Ba Olek Eh - Amina's Daily Blog
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February 29, 2012
Wednesday
The youngest drummer
As usual it was freezing at Aswat practice. It
was interesting to watch everyone practice with hats, mufflers, gloves
and even lap robes. Faisal was wearing a knit cap and announced
that on his birthday this coming weekend he would start life fresh by
shaving his head and all facial hair except his eyebrows. I think he should
wait for warmer weather or maybe start using two knit caps.
We're practicing for our June concert and working on Abdel Wahab
songs. I thought I knew most of Abdel Wahab's songs but Aswat manages
to find a few obscure ones. At this point, I'm thinking, that's why they
are obscure ones. I might change my mind when we can play them better.
But, also we will be playing a some of my favorites such as "Bint
il Belad". The group has working on this song for a couple of
weeks now and it brings back many memories. Our (Susu's and my)
drum teacher George Dabai used to make us MEMORIZE all his favorite
Abdel Wahab, Om and Abdel Halim compositions. And to this
day, whenever we play certain songs, the hands go on automatic. Well,
"Bint il Belad" was one of these songs.
When Omar handed Susu sheet music for "Bint il Belad",
he was surprised when Susu told him she was quite familiar with the song.
Faisal started telling us a story of how in the "90's he was learning
the song with Kan Zaman, the Arabic Choir and Ensemble in southern
California and Jihad Racy from UCLA was teaching the song. Faisal
was pointing out various rhythm changes that he learned back then and
wanted to show them to Susu. Then Susu shyly said, "Well, when I
learned the song back in the '80's....."
It'll be fun celebrating Faisal's birthday reminding him that no matter
how old he is, he'll always be younger that the rest of us. Of course,
if we do the math right, that makes me the second youngest as I've become
younger than my kids.
El enab - saad
al soghayar
wa - and
bahebb - loves
fakha - fruit
moz - bananas
manga - mango
huwwa eh - what is it?
aainab -grapes
ahmar - red
asfar - yellow
zay - like
soghayar- small
loz - almonds
balah - dates Home
February 28, 2012
Tuesday
Making the rhythm and dance part of you depends on how you get out of
bed.
Tonight we danced to "Wahashtini" and
worked on samai, or rather, the 10/8 rhythm. The two have nothing in common
other than I played both in my class, but I realized that when using certain
songs or rhythms that I fall back on used combinations. No, not the same
combinations for both songs, just combinations in general.
Even though I don't believe I have ever performed to "Wahashtini"
I have certainly taught it and used it in class often enough. I'm sure
certain people in my classes can even go through the motions, the combinations
and the words/gestures automatically even before I do them. That's what
happens when one dances to the same song repeatedly. There may not be
a choreography, but it becomes one and only changes depending on how the
person got out of bed that morning.
I think my favorite part of "Wahashtini" is the sleepless nights
part...the romantic, sleepless in the night, talking to the night...the
stars...the moon...
I had a request to work on samai and that is a topic that I don't use
too much in class. But I should! We certainly use that rhythm and that
style of music to death in Aswat since it is considered to be classic.
I guess I don't use the samai that often in class because outside of "Lama
Bada Yetasana" there really isn't any good belly dance song with
that rhythm. I'm not saying that "Lama Bada" is a belly dance
song, but it certainly has appeared in numerous belly dance albums. I
know there are a few Oriental dance magensis that incorporate the 10/8
rhythm within a composition but usually only for a few measures. Well,
I guess it's time to teach to and use this rhythm and make it as familiar
to dance to as "Wahashtini" and hopefully as easy enough to
dance to that one doesn't always have to rely on counting while dancing.
I think I'll start immediately. Well, maybe next class - like on Thursday.
I can show example dance clips from the movie "Bamba Kashar"
and talk about the history of it all. It wasn't alway considered to be
such a "hoity toity" rhythm associated with the stiffness and
regalness of Feiruz when it was just a part of life like way back
when the dance clubs were happening on Mohamed Ali Street about
a hundred years or so ago.
Yes! New topic for my classes. New music to use - that is really really
old. This should be fun!
Wahashtini -
I miss you - Nur Mhana
adad, adi eh? - how much
nugum - stars , negm, s.
sama - sky, heaven
kalam -wordds
hawa - love, air
kul - all
youm - days
taala - come
helwa - beautiful
bukra - tomorrow
layali - my nights, i-my
ya - oh
amar, qamar - moon
sahar - sleepless night
ragaeen - we'll return, een=pl. Home
February 27, 2012
Monday
The grammar of it all.
Although I haven't been using the whiteboard as much as
I should, I think that everyone is getting used to listening for certain
words in the songs. I guess it's time to take down the "H" words
and put up another set of words.
