This year A Pinch of the Orient Show will go on a journey with elegance of the Orient Express. Referring to the European Capital of Culture 2016 that takes place in Wroclaw, the dancers will present a fusion of oriental dance to music from the cultures of Italy, Spain, Austria and Russia. This dance spectacle […]
Oriental rhythms Here you can listen to some of oriental rhythms. You’ll hear them in the music for belly dancing. Rhythms will help you to recognize the style. Saidi, baladi, masmoudi kebir, maksoum, malfouf, fellahi, zaffa, ayoub, khaliji, wahda kabira, karachi, morrocan, rasba, samai. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaUPpxRElZI
Watch and listen 35 musical instruments form Middle East and Asia. Most of them you can hear them in belly dance music! 21 of them I’ve described in series that you can find by tag “musical instruments” 1.oud 2.buzuq 3.lavta 4.rabab 5.rababa 6.rebab 7.kamancheh 8.qanbus 9.tanbur 10.tar 11.sintir (gimbri) 12.kissar 13.simsimiyya 14.santur 15. qanun […]
GHAWAZEE Ghawazee are Egyptian gypsy dancers, mentioned for the first time in XVIII century. They were chased from Egypt in 1834 for bad behavior. Ghawazee danced in the streets, played on zills and tambourines. This dance does not contain the elements of ballet and other dance style. Costume for this style consists of a shirt, […]
SIWA Siwa is an Berber oasis in Egypt, near Libyan border. Dance siwa, called also oasis dance, is characteristic thanks to hip and hands movements, jump steps and untypical posture of the dancers. This style has been distributed by a dance group of Mahmoud Reda – Reda Troupe. Women’s costume for this style consists of a […]
Whirling Dervishes If you have not seen the show of Whirling Dervishes yet , I highly recommend it to you! I had an opportunity to see them live in November and thy made me (and the entire audience) breathless. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz5R8E2-bl0 Dervishes pray and meditate by the means of their dance, of which the most distinctive […]
NUBIAN Nubian dance is a line folk dance form from Nubia, legendary land in an area between Egypt and Sudan. Dancers wear a long galabiyya, very long shawl on the head and a lot of jewerly like a necklace and big earrings. Dancers can play during dance on bendirs – a big frame drums. […]
It’s time to make plans for 2016! Below you will find the list of oriental dance festivals with workshops led by Egyptian dancers and instructors – no one knows more about the dance than they do. In case you noticed that some festivals are missing, just let me know, so that I can up-date the […]
IRAQI Iraqi, iraki or kawleeya is a dance from Iraq. This style is very lively, it contains many elements of shaking head and hair, jumping and dancing on the ground. Compared to khaliji, dance iraqi is much more dynamic. The costume for this dance style consists of a long, fitting dress with long sleeves and […]
SINTIR SINTIR or GUIMBRI (ar. سنتير) is an instrument with long neck and three strings, made of wood and covered with camel skin. We will hear it in the music of West Africa, especially in folk music of Gnawa people. They are using sintir for hypnotizing music during ceremonies dedicated to cure sick person. […]