Autumn 2010 - new term of weekly classes in the Dances of Egypt

I'm really pleased to announce a new term of weekly classes in the Dances of Egypt at the Salisbury Centre, Edinburgh.  

You will discover a beautiful, earthy and expressive form of Egyptian Dance.  Raqs Sharqi, meaning “Dance of the East” is a blend of folk tradition and contemporary interpretation.   You will experience the broad variety of music and dance associated with this beautiful form, from the Sha’abi folk dances of the South of Egypt, to the Baladi of Cairo. 

Classes are Open level.  We welcome both Beginners with little or no dance experience and Improvers who already have experience or knowledge of either Egyptian Dance or styles of belly dance. 

Please wear clothes that allow you to move freely and if you want you can tie a scarf around your hips.  We also dance in bare feet, although soft soled dance shoes are OK.   

Here are all the details. 
Thursday nights 7:30-8:45pm
Classes start on 30 September and will run until 16 December
This is a 12 week term with no break
Cost is £72 (or £60 for concessions)
Open level
 
In a class we start with a warm up and then explore the technique and music associated with a particular style of Egyptian Dance.  We then use the technique we have learnt to dance together a short piece in this style.  We end each class with a cool down with some gentle stretching.  The length of each class is an hour and a quarter so that we have time to cover all of this.

I've had some really positive feedback about my classes and teaching style, and you can read some testimonials on my website. 

Bookings
To book, visit the Salisbury Centre website where you can pay using PayPal.
You can also make your booking by contacting the Salisbury Centre:
2 Salisbury Road, Edinburgh, EH16 5AB
Telephone: 0131 667 5438
email: office@salisburycentre.orgBookings should be open within the next few days. 

The Salisbury Centre
The Centre is the longest established holistic education centre in Edinburgh.  It is based in a Georgian House in the Southside of Edinburgh and set within beautiful organic gardens.   Here is the streetview.  The studio is in fact an amazing first floor drawing room, with a clean floor and beautiful views.  If you haven't been there before, I would thoroughly recommend going along to visit the Centre.  You can sit in the garden, help yourself to tea and coffee, and explore the range of things on offer including meditation, yoga, pottery, therapies and treatments, and a whole range of different classes and workshops.

Workshops

If you can't make the weekly classes, or if you are already at an Intermediate or Advanced level, then you might be interested in coming to the next Habiba Dance workshop.  The next workshop will be in the Sha'abi Rural Folkdance style on 23 October, from 1:30-3:30, also at the Salisbury Centre.

www.habibadance.com

Classical Music for Egyptian Dance

Some of my students have been asking about which CDs I use in class and where to buy music.

So this blog entry is simply to highlight a handful of my favourite CDs focusing here on Classical Egyptian music, together with some handy links to where you might be able to purchase them from.  I've picked Classical for this blog as I recently used some of the tracks from these albums in my Golden Age workshop.

One of my all time Classical favourites is the "Layali El Sharq Ensemble Live, Classical Egyptian Music for Raqs Sharqi".

This double CD consists of live recordings from the 1980s of the Layali El Sharq Ensemble, a group of Egyptian musicians based in London and brought together by producer Jennifer Carmen, to tour with Egyptian dancer Suraya Hilal.  There are a beautiful selection of tracks to listen or perform to including beautiful songs like Raqs El Gamal, Tamra Henna, compositions by Mohammed Abdul Wahab, Farid El Atrash, and the Rahbani brothers, as well as taqsims and tabla solos. 

I find that the beauty of these recordings is in the balance between the different musicians.  This results in a production so very different from the more modern CDs made for Egyptian dancers which I find to often be overly dominated by percussion and keyboard.  There is simply space to hear the purer melodies of classical instruments like Violin, Qanun, Nai to be heard.

You can order this CD direct from Layali El Sharq Music.  You can also buy this from the Raqs Sharqi Society. 

Another CD I use, which contains live recordings of Classical pieces is called "Jewels".

These tracks are also taken from productions of Suraya Hilal's work, although a slightly later period than the Layali El Sharq album.  And, although there are a number tracks in common for both CDs I consider this to also be a worthy addition to the collection as I find the recordings to be slightly better quality.  You can order this CD from Tanz Raum. 

Hossam Ramzy has also produced some classical CDs.  The version of the song "Aziza" which I used in my workshop comes from the CD "Best of Mohammed Abdul Wahab".

This is a useful CD for some timeless popular tracks which are a good length for performance.  This can be purchased direct from the Hossam Ramzy online store and should be widely available from a number of other UK stockists, including as part of a double CD with the Best of Om Kolthoum, available from Aladdin's Cave.  

Finally, one of my brand new purchases is a live recording from a concert and Dance performance in Paris by Raqs Sharqi dancers Anne Benveniste and Lillian Malki - un "hommage à Mohamed Abdel Wahab".

This is a box set containing a DVD and CD.  I have listened to the CD over and over as it contains some beautiful versions of a number of classic tracks like Enta Omri and We Daret al Ayam.  This production is available to purchase direct from Anne, although I bought my copy from the Raqs Sharqi Society. 

Happy listening!

www.habibadance.com