Tonight in class I got a request to dance to "Baed Anak"
and to talk out the words while we danced. I think the words to this song
are really starting to sink in. But then, one of the reasons that people
like Om, besides her voice, the music and the lyrics, is that the words
used in the poetry is accessible. It really is the language of the people.
And it is becoming the language of my dance classes. The songs are slow
enough and enunciated well enough that we all can hear them. Also the
same words turn up in many of songs. Don't they say use a word 5 times
and it's yours for life? Well, if that is true for the "H" words
- Habibi, Hob, Habayna, Habeit, then it can be true for other words also.
Another good word to think about is the word wahed, wahedah, wahdy. It
can be a number - one - or it can mean being alone or it can be a rhythm.
And it's a very important rhythm. It's the timekeeper for a singer when
singing an epic long song and hitting the "one" every four counts
will keep the singer (and musicians) on track. Om uses this rhythm a lot
in her songs, but don't be fooled by the meter of the 4/4 in her wahedeh.
Sometimes she adjusts the meter to fit her needs and emotions and the
drummers, the timekeepers, need to adjust their internal clocks to fit
hers.
Wahedeh also can be used to wake up a song. There are plenty of songs
that just keep plugging along in a nice beledy/saidi or maqsoum type 4/4
tempo. The song just keeps going and there's no respite, no change, nothing
to make the melody interesting anymore and it's enough to make the audience
(and even the dancer, if there is one) go to sleep and then, bang!, or
maybe I should say DUM! there's the "one", the wahedeh and the
song becomes alive again and interesting and fun and even challenging.
It's 4/4 also, but it breaks the song and makes it special.
In dance class we used "Ganal Hawa" and saw how wahedeh
worked in the song and then later in drum class we used "Haramt Ahebak"
and got to practice the wahedeh over and over just when we least expected
it to appear.
One of the dancers mentioned that one of her favorite moves is the "pulse
stop" for the wahedeh. That's weird. She's right about it being a
nice move, but when one thinks of it, it's not a dance move at all; it's
just a physical stop, just like the DUM! Yes, sometimes those little unimportant
sounds. counts or moves can make or break a song. It's all about the punctuation.
Harramt ahebak, ahebak
- I give up loving you, loving you - Haifa Wehbe (Warda)
Mateheb neesh, don't you love me
ma + sh = negative
teheb - te=you, heb= love, nee=me
baed - away
albak - your heart, ak=you, m.
aieesh = life, live
we - and
shaghilny - bother me, preoccupy me
baad - after
oltoh - said
saybny - left me - ny=me
wahdy - alone, wahda - number one
west, wust,- middle
tareeh, tariq, - the way, the road
hayatak = your life, ak=you, m.
ayez = to want, m. aiza, want, f.
zekrayatak - your memories, ak-you, m. Home
February 26, 2012
Sunday
A dream
Husain thinks that
it's time for the Pasha Band to have a website. Well maybe it might
be nice to at least have business cards. Husain had a few, but ran out.
I guess we need to have a meeting and decide exactly what direction we
need to follow and find out exactly who is in the group. Husain wants
me to get something up on my website. I guess I can but we'll need graphics
of some sort. Photos? You Tube clips? Also we need to decide who is negotiating
what. Right now it's pretty Årabic in style. Meaning whatever happens,
happens. I think we need to be a little more organized. I'm starting to
realize this when finding out that I don't know who is handling what for
one of our next gigs. Meaning - who exactly is playing. The original members
are Husain, Jalal, Younes, Susu and me, but I am starting to wonder
if other people are in also. I guess it's time to organize another rehearsal.
But, in the meantime, members of the band will be playing again at Al
Masri in May. Last night Husain and I played with Mohamed Amin
at Al Masri. This is truly an experience worth witnessing. It's kind of
fun. Mohamed, with his keyboard, is the original one man band and Husain
and I were asked to be part of it. I kind of enjoyed playing along with
Mohamed's drum machine. There was no stress on me at all.. All I had to
do was play along to the rhythm that Mohamed had selected on his keyboard
and then I was free to improvise.
It was a little weird at first, but later, when I got the hang of it all,
I just did my own thing. I really wonder what it sounded like from the
audience point of view. Was it weird? Did I add anything or did it sound
messy? I really don't know. Being in the middle of it all I couldn't really
hear how it sounded. I like to think that I wasn't banging away for nothing,
but I don't know. I do know though, that at one point I think I was playing
a drum solo for one of the dancers and the drum machine was just providing
the ard sound. But, as I was in the middle of all of this, I don't know
what it sounded like from the audience or dancer's pov.
