<<First Name>> Welcome to July's Zameena
We have lots of exciting things in store for you this month, so grab a cuppa and ENJOY....
We are delighted to welcome MICHELLE HARRIS, who tells us about dancing with a disability. Michelle has opened up and reading her article can help us all to understand, a little better, the problems faced by dancers with hidden disabilities.
Michelle has been a great supporter of Zara's Zouk and Zameena over the years and, in her photos, you can see her sporting some of her costumes and all her earrings bought from Zara's Zouk!
Amazing coincidence as Michelle has been to Raqia Hassan's Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival in Cairo and we have news (below) of how you can train with the inspiration that is Raqia from the comfort of your home.
There are FIVE songs In Music Corner where you can read about the latest BIG NEWS & CELEBRATIONS as, at long last, Mahraganat has OFFICIALLY been recognised as a form of music by Egypt's Musician's Syndicate!
We also have CLAUDIA SHIMMIES who, in Info Spot, shares her personal experiences of and explains what is Saltanah. It will surely give you goose bumps and tingles. Will you set new dance goals after reading? Claudia shares her top tips.
Now, without further ado we hand over to the lovely Michelle.........
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Keep Calm and Carry On Shimmying!
What it's like dancing with a disability
By Michelle Harris
I have been in love with Oriental dance for 20 years now and I never thought that when I started all those years ago, I'd still be doing it now but be classed as disabled!
I remember my first class vividly - as soon as I heard the Tabla and started to learn the catchy hip drops that went with it - I knew this was the dance for me. Add to that the gorgeous hip scarves, costumes and jewellery, I was hooked! It even led to the chance to perform and go to Raqia Hassan's Ahlan wa Sahlan Festival in Cairo, which was such an amazing opportunity.
The wonderful thing about belly dance is that it can be gentle and graceful and not as high impact as other dance forms. However, when I first got diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, nearly 9 years ago, I found even that too much.
Everyone with MS is different
I first noticed problems when I woke up for work one morning with numb feet and over the course of a week it gradually spread up to my shoulders. When my legs started feeling weak and detached, I went to A&E but they told me I was probably just hyperventilating! The symptoms didn't subside completely so I eventually had an MRI which showed damage to my brain and spine. I was properly diagnosed 4 months later after having had a relapse.
I lost all confidence in my body, especially my legs which had become numb, tingly and weak. Lifting my arms was a struggle and I also got terrible fatigue which made it hard to think, let alone dance.
Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease where your immune system mistakenly attacks the coating of your nerves stopping them working properly and no two people are the same with it. It affects about 110,000 people in the UK with varying degrees of severity, let alone the anxiety of living with a condition like that brings. Despite all that, over the past few years I have slowly increased how much I can do and am now dancing at least a couple of times a week.
One of the hardest things about having fatigue or a chronic condition is choosing what you can or can't do and having to pace yourself all the time - if I dance today will I feel well enough to do the school run tomorrow?
Some benefit to lockdown
The lockdown has been tough on so many, but in some ways it has actually been beneficial for me in that I have had less to physically do, so I could dance more. Also, my amazing first teacher and mentor, Nermine Azzazy, sent me a choreography to learn which was incredibly challenging but I did it! She continues to coach me from the US and encourages me to keep doing it! I also use Zara's 25 minute workout (here) every week to build my stamina up.
As much as being in person is better, the use of online classes and workshops during the pandemic has been great for me as it removes tiring travelling times and you can pace yourself and sit out easily if you get tired, without feeling awkward about not joining in. In the last few months I've done workshops with Zara, Khaled Mahmoud and Serena Ramzy which I never could have done if they weren't online.
Having an invisible illness or disability can make it hard for others to understand because you can look "normal" - or as normal as I look anyway!! The fluctuating nature can make it hard for others to understand too. Some days I can dance for an hour, other days I struggle to do five minutes or anything for that matter!
The Future
I try not to take it for granted that my health is stable at the moment but my hopes for the future are to perform again one day, and maybe even make it back to Cairo. I'd also love to teach too - maybe online for people with health conditions like me, so the classes could be shorter and they don't need to feel self-conscious if they can't do it all or if fatigue is a problem. Just being involved in belly dance in any small way is amazing after thinking I'd never really do it again!
With love,
Michelle x
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Wow, what an inspirational read!
A big Zameena
THANK YOU
to Michelle for being so candid and open with us. I'm sure our readers will agree that you are amazing, and we all wish you well in your future dance, and life, journey!
