The guest’s are welcomed with a traditional Romanian drink prepared especially for the cold season – a shot of Romanian “water of fire” boiled with pepper will increase the interest in the delicious mouth-watering traditional dishes prepared for the Halloween party. The Master of Ceremony, one of Dracula’s many subjects, will introduce the guests to the programme of the evening making sure every one will meet his fate!

The first event you’ll enjoy is performed by the Transylvanian Knights. The “Witch Trial” will reveal the medieval rituals of judgment for a witch testing the courage of the guests. Should anyone dare to handle the sword and fight along with the knights to save the damned woman, will be anointed as a knight.

There can be no Halloween Party without Dracula; the Count will simply not tolerate such a thing! His majesty will join you and even make a few confessions about his wedding. “Dracula’s Wedding” is a show set on stage by a professional band of actors. This is a non verbal performance. It’s very easy to understand that Dracula did not need words to charm a girl. The first time they met he appeared as a respectable noble, the second meeting revealed his true dark nature… Find out if the story has a happy ending.

Since we’re all very familiar with dramas, we’ll then focus on having a fabulous time, and water better way to do this than dancing! A band of folk singers performing live at traditional Romanian instruments will introduce the guests to the gypsy rhythm as well as the melodious and cheerful Romanian songs. The traditional “Scarf dance” will bring everyone to the dancing floor!

Close to midnight will all step out to watch the moon and count down the minutes to 12 o’clock, a time of powerful magic when all bad wishes come true! (let’s just say that your neighbours’ cat won’t bother you anymore). A glass of champagne and the traditional Rest in Peace song will delight us afterwards.

The culinary event of the evening is the Halloween cake, shaped as a coffin and delicious as fresh blood. This might just be the first coffin you have tried and you will like it!

The Count’s witch will be at your disposal. She’ll open her office for you to be able to purchase After Life Insurances (something will know for sure you will use!)

The Master of Ceremony will reword the ones who really did their best for the Halloween Costumes! The Best Female and Male Costumes will receive awards (Romanian genuine handcrafts to remember you of this incredible night). The Count has also a gift prepared for the Best Howl at the Moon (after a glass of strong red wine boiled with cinnamon you won’t lack courage or strength!)

The DJ will then take over the party! Devilish dancing to the dawn. The last person standing will receive a bottle of wine courtesy of the house and Romanian tips on how to handle the hang over.

The prestigious Fodor’s travel guide placed Halloween in Transylvania with Vlad the Impaler in Top ten must-do adventures.

Departing from Budapest on October the 27th 2008, Halloween in Transylvania with Vlad the Impaler offers a 10 day trip back in time, following Jonathan Harker’s footsteps but revealing the genuine historical facts and places related to Vlad the Impaler.

The tour is intended to Halloween enthusiasts, Transylvanian lovers, culture and history fans or adventure seekers.

It includes the unique medieval citadel of Sighisoara – Vlad the Impaler’s birth place, the Saxon city of Brasov, Bistrita Citadel, the royal Peles Castle, the mysterious Bran Castle as well as Dracula’s Castle in Borgo Pass, built according to Bram Stocker’s imagination. In addition, the special activities prepared, all along the itinerary, bring out the essence of the genuine Transylvanian Folklore.

Special events experienced in this Halloween tour:

· Killing of the Living Dead ritual – Help a haunted spirit to gain his peace

· Learn how to make a vampire killing stake from the Vampire Wooden Stake Specialist, a famous woodcraftsman from Maramures

· Visit legendary castles in Transylvania with plenty of good stories for a Halloween tour: Bran, Peles, Corvinesti and Savarsin Castles

· Halloween Party in Sighisoara – Dracula’s birth place

· Special accommodations, the finest selections of “Dracula Hotels” including Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania – Bram Stoker’s imaginary castle in Borgo Pass where, he placed the Bloody Count Dracula, accommodation and candlelit dinner,

· Discover Dracula’s descendents – pay a visit to Misiuga, Baron of Dracula in his windswept tower in Bistrita citadel

· Enjoy Jonathan Harker’s Menu – the same meal Bram Stoker’s hero served when in Bistrita citadel

· Vampire menu for dinner in Turda to find out why it’s worth killing for a meal!

· During farewell dinner a Survivor’s Certificate will be handed over (collect stamps all along the itinerary to prove your courage)

Being a very popular tour, Halloween in Transylvania with Vlad the Impaler is often sold out well in advance; in fact the reservations for 2008 have already started so hurry up and join us!

Roots of Irish stepdance

Irish dancers at St. Patrick’s Day parade in Fort Collins, Colorado

The dancing traditions of Ireland probably grew in tandem with traditions of Irish traditional music. The very first roots might have been in Pre-Christian Ireland, but Irish dance was also partially influenced by dance forms on the Continent, especially the quadrille dances. Traveling dancing masters taught all over Ireland as late as the early 1900s.

Stepdancing as a modern form is descended directly from sean-ns (“old style”) stepdancing. There are in fact many other forms of stepdancing in Ireland (such as the Connemara style stepdancing), but the style most familiar is the Munster, or southern, form, which has been formalized by An Coimisin le Rinc Gaelacha, which first met in 1930. An Coimisin was formed from a directorate of the Gaelic League during the so-called Modern Revival.