While playing I thought about what a neat thing Sausan has done
for herself, her students and for other dancers who choose to take advantage.
Here's her little Egyptian restaurant, Al Masri that is devoted to featuring
local dancers every Sunday evening with an even balance of dance students
and uninitiated diners enjoying all sizes, ages and levels of dance expertise
performing in a friendly setting. Sausan really sets out the welcome mat
for all dancers and makes it seem like a party with an all you can eat
buffet. I really enjoyed watching all the dancers this evening and especially
enjoyed knowing that someone out there, Sausan, has fulfilled hers and
a lot of dancers' dreams. That is that dream of owning your own club and
having musicians at your disposal to play for you. I know I always dreamt
of what a luxury that would be, but aside from having a few Giza
parties, for me, it's a dream that will continue to be a dream.
Bahlem
Beek - Abdel Halim Hafez
ahlem - dream
ana - I, me
kefaya - enough
layali - nights
hania - happiness
ya - oh
Habibi - my darling
emta - when
bahebbik - love you
wenta - we- and, enta - you, m.
hayati - my life, i-my
ebtisaam, smile
February 25, 2012
Saturday
Mayor Lee likes mansaf and Aswat
Tonight a few members of Aswat choir and ensemble played
at a community dinner at the SF Arab Cultural Center. Nabila told
us to be there are 6 for the dinner. We set up our chairs for performing
and when it seemed like there might be a wait before performing we found
a private room and decided to figure out what we would be playing. We
saw many important members of the Arab community as well as several San
Francisco political members including Mayor Ed Lee and his wife.
They came early and seemed to mingle easily and freely with people like
the priest from St. Nicholas Church, Renda Dabit of Henna Garden,
members of the Arab Film Festival, Zawaya and even Said
the former owner of Casa Hookah and the Excelsior where
the Aswans used to perform.
This is from SF's Arab month celebration. I'm sitting behind woman in blue.
This community dinner was to be sit-down affair and while we were downstairs
practicing, the Arab Cultural Center chose to set up even more tables
including the most important one for Mayor Lee. Well this table was set
up against our musicians' chairs leaving no room for us to sit or even
stand. So we decided to just enjoy ourselves and eat.
I can't even begin to describe this meal. It wasn't your typical hommous,
falafel event or even the Mediterranee' fare of pomegranate chicken
and Moroccan bistillah. This time the the ACC went all out and produced
Jordan's National dish of mansaf with all the accompanying dishes. This
was great and pleasantly special but also horribly messy. It was no wonder
that this was to be a sit-down affair. It would be a next to impossible
feat to eat this standing up. This national dish is meant to be eaten
without utensils. This is really what's known as finger-licking good.
Mansaf is a dish of chunks of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried
yoghurt and served with rice with almonds and pine nuts. It takes hours
to prepare this dish and eating this dish is really messy. It's really
good but messy and all the other accompanying dishes that were offered
were equally messy and yummy. I hope Mayor Lee enjoyed his meal and had
fun trying to eat it. I felt sorry for the poor people who had to stand
up and balance all these creamy foods with one hand, while trying to negotiate
lamb bones with the other.
After eating we worked out our set list and Sandy and I decided
we would decide on the spot who would play drum for which song. I know
that doesn't sound very professional but we couldn't decide who knew which
song better or should I say, worse. It didn't help with Omar our
director sitting next to us blurting out drum stops so far ahead of time
that they had no bearing to what was being played. After the first time
I stopped when he told me to stop and I realized that his instructions
were phrases premature, I then just decided to just ignore him and listen
to the music and my own head. That was a much better cue.
When it was time for us to play our Mayor had to stand up to make way
for the musicians so to appease him they set him down front and center
facing a chair hold a large tray of Arabic desserts. And then the fun
began. I don't think I have ever seen so many people at an ACC house party
event before and I was sure glad that I had a prime seat. We musicians
were so squashed we barely had room to move. I was sandwiched between
Omar's elbow and Sandy's duf but at least I had a chair. We were pleasantly
surprised that our honored guest stayed for the duration and seemed to
be enjoying himself with his wife taking photos with her phone. This is
sure a change from all the other mayors we/I have performed for. They
usually come at a set time - stopping whatever entertainment is happening
at the moment, stand up with a few "bodyguards" or other personnel,
give a 2 minute speech and then leave, going off to another see and be
seen event.
For this event, they chose to dress normal - not like this.
p.s. Of course Husain played Kulu aala kulu as an encore
for all who chose to listen.
Kitab Hayati ya ain
- Hasan al Asmar
kitab - book
Hayati - my life, i-my
ya - oh
ain - eye
shuft - saw
zay - like
we - and
kolloh - all
azab - tragedy, torture
hebr - ink
damae - tears
min zaman - from the past
lama - when
February 24, 2012
Friday
Be my witness - Misery loves company.
