Hello there I am a dancer here in Canada and I was wondering what your rules were on covering up before and after a performance

I am not sure what you are asking but if it is about what your attire is when you arrive to a performance in a night club or wedding reception etc., it is best not show your costume before the show. That way you do not loose the impact on the audience when music, dance and costume all come together with a big impact. It is best not to show your costume after the show because the magic of the show will be destroyed. It is generally best to stay out of sight of as many of the audience as possible before and after the show - whether in costume, street clothes or gallabeyah on top of costume - so that the audience is only aware of the magical Bellydancer and never has a chance to think of you as a regular person like anyone else. Hope that helps.

International Bellydance Conference of Canada

Well, we are here again already. The mixture of stress, excitement and anticipation is the same as last year. There are a few less unknowns but somehow the anxiety has not diminished. This time though, I know the anxiety is worth it. It is worth the incredible experience of passionate discussions in hallways, sweaty workshops, laughter and tears in the seminar room and people learning new dance steps, trade tips and inspirational ideas everywhere, even in the kitchen and bathroom. I feel the goose bumps already.

The combination of featured artists last year blew me away and I thought it would be impossible to top or even equal, but this year the applications for Main Stage and Speaker spots more than doubled from the first year. Our group of adjudicators Denise Mireau, Mayada, Sashar Zarif, Maya Al Samry and I spent many hours deliberating the difficult choices while trying to keep a balance of styles and location origins. We delighted in discovering so many wonderful artists and scholars we were formally not aware of from all corners of the globe.

The combination of characters Tito and my mentor Aida Nour with their glorious infamous smiles will surely set a high energy mood for this conference. We are very excited to have such a unique artist as Amy Sigil to represent Tribal Dance. I am so honoured to have my idol Aisha Ali with us this year. I adore everything about Bozenka and could watch her forever. Two special Canadians blew everyone away on the Main Stage last year resulting in many requests to have them teach this year,so we made it happen with Ferda Bayazit and Nath Keo.
There is a little extra male energy this year so I thought it would be nice to invite a wonderful male/female duet I had the pleasure to discover in Germany a few years back, Mayyadah & Amir. You will love their beautiful artistry together. Unfortunately, Lesya Starr was not able to make it this year to teach (hopefully next time) but we found Bollywood Grooves director Lopa Sarkar to enchant us with Bollywood style dance.

We have some speakers this year we had to bring back because they are the backbone of international Bellydance. The vast knowledge of Shira, Andrea Deagon, Kathleen Fraser, Stavros Stavrou and Lynette Harper can never be tapped enough. My favorite part of the conference is the panel discussions and I can’t wait to hear what people have to say about the four topics this year. Dr. George Sawa and Suleiman Warwar are here again with more on the music front and the specialty classes with Roula Said and Ranya Renee look very interesting. Finally, there are the films. This is actually the most difficult and costly part to coordinate but there is so much valuable and important work to be seen we must try and share this with you.

Jennifer Watkins and Melody Bogin have worked nonstop for this conference since the day after the last conference finished and again they have floored me with their ability to pull it all together. Of course, all Arabesque staff are roped into getting involved especially Yvonne Liu and an army of advisors like the Arabesque dancers and musicians who ask for certain artists and Valizan, our resident Tribal and male Bellydance connection as well as webmaster.
When I started to write this letter, I thought it would end up one paragraph but OMG, a lot is going to happen April 23-27 and I can’t wait. I hope you will be coming to the conference and be part of the magic. I look forward to meeting or seeing you at IBCC.

Love,
Yasmina Ramzy
Artistic Director, International Bellydance Conference of Canada
& Arabesque Dance Company

Eclectic Questions

The following set of eclectic questions are from the same person in the same email:
Question #1 - What would you likely be doing for a living if you hadn't become a Bellydancer? I have no idea. As a child brought up in the 60s, my aspirations were to be a Hippy. Being a Hippy is a state of mind and not a job, nonetheless, my family does believe I accomplished my goal. Although I was a straight A student, I dropped out of school as soon as legally possible (age 16) to pursue mystical studies full time and took odd jobs here and there to help pay rent. Odd jobs then turned into Bellydancing which actually made me a living for 27 years. Career has never been a consideration in my thought process until very recently at the ripe age of 47 where the notion of old age security has seeped into my consciousness. Now, I am finally starting to learn about business and the meaning of a dollar. When people ask me for career advice, I always say "Follow your passion, money or no money, you will always be happy". If you forfeit your passion in order to earn money, you just forfeited your precious and short life. For me, the Bellydance path was never a choice. When it was explained to me, that this path of a Bellydancer would lead to being a bag-lady, I replied with "so be it" because if I do anything else with my life, I will suffocate and die.
Question #2 - Do you think bellydance is evolving? Should it? The answer is "of course" to both questions. I know you are looking for a longer answer to this - maybe later.
Question #3 - Explain how you came up with the name "Fish" for a reverse Maya? Actually my student and one of the co-founders of Arabesque Dance Company, Jane Graydon A.K.A. Jalilah came up with the name in 1988 when Arabesque was on Davenport Rd. in Yorkville. Jane also came up with the Drunken Sailor for the Rounded Out Crossover and the Bunny Hop for the Saiidi Drop. Jane had a great sense of humour. In the early 80s, what I now call a Maya was originally the Up & Over Figure 8 and the Fish was the Down & Up Figure 8. I was very literal and unimaginative with naming dance steps. One day a student from out of town came into the school and said she had been taught the Up & Over step was called a Maya. When I told Hanni, my Egyptian boyfriend at the time (and the only one who believed Arabesque Academy had a furture), he said that Maya meant Water in Arabic so when I told the class the next day, Jane decided the Down & Up Figure 8 should be the Fish. I also learned later that many Egyptians described Sohair Zaki as one who moved like a fish and as this was one of her signature moves, it seemed appropriate and it stuck. The name Bunny Hop didn't stick but Drunken Sailor is still around.