Irish stepdance has very precise rules about what one may and may not do and when, but within these rules leeway is provided for innovation and variety. Thus, stepdance can evolve while still remaining confined within the original rules. The tradition never truly disappeared. In the nineteenth century, the Irish diaspora spread Irish dance all over the world, especially to North America and Australia.

One explanation for the unique habit of keeping the hands and upper body stiff relates to the stage. In order to get a hard surface to dance on, people would often unhinge doors and lay them on the ground. Since this was clearly a very small “stage”, there was no room for the movement of the arms. But perhaps the most likely explanation is a practical one. The solo dances are characterized by quick, intricate movements of the feet. Reportedly, as in “sean ns” (old style) dancing, the arms were kept relaxed or with fists on the hips before the late 1890s.

Another explanation stems from the British occupation of Ireland during the 18th century when many Irish customs were oppressed. Once captive the Irish were locked in a room where the door was only open at its upper half hinge to allow soldiers to view their captives. To keep themselves occupied despite their oppression, Irishmen and Irishwomen would dance from the waist down appearing that they have not moved at all. Today, the stiff upper body is in honour of the oppression of the Irish culture, in language, dance and song.

Still another explanation suggests that dancers kept their arms down to avoid touching each other, which might suggest, or lead to, conduct disapproved by the conservative Catholic church in Ireland. Dancers who did not touch could not be accused of immoral behavior. This explanation may be apocryphal, however.

Dance teachers will often place a bent clothes hanger around the back of the dancer and have them hold it in place with their arms during practice so that they will be trained to keep their arms in this rigid position.

Sometime in that decade or the one following, a dance master had his students compete with arms held firmly down to their sides, hands in fists, in order to call more attention to the intricacy of the steps. The adjudicator approved by placing the students well. Other teachers and dancers quickly followed the new trend. Movement of the arms is sometimes incorporated into modern Irish stepdance, although this is generally seen as a hybrid and non-traditional addition.

Dances

Irish solo stepdances fall into two broad categories based on the shoes worn: hard shoe and soft shoe dances.

“Reel”, “slip jig”, “hornpipe”, and “jig” (soft shoe and hard shoe) are all types of Irish stepdances and are also types of Irish traditional music. Reels are in 2/4 or 4/4 time. Slip jigs are in 9/8 time, and are considered to be the lightest and most graceful of the dances. Hornpipes can be in 2/4 or 4/4 time, and are danced in hard shoes. There are three jigs danced in competition, the light jig, the single jig and the treble jig (also called double jig). Light and single jigs are in 6/8 time, and are soft shoes dances, while the treble jig is hard shoe, danced in a slow 6/8.

The actual steps in Irish stepdance are usually unique to each school or dance teacher. Steps are developed by Irish dance teachers for students of their school. Each dance is built out of the same basic elements, or steps, but the dance itself is unique, and new dances are being choreographed all the time. For this reason, videotaping of competitions is forbidden under the rules of An Coimisiun.

Each step is a sequence of foot movements, leg movements and leaps, which lasts for 8 bars of music for the “right foot” and is repeated for the “left foot” of the step. Hard shoe dancing includes clicking (striking the heels of the feet against each other), trebles (the toe of the shoe striking the floor), stamps (the entire foot striking the floor), and an increasing number of complicated combinations of taps from the toes and heels.

There are two types of hard shoe dance, the solo dances, which are the hornpipe and treble jig, and the traditional set dances, also called set dances, which are solo dances, despite having the same name as the social dances. There are approximately thirty solo set dance tunes, mostly jigs and hornpipes. These tunes vary in tempo to allow for more difficult steps for higher level dancers. Teachers choreograph the contemporary non-traditional sets their dancers dance to these special tunes. An unusual feature of the set dance tune is that many are “crooked”, with some of the parts, or sections, of the tunes departing from the common 8 bar formula. The crooked tune may have a part consisting of 7 1/2 bars, fourteen bars, etc. For example, the “St. Patrick’s Day” traditional set music consists of an eight-bar “step,” followed by a fourteen-bar “set.”

The music and steps for each traditional set was set down by past dance masters and passed down under An Coimisin auspices as part of the rich history of stepdancing, hence the “traditional.” There are about 30 traditional sets used in modern stepdance, but the traditional sets performed in most levels of competition are St. Patrick’s Day, the Blackbird, Job of Journeywork, Garden of Daisies, King of the Fairies, and Jockey to the Fair. The remaining traditional set dances are primarily danced at championship levels.

The cil dances used in competitions are bouncier and more precise versions of those danced in pubs and church basements. There is a list of 30 cil dances which have been standardized and published in An Coimisiun’s “Ar Rinncidhe Foirne” as examples of typical Irish folk dances; these are called the “book” dances by competitive stepdancers. Most cil dances in competition are significantly shortened in the interests of time; many stepdancers never learn the entire dance, as they will never dance the later parts of the dance in competition.

