The Cairo Festival 2002


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A Review by Hadia

With only two and a half days between my Alaska and Utah workshops, in the middle of a packing and my ‘while I am away to do list’ frenzy, I began to wonder if I should have my head examined for deciding to go to Cairo in the middle of the overwhelming summer heat to attend Raquia’s Festival. However, as it was impossible to cancel my workshops and engagements in Europe, I boarded my plane and was on my way.

After Paris, I rendezvoued with my Brazilian friends in Amsterdam airport and had a fun filled flight to Cairo.

The festival got off to a grand beginning with its opening gala. Amira’s gorgeous creations opened the evening and because I was performing in the fashion show, I can’t offer an impartial comment. But everyone looked stunning and there was a great line up of talented dancers.

The first featured performer was an Egyptian cabaret dancer name Dundas. I found her to be somewhat on the vulgar side, of questionable talent, with cheap and unflattering costumes. Her hour and a half show was actually quite boring, except for her wonderful 7 minute piece “Manga” where she does a wonderful imitation of many of the great dancing stars of Egypt. I was sorry that she had been allotted so much time and that the shows of the other wonderful dancers were cut short as a result.

Saroaia, a tiny little Brazilian fireball impressed me with some very interesting and lovely moves and wonderful technique, although I found her activity  level and drum solo more Brazilian than Egyptian.

Dina was phenomenal as always and performed to some wonderful music. I could write an entire article just applauding her artistry.

Finally at 3 am, Rawnda Kamel, a wonderful upcoming Egyptian dancer, performed for an almost empty audience. All in all an excellent show, although only a small part of the audience remained to watch Randa. However at 100 dollars per ticket, I found it unacceptable that there was only enough food served for half the audience.

During the course of the week, dancers from all over the world had the opportunity to perform for each other and the festival instructors in the evening parties. To open the final Gala, a handful were invited to perform a homage to Oum Kalthoum in the closing gala. I picked one of my my favourite Oum Kalthoum pieces “Huwa Sahiya”. We were followed by the folklore performance from the Ramses Hilton group. Then we were delighted with another performance by Rawnda Kamal, this time to an enthusiastic and responsive capacity audience. She certainly shone like the upcoming star that she is. Her performance made me forget about the dreadful assortment of greasy deep-fried hors d’oeurves that posed as another 100 dollar dinner (this time there was enough for about a quarter of the audience). The closing act was Nour, a well known Russian dancer with very professional and polished performance.

And now – the dance classes.

The entire week of three classes per day were actually quite well organised, with the exception of the last minute cancellation of Mona Said and a few late starts. The facilities were adequate although the carpets covered cement floors and was very hard on the body and there were dangerous weapons scattered all over the carpet, i.e. (nails, strange assorted twisted wires and many pins and needles). This is hardly what one would expect at a 5 star hotel. I will not elaborate on the Egyptian sound systems – 10-dollar ghetto blasters with the inevitable microphone perched precariously in front of a speaker, systematically screeching feedback before tumbling to the floor.

Dina’s class was excellent, well organized, clearly presented and ACTUALLY TAUGHT. Technique, explanations and breakdown. This is exactly what I expected from an artist of her caliber and intelligence.

Next was Ibrahim Akef who, although he could barely stand or breathe, managed to teach an excellent class. It was an honor and a delight to study with such an icon of Oriental dance. Then my crazy friend Masoub from Luxor taught a wild and entertaining 3-hour Ghawazee class accompanied by the musicians of the Nile. Bravo.

Ahmed Shalabi taught an excellent Assaya and Tahtyb class, while a a wonderful couple of Nubian dancers (one male; one female) delighted me with authentic Nubian dance. I have studied African dance from many areas of the continent for many years and was delighted to see the smooth flowing quality of the dances performed by these native dancers.

And then there was Friez, the most delightful and unexpected surprise of the whole week. She literally blasted everyone’s chakras wide open with her raw and unpolished Saidi/Baladi energy. One by one the other instructor, organisers, and hanger oners, drifted into the class as the energy grew and grew until we found ourselves in a unbridled spontaneous party. This was Egypt – the essence of Egyptian dance in its purest form – light years away from the refined, polished artists that gradually developed and transformed the original Baladi since the 1940’s. I decided that it was worth the trip just to be in the room and in class with this woman and be part of the essence of our dance.

All in all, it was a wonderful week. A giant pajama party and dancing marathon which inspired me in many ways. As an internationally renowned dancer with a 30-year career under my belt, I could find reasons to justify the five thousand-dollar price tag for the week long festival. However, I would have to seriously reconsider whether or not to include this festival in my future plans.

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