the other woman and myself. I learned that this woman is named Kay Taylor and is a buyer from the UK who is interested in taking several costumes back with her to see how they sell. I tried on a couple for myself and a couple that Kay wanted to see on, but they don't fit as well on me (I don't need a shelf for my breasts as much as something that makes me look like I have some ;-)), but the base price was $600 and I don't think this style of costume would go over well at 6th and Vine! During our stay, another woman named "Princess" came in to try on something she had ordered, but in the end seemed unhappy with it and left sans costume but with one of Raqia's sergers to finish creating drapes for her apartment.

*

Kay left first, and then Raqia and I left at around 2:30. She mentioned having a student coming later, and that was finally my opportunity to ask about my class. She looked at me and said with surprise, "You want a class too?" Umm...YEAH. I thought that was why I came out there in the first place. We got back to her house and I had to run to a bank machine so that I could afford both a class and the recently produced technique video, and when I entered her living room for a second time I was handed a plate of food and sat for another hour as another group of half a dozen people came in and out of the apartment. At one point I was sitting in the middle of a conversation between Raqia, her brother, and two 20-something young gentlemen who I have no idea who they are. Finally, at 3:35 I meekly asked whether she was going to have time for my class and she said, "Maybe Saturday better....can you come back Saturday morning." Ugh! I have to admit that I was extremely annoyed, but keep telling myself that I had a lot of interesting experiences anyway. I have a class with Mohammed on Friday night from 10 pm-midnight, so I am not sure I am going to be up for a 10 am class in Dokki.

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I went straight from Raqia Hassan's to the Khan el Khalili to try to track down the "famous" costumer Mahmoud Abn Ahfar's store. I got lost a few times, ended up in another store buying some presents for people, and finally ended up there after an hour of wandering. It was a huge store - three levels of costumes. The first level was coin bras and belt; second level dresses and folkloric; third level cabaret costumes. The place was dark, quiet, and hot, and the kid who turned the lights on for me didn't speak much English. What he did say when I asked about prices or other colors was that he had to ask "Mr. Mahmoud, big boss." I tried on several costumes over the course of an hour, but when Mr. Mahmoud finally arrived from his evening prayers to talk to me about prices, I found him completely uninspiring and a bit rude. Not the person I want to fork over several hundred dollars to. I was still in a costuming mood, so I headed back to the main area and then spent the next 3 hours completely turning Mohamed Kamel's store upside down. I think I tried on about 15 and picked out 5 that I would like to purchase, plus he has many bedlahs that I am going to look at for my troupe. I am concerned that they might all be "standard size", so I am not sure they will fit everyone in the group, but I'll go back again and check it out. Both Mohameds (the owner and the manager) are really super guys, and if I am going to spend any money in Cairo, it is going to be with them.

Ladies who are reading this, let me know if there is anything you see that you want. I tried on a bunch more but am not posting photos. I could possibly post them on tribe if you want.

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I only had about an hour to get back to the hostel to get cleaned up for the show, so I had to forego the much needed nap. On my walk to the Intercontinental at 11:30 pm I stayed on the phone the whole time because I seemed to be turning heads walking outside in a black tee-shirt and knee length skirt and sandals.

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After the band finished, I had a good time at the show. I was invited to sit at a table of semi-drunk middle-aged men, and I accepted their offer because they had a better view than I did. I am not sure what they expected when they invited me over - one gentleman kept trying to push more whisky on me and wanted to put me up in one of his hotels. He must have figured out that he was barking up the wrong tree, because right after the show began he disappeared, never to return again. Alas. I ended up having to pay my own tab. Through one other the other men at the table, after the show I sat for a few minutes with another group in their mid-30s. They were planning to go out clubbing and invited me to go along, but it was 4:00 and I had a feeling that I was being mocked more than anything, so I bowed out and walked myself home. It was so pleasant to be on the streets of Cairo with no traffic and no noise!

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As for the show itself, with the exception of the band, it was more than I expected. I had seen clips of Dina on YouTube and wasn't so impressed with her dancing. However, she is one of those people whose stage presence is completely captivating and completely takes over. She is a good dancer, but what you experience at the show is her smile and the depth of her expressions and emotions as she sings along to all of the songs she dances to. There was a birthday among the 30-somethings that I mentioned above, and Dina came out into the audience, helped the birthday girl cut the cake, and then fed her the first piece. It was actually quite charming. I still want to see Soraya, Katia, and Lucy, but I may try to go back to Randa's show at the Marriot. No cover, no minimum charge! ;). And a really good complete show.