Egyptian percussionist, musician and dancer Karim Nagi has posted this great clip of a lecture he gave from a panel discussion in the Diwan 2009 conference at the Arab American National Museum in Deerborn Michigan, USA. Karim discusses the Americanization of Arab dance in America, and how Arabs can reintegrate into the development of their own art forms.
This is an articulate and intelligent presentation of the issues around how dance originating from the Arab world has often been portrayed and mistranslated in the West and how important it is both for non-Arabs to understand properly the culture, form and origin behind Arabic dance and for Arabs themselves to embrace their own cultural wealth of dance.
I think this video is a must see for any Egyptian or Raqs Sharqi style dancer and for those with an interest in Arab culture.
www.habibadance.com