Many CLRG dance schools place as much emphasis on ceili dancing as on solo dances, meticulously rehearsing the dances as written in the book, striving for perfect interpretation. In local competition figure dances may be competed included 2 or 3 dancers. These are not traditional book dances and are choreographed similar to solo dancing. Dances for 4, 6 or 8 dancers are also often found in competition, but the book dances for 16 dancers are rarely offered. The Figure Choreography competition at Major Oireachtasi must be for more than 8 dancers and is a chance for teachers to show off interesting and intricate group choreography. A winning team at an Oireachtas gains a reputation for their school, and is thus an important part of competition.

Shoes

Some of the footwork of softshoe dances is echoed in the footwork of Scottish country dancing, though the two styles are distinct. American tap dance was also influenced by Irish Stepdancing.

Three types of shoes are worn in competitive step dancing: Hard shoes and two kinds of soft shoe. The hard shoe (“heavy shoe”, “jig shoe”) is unlike the tap shoe, in that the tips and heels are made of fiberglass, instead of metal. The first hard shoes had wooden taps with metal nails. It was common practice in the 17th and 18th century to hammer nails into the soles of a shoe in order to increase the life of the shoe. Dancers used the sounds created by the nails to create the rhythms that characterize hard shoe dancing. Later the soles were changed into resin or fiberglass to reduce the weight and increase the sounds of the footwork.

Each shoe has eight striking surfaces: the toe, bottom, and sides of the front tap and the back, bottom, and sides of the back tap (the heel). Hard shoes are made of black leather with flexible soles. Sometimes the front taps are filed flat to enable the dancer to stand on his or her toes, somewhat like pointe shoes. The same hard shoes are worn by all dancers, regardless of gender or age.

A legend about hard shoe dances is that the Irish used to dance at crossroads or on the earthen floors of their houses, and they removed and soaped their doors to create a resonant surface for hard shoe dancing. (The more common actuality was that dancers “battered” on a stone laid in the floor with a space underneath; in the case of set dancing, the head couple of the set would claim the stone.)

Of the many attraction in vacation to Turkey, you will undeniably aspiration to circuit the Dolmabahce Palace, an immense Ottoman heroic palace once taken by the Sultans. There is numerous to glance hither to move up the total of your holiday to Turkey; you can travelling around score of intricately adorned chamber with eminent ceiling, pendant, magniloquent pillar and splendid cascading staircases. The fort has some three hundred room, and looking away the mammoth windows on the lakeshore-confronting bedside, you may still glimpse mahimahi in the Bosporus River, which wash against the wall of the palace.

Closer to the bosom of the Istanbul, you’ll find the Galata Tower, one of Istanbul’s most renowned attraction. No sarcastic steeple, this is a robust rock container mounting over the metropolis. At its cap, you can glimpse away over metropolis from under its threshold and move in one of the preeminent stand of the metropolis; what’s more, you can act a repast near the extremum too. Even though from the exterior the Galata barbacan shows its property, having been raised in the mid-1300s, the internal is surprising, with elevator, and floor overzealous to shop, a building, and a nighttime club on the capital flooring. Here you can clutter your vacation to Turkey with the merriment of ethnic Turkish section, masquerade and folks extension that makes up the ‘Turkey Show’. The programme of amusement yet includes an abdomen terpsichorean and a harem exhibit.

Holidays to turkey will vantage from the picturesque posing and the snowflake blueish H2O just few measure from your fleabag. The nightlife is divers and broad distribute, but accent-gratuitous and universal, brilliant eateries! If you would like a wider derivative of eateries, nightlife and shopping caput up the Areopagus to metropolis where price are cheaper, and simply ambuscade for the glorious perspective on the style backward downwardly to Olu Deniz Resort. The local oludeniz peoples are enormously compelling and welcoming and very echt.

Hotels in Turkey has wide breath conditioned single and dual bedrooms with all required agreeableness. All room has attached with Modern bath/washup, WC, orbiter TV, phone, freezer and hairdryer. The chief bistro serves counter kind repast, and an ego work poolside barroom serves drink and collation. If you are programming for a plage vacation, Turkey is the cap spot to traveling on. Keep in head, when you organize your holiday to Turkey many of the beach which have no lifeguards, but you can jibe it innocuous by hold off from swimming solely. You will emanate rearward home with incredible colourful memory and cognisance more decompressed than you always expected. When you move vacation to Turkey you must authority an Ark circuit to glimpse the lineation better likewise you can chart your nighttime at an orbit of nine for some added amusement. Holidays to Turkey have been noisiness distinguished for nightlife.

By the early 16th quattrocento morris dancing had become a fixture of Church festivals. In mediaeval and Renaissance England, the churched brewed and sold ales, including wassail. These ales were sold for many occasions, both seasonal and sacramental – there were baptism ales, honeymooner’s ales, work, wake and Whitsun ales – and were an important means of financing-raising for church.

Later in the quattrocento the morris became attached to village fetes, and the May Day revels; Shakespeare tell “as fit as a Morris for May Day” and “a Whitsun Morris Dance“.

