One of my all time favorite clips today. I love this song, and I love the way she dances to it, what more can I say?? I hope you enjoy it!
Wednesday Inspiration: Azza Sharif
Short and sweet today for this much-too-busy week. Azza Sharif is one of my absolute favorite dancers, and I wish there were more clips of her. But at least we can enjoy those we do have!!
Happy Dancing until next time, my friends.
xo Alisa Greer
Wednesday Inspiration: Dandash
For our Wednesday inspiration, a clip I have watched over and over of the beautiful Egyptian dancer Dandash. I love the subtlety of her movements, nothing big but everything oh-s o b e a u t i f u l !
Enjoy!
Alisa
Hind Rostum (هند رستم)
Lately I have been completely taken with the dancing of the beautiful Egyptian actress Hind Rostum (هند رستم).
She is not someone who dedicated her entire performance career to dance, but rather a highly accomplished screen actress who danced in many of her film roles. She played many different types of characters in her films, but there is a lot of dancing to enjoy throughout her career.
Ever curious for more information about her that I could understand (and by that I mean In English since my Arabic is not there yet!) I ordered this book I saw
This self-published effort is not a biography in the strictest sense. It is more like a fan magazine in book form. It contains a lot of photos of her, and though they are not of the highest quality they are still lovely. I don't know if I could come right out and recommend purchasing this book, but I can tell you that I have thoroughly enjoyed it and am glad to have it. It gives a nice overview of her films, and I will use that to look them up and watch them.
I also really enjoyed the little snippets of her interviews and the stories about her told by her cinema colleagues. One of the most interesting things I read was that she didn't actually like belly dancing and considered it, "against her taste and nature." I imagine this has mostly to do with the low status of belly dance and and belly dancers in Egypt.
I love her dancing. I think I am drawn to the simplicity of her movements, her musical interpretation, and they way her vivacious spirit and radiant joy absolutely shine through. I think she is wonderful inspiration and further proof that you do NOT have to be the best technician in the world to be a truly great belly dancer.
Enjoy the clips - and I highly recommend this DVD of her performances complied by Sausan (they are in alphabetical order so look for Hend).
xoAlisa Greer
Wednesday Inspiration: Modern Dina
Well, it has turned out to be a busier-than-expected week, but still it is so important to somehow make time for a little inspiration, right?
After vintage Dina last week, I thought we would go for some current Dina. This is from her TV show last year (I believe). She is dancing to the Oum Kulthoum classic Sirt El Hob and I love not only her movements but her emotional interpretation and her connection with the audience and their reaction to her. Even though she is up on a big stage, she has an intimate connection with her audience and it is so beautiful!
I will be back here next week, happy dancing until then!
xo Alisa