Today was spent trying to get caught on up various projects
especially the one with Debbie. Am still working on choosing and
finalizing the songs and videos for our Wahda we Nuss workshop in
March. Debbie and I have so far managed to coordinate most of it by email
and a few phone calls. Am starting to get pretty excited about it especially
since now I've chosen my final final song. I had chosen an Abdel Halim
song - I do like Abdel Halim, but after using some of his songs in
class, I decided that his songs for the most part are pretty simple or
maybe just a bit overused. I guess everyone likes Abdel Halim too, and
I wanted to use something a little less common. So I finally chose a Faiza
Ahmed song. She really had been my first contender, but I hadn't decided
on a particular song. I should always just go with my first choice even
though there was no particular song in mind. Now that I wasted a lot of
time going back and forth between singers and finally choosing the original
singer, I can get down to business.
I'm glad I finally decided on a Faiza Ahmed song. Her husband Mohamed
Sultan composed a lot of her music. Mohamad Sultan chose new sounds
and when he composed "Khaliko Shahdin" for her, he chose
to include the untraditional sounds of Omar Khorshid's electric
guitar and Samir Srour's saxophone. These were the same new sounds
and musicians who also played the controversial new sounds and songs for
Abdel Halim and Om Kalthoum during this time.
Mohamed Sultan is well known for composing music for dancers such as Dina
and Nagwa Fouad (think Sett el Hosn) and his music is very
upbeat and danceable.
I will be teaching to his song "Khaliko Shahdin" (be my witness)
written for Faiza. Even though it is probably a really sad song, I find
it very danceable. ("We Arabs are so happy when we're miserable.")
I'll see some of you at the workshop and we can be miserable together.
Happy to be miserable.
I remember the first time I heard this song. It was sung as a cover by
Nawal Zoughby and I just fell in love with it wanting to dance
to it immediately. I remember choosing to dance to it for several important
dance events including a show that included Nadia Hamdi. At another
dance event, I discovered that both Shareen el Safy and I had chosen
to dance to this same song. That was when I discovered that Georges
Lammam also liked the song. I won't even bother to tell you who was
polite enough to step aside and not dance to the song. But now, you can
be my witness and see me dance on March 11 at Pena Pachamama. I'll
be wearing my two "Forever 21" dresses.
Now it's just a matter of compiling the material and making a copy of
the songs for Susu and Georges since they will be teaching the
music and rhythms section of the workshop.
Khalikou
Shahdeen - Faiza Ahmed (Be my witness)
Habayb - loved one, beloved
aarfeen - they know, araf, to know
dol - them
maa - with
min - from
astana - wait
ana - I, me
ya reet- I wish, hope
omri -- my life, i-my
ayza - I want, f.
February 23, 2012
Thursday
Let the music talk.
I don't know if my vocabulary words are doing any good.
Tonight I played "Alf Leila wa Leila" and someone
asked what leila meant. I couldn't believe my ears. I thought I had posted
that word in several vocabulary lists and also verbally translated that
word in class every time I used that song - which is VERY often.
So I guess I will need to just keep listing the same words and keep repeating
the word(s) in class. I guess I'm not really teaching performance class
for int/adv, I'm teaching remedial level. I've been remiss in using the
whiteboard for new vocabulary words and making people look at it. I still
have the whiteboard listing all the "H" words. That is the Hubb/Hobb
words. The words related to love.
I know that people sign up for dance class, not Arabic class, but there
really are certain words that appear and reappear song after song. Maybe
50 vocabulary words is all I'm thinking of. With those 50 vocabulary words
enhancing the dance vocabulary and with a little basic musical interpretation
all would be so fantastic. It would be the difference between someone
doing a meaningful dance and a boring empty one. I've just got to be more
consistent in using words and in reading the translations of the songs
and making everyone pay attention and listen to me. Sometimes I think
they just come to socialize rather than learn. I guess that's OK too -
if that's what they want, but I want them to know how to dance to the
music.
Tonight we worked on Oriental dance openings. I don't teach the Oriental
openings that often because I personally don't like dancing to them. But
- this is something that all dancers need to know and need to be able
to dance to well. At some point we all have to dance to these mergence's
- like it or not.
I am trying to encourage more power and attitude in the dance especially
when dancing to the mergence'. I'm also trying to make everyone more aware
and sensitive to the musical and instrumental changes. This calls for
hearing music and instrumental subtleties and knowing its accompanying
dance vocabulary. Here we are talking about hearing music changes - not
words. And there is a vocabulary for that.