Want to connect with Michelle?
Instagram Account
and her email:
michellevharris@hotmail.co.uk
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<<First Name>>
Want to be a better dancer?
Then train with a master!
Raqia Hassan
Raqs Sharqi Technique Workshop
SUN 8 AUG | 6-8.30pm BST | ZOOM
Raqia Hassan is a Legendary teacher of Raqs Sharqi. Countless numbers of the top professional dancers and teachers, you love, have trained and learnt from her.
NOW IT'S YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO DO THE SAME.
Live from Cairo on Zoom, in this 2 hour workshop Raqia will be breaking down pure technique to take your Raqs Sharqi style to the next level.
PLUS there will be a bonus half hour at the end of class, for OPEN QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION with Raqia: The teacher of teachers!
A recording of the workshop will be available for ticket holders to watch for 10 days after. Giving you the chance to catch up, recap and fully digest the teachings of this true legend.
Don't miss out on this very unique opportunity!
We'll see you there!
(Hosted by Zara Dance & Arabella Dances)
!!BOOK NOW!!
Book before the 20th July and get our
AMAZING EARLY BIRD OFFER: ONLY £38
£42 there after
Also, check out our special offer of Workshop and Hafla (Details below)
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Come and join the BEST ONLINE BELLYDANCE PARY and dance the night away with literally 100s of bellydancers from around the GLOBE
Over the past year Online Zoom Hafla has had over 563 Bellydancers come and enjoy our legendary Online pareties!
Our next hafla is:
SAT 14 AUG | 7-10.30pm BST | Only £8.50 (about $12)
The theme is Alf Leila we Leila "A Thousand and One Nights"
Supporting Egyptian Artists - still suffering the effects of the Corona lockdowns.
Come and enjoy some of the best acts Egypt has to offer.
We will be having a
FULL BAND LED BY RENOWNED ACCORDION PLAYER RAMZY
There will be lots of opportunity for you to dance along to the LIVE music, especially the accordion taxsims - come and INDULGE YOURSELF
Other acts from Egypt confirmed include Ahmed Titio from the Mahmoud Reda Troupe, Our regular and much loved Jessy, Brilliant Tannoura Kareem and ....
Mahragant Rappers Mshakel and Mazz Ika will be performing their newest song, written for American dancer Nasila!
We are also welcoming the beautiful Christine from Indonesia!
And this is just the start
**MORE ACTS TO BE CONFIRMED**
There are prizes for best dressed too!! Lets go on a magic carpet ride with a thousand and one nights......
Ticket holders get a recording, so book a ticket regardless of what your plans might be and show your support to these amazing artists.
We can't wait to see you there 🧡
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EXCLUSIVE OFFER
<<First Name>> we are offering you an amazing offer
It's Exclusive for just Zameena & Mosaic subscribers.
Get both the Raqia Hassan Workshop and the Online Zoom Hafla for
ONLY £45 instead of £50.50
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* Offer expires in 10 days time (18th July)
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Practice Suits BACK IN STOCK
Last time these jumpsuits sold out on our Facebook Live, before even making it to the website. So don't miss them this time!
GRAB YOUR SIZE avalible in S-XL
Great for teaching and taking your classes live or online!
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Info Spot
Creative Ecstasy
By Claudia Shimmies
WHY SHOULD I CONTINUE TO DANCE?
I hear this a lot as a coach and teacher. I understand the problems; dwindling performance opportunities, escalating costs (costuming, learning, travel), indirect rivalry and overall lack of reward for all your efforts. We have ALL been there! Every artist goes through an existential crisis at some point. I absolutely have had these same concerns in my dance life.
So what keeps me going? Why do I dance? Why do I belly dance? The answer has always boiled down to one all encompassing constant…Saltanah!
In the early days of my dance, when I tried to share this phenomenon I was experiencing with others (before I even knew that there was even a name for it), people were dismissive or maybe it was that I lacked the words to express what was actually happening. Still, up until this moment, I feel I have been aloof about this subject, thinking this is just too “woowoo” of a topic to share completely in a workshop or conversation. But, now, I will do my best to share with you my experience with Saltanah in the hopes that my truth will help you on your journey in considering your own dance goals.