Artisitc Statement

Just thought I would post the artistic statement for Arabesque Dance Company:

From an early age, Yasmina Ramzy enjoyed attending the ballet, the symphony, theatre, opera, art galleries and museums regularly with her family who believed in a strong arts education. At age 20, after a seven year deep, personal journey into the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism and ancient Egyptian mysticism, Yasmina was introduced to the world of Middle Eastern dance and music. While being mesmerized by the beauty, spirituality and profound emotion of Arab art, she could not comprehend why it wasn’t sharing the stage with ballet and the symphony.

For 27 years, it has been foremost in her mind to recreate for Western audiences, the joy and inspiration she found in Middle Eastern dance. The mandate of director Yasmina Ramzy and the Arabesque Dance Company is to promote awareness of and further the artistry of Middle Eastern dance. One of the main goals of the company is to dispel the common misconceptions and stereotypes associated with Middle Eastern culture and in particular its dance forms so that audiences are open to appreciate this profound Arab art.

Because of the meaningful and in-depth quality of work Arabesque has created in the past with such productions as Descent of Ishtar, In Search of the Almeh, Isis and most recently, Asala, the company has gained a large international following. Through word of mouth and worldwide DVD sales, Arabesque is highly regarded as one of the most prominent forces for taking this ancient art form to another level. Yasmina believes that by presenting Middle Eastern dance in a venue and format that Western audiences can relate to, the door is then open for these audiences to experience the joy of Arab music and dance.

Yasmina and the members of Arabesque feel strongly that this highly emotional dance form which inspired Ruth St. Denis and Isadora Duncan offers an important message of a powerful, feminine and ancient archetype to the modern world. Yasmina finds Middle Eastern dance to be the perfect celebration of the feminine, sometimes sensual, and always spiritual side of human nature. She seeks to inspire women and men everywhere with this message which is often lost in today’s world.

Although some believe it is the oldest dance form, it has had to confront almost constant persecution for the last 2,000 years which still lingers today. By steering away from stereotypes and commercialism, Arabesque has done much and will continue to do more to lift this stigma. Arabesque's professionalism and high artistic integrity has offered other Middle Eastern dance artists and teachers a platform of pride to stand on.

Yasmina also hopes to offer Western audiences a more intimate understanding of Middle Eastern culture which is much needed in today’s political climate. Director Yasmina Ramzy and the Arabesque team are always exploring new ways to reach out with these uplifting messages.

Oum Kalthoum

Just received a question concerning dancing to the music of Oum Kalthoum. The inquirer wanted to know if a dance artist only of a certain calibre is allowed to dance to this music and are there some pieces of music held with more reverance that should not be danced to at all.

My answer: It is relative who has the where-with-all to dance to Oum Kalthoum. It also depends upon the audience. An Arab audience will have a more discerning eye for the artistic interpretation of this music and a much stronger emotional investment. All of her songs are of equal importance - some are more famous and popular and many have been adapted for Bellydancers. It is said only a Maalema can dance to the music of Oum Kalthoum but that does not mean it has ever stopped anyone and everyone dancing to it. Who does the music justice is in the eyes of the beholder.

One may want to note a few points:

- Maalema = dance master (feminine), sometimes a teacher and/or director of an ensemble

- The music of Oum Kalthoum is often quite difficult with rhythm changes and thus a beginner dancer will find it difficult to apply short cut elements like combos that can easily be used with pop music

- The music is generally slow and emotional, often in a sad maqaam so emotional expression is an important factor

- Dancing to an original recording of Oum Kalthoum singing live may seem direspectful to some who revere her, it is best to use a recording by another singer or a musical arrangement

- Many of her songs are 1-2 hours long so often the musical arrangements that are popular are only a small part of the song, often the beginning or just the musical parts which do not include the melody of where her voice would be

- Non-Arab dancers should note that when an Arab audience is listening to the musical arrangement of Oum Kalthoum music, they hear in their head the memory of the original version with her live voice and the profound lyrics, just like you hear Robert Plant's voice when a cover band plays Stairway to Heaven

- Thus it is important to listen to the original before dancing to the musical arrangement so the dance artist can prortray the same emotion and musical nuance the audience is experiencing, otherwise the audience may feel the dance artist does not understand the music

- To know more about Oum Kalthoum, see the film "A Voice Like Egypt"

Welcome...

Welcome to the Arabesque blog written by Dir. Yasmina Ramzy. Please visit often for new posts.