The Souhair Zaki effect
Every dancer has a moment that has changed her, or his, life; the perspective they have on dance, music, themselves.
Some times, those turning points are negative - I´ve heard terrible stories of dancers traumatized by teachers, colleagues, audiences, employers -; hopefully, and in many cases, those turning points are positive. Dance and life changing.
I´m privileged to have several of those moments, the ones Oprah would call "ah ah moments", in my path.
The negative experiences have been transformed in Joana´s Alchemic Oven - turning shit into gold and evilness into light - and the positive have defined me, my dance, and my life.
Although the negative also shaped me, I choose to focus on the pleasant memories, the knives that carved me, the rock I was and will be till I die, with the most loving hand.
In my long list of Dance Changing moments, here are a few of the most memorable:
➡️The moment I joined, by chance, an open Egyptian Dance class in an Ethnic festival (my first encounter with this art form, one that´d shape my destiny);
➡️The moment my first teacher, Shokry Mohamed, asked me to sit down next to him and whispered in my ear "you´ll take Egyptian Dance to the entire world" (I didn´t take him seriously, back then, but his words were with me, especially in the toughest moments, ever since, inspiring and guiding me);
➡️The moment I started to study with Mahmoud Reda in Cairo (that´s when my love affair with Egyptian Folklore took off and when my relationship with the master started, a relationship that´d offer me priceless tools for dance and for life);
➡️The moment I auditioned, in Cairo, with my first orchestra (it earned me an initial dance contract in Egypt and it was the first of thousands of performances I´d do, on a daily basis, in the country, for almost 8 straight years);
➡️The moment I studied with Souhair Zaki, privately.
I´d taken a workshop with her at one of Cairo´s dance festivals. I was in love, in awe, and shocked. For the first time, I felt the soul of the dance - I could feel it in Souhair Zaki´s body and aura.
Although I was a beginner, I recognized her importance in Egyptian Dance History; I was aware that I was learning from royalty, the "crème de la crème" of the field.
Once the workshop was over, I took a photo with her and asked for her contact.
Luckily, I honored my infamous persistence and managed the feat of booking a couple of private classes with Souhair Zaki.
At her place, in a living room surrounded by Rococo furniture and Oriental carpets, we gathered.
Tea was served, as it is at every Egyptian household.
The class started without words.
She didn´t explain, or choreograph, or broke down steps and movements.
She danced and expected me to do whatever I wished, or could, with it. That´s all.
The music used was "Enta Omri", no less, one of the themes by Om Kolthoum that made her famous and respected, a feat very few Egyptian Dancers were granted.
I wouldn´t call it teaching. I know, more than 20 years later, that couldn´t be qualified as a dance class.
What was it, then?
It was a demonstration of how it´s done - a definition, in motion, of Egyptian Dance.
Initially, I followed her the best I could.
She used simple movements and had her eyes closed most of the time. I was sure she didn´t even know if I was in the room. All that mattered was her, the music, the dance.
Then, the magic.
I stopped. Observed her. Distanced myself a few meters so I could see and feel her better. A ray of sun invaded the room, separating my space from hers, a frontier between pupil and master, designed by the light.
Her life was pouring out of her as she moved - I could see it, as if it was a movie, in front of me.
There was no effort, or ego or vanity; no desire to make justice to her name; no pressure to be other than the pure truth. She danced like a human being. Like herself, unapologetically.
Tears flowed from my eyes, uncontrollably.
I could have felt shy - crying like a baby in a class with Souhair Zaki qualified as embarrassing - but, for once, I didn´t. I knew I was witnessing a sacred moment, one worth a thousand tears; something I´d probably never see again.
- Ah...I get it, now. - I whispered between my teeth - This is what they mean by "Raks el Sharki".
Right there, with that ray of light dividing my space from hers, I learned what Egyptian Dance meant, what it invited me to do. As a dancer, as a person.
That was the moment I fell - irrevocably - in love with this art form.
I was contaminated by its magic - the potion has been boiling, in my blood, ever since.
- If you want to go deeper into authentic Egyptian Dance, keep reading👇👇👇
🧿In our upcoming commemorative
Online Course "Enta Omri - How to Dance Om Kolthoum´s Masterpiece",
I´m going to teach you what I´ve learned, first-hand, from the most iconic of all Oriental Dancers: Souhair Zaki.
🧿For more information about our pioneering online course, click here
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