William Kemp danced a solo morris from London to Norwich in 1600. Morris Dancing was popular in Tudor times. However under Cromwell it hide out of favour and was actively discouraged by many Puritans. The ales were suppressed by the Puritan authorities in the seventeenth century and, when some reappeared in the belated seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, they usually had associated dancing.

By the mid 18th quattrocento in the South Midlands region, morris dancing was an artifact of the Whitsun ales. Morris Dancing was now in the hands of park folk who couldn’t afford the illusion costume of a couple centuries earlier, and they were resorted to judge clothing decorated with ribbons and flowers. There was a divided potpourri of morris, named bedlam morris, being done in a space from the Welsh border county through Warwickshire and Northamptonshire feather to Buckinghamshire; the bedlam morris seems to have been mainly or exclusively done with stick. Whether this ‘bedlam’ morris had an alternative origin we cannot say.

During the nineteenth century Morris Dancing declined rapidly. New forms of entertainment, rapid sociable change and its association with an older unfashionable civilisation were all contributing factor.

For various ground, performed ales and Whitsun ales survived quite late in the south-West Midlands. Most of the Cotswold Morris tradition comes from this part and many of the Cotswold Morris sides gave dances to Cecil Sharp and other collectors which formed the basis for the dance resurgence in the early twentieth quattrocento. As well as the Cotswold dances other regional versions of the the morris also survived long enough to be collected. These included ‘Border Morris‘ from the Welsh delimitation counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, North West from Lancashire and Cheshire, and Molly dancing from East Anglia. In the North of England hankered sword terpsichore was collected from Yorkshire and Rapper sword from the North East. It was widely believed that other regional varieties of the dance had been forgotten and lost. New attested has recently been unearthed of ‘lost morris’ in other area of the country and that is what Rattlejag are all about!

The fact that Egyptian variety is solon conservativist than Turkish or Lebanese style is also reflected on the costume. Although some Egyptian venter terpsichorean deterioration the II part nightclub bandeau and tutu masquerade, they usually have to deterioration at matter a form of boothose nature of material to concealment their belly, for modestness ground. Also, in Egypt unit frock that screen the trunk are commons, especially in folkloric style.

Farmers from Upper Egypt perform an extension known as the ‘Saidi’, which is ace of the elite Egyptian dance that involve the utilisation of the ‘sagat’ or thumb cymbal that are held by the terpsichorean. The terpsichorean exercise either ace or II wood stick, and the extension is of II type, namely the Raks Assaya and Tahtib. Another popular Egyptian sort of extension is the Shamadan (candelabrum extension), commonly referred to as the ‘seen dance.’ This Egyptian variety of extension is seen at nuptials and derives its called from the candelabra that the terpsichorean are worn on the head. The Hagallah, another wedding dance, is acted putout by the Bedouin from Western Egypt.

The Raqs Sharqi (Oriental dance) is an Egyptian extension which has its roots in a folk style of extension (‘Baladi’) that originates from the Arab Tribes settled in Northern Egypt. In the early 20th century, this style of dance was performed in cabarets, in a ball setting for the former time and, although it maintained some elements of its origin, the dancers were influenced by western dance, such as ballet. Hence, Egyptian raqs sharki highly-developed as a fresh style within the Egyptian tradition. The III style of Egyptian dance traditionally linked to the belly dance include the Baladi/Beledi, Sha’abi and the Sharqi. Other dance include performance by the Ghawazee WHO are careerist dancers from Egypt, the Melaya Leff which is a character dance using a tallis, and the Zar, an extension of Sudanese rootage, that is performed by Egyptians to drive away evil spirits.

Scottish Ceilidh Dancing is among the most exciting, stimulating, and merriment type of dancing in the universe! It’s tight, racy, and it doesn’t substance if you’ve got two leaved ft or three! You’ll extension as you’ve ne’er danced before and conceive you’ve got wing on your heel!

What is a Ceilidh?

A Ceilidh (which is pronounced “kay-lee”) used to intend a visitation or loose assemblage of friend and neighbours. However, these day in Scotland, it mean a Ceilidh Dance where everyone can get up on the extension flooring and bask themselves.

What is a Ceilidh Band?

The Modern, traditional, Scottish party lot is composed of violin, accordion, and drum; nevertheless, these day, the formation up can be more eclectic with other instrument such as subunit whistling, mandola, large scottish tympan, pianoforte, and still bagpipe! There is no placed rule about the formation up, so only pick the circle you like the better.

Won’t some peoples be leaved away?

Not at all. Ceilidh Dances (as opposed to hard-and-fast, schematic Scottish Country Dancing) can be regarded still more inclusive than many other signifier of dancing because the dance are leisurely to larn and merriment. Everyone can undergo, regardless of property and familiarization.

So in this fashion, there is less opportunity of a single soul or minor (or a conjoined individual whose grumpy spouse “won’t extension”) at a hymeneals or multinomial being leaved away of the dancing. Some dance are for couple (with mint of change of partner!) but many others are for group of peoples. So everyone can experience!

But we gentleman’t cognize the step!

