A Mideast cultural feast
Young Chang
It’s been considered a seductive, evocative dance and a sensual,
scandalous, even “hoochie-coochie” form of groove.
But today classical Middle Eastern dance also is recognized as an art
that has been misunderstood.
Sensationally controversial during the Victorian era, when people
weren’t accustomed to twirling torsos, the dance form is now gaining
accredited teachers in colleges around the country. Followers are
learning about Middle Eastern culture to truly understand the reason and
significance behind each dance, and the rest of the country is realizing
that, like ballet and jazz, it’s an art to be taken seriously, experts
say.
“It’s slowly getting set straight,” said Angelika Nemeth, a Middle
Eastern dancer and instructor at Orange Coast College.
This weekend’s second International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance
at OCC is intended to further help dispel the myth that belly dancing and
other forms of the genre belong in harems.
Egyptian film and dance star Nagwa Fouad will perform tonight, along
with Nemeth, Santa Barbara dancer Shareen el Safy and more than a dozen
others from the United States, South America, Europe and the Middle East.
The conference, which has as its theme “Dancing on Common Ground:
Tradition and Innovation,” will show how classical and folkloric forms of
dance have been made more innovative.
“Like any dance form, there’s change involved and it’s made more
interpretive,” Nemeth said. “It’s such a tapestry.”
The conference opened Friday with screenings of foreign films and a
concert, discussion and presentation on two choreography teams, Farida
Fahmy and Mahmoud Reda, and Fouad and Mohammed Khalil. One team
represents the nightclub culture of Middle Eastern dance, another
performs a more folkloric, traditional style.
Nemeth said both contemporary and older styles will be presented
“because people need to know the source and honor the history of where it
comes from before it gets too diluted in the American culture.”
Academic papers on Middle Eastern dance will be presented this morning
and Fahmy and Reda will offer master classes in the afternoon.
More papers will be discussed Sunday, and Fouad and Khalil also will
teach classes. An evening concert will follow.
Today, Nemeth will do an innovative take on a classical dance. Wearing
a handmade net of metalwork woven into fabric, she will present a style
of modern Oriental dance with Persian music.
Fouad, known as the “Rita Hayworth of Egypt,” will present a classical
Egyptian dance with theatrically reinvigorated twists on folkloric
movements.
An actress in more than 200 feature films, Fouad has performed for
leaders around the world, including former President Jimmy Carter, and at
the Royal Albert Hall in London.
“It’s actually very unusual for me to travel like this when it’s an
academic presentation,” she said through el Safy, who served as her
translator.
“It’s not real big Las Vegas. But I’m doing it because I believe in
the art, and I’m encouraging the other dancers around the world to create
a high level of art with their Egyptian dance.”
El Safy said the milieu of international dancers gathering for the
conference allows people to witness different styles of dance in one
place.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” she said.
FYI
* What: The second International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance
* When: A dance concert featuring Egyptian film and dance star Nagwa
Fouad at 8 tonight; various programs and presentations will continue
through Sunday.
* Where: Orange Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview
Road, Costa Mesa
* Cost: $29 for tonight’s dance concert
* Information: (714) 432-5880
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