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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
KHALIJI Khaliji, khaleegy– (ar. gulf) is a folk dance from the Persian Gulf. It is also called ‘the hair dance’ because of many shaking head movements. Other characteristic features are hand gestures like wrist accents and chest shimmy. Khaliji is a joyful dance performed solo or in a group (when performed by several dancers, it […]
ZAAR Zaar– is a ceremony that comes from Ethiopia but is known in the whole North African area. The aim of Zaar is to cure mentally or physically sick person. The ceremony consists of hypnotizing rhythm (called zaar or ayoub) made by a group of musicians playing drums and a sick person dancing until he […]
SHAABY Shaaby – is name of folk dance style and music that comes from the rural Egypt but also from Tunisia and Morocco. This dance style is very cheerful and funny. It can be danced in traditional glalabeya or, in street-shaaby style, in top and jeans. Shaaby music is played on traditional musical instruments but […]
RAQS AL SHAMADAN Raks al shamadan – dance with candelabra on head, is a style that we can see during wedding processions in Middle East, called zaffa. Zaffa music has a rhythm also called zaffa. Dancer can play on the zills during dancing. Nowadays, dancer and a group of musicians are leading a bride and […]
DABKE Dabke or debkah, debka, dabki is a folk dance form from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Male and female dancers are dancing in lines or circle. Characteristic are jumps and combinations of steps. Traditionally it was danced to beat the clay which was a material for building roofs of houses. Music for the dabke dance is […]
TANOURA Tanoura is a folk dance from Egypt. This style comes from Sufi form of Zikr ritual, called also ‘the whirling dervish dance’. It is a male dance style, dancers are Sufi men called Dervish – mystics, members of religious brotherhoods. From the religious ceremony it changed into a form of an entertainment show presented […]