Many peoples fret that some of the invitee will be leaved away because they gentleman’t cognize the step to the Scottish Ceilidh Dances. However, precisely the turn is truthful. Most full band can furnish a “Caller” who will go over the measure before each Dance and “Call” the step during the Dance. This is component of the playfulness.

Don’t fret!

So gentleman’t fret. With a full Ceilidh Band and Caller all your guest will shortly be “hooching”, “posing” and “casting forth” with the better of them. And if they get it incorrect, gentleman’t fret! That’s besides portion of the merriment and there will ever be a friendly neighbour to “force” them in correct way. A Ceilidh is an assemblage of folks where everyone is promoted to ankylose in and everyone helps one another. It’s an outstanding crystal-ledgeman.

We inhabit afield and desire a party set!

If you cannot find a Ceilidh lot, then at least essay to find a nuptials circle that can compete a Gay Gordons and a Strip The Willow. Failing that, inquire them if they could they compete the section from CD or iPod. Then find someone from a Scottish Dancing Society who could emanate along and name the dance i.e. learn you and maintain you correct when you are dancing. The Caller might supply the subdivision as good.

Here are some of the most mutual Ceilidh Dances in Scotland.

Gay Gordons Dashing White Sergeant The Eightsome Reel St. Bernard’s Waltz Strip the Willow Britannia Twostep Military Twostep Canadian or Highland Barn Dance Circassian Circle Pride of Erin Waltz Highland Scottische Orcadian (or Shetland) Strip the Willow Swedish Masquerade Virginia Reel.

The early origins of the contend are not sure, one reductionism suggests it was indited by Vladimir Petrovich Begichev manager of the Moscow regal Theatres. Bagichev commissioned the mark of Swan  Lake from Tchaikovsky in 1875 for 800 roubles, Sawn Lake eventually premiered on the 4th March 1877 with Pelageya Karpakova bowing the role of Odette, this premiere was not succesful and criticism was levelled at the dancers, seating and decor, whilst Tchaikovsky’s grade was lost in the criticism. The story’s German elements resulted in unpronouncable surnames of its characters, not to mention that Karpakova was a secondary soloist and not the prima danseuse, work-clothing the verdict was that the story was too complicated for a ballet.

Although the PM was ill received, Swan Lake ran between 1877 and 1883 with 41 performance and with 4 performance between 1898 and 1899. Since it’s PM every balletmaster or Ailey has re-staged Swan Lake with alteration, some have occured owed to a development of choreography antialiasing. These contain ‘Illusions Like Swan Lake’ in 1976 by John Neumeier of the Hamburg Ballet, Matthew Bourne’s Swan reservoir in 1995, the 2000 American Ballet Theatre approximation and  Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake in 2002 which focuses on a love trilateral.

Since its origin, Swan Lake has gone through a figure of transmutation for both phase and surface, the late seed takes the descriptor of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, which includes a brilliant bit by Natalie Portman in choreography shoe. Playing the challenging danseuse Nina Sayers, Natalie Portman’s Aladdin plays both the part of the White and sinister coscoroba in this re-excogitation of Swan Lake.

The actress put on her saltation shoes in preparing for role had a year of choreography training, including phycological preparation by studying and disbursal time with dancers. It is a physcological thriller set in the wing world of a fictional New York choreography company, with Swan Lake bowing part of the narration.

In the pic Nina struggle to find her own identity and cares too much about what other people think of her – thereby seeing herself through other peoples eyes, as the film grows she starts look at world done her own eye as part of the development of artists, a strong performance in which Natalie portman’s dazzles with her playacting and choreography skills.

The Waltz

The oldest of all ballroom extension style the Waltz is said to have originated in the early 1830 from a German folks extension known as the Lander. The former approximation of the Waltz was known as the Waltzer and is said to have been ace of Queen Elizabeth’s favourite dances. Today it’s pic an elegant extension done in very ball setting.

The Tango

A younger dance then the Waltz the tango originated from Argentina, so is often referred to as the Argentine Tango. It first started gaining popularity in the early 1900′s before world war I when it was introduced to Europe. It is a very exotic dance said to get it’s start in the Ghetto of Buenos Aires. The American Tango is said to be a more structured approximation of the Argentine Tango which was more of a picture of the terpsichorean interpretation of music.

The Swing

There are several style to the activity. The West sea-coast and eastward seashore activity are the most touchstone. Generally when you weighing activity it’s a kind statesman so then an exact extension that first became popular in the 1920′s. While there are some particular style of activity extension taught in different class around the land, the eastward sea-coast action is the most popular in most ballrooms.

The Rhumba

Originating as a premix mash of several Cuban dance it’s been danced in American ballrooms since about the second universe war. The hip motion of this dance is the most noticeable point and is the main part of the dance that has stuck with the variety from it’s Cuban roots.

The Cha Cha

With middle origins in the West Indies and from a works that is used to brand a Cha-cha, a castanets nature analyzer played in Hatian set, the Cha Cha emerged as an extension kind danced along to subdivision of typical Voodoo circle. As a last relation to the Mambo it has latin origins and was former introduced to the United States around 1954. Ever since it’s been a basic form of the ballroom.

