Raks al-Dounya

The Newsletter of the Classical Middle Eastern Dance Studio

December-January 2004 issue:

Features:

News:

Tahira Beyond the Desert: Dance Concert!

An American Scheherezade runs from the audience and disappears into the world of the Middle East. There, she finds dance and music that fascinates the modern Arab world—Egyptian musical classics, Billie Holliday, Argentine and American style tango. She falls in love in the haramlek, dances with a sword, and joins the dervishes.

Please come celebrate dance with Scherezade and our studio on January 24, 2004, 7:30, at Newman University's DeMattias Performance Hall.

We have 50 yards of silk banners for you, and this year we swear we're shipping stone blocks from the Egyptian temples to add a little ambience. We're joined by Dance Connection's ballroom exhibition team, and Mara Whitaker from Metropolitan Ballet. We hope you can come!

Safira at Fazil's Rehearsal Studio, NYC Dance like an Egyptian

In Egypt, Oriental dance is a controversial career, says Tom Verde for The Savvy Traveler, a National Public Radio feature show. “But instead of shutting down the nightclubs, the controversy has actually opened the floodgates to a whole new generation of foreign belly dancers. On any given night, you're more likely to see a Russian, Argentinean, or even American dancer on the stage than you are an Egyptian.”

Likewise, belly dance is booming in Europe, Japan and the USA as well. Students learn to become, as Mr. Verde says of an English dancer, “fluid, alluring. At one moment, tense and quivering like tail of a rattlesnake, and the next as undulant as a wisp of smoke. Every muscle in her body, it seems, is in motion, yet in complete control.”

Want to learn, too? Beginner lessons start this month. There's a free class for the community at 12 noon on Sat., Jan. 17. Beginner classes start Tues., Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. Come join us and become “a part of the Egyptian mystique”!

Oriental dancer, 1916. Postcard. Call her Sameeha? What's your true name?

The ancient Egyptians believed a person's name was as important to her survival as her Ka, Ba or Akh, writes Tjia Cook. The name was regarded as a living part of a person and needed to be assigned at birth, or the person would not properly come into existence.

We dancers choose Egyptian or Arabic names to help us feel what it's like to dance as a woman or man from another culture. We leave our old selves behind, and try to understand the joys and griefs of people from different civilizations. When we take on a dance name, we become more expressive. By taking on a new identity, we can share more of who we truly are.

Which name is your true identity?

Akila -- intelligent; Jamila – beauty; Nefertari -- name of a queen; Alimah - Skilled in music or dance; Kalila - Sweetheart, beloved; Rayya, - Sated with drink; Wafiqah – Successful; Sibal - Eyes with long lashes; Sameeha – Generous. For more names, see sudairy.com or maatkare.com . Have fun!

Odalisque: languor, luxury, knowledge of love and life. The Odalisque and the Awalim

The Odalisque is a favorite subject of Orientalist paintings—a reclining female on silks and pillows, clearly pampered in the Sultan's harem. In the 1800s, when Odalisques were fantasy subjects painted by European men, they were meant to be racy and submissive. Today's women, though, are much more equal, assertive and comfortable with their femininity. We're free to enjoy the luxury imagined in the old paintings without surrendering our independence or becoming “bad” women.

Today, the dancers who embody the Odalisque are more like the Awalim, the “learned women” of the old Arab world, known for their singing and poetry, their education, their knowledge of love and life.

Come see our version of the Odalisque at our show, Beyond the Desert, on January 24 at Newman University! We've taken costuming ideas from Mata Hari, the famous WWI spy, placed them in an Orientalist mileu and combined them with classical Egyptian music. We hope you enjoy!

Murad Cigarettes ad, early 1900s Choose your weapon

In the time of Helen of Troy, the Trojans and the Spartans both danced with their weapons. It's said that the Spartans, who were tougher, and won more battles, danced with real weapons, while the softer Athenians used mock swords. Sword dances can be found today at Syrian weddings, in Jordanian folk dance performances, by Saudi Arabian men's troupes. There is even a gun dance.

Men's weapon dances are more warlike, while women often take up the weapon and make a dance that's softer, more playful. For instance, the men's taktib, an ancient Arab dance performed with a weapon like a quarterstaff, generated Raks al Assaya, the cane dance, performed by men and women with a light, curved-handle cane.

Classical Middle Eastern Dance Studio will stage a sword dance, incorporating both men's and women's movement, at Beyond the Desert, our January 24th show, using swords that have changed little since the 8th Century. We're also presenting a more romantic cane dance—call it a Raks al Assaya pas de deux. Come join the fun!

New Classes Starting!

Our studio is at 212 N. Market, Suite 314, in historic Landmark Square in Wichita. This beautiful old building has a lobby of checkerboard Italian marble, a wrought iron and marble stairway, and brass chandeliers. It also has modern elevators and air conditioning! You can park in the lot immediately north of the building. Click here for a map.

See us belly dance in Wichita!

At the Café Istanbul in January and every month, 120 N. West St. Call 944-7330 for reservations.

  • Sat., Jan. 17. Seating at 6:00 for the 6:30 show
  • Sat., Jan. 17. Seating at 8:00 for the 8:30 show

Theatre Night is coming up!

Make plans now for Beyond the Desert, our 2004 Concert at Newman University! Have a pre-theatre dinner of Turkish food at the Café Istanbul, 120 N. West St., or Lebanese food at the Byblos Deli, 3088 W. 13th St. Tickets are $8 ($7 in advance) and will are available at Istanbul, Byblos, India Emporium and the CMED studio.

  • Saturday January 24, 7:30 p.m.
  • DeMattias Performance Hall, Newman University
  • 3100 McCormick Ave., Wichita, KS

We hope you've enjoyed this note. We welcome your comments and suggestions for future newsletters.

Thank you for reading our newsletter. The best of luck in your pursuit and enjoyment of dance in all its forms,

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