I remember when Hossam Ramzy came to San Francisco and taught
a dance workshop. People complained. "He's not a dancer, he's a drummer".
So true, but if one listened to the music the same way a musician or a
drummer did they would become better dancers. Hearing the music and letting
it talk to you and tell you what to do is far superior than taking dance
class. Uh oh, I guess I've just talked my way out of dance students. But
it's true. You can learn more about this dance by letting the music talk
to you than by taking yet another dance class. Of course, this is with
the understanding that you already have learned basic poise, turns, and
a few steps.
I think I'd better stop while I'm ahead. I don't know if my rambling is
making any sense. But I hope so. Listen to the music. Let it talk to you.
Habibi Ya Aini
- Maya Yazbeck
Habibi - my darling, i=my
ya - oh
aini - my eye, i=my
leili - my night, i-my
yam sahar - stay awake (thinking of you)
ainak - your eye - ak=you, m.
wel - we el - and the
helu - beauty
rouh - soul
yalla - come on
neir'os - ra's (raqs)=dance, nei-we, us
ghanee - sing
tabelli - play (the drum)
shwaya - a little
entee - you, f.
mazeeka - music Home
February 22, 2012
Wednesday
Drumming
I only missed one practice and found that Aswat
has been pretty busy scheduling new events and classes. Omar
had been teaching a maqam class on Thursday evenings and because I teach
on Thursdays I could never make it. Nabila told me I was missing
out and when I explained I worked on Thursdays, miraculously Omar will
be repeating the same class on Sundays after our practice. I know that
he isn't doing this just for me, but I think I will think that I am special.
We also have a few extra performances and the first extra performance will be this Saturday evening at the Arab Cultural Center. Sandy and I will drum and I hope it won't be a case of the blind leading the blind but rather, if one is good, then two are better. We'll see. Omar told us it would be easy but as of now we don't even know what we'll be playing. Of course, this is Arab style. We might find out just before we hit that first dum.
Since heat rises and I guess everyone complained, we got to practice on
the third floor rather than the first floor. This was so much better.
Everyone had come prepared with woolen caps, mufflers, mittens, boots
and heavy jackets and then we all had to strip. Susu came to practice
this time and so the percussion section was only missing Faisal who was
home sick. I really enjoy the Wednesday night practices better than Sundays
because we get to work on our instrumental pieces in depth rather than
just be back-up for the singers. Each concert seems to have a defined
theme and this June concert seems like the theme will be old classic music
- so old that it is Turkish. I guess that's good, as a lot of the Arabic
music came from the Turks but I wonder how much of this theme was influenced
by our new Turkish musician, Jalal? And he doesn't even come on
Wednesdays as that's his night to play "indoor" soccer. I guess
we all have our priorities.
Susu is planning on recording a new CD and now that she has finished her
major project of her Moroccan suite in her house, this will be her obsession.
I feel honored that she asked me to help her organize her thoughts, so
I will be busy listening to various drum CDs thinking about what I, as
a dancer, like and what doesn't work for me. It's really pretty interesting
to be around talented people when they are in that creating mode and I
always wish that some of it will rub off. Hopefully this will be the case.
ana mush arefni
- Abdel Basit Hamouda
ana - I
mush - negative
arefni - know myself - ni-myself
kunt - past tense of is
la - no
dee - this, f.
we - and
shakly - my face - y=my
da - this, m.
abuS - look
roHi - my soul, i=my
faga - suddenly
damae - tears
ooli - tell me, i=me
la'et - found
maraet - mirror Home
February 21, 2012
Tuesday
Door to Door Service
Last night when I got home I found my carry-on suitcase
waiting for me. Hana and Kim had left Long Beach and BDUC
Sunday evening and Hana had dropped off my suitcase on her way home from
work on Monday. Hana had to drive back in the night because she had to
work on Monday. Monday, President's Day, used to be an official federal
holiday. Before there used to be two national holidays in February, Lincoln's
birthday and Washington's birthday. Then they combined it to be just one
national holiday - President's day. Now I guess President's aren't so
important, so they are giving other holidays more importance and Martin
Luther King day on the third Monday of January has become a federal national
holiday. Finally civil rights has officially become more important than
cherry pie and "I cannot tell a lie".
Tonight it was class as usual and Aswan practice as usual. One
of the groups at BDUC performed to a portion of "Tabel ya Issam".
Years ago the Aswans had a choreography to this song and periodically
we practice it trying to remember little sections. We've finally given
up and tonight decided that the song really is cute and we should just
start all over again. Collective memory has turned into collective forgetfulness.