The Fox Trot

It’s one of the smoothest of ballroom style and made use of the entire dance floor. The foxtrot is believed to have been developed from a dancing act in New York around 1914. It was single of the first danced where partners danced nearer and ragtime section was being incorporate into the ballroom. Still today the foxtrot is a favourite, often seen as the first dance at weddings.

Dev –

Tarik – Very different than it is now. In the general population, there was a greater deal of ignorance about the dance than there is today, certainly much less exposure. The mention of Middle Eastern dance would cause raised eyebrows. Back then, at least in New York, people thought that the dance was something like strip tease. It wasn’t uncommon to be turned down for participation in cultural events on the grounds that it wasn’t considered respectable entertainment. However, we were beginning to make inroads in important areas. My teacher, Morocco, had already pioneered performances in important cultural institutions around the City, such as Lincoln Center’s Dance out doors festival, The Museum of Natural History and Parks and recreations.

Despite her successes though, there were still a lot of places that slammed their door in her face. No one had even thought about the possibility of teaching dance classes in gyms, even though Aerobics was becoming very popular.

Inside the dance community itself? Well, the prevailing style was American Oriental, or American nightclub style. It was a style that evolved in the ethnic nightclubs in the ’60′s and ’70′s. Back then, the ethnic clubs were a melting pot of people from different Mediterranean and Arabic speaking countries. Therefore, there was a mix of Greek, Turkish and Lebanese dancers. Eventually, Americans began to dominate the field, so they learned by watching all these people and of course, they interpreted things according to their cultural perspective.

There were only 4 main dance schools in the city at that time. Morocco, Serena, Anahid Sofian and Ibrahim Farrah. The main performance venues were still ethnic clubs and restaurants run mostly by Lebanese. However, there was a Turkish nightclub called Fazils, which was an important asset to the dance community in New York. On thing all of the clubs had at that time, which is lacking now, is that they had live bands, a real designated dance floor or stage and it was a family atmosphere. I was lucky to make my nightclub debut in Fazils. I got to dance there twice before they closed. Unfortunately, by the late 80′s all these clubs started closing one after the other as the price of real estate and rents skyrocketed. Today we have many more establishments, but if we have at least a postage stamp to dance on, we consider ourselves lucky, and even then we have to compete with customers and wait staff. Back in the early to mid 80′s, when the dancer was on the floor or the stage, no one set foot on it unless they were invited by the dancer, or they wanted to tip her.

As for the quality of dancing. Well, in a lot of ways the basic skill level is much higher now, even though we still have to contend with the phenomenon of the 6 week wonder who learned from some who watched a DVD. A lot of what I saw being done did not relate in any way to Middle Eastern culture and certainly not to anything I had seen when I visited Egypt three years later. It was a combination of the general misperceptions that the Sharki is a legitimate dance form and the overall poor quality of dance that I decided to become a dancer myself. I wanted people to see how beautiful this dance was and so I decided the best way to do that was to show them, even though I had no ambition of making my living as a dancer, certainly not as a teacher.

Dev – You have mentioned Ibrahim Farah, one of the leading schools from that era, Bobby Farha and The Near East Dance group claimed to preserve and introduce many elements of Oriental dance to Western audiences. Do you think some of them were Bobby Farah’s own creations?

Tarik – To be honest with you, I’d never seen his dance company perform. I think by the time I came around, they might have been disbanded, so I really can’t say how authentic his material was. However, all the dance companies that I knew of, including Casbah, had numbers that were the artistic creations of the directors. Usually they were inspired by a particular idea or folk dance. When that was the case, it was always stated as such in the programs.

Dev – In the Middle East everybody dances, Male, Female and children. But I have identified through my research that there is a negative attitude portrayed towards the male Raqs Sharqi artists. Do you have an opinion on why this is a subject for debate?

Tarik – This is a simple question, but the answer is very complex, so I hope you’ll forgive me if it’s a bit long because I need to give some background to place it in the proper context. Basically, the issue is fear. Fear of being misrepresented, slandered and misunderstood by the outside world. You may ask, why do they care what others think, but you have to understand Egypt and the other countries in the region from the perspective of their historical relationship with the West. That relationship has more often than not, been an antagonistic one for quite a long time. We can see the roots of it during the growth of the Roman Empire in its conflicts with Carthage and Egypt. In the Middle Ages, there wee the Crusades and in the 18th and 19th centuries, up to our present time, Colonialism and the Iraqi and Afghanistan Wars. So there has been a long history of tension between the regions and a tendency for Western powers to portray Easterners and aspects of their cultures in a negative light, whether it is religion, life style or in this case, dance.

The issue at hand finds its roots in the colonial experience of the last two centuries, when various European nations look control of the countries we call the Middle East for the sake of gaining control of their resources and trade routes. Of course, whenever one nation commits an act of aggression against another, they must always have a reason to justify their actions. With the case of the European colonial powers, the justification was always that they were saving the natives from themselves. The subjugated peoples were always made out to be intellectually and morally inferior to the Western powers and so colonization was actually a benevolent act because the benefits of the superior Western culture would be bestowed on them.

