Homage to Oum Kalthoum
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The house was filled to overflowing to an audience of more than 430 people. The musicians entered the stage; their instruments (kanoon, oud, nai, accordion, violin, keyboard, percussion) instantly transporting the audience to the Golden Age of Egyptian music and dance. For more than 3 hours the dancers and orchestra poured their hearts and souls into the interpretation of my favourite classics including Enta Omri, Huwa Sahiya, Alf Leyla wa Leyla, Ana Fi’intazarak, Lissa Fakir, Ghan al Hawa, Zeina and Gamil Gamal.
I LOVE oriental dance and I LOVE oriental music! I could think of no better way to share this deep love with other dancers and aficionados than to bring together 10 amazing musicians, a wonderful singer and 12 beautiful and talented dancers for an unforgettable evening of classical Egyptian song music and dance.
Since moving to Montreal I have had the good fortune to work with a collection of some amazingly talented, experienced and consummate musicians who have also worked extensively with some of the top stars of oriental dance in Lebanon. Last summer I incorporated them into the program for my first annual professional training course in Montreal. During the 8 hour weekend workshop, which launched the 45 hour program, each musician presented his traditional Arabic instrument in taksim, as well as in one or two pieces of music which best interpreted its unique qualities. It was an extremely enriching and rewarding experience for all, so I made plans to go onto the next step by presenting a weekend workshop and show which focused on oriental dance interpretation of the classics of Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafiz, Farid al Atrache and more. Montreal has a huge Lebanese population and numerous restaurants and clubs with excellent dancers, many schools, professional and student performances, but this was the first time that anyone had put together such an evening. This gave us all the opportunity to focus on the best of oriental dance and music, as the wonderful and talented dancers and musicians so skillfully and soulfully breathed new life into these timeless classics. This Homage to Oum Kalthoum was oriental dance as I aspire to see it presented!
I will always remember my last visit with my teacher and mentor Mr. Ibrahim Farrah. Over lunch together, he asked me how it felt to be in class again and I told him how absolutely inspiring it was to study with him again after so long. Suddenly, I stopped, looked at him and asked him where he got his inspiration from. He paused for a moment, smiled and said “from the music Hadia, from the music”. After more than 35 years as an oriental dancer, I am still amazed and seduced by the endless wealth of subtly, nuances, colors, shades, tempos, feelings, that it contains. The longer one listens, the more one discovers and the more these all inspire the movements of our beautiful art form.
I also still remember my first day of class at the downtown YWCA. I had no idea what to expect, had never seen a belly dancer, never heard any Arabic music, but I sure did like the movements. I vaguely remember being aware of some kind of music in the background and trying to do hip circles in time to the beat of a strange new drum.
One year and three teachers later, I had fallen in love with the heavy beats of Saidi and Ghawazee music and within another year or so had discovered the Joy of Belly Dancing with George Abdo and Eddie “the Sheik” Kochak. Dhalena’s first record was my first introduction to music for a full Sharki routine. I really had no idea what this was at the time, being a devoted West Coast ethnic belly dancer and I admit that I combined it with Iraqi religious music and Tunisian folklore for my show, but I do know that I sure did like it and how it was set up. Inspite of my blissful ignorance, I was instinctively drawn to this Egyptian style Sharki music.
Then, after taking a mind and soul expanding workshop with Ahmad Jarjour, a brilliant Lebanese Canadian dancer from Montreal, I got a contract there for several months to study with him and work with musicians in a Lebanese night club restaurant. I also had a second contract with a brilliant group of professional musicians from Tunisia. Thanks to this opportunity, I became familiar with standard Sharki songs, including the Egyptian classics. This experience, in its turn, inspired me to go to Egypt, where I had the opportunity to study such icons of our dance including Fifi Abdo, Zohair Zaki, Nagwa Fouad. This was my first chance to see how Egyptian dancers actually danced, how they worked with their music and controlled their orchestras. It was fascinating to see how they put their shows together as multipart performances which included sharki, baladi, folklore and interpretations of OUM KALTHOUM. This approach was radically different from and left so much more room for creativity and interpretation than the American standardized 5 part fast slow fast slow fast routines. It also opened up the world of the Egyptian classics to me to explore. I spent hours at a time listening to the music of OUM KALTHOUM AND MOHAMED ABDEL WAHAB letting its’ richness and complexity slowly filter into my cells, but it was a long time before I had achieved the understanding to DANCE to this music.
I devoted the next 25 years of my life to developing and refining my skills as a dancer, as well as my understanding of and relationship with the magical and wondrous music to which we dance. This included contracts and long term engagements performing with 5-10 piece orchestras in the Middle East and Europe. However, I followed the one or two show format, rather than the Egyptian multi segment format.
By the time that I was finally comfortable with my relationship with the beautiful oriental instruments (kanoon, oud, nai, violin, accordion), the synthesizers arrived. When I had finally managed to unravel the labyrinth of this intricate, multilayered and deliciously rich music, other things started to change in the Egyptian oriental dance music scene. The dancers worked less and less with Sharki, except perhaps a short entrance piece. Baladi transformed into Shaabi and then into pop. I enjoy pop music as much as anyone. It is wonderful for teaching beginners and lots of fun for party improvisation, but I am very saddened by the fact that this music has almost completely replaced Sharki music, complete with its intricate rhythms, instruments, moods, maqamat, phrasing and dynamics. Then there is the techno and nondescript fusion. Most of these do not even contain oriental rhythms, melodies, instruments or any other components of oriental music making interpretation through oriental movement an external exercise as opposed to an internal experience.
I have been teaching dance workshops all over the world for the past 20 years and I have noticed that during the past few years, increasing numbers of students have little or even no knowledge of oriental music or its components. Many have never even heard of the great composers and singers of Egypt’s golden age. The classes and workshops which they attend consist primarily of choreography after choreography with little or no explanation of the musical components or are taught to pop songs. Combinations are taught and then repeated in sequence, completely independently of and oblivious to any music.
Not too long ago, I had the experience of seeing some “tribal fusion” dancers in tight leather pants writhing along the floor to Oum Kalthoum’s Enta Omri. I asked myself not only how could they commit such a faux pas, but also how could their instructor allow them to do so without explaining to them that this is NOT how a dancer is to interpret this precious music of the oriental world’s greatest diva of song. These types of situations make it clear that there is a very large gap in the education of today’s belly dance students and I do not see too many people out there trying to provide this crucially essential information to the students.
Call me old school, call me an idealist, but – I still believe with all my heart, my body, my soul and everything that I have been doing in this art form for over 35, that in order to be able to dance oriental dance, we have to do so to oriental music. We can only do this if we are ready to explore and understand this music. This takes great time, patience, guidance and sensitivity but is worth every minute, as the music itself will open the door to the dance for you. Enjoy the journey!
The DVD for our performance is available from the DVD page on this site.