I think I need to start documenting some of our dances better so we don't
have to work so hard in remembering them. I bought a new Hakim
CD in Long Beach and soon we will have to start remembering new dances
also. As soon as I can get it together to make something up for us to
forget to remember or remember to forget.
At the garment district I bought interesting fabric for new Aswan costumes
and hopefully we'll have new costumes and dances ready for our summer
season. In the meantime I'll play my new Hakim
CD for inspiration.
Efred - Hakim
leh - why wa - and
enta - you, m.
al - the
efred - suppose
masalan - for instance
youm - a day
noum - sleep
fi - from
hobbak - loving you - ak-you, m.
kul hagga - everything - kul - all, hagga - thing
kalam - talk Home
February 20, 2012
Monday
Marmalade
Every year Carl and MaShuqa drive to
BDUC from Los Gatos and every year we plan to hang out at BDUC
and it hardly ever happens. This year I planned ahead and we managed to
meet for breakfast to debrief. It was interesting to compare notes with
each other about dance, music and costume trends over eggs and muffins
and the general consensus was we all liked orange marmalade over the grape
jelly.
They dropped me off at the airport on their way home - they were driving
and I was eager to finish my airport book. I love action and disaster
movies and books and this fit the bill. "The Wrecker"
is all about sabotage, explosions and train wrecks and it's completely
exciting and mindless except for the "who dunnit" element that
makes me think.
Aside from a few you tube clips I traded with Debbie - we're still
working on our music and video presentation for our workshop - I got to
get completely immersed in train wrecks and other catastrophes.
When I arrived at SFO and turned on my phone there was a new email waiting
for me. It was from MaShuqa. She and Carl had already gotten home and
were already getting down to the business of sending and returning emails.
What does this tell me? Either I take really slow airplanes - as slow
as I drive - so maybe I should take the train next time, it might be more
exciting and eventful - or all these people, Carl, MaShuqa, Kim, Hana,
etc. drive really fast cars.
Zahma ya Dunya Zahma,
Ahmed Adaweya
zaHma - crowded
dunya - world
al - the
Habayeb - lovers
moulid - prophet or saint's day festival
agee - I come
min - from
hena - here
we - and
ana - I
fi - in
wust - middle - wust el belad, downtown
aiyez - he wants, aiz - I want, m. , aiza - I want, f. Home
February 19, 2012
Sunday
BDUC
Thanks to the scheduling, I got to sleep in today.
Didn't have to check in at BDUC until noon. Thank you, Atlantis!
It was nice to spend some time being lazy and getting caught up on my
emails. Got one from Keti about a documentary film on Farida
Fahmy and Mahmoud Reda and with the power of my little iphone
that Lynette of gildedserpent.com ordered for me when we
were at BDUC last year exactly one year ago today, I was able to purchase
the film and get a response that it's on the way. This should be a good
film for a Giza Club event. I also was able to get updates from
Debbie about our upcoming workshop in March. We are figuring out our
video portion and emailing our ideas of what you tube clips we might show.
Also, a couple of people contacted me about the workshop and I was able
to immediately respond. I never thought I'd be using my phone for all
my business, but I am and it's so much more efficient than my own computer
that is so old.
I taught my "How to Dance to Om Kalthoum" class and managed
to keep it on schedule. But - I sure wished it could have been a two hour
class rather than an hour class. I chose to talk about Om and music and
give a good background that I thought was more important than teaching
a choreography that might get forgotten anyway. But I did manage to teach
a choreography and also the dancing to the lyrics section. Although there
just wasn't enough time to do anything justice, I hope that it sparked
their interest to do more research on their own. I told them all to email
me with questions if they had any. I hope they do. It was nice to see
that a couple of people who had taken my shaabi workshop last year were
back for the Om class.
Immediately after that I started the judging process and had my requisite
breakfast of little chocolates. During the break Leila and I went
out for coffee and more chocolate and finally got to really catch up on
our lives since I saw her last year. She brought me a little souvenir
of Cairo - a couple of "tuk tuk" CDs. This is shaabi music that
she got off "tuk tuk" drivers in Cairo just for me. I couldn't
believe she did that. I had thought about asking her for some shaabi music
but thought better of it thinking that would be too tacky of me. Well,
God must have heard me and talked to her and now here I am with new shaabi
music and anxious to get home to play it. Thank you Leila!