One way this moral superiority was shown was to contrast Eastern and Western. The public dancing girl became the image of Eastern womanhood by extension, Eastern Society and so a dichotomy was created. The West was masculine, assertive, logical, and industrious whereas the East was feminine, passive, lazy, emotional, sensually enticing and available. And so, in the minds of Europeans, the East and the dances of the East became sexualized in a way that they never had been in their own cultures.

The mail dancer as evidence of devient sexuality

There had always been the tradition of male and female dancers and entertainers, just as in the West. However, the overwhelming majority of traveller’s accounts focused on professional female dancers. The dance of the ordinary people in celebration was almost without exception, ignored. So too, was the dancing of the ordinary men and the male professional dancers. But on the few occasions when they were mentioned, it was always in the context of female impersonation and homosexuality. Once again we see a situation where the Easterner is not allowed to be equal to the European. They must be deviants. Therefore, when a man is seen dancing, its always referred to as, “he was dancing in the female fashion”, or “they were dressed as half male and half female, or “they were dressed as women…”.

In truth, there always were transvestite dancers in these countries, just as in Europe; there had been a tradition of transvestite singers in the Opera. However, in the case of the Opera, the singers had been castrated in youth to preserve a soprano voice. In the East, male dancers who performed as women were either what we would consider transsexuals today, or they were playing the female role in a skit, a tradition that was also a convention in Europe once upon a time. So yes, these types of performers did exist, but not all men who danced and sang in public dressed as females.

However, this was overlooked and the existence of these types of dancers was taken out of context. No one in 15th century Europe would have seen the men playing female roles in Shakespeare as evidence that English men were sexual deviants. No one would have thought that the existence of castrated men and boys who sang in female dress in the Opera was evidence of the European man’s sexual inclinations. Nor would they have agreed that all male singers were eunuchs. So why then was there not the same understanding with regards to given to Eastern male dance and dancers? The reason was that the truth did not lend itself to the colonialist agenda. The Eastern man and by extension the culture, had to be viewed as brutal, imbecilic, sexually immature and uncontrollable. He had to be shown as a degenerate not only prone to ruining himself with women, but given to the most despicable crime of sodomy.

So it was believed that while in Europe, those of such low character at least had the decency to keep their crimes secrete, the Easterner, being of childish character openly flaunted his degeneracy because he was too ignorant to have shame, just as a child relieves itself in public is ignorant of all sense of decorum. The presence of effeminate dancing boys and the fact that the men danced in a “womanly” fashion was proof of this. It was all part of a propaganda campaign to justify how much in need these people were of the saving grace of European culture and rule.

The impact on perception of mail dancing Inegypt:

The result of this cultural distortion on the part of many Eastern societies was a negative one. You have to understand that within these societies a person’s reputation is of the utmost importance. It dictates whether or not you can acquire a respectable profession, marry into a good family, even where you can live. So to be the subject of talk, whether it is factual or not, can be devastating. The image of Egyptian manhood was slandered before the whole World. Having being defeated and dominated by foreign powers and Christians no less, with the memory of the Crusades still fresh in people’s minds, calling their manhood into question was like pouring salt in an open wound. The result was that within a few decades of British rule in the tradition of male performers who danced and sang at weddings, births and festivals all over Egypt soon died out. Where as in the past these entertainers wee much enjoyed, even in some cases more than female dancers, they wee now seen as old fashioned, backward and shameful. A new type of entertainer replaced them. One that was modern, elegant and sophisticated. The age of the female nightclub dancer was born. And although the image of the female dancer in sheer veils and bare midrift was inspired by Orientalist fantasies of Eastern womanhood, for many in Egypt’s upper classes, who were now European educated in their World views and tastes, it was far better than the earthy unsophisticated ghawazee dancers and a potent remedy to forget the shameful male dancers of the past.

Even after the British had been expelled from Egypt after the Revolution, the sting of colonialism and the slander of Egyptian manhood was still fresh and remains so to this day. The fear of being perceived as homosexuals or encouraging homosexual behaviour is so strong that although it is common to see men dancing at weddings and parties socially, it is strictly forbidden on stage. Today, dancers who perform in nightclubs and weddings must all have licenses and only women are issued licenses to perform Oriental Dance in public. In the state run theatre and folk dance companies; there is a strict policy that the men are forbidden to dance with any part of their bodies other than their arms and feet. This is in stalk contrast to the way Egyptian men actually dance in real life.

As a male Oriental Dancer, my performance opportunities have been considerably limited as a result of the attitude of fear and shame that now exists in the Middle East with regards to the idea of male dancers; however, I have been able to find pockets of acceptance. Experience has taught me that because of the fear, I have to make sure that I do not inadvertently play into the effeminate stereotype if I am to gain acceptance with Egyptian or Arabic speaking audiences on a whole. Costuming is a major issue. While Western audiences love the exotic mystique of shiny sequins and beads, for Eastern audiences, too much of this on a man looks like an attempt at imitating a female outfit. A simple shirt vest and pants with simple decoration is considered acceptable. Also accepted is the simple gallabeya with a scarf around the hips. This is the outfit that Egypt’s first modern professional Oriental dancer wears.