What is Saltanah? Described by one of my top sources, A.J.Racy states in Making Music in the Arab World, “Saltanah…is the ‘magic’ that momentarily lifts the artist to a higher ecstatic plateau and empowers him or her to engender tarab most effectively. In this sense, Saltanah is creative ecstasy.” Another amazing source is from an article by Sahra Kent. Kent describes exactly how one feels in a state of saltanah, “You won’t remember what you did or what the musicians played, you won’t know if it was 20 seconds or 20 minutes, but the audience will remember that moment for years and cry when they recall it.”
(Check Shira Dotnet's site for the article and click here for more from Sahra)
Ummm I’ll have what she’s having, right?!
This is why dance and music is my drug, a lifelong addiction of chasing the feeling of creative ecstasy.
Before I go off on how this rearranged my goals in dance I want to first describe my personal story of saltanah.
One of the strongest memories I have of experiencing saltanah happened at the Caravan Stage at the Oregon Country Fair. Moments of saltanah had happened before, but I think this instance is at the top of my list because of how extreme my reaction was to it. It is hard to describe the full scene of the Caravan stage but basically it is a beautifully decorated stage, set in the woods, with about 8-10 musicians playing all day for an amazing star studded core group of dancers who are being encouraged by generations of dancers that once danced and created the stage. I kind of describe it as dance church…for the lack of better words. Anyways, you get it; the whole experience is pregnant with the possibility of saltanah. I dance my heart out on that stage every time but this specific time, I literally felt a warm wind blow over my entire body and I was immediately lost in the cosmos of the music. I was within my consciousness, gazing at the stars while floating in space but each star was a note or tone of the music being played. I know this sounds like some kind of acid trip or something but I swear I was not on any drugs; it just was truly transcendental. If you meditate often and know about what people describe as the “oneness”, this is very close to what I relate my experience to. My body moved on autopilot, I don’t know what I did but I do know I moved perfectly. When this moment ended and the band came to the ending to the song, I slowly floated back down to Earth and felt my feet touch the stage again; I instinctively bowed to the audience and somehow exited the stage. When I climbed down the ramp to the backstage I was met by a large group of my dance sisters all wanting to hug me and tell me their experience of my performance, but I couldn’t hear them, I couldn’t comprehend words yet. I remember being so confused by what was happening then looking up and seeing them back away from me with puzzled faces. I then realized I had tears streaming down my face, I wasn’t crying, like when you overfill a cup of water, it just spills over the rim…I was overflowing.
Okay, see, it is pretty “woowoo”. Yes, but this is my experience, although, it doesn’t always happen like this. These profound cosmic instances are the big whoppers; mostly I experience a different level of saltanah. Still I feel the autopilot kick in and the oneness with the music and creation but maybe not all the stars and floating around in the universe stuff. For me it doesn’t matter how intense the experience of saltanah is, at any level it is absolutely the reason why I dance.
So this is it, this is why all the other concerns fade away for me. Concerns over cost, fame, fortune, acceptance, all of the woes and worries of being a performer, none of these problems come close to detouring me from the possibility of experiencing the profound beauty of saltanah. I know that it all sounds a bit naïve, that I’m telling you making money for your art doesn’t matter as long as you get this hippy dippy feeling but that is not what I am advocating. What I am sharing is that saltanah is a driving force in my life as a dancer. That if your perspective or your goal in dance is centered on something that is passionate, that your journey in dance will be more enjoyable and perhaps more grounded. Here are a few perspectives I think of often:
• I train and keep my body strong because I want to be able to execute all the movements that saltanah requires of me. Ex. What if I do a Turkish drop and my body is weak, I don’t want to leave the stage on a stretcher!
• I continue to promote myself and work to stay relevant because I need to be available and considered for performances that will have the possibility of saltanah OR I will just create a show or dance opportunity with the same goal.
• I continue my learning from many different teachers and dance styles to keep an open mind to movement. If my body is open to different ways of movement than I am effectively unlocking my spirit that will usher in more saltanah experiences.
These are just a few examples of how my perspectives on dance are guided by my yearning for saltanah in my life. So basically, I have made my dance a “practice”, like those using yoga practice or meditation practice to attain enlightenment. I share this with all the humility of a student; I am not sharing this to be a self-proclaimed guru. I hope at the very least, that me sharing my own story with you, I might inspire you to seek your own truth in why you dance and that the truth you find propels you to continue to dance.
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A Great Big Zameena THANK YOU to CLAUDIA
She made us tingle, how about you?