After the competitions were over - you can see the winners on the BDUC
site - it was time for fun. Feel free to email me questions about the
winners if you wish. But for me the highlight of my evening was the drum
solo by Amir Sofi
that Sadie and her class performed. Sadie is hot and Amir is hotter
and the two together really made an electrifying duet. Of course the all
the dancers were good but my eyes were glued to Amir's back-up percussionist
TJ hoping to learn new tricks. And I figured it out! I think the
trick is to be a good percussionist. If that's a god-given talent, then
I'm ready to find religion.
al abed wel shaytaan
- Mohamed el Husseiny
al - the
abed - slave (abdullah - slave of god)
we - and
shaytaan -devil
awel - first
aweleh - priority
gharam - love
bismillah - in the name of god
bedeit - started
beghan - to sing
azeem - greatest
waraya - to show
dunya - world
neseit - forgot
kaman - also
fi - in Home
Contact us
December Blogs: Arabian Knights Band, Lebanese dancers Nadia Gamal, Amani, Nabila Metwalli, Zar, Mohamed Fawzi, Ismail Yasin, Taheyya Karioka, Leila Murad, Sabah, Badia Masabni, Shadia, Adriana, Dina, Do'a, Fifi, Lucy, Angelica's Bistro, Sabriye Tekbilek, "At Night they dance", Husain Resan, Ahmed Adaweya, Jalal Takeh, Younes el Maqboul, Susu Pampanin, Faisal Zeidan, Sami Aly, Abdel Basit Hamouda, Kulu aal Kulu, Samiramis, Naz Minassian, Zildjians, Georges Lammam, Bagdad, Casbah, Al Masri, SFSU, Pasha, Soheir Zaki, Hossam Ramzy, Capp Street Music Cener, Hoda el Artiste, Jad Elias, Cairo Cats, Daria, Gregangelo, Dalal, El Valenciano, Soraiya Zaied, Mohamed Abdel Wehab, Ya Msafer Wahedek, Om Kalthoum, Pachamama, Pak Oriental Rugs, SOMA, MCCLA, Tarabiya, Dance Brigade, Brava Theater, York Theater, Tony Lammam, Dannhae, Kim, Hana, ART, Grapeleaf, Powell Station, King Tut, Ramadan, Sherihan, Mohamed Ali Street, Fawazeer, Sharia al Fan, Omar Khorshid, Firsan al Kurdi, Michael Jackson, Reda Darwish, MultiKulti, Sausan, Mohamed Amin, Nieman Marcus, Saks, Designer Consigner, PETA, Shik Shak Shok, Lessa Faker, Nagwa Fouad, Merryland, Seahorse, Rebecca, Sherry Brier, Arab Cultural Center, Elias Lammam, Linda,Walgreen's, Angela Ramzy, Arab Film Festival, Khader Keileh, Vince Delgado,Coralee, Shaabi, Andak Albi, Nass el Ghiwane, Gnawa, Djemaa el Fna, Rolling Stones, Sufi, Karim Nagi, Debbie Smith, raqs Egypt, BDUC, Chakib, Rachid Halihal, Deborah Kapchan, Rai, Maha Marouan, University of Alabama, lila, Museum of the African Diaspora, Michael Frishkopf, "Music and Media in the Arab World, "Traveling Spirit Masters", Mitchell's Ice Cream, Blum's, Atlantis, "Wahedeh we Noss" , Aswan Dancers
November Blogs: Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Saad el Soghayar, El Einab, Sittu Bess Basbusa, Ahmed Adaweya, Shokolata, Sami Ali, Mahalabeya, Hakim, Khokha, Riko, Koskosi, Essam Shabula, Koshary, Barur, Eshta, Said el Artiste, Khamra ya 'uta, Vitaminak, Hari Kari, Manga, El Hantour, Dinga, Giza Films, Gregory Burke, Jannah,Stasha, Karim Nagi, Susu Pampanin, King Tut, Sphinx, Yousef Mustapha, Hallah Safi, Hanan, Zizi Mustafa, Bagdad, Om Kalthoum, George Dabai, Hobi Eh, Lemby, Mohamed Saad, Fadil Shaker, George Wasoof, Nur Mhana, Nancy Ajram, Georges Lammam, Khader Keileh, Husain Resan, Gabriel Navia, Hala, Aisha Ali, Debbie Smith,Ghawazee, Rose, Pachamama, Mohamed Ali, Nicteha, Nicole, Rahda, Reabecca, Kim, Hana, Judi, Sausan, Giza Club, Terri Anne, "Rakasa", Sameh Abdl Aziz, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Tarabiya, raqs Egypt, Randa, Dina, National Geographic, Banat Maazin, Aswan