In interviews he stated clearly that had he chosen to wear tight revealing outfits, he would not have been accepted and even with this concession, he and the other men who have begun to perform in Egypt are still not allowed to perform in Cairo nightclubs. Instead, they perform in the Sinai resorts of Sharm el Shiekh and Dahab. The overwhelming majority of people who see their shows enjoy their performances. They are accepted, as am I, because they present themselves as men in dress and mannerism. Time and again, I have had people tell me that what they appreciate about me is that when they see me dance; they never forget that I am a man. And so, whether its in my regular venue at LeSouk in New York, or the occasional shows I do in the Egyptian community in New Jersey where I live, my performances are enjoyed. However, like my counterparts in Egypt, there are still segments of community that have trouble getting past the fear of the stereotypical image and the implications.

On another front, while state regulated companies have forbidden men to shake their hips on stage, popular singers have began to flout the convention of the dignified singer in formal attire who remains stock still. In this decade singers like Hakim began to liven up their shows by showing off their dance moves. Saad il Sughayar took things a giant leap further by not only showing off his moves, but being backed up by a whole line of dancing boys, dressed harmlessly in dress shirts with ties and slacks. They have none of the flash and dazzle of the Oriental Dancer and even though they dance as a group rather than as soloists, what they do is still very radical because in dancing unapologetically as is normal for Egyptians, they are defying the attitudes of the past in which men were made to feel ashamed of this aspect of their culture or made to feel that it had to be hidden from public view. They charge into the crowds at weddings and concerts, finger cymbals clashing, hips shaking with abandon. This sort of thing was unthinkable 20 years ago. And because they are dressed as ordinary guys would be at a wedding, they evade the government sanctions. They may be able to forbid guys from shaking their hips in their dance companies, but they are not equipped to run around to weddings and social gatherings in Egypt and tell the men they can’t dance.

So for things to change to the point where male dancers are able to create a niche for themselves in the mainstream entertainment world of Cairo, enough people in positions of influence have to be shown and convinced that a man can dance and NOT be a reflection of their fears and what they find distasteful. They will have to have artistic merit and entertainment value above and beyond the average female dancer and they will have to present themselves in a manner that is dignified. If they dress and act effeminately, have effeminate sounding names, then the doors will remain closed. It may very well happen that enough men come forward under the right conditions and with the right connections to make it happen. After all, no one, myself included could have predicted the Tito phenomenon, but it happened. It was a monumental achievement, even though its limited to the resorts outside Cairo.

Dev – You have mentioned about the cultural distortion. The Middle East is a part of the new economic and cultural globalisation, how do you see the general publics view of Raqs Sarqi in the next 20 years especially in Egypt. I have heard that belly dance in the local club scene in Egypt has almost vanished and only a handful of premises are in business which are mostly directed to the tourists.

Tarik - To be honest with you, I can’t say. I can only speculate. I am encouraged by the fact that more people in the general public are becoming aware of the dance. People are beginning to take it seriously in a way they didn’t 20years ago. My hope is that this trend will continue. We have also been fortunate enough to have people who have developed very high quality stage productions. People are now seeing it as a true dance form.

I would hope that more people continue to explore and learn the traditional dances and that they remain vibrant.

As far as Egypt is concerned, you are correct that there has been a decline, but you also have to realize that it was always dependent on tourist patronage. There simply isn’t enough people in Egypt who can afford to go to fancy nightclubs in large enough numbers to keep the industry afloat. The high mark was in the late 60′s and the 70′s when tourism, particularly from the Arab Gulf States was at its peak. The number of nightclubs shot up because the demand for this type of entertainment was so high. Now things have changed. There is still dance to be found, but the days when you could see a different celebrity dance star every night of the week is over. Part of the reason is that there are so many different types of entertainment available now. The younger generation want to go to large American style dance clubs like Hard Rock Café and bounce around to Techno Music all night. Another reason is due to the rise in conservatism.

The television stations no longer show dance programs like they use to. It was because of the movies and television that dancers like Nagwa, Souhair and Fifi became household names and hence, people wanted to see them in person. With the loss of this type of exposure, there is no longer the same incentive to spend hundreds of dollars to see a show, when for half that amount, you can go dancing with your friends and socialize. They want to see and be seen. They want to be the show, not watch one. So now that the economy has taken a down turn and there isn’t the potential to make the same amount of money, fewer and fewer young women are motivated to enter the profession.

Perhaps at some point things will change and they’ll be resurgence in its popularity. However, I think in the long run, for it to survive as performing art in Egypt, it has to go beyond the arena of mere nightclub entertainment. The general population has to identify with it and see it as a true expression of their culture. For that to happen, it has to be accessible to a larger demographic. For example, in Sharem el Sheikh the dance venues I saw were family friendly and the dance itself was presented as part of a larger folkloric program. The coast was much more affordable for the average person and because they were out in the open, they attracted people who ordinarily wouldn’t patronize a nightclub. This is only my idea. What will happen in the real world? I’ll have to get back to you 20 years from now.

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