Arabic dance has a diverse and widespread network of teachers and pupils. There are many different styles, which can be very confusing at first. We dance, perform and teach an Egyptian style strongly inspired by the teachers of The Raqs Sharqi Society. Raqs Sharqi literally means Eastern Dance. This dance is grounded, dignified and centred. Good posture and proper use of the body is encouraged. Dancing has taken place in Egypt since dynastic times. Tombs at Giza and other sacred sites can be seen which depict dancers and musicians. Egyptian Dance can be split into three broad forms. ?Sha?abi? is the folk music of Egypt. It includes the simple songs of the Fellahin (peasant farmers) as well as the more complex rhythms from Sa?aid (in upper Egypt) and the dances of the Ghawazee (gypsys). These styles are generally large and earthy, with the emphasis on joyful expression.?Sharqi? is the classical form and shares its origins with all other Arabic dance in the courts of the Ottoman period. Great Ottoman patrons paid for composers, musicians and dancers. There is no way to know what this dance would have looked like, but it has been reconstructed by the dancers of today. The last century saw the classical music orchestrated by the great Egyptian composers and so the dance has become more expansive and even contemporary in recent times.?Baladi? evolved in the café society of Cairo in the 1920-30?s. It means literally ?of the country?. Migrant workers brought their folk songs and combined them with the new jazz musical instruments (eg saxophone, accordian). They developed music and dance for the cramped space of the city. Traditional baladi is made of ten parts (ashra means ten in Arabic). This style of music has continued to develop through the electronic age to become a pop culture as diverse as ours! Baladi is usually performed by a solo female dancer. She interacts and improvises with the musicians as well as the very noisy Egyptian audience.
RAQS SHARQI DORSET
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