Samia Gamal (سامية جمال)

Hello Dancers,

Today will just a really quick post because the week completely got away from me.

This is a beautiful oriental fantasy style clip featuring the legendary Egyptian belly dancer Samia Gamal (سامية جمال). The kind of thing you will only see in the glamorous world of the movie musicals.

Samia Gamal performing in the 1947 Egyptian film 'Habib Al Omr' (Love of My Life حبيب العمر) which starred Farid al Atrash, Lola Sedky, Hassan Fayek and Ismail Yassin.

The caption is courtesy of TheCaroVan, whose Vimeo channel I always encourage students to check out!

My schedule of virtual belly dance classes is up on my classes page and you can always contact me if you have any questions.

I’ll be back with more next week!

Dina (دينا)

Hello friends,

Tonight in class we are going to start working on a different kind of song. We’ve been working mainly with classic pieces over the last few months, and tonight we’ll move onto a Shaabi style song.

I had planned to have an explanation for you all about Shaabi music but, like everyone else, I have been overwhelmed by current events. I will get one together for next week.

In the meantime, I thought we could at least enjoy some Dina (دينا). Dina is the most important and influential Egyptian belly dancer of the modern era. Below are two clips of her dancing to the same song because it’s fun to see how she dances in the movie clip compared to how she dances to it at a party with a live audience.

Also - I LOVE her silver dress!

امينة بشويش عليا تسجيل محمد الرفاعى

Dina at a wedding party in Cairo. الراقصة دينا Amina- Da 3eno Meny 's choreography. دينا Bellydance in Cairo, Danse Orientale

I hope you enjoyed those.

My belly dance classes continue online through the South San Francisco Parks and Rec through the end of June. I am not sure what is happening after that but I will keep everyone posted as soon as I know.

In the meantime, it is not too late to join us for this online session. The South San Francisco Parks and Rec Department have made these classes available to the public for free, but you do need to preregister at their online catalog so they can send you a secure invitation to join. Enter code SP1-471 in the box under ‘Filter’ and our class will come up - it’s called ‘Virtual-Belly Dancing’.

You can always contact me with any questions!

Taheya Karioka (تحية كاريوكا‎)

Hello Dancers,

A little more classic glamour today to take our minds off more serious matters. Here are two lovely clips of the Egyptian dancer Taheya Karioka (تحية كاريوكا‎). I always learn something when I watch her, but sometimes it’s also lovely to just get lost in the music, costumes and overall beauty and not think too much for a bit.

These are both from wedding scenes but the costuming is quite different for each one. They are both just lovely.

تحية كاريوكا

This is Taheya Karioka in a wedding scene from the 1942 Egyptian film “Dreams of Youth” (أحلام الشباب Ahlam al Shabab). She plays the part of Bahia, a dancer who tries but fails to make Farid al Atrache fall in love with her, In this scene she’s hired unknowingly to dance at the wedding of Farid and Elham played by Madiha Yousri. Everything goes along fine until she realises who the groom is. The bride’s aunt is played by the wonderful Marie Munib who’s on the left of screen with the feather in her hair.

The caption above is courtesy of The CaroVan on Vimeo.

Online classes belly dance classes continue through the South San Francisco Parks and Rec Wednesdays at 7PM. The classes are free but you need to pre-register at their online catalog so they can send you a secure invitation. Please contact me if you have any questions!

Aziza - Naima Akef (نعيمة عاكف)

Hello Dancers,

I find great joy and comfort in watching old black and white movies - both American and Egyptian. I want to share this clip today because it features the song we are learning in our online belly dance class.

This is Naima Akef performing in a scene from the 1954 Egyptian movie “Aziza”. In this movie she plays dual roles as Aziza and also her younger sister. Emad Hamdi plays Hassan the policeman who has a soft spot for Aziza and also starring were Zeinat Sedki and Said Abou Bakr. Farid Shawki plays Khalil who becomes obsessed with Aziza. . Trivia: The movie was directed by Hussein Fawzi who was Naima Akef’s husband between1953-1958.

The song Aziza was originally composed by the great Egyptian composer Mohammed Adel Wahab. It is a belly dance classic here in the US as well, and almost every band you can dance with, at least in the Bay Area, can play this one so it is a good one to learn if you have dreams of performing live one day.

You will notice that the tempo of this version is faster than the version I am using in class. I feel like this is closer to how I hear it played by the bands.

I hope you enjoy it! The caption is courtesy of The Caro Van, an essential resource for any belly dance lover.

If you liked this post, please subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter for more. I never share your email address.

If you are interested in my online classes, please contact me for info.

A little bit more about Naima Akef here.

Lucy's Saidi Tableau

Last night in Intermediate we were dancing to a song that quoted a bit of Saidi music and we did a some Saidi-inspired movements. I told my students that I would play a clip of belly dance Saidi so they could see some of the things I was talking about.

Long-term readers may remember this clip because I’ve played it before. It’s a classic performance by of one of Egypt’s most famous and most beloved belly dancers, Lucy. I hope you enjoy it. I love everything about this.

Lucy and her orchestra with singer Raafat, at a party for actors .

I will share more Saidi clips next week as we will continue to work on this in class!

In the meantime, I also recommend this past post I wrote about the Egyptian belly dancer Lucy, which features more clips of her dancing in different styles. Her feeling and musical interpretation are so beautiful to watch.

Just a reminder that Carnival of Stars is right around the corner! Two days packed full of belly dance, with performances on two stages, live music, shopping and food. It’s a wonderful experience if you can make it. I am performing on Saturday, July 20th at 4:50 PM to live music on the Cafe Stage and again on Sunday, July 21st on the Main Stage at 1:20 PM. But you will see great performances any time you go. Be sure to get a program so you can know who is performing when. Let me know if you have any questions about this fantastic festival!

I look forward to seeing everyone next week!

xo Alisa