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*If you would like to learn more about Claudia's training practice in dance and for the goal of Sultanah please join her Patreon community at:
http://www.patreon.com/claudiashimmies
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Music Corner
With Zara Dance
BIG BIG NEWS & CELEBRATIONS
Mahraganat has OFFICIALLY been recognised as a form of music by Egypt's Musician's Syndicate!!!
Don't know why that is a big deal? Well, let me bring you up-to-date. If you follow my Music Corner then you will know that back in February 2020 I reported that Mahraganat music WAS BANNED as a music form in Egypt, when Hassan Sankosh pissed off the head of the Music Syndicate at a Valentine's performance. This meant Mahraganat musicians were NOT ALLOWED to perform live or air on TV.....
The ban seemed to have had very little effect on stopping the production or continued growth of the this style of music, to the dismay of the musicians syndicate I am sure!
Fortunately, as Egypt starts to open up again for live events, it seems Hamo Bika, a massively famous Mahraganat singer, has saved the day with a little sweet charming of the Head of the syndicate, Hanny Shaker, and the ban lifted!!
Regardless of whether you like Mahraganat music or not, it is undeniable that its ban was rooted in Classism. Something very much alive in Egyptian culture, and I think we can agree that regardless of class you should have the right to express yourself through art!!
SO, TO CELEBRATE, I am sharing with you FIVE - YES FIVE - of my favourite Mahraganat tunes from the last 6months that I HAVEN'T already featured in Music Corner.
1) We kick off (link at top) with a song by the hero of the day, Hamo Bika, and one of the singers involved in starting the ban, Omar Kamal: "Inti Malima" "You are the Boss Woman". A fun song which actually Jillina, is doing a workshop to, this weekend so go and learn to dance to this fun song.
2) A song that has TAKEN EGYPT by STORM and a must know! "Eda Eda Eda" "What What What" by Dokdok and Fanky this song is so catchy and great to dance to.
3) Three is a song by mega star, Hassan Shankosh (who started all the trouble) and one of my favourite Egyptian actresses/singers Yasmin Raeis, "Habibty". It is a really nice romantic Mahraganat song - enjoy.
4) Mohummed Ramadan, a regular in our Music Corner..... for various songs and also dramas of his own, has dropped a song in the last few weeks that is making waves, "Sabit" which means stationary or still but is used here, in a slang context, to mean "At the Top", and someone who is always (stationary) at the top of what they are doing. He sure likes singing about himself LOL
5) So far, if I am honest, all the songs I have listed above are mainstream Mahraganat. Mahraganat has become basically mainstream pop. It is listened to by everyone in Egypt regardless of class - whether they like to admit it or not - which is why this ban was so ridiculous and literally had very little effect. That and the fact that most Mahraganat musicians don't even care if their music gets on TV because they, and the youth, are using YOUTUBE and Spotify; social media that, despite their best efforts, Egypt's government can't restrict.
So, this last song is for the hardcore Mahraganat lovers, by rapper Muslim, "Ana Ghalat we Inta Sah" "I am Wrong and You are Right". It is a massive hit and has only been out a couple of weeks. The rapper Muslim has been building a massive name online. Famed for always performing in a MASK (I don't mean the Covid kind) very few have seen his face or know what he looks like, but in the past week pictures of him were leaked and spread like wild fire all over social media and WhatsApp!
Hope you enjoy all these songs. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been sharing my Music Corner and spreading the word about the it - YOU ROCK & your my kinda people!!!
Till next month 🧡
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2) Eda Eda Eda
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3) Habibty
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4) Sabit (Thabt)
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5) Ana Ghalat we Inta Sah
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EXTRA MUSIC CORNER NEWS
So, if you read last month's Music Corner you will know that I, ZARA DANCE have my own Mahraganat song (actually several - yes l love it) written for me by the talented MOHUMED MSHEKEL ft YUSUF MAZZ IKA
I am so happy to update you that the song WON best original song in the Raqs Film Festival
We were/are all so honored!
THANK YOU
to everyone involved!
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Egyptian Dance Online Festival
17-18 July 2021 Japan Time Organized by Karima
More Info Here
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Looking Forward to 2022
Bellydancer of the Universe
Virtual Competition so, why not take a look here
and get planning your entry? There Are Great Prizes!
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A big THANK YOU to Michelle and Claudia for making this edition of Zameena such a great read and to You, our readers, for your support!
🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
from
Zara and Sandra
(Photo taken at Ain Sokhna last time mum visited Egypt)
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