Dancers, Aswat, Fort Mason, North Beach, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Aziza, Amira Restaurant, Enta Omri, Fantasy Nahawand, "The White Rose", "Wheat Song", "Satin Rouge", Zikr, Zar, Aswat, Arcane Dimension, Pepper Alexandria, The Ghawazee Gazette, Carnival of Stars, Sahara Sands, Cory Zamora, Mahsati, Susu Pampanin, Yousef Koyoumjian, Fatma Akef, Elena Lentini, Atlantis Long, Shu Shu Amin, Seahorse, Al Masri, Sinda, Rhea, Rana, Dr. Sary Dowidar, "Zahma dunya Zahma", Jesus, Tarabiya, Shaykh Sayed Makawi, Ya Msarahni, Koran, Sex Pistols, Frank Sinatra, Reda Darwish, Azza Sharif, Casino Opera, Badi Masabni, Farid el Atrache, Mohammed Abdel Mottaleb, Mohamed Fawzi, Taheyya karioka, Samia Gamal, Katie, Hoda Shamsadine, Naima Akef, Beba Ezzadine, Ibrahim Akef, Jodette, Kamellia, Busby Berkley, "Raqs el Hawanim", Kristo Klaadex, Naguib el Rihani, Sayed Darwish, S.K.Thoth, Nadia Hamdi, Najib Bahri, Basem Yazbeck, Katherine Dunham, Zack Thompson, Jimbo's Bob City, Perez Prado, "Drums on Fire", "Caravan", Art Blakey, Ahmed Khalil, "Kabareh", Samiramis, Nabila Mango, ICCNC, "Zikrayati", Hilda's, Mohamed el Qasbji, "Wedad", "I Loved you for your voice", Ahmad Rami, Glen Miller, Dexter Gordon, Elvis, Frankie Lymon, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Janis Jopliln, Sid Vicious, Selim Najib, Guitar Center, Marriott Santa Clara, "Du'ul Mazaher", Hamza el Din, Feiruz, "Arjii ya alf leila", "lamma bada yetathana", Mary Ellen Donald, Mahmoud Reda
October Blogs:Arab Film Festival, "Hawi", Mohamed Ali, Karim Nagi, "Hobi Eh", "Ghanilli Shwaya Shway", George Wasoof, Farma Sirhan, Om Kalsoum, Ibrahim el Batout, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Dannhae, Hana, Fairmont Hotel, Faisal Zeidan, Jalal Takesh, Husain Resan, Younes el Maqboul, Abdel Halim Hafez, Mohamed Abdel Wehab, Nadia Hamdi, Marcela, "Fakkarooni", Abdel Wehab Mohamed, Raqs Egypt, Georges Lammam, Steve Jobs, Debbie Smith, Khader Keileh, Skyline College, Vince Delgado, Coralie, Loay Dahbour, Ozlem, Real Doner, Susu Pampanin, Georges and Tony Lammam, Leyla Lanty, Carnival of Star, Mahmoud Reda, Nabila Mango, SF City Hall, Hassania, Skyline College, "Ana Hurrah", Kan Zaman, Aswat, DJ Raffy, Mina House, Nadia Lutfi, "Abi foq il shagara", "Ganal Hawa", Nicole Ibrahim, Kim, Al Masri, Sausan, Bagdad, Aswan Dancers, Firqet Aswan, Devi Ja, Aswan Cultural Center, Jazayer, Mimi Spencer, "Lailet Hob", "Alf Leila wa Leila", Gawaher al Fan, Ahmad Rami, Tarabiya, "Zahma Dunya Zahma", "Du'ul Mazaher", Mahmoud el Leithy, "Eh il Hakaya", ART, "Mass Culture and Modernism in Egypt", Ahmed Adaweya, Michael Jackson, Cassanova, Travolta, Pasha Restaurant, Arabian Knights, Jacques al Asmar, Reda Darwish, El Valenciano, Cairo Cats, George Dabai, Fadil Shahin, Yousef Kouyoumjian, The Farm, Sir Lawrence Washington, Tropical Heat Wave, Tropical Outer Space, Sunset Scavengers, Carnaval, El Faro Taqueria, Marlene, Cole Valley Gym, Karem Mahmoud, Adela Chu, Tower Market, "Habibi Lasmar", Fee Youm we Leila", Hossam Ramzy, Chalo Eduardo, Jacque Barnes, Jose Lorenzo, Laura, Amr Diab, "Habibi Nur el Ain", Aisha Ali, "Procrastination", Zawaya, Omar Abbad, Curves, Hakim, Saad el Soghayer, Edwina aka Qamar el Moulouk, Habibi, Santa Fe Folklore Museum, SF Free Folk Festival, SF City Hall, Mayor Ed Lee, "Ya Zalemni", Riad al Sombati, "Salama", Munira al Mahdiya, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Dancing Drums - Live at the Giza Club, Sahar Hamdi, "Daret el Ayam", Samir Sumaidaiie Iraqi Ambassador, "Secret Ballot", gildedserpent.com, Faruk Sarsa, Naemet