Joana Saahirah´s World Blog
A Collection of Articles, Videos, and Freebies on Egyptian Dance, Self-Discovery & Empowerment
An Intimate Portrait of Mahmoud Reda
We´re on the highway, between Cairo and Alexandria, and Abdel Wahab is playing on the radio.
There´s light - a light you only find in Egypt, attached to a scent of past and hope - peaking through my window in the backseat of the car. A soul-comforting light; one of the reasons why I lived and worked in Egypt for almost a decade of my life; a return home.
There's me, Mahmoud Reda, and his wife, in the car.
I´m singing along, using my best Arabic, with Abdel Wahab.
The song ...
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 hav...
Do THIS today🧚
Do THIS today.
If nothing else, do it today.
(Curious? Keep reading this post)
I can only share what I´ve become and, therefore, learned.
And here´s an interesting thing I´ve learned:
Not everyone wants to evolve.
All of us grow older - that´s mandatory - but few actually grow up - that´s optional.
Outch.
Take a second.
Yep, that one hurts.
Saying no to growth - dance and/or personal growth - is a part our free will. We choose, at every second, the person w...
The Courage to be Disliked
A dear friend once told me, after a backlash from an old friend who´d turn her back on me for no apparent reason:
-You´re inflammable, Joana. Your presence triggers people - not always in a good way.
I´d just decided to move to Egypt, leaving family, the beginning of a successful career already established, boyfriend, and everything that I knew behind. My then friend decided that was unacceptable.
-Who do you think you are? - She´d yell at me, deranged, with two piercing eyes. ...
Myth #7 about Egyptian Dance (and its debunking)
The most common Myths about Egyptian Dance (and their debunking)📯📯📯
Myth #7 - Egyptian Dance is Hermetic & Dangerous
Here´s the last of the 7 Myths about Egyptian Dance I promised to deliver. For once, I´ll have to agree with it. Sort of.
Hermetic comes from "Hermes Trismegistus", considered the founder of science, religion, mathematics, geometry, alchemy, philosophy, medicine and magic. A combination of the Egyptian God Thoth of wisdom, learning and communications and the Greek God Hermes, me...
Myth #3 about Egyptian Dance (and its debunking)
The most common Myths about Egyptian Dance (and their debunking)📯📯📯
Myth #3 - Egyptian Dance is only for Women.
(is it?)
My first Egyptian Dance teacher was a man - Shokry Mohamed.
My dearest Egyptian Dance teacher was a man - Mahmoud Reda.
The best Egyptian Dance performance I´ve ever seen was gifted to me by a man - Aziz, my "bedleh" designer, brother, and friend, who surprised by performing the best Om Kolthoum´s dance rendition I´ve ever seen in my life.
On my first trips to Egypt, as a stud...
Myth #4 about Egyptian Dance (and its debunking)
The most common Myths about Egyptian Dance (and their debunking)📯📯📯
Myth #3 - Egyptian Dance is Easy.
Hmmm. Define "easy".
If by "easy", you mean that Egyptian Dance can be learned by everyone, as long as they can move and they´re willing to study it, then, yes, Egyptian Dance is easy.
If by "easy", you mean that Egyptian Dance is so basic it offers no challenge, no need for study or practice, no requirements from the one who´s dancing, we´ve got a myth going on.
Egyptian Dance is democratic ...
Myth #5 about Egyptian Dance (and its debunking)
The most common Myths about Egyptian Dance (and their debunking)📯📯📯
Myth #3 - Egyptian Dance is not suited for Children.
Lunch time. Portuguese food and wine (the best in the world if you put Indian food aside). My man and a couple. I was absent, working.
They wondered if it was safe to expose their little daughter to my infamous, untamed, shameful and, that was hard to admit but it was implied, thrilling profession.
- Isn´t what she does inappropriate for children? - They asked, not namin...
Myth #6 about Egyptian Dance (and its debunking)
The most common Myths about Egyptian Dance (and their debunking)📯📯📯
Myth #6 - Egyptian Dance is about Moving your Belly.
I mean, it´s been called "belly dance", whatever that means, for a while. Then, there´s a surprise: people believe that Egyptian Oriental Dance - aka "Raks al Sharki" - is about moving the belly.
Let´s clean this mess, shall we?
First, the term "belly dance" is a foreign addition/distortion to the real name of the dance which is "Raks el Sharki", meaning, literally, "Danc...
Myth #2 about Egyptian Dance (and its debunking)
The most common Myths about Egyptian Dance (and their debunking)
Myth #2 - Egyptian Dance is Exotic and made for a few.
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