American Belly Dance Legends
A Journey into Belly Dance in America
Featuring Dance Pioneers
Adriana, Aida Al Adawi, Aisha Ali, Aziz, Dahlena, DeAnn, Helena
Vlahos, Ibrahim Farrah, Jamila
Salimpour, John Compton, Morocco, Roman “Bert” Balladine and bonus scenes of
Ahmed Jarjour and Amir of Boston.
*****Five Star Recommendation
There is a statement on the back cover of this DVD that nearly says it
all: “American Belly Dance
Legends. . . .The dance pioneers that started the Belly Dance movement in the
United States! Featuring the Greats
in our dance world. To know your
dance history is to know your craft.
A must have for all serious Students of Oriental Dance, Teachers of Raks
Sharki, Ethnic Dance Studios and Fans of Belly Dance.”
What I would add to this is that if you are in fact teaching, no matter
whether in the US or beyond (as the statement above speaks to American Belly
Dance Legends - although many of these dancers have touched and taught students
all over the world) this DVD will provide you with one of the best tools of your
teacher’s tool box. If you don’t
purchase this DVD and share its contents with your students I personally feel
you would be doing yourself and those students a disservice. As an Adjunct College Teacher, I am
adding this to the curriculum for my class. I will as well be talking to the book store to see if we can
offer this DVD to students.
Clearly I feel strongly about its contents.
I am sad to say that I have heard dancers, students, some who think
they have already reached professional status, who when I mention one of our
dance legends, tilt their heads and out of their mouth comes “I’ve never heard
of him/her”. Could you be in
ballet and not know Baryshnikov?
Or any dance and not know Ruth St. Denis? It makes my head hurt to think that there could even
be teachers who don’t know some of these legends. To not know those who came before us, those who paved the
way and many who continue to do so, is just a shame. If not for these legends, these icons we would NOT have such
a full and rich dance art in which to participate.
Amaya has given us such a gift in this 90-minute DVD-THANK YOU this is
truly an incredible piece of work; performances, conversations, and stylings of
some of the greats in our business.
And I am honored to say, that I have studied with, taken workshops with,
and/or witnessed performances by all but two of the legends in this DVD. It gave me chills to realize how lucky,
how blessed I am to have had those instructional opportunities and dance
experiences.
Amaya does the narration of the entire work. Her lovely voice is clear and even soothing as you listen to
her stories of who, when and where.
She keeps you fascinated all along the way as you experience the
performances and excitement they create.
And when offering a trademarked comment by one of them, actually takes
on the tone of their voice, superbly.
So all that said, let me give you a brief on each Legend via one of the
best DVD offerings I have scene in my 33 years in Oriental arts.
The DVD opens with the bonus segments of Ahmed Jarjour and Amir of
Boston.
Ahmed
Jarjour - - an entertainer first.
His signature infinity (some call a bicycle or up and down figure 8’s)
are to die for. What makes these
signature for Ahmed is he starts the infinity with hips, as seemingly it
becomes part of his abdomen, then chest and up to his neck where you will see
him smiling boldly waiting as your eyes travel the distance. What a talent this man was.
Amir of
Boston dressed in a short vest, offering a view of seriously honed abs dancing
to Leylet Hob - - amazing spins and kicks and such grace. You will find moves that if you have
been dancing for less than ten years will not seen elsewhere - - and trust me
you are going to want to try to learn these. He is just a delight to watch. Amir has a backwards one Kosak one legged spin while
whipping his leg around that incorporated so well into his oriental routine and
is simply his own. He also gives
us a peak at a before Michael Jackson front leg side whip - - to die for. So that’s where it came from? Oh what a man!
There is a very short clip of “Little Egypt” at the beginning of the
Legends presentation and just after the special guests and then Amaya provides
a most incredible opening written dialogue. This brief history lesson alone is
worth the DVD cost.
The last few sentences of that brief:
Certainly, there are a myriad
of dancers who carved our path, but these classic American names stand out as
the teachers and performers that opened the belly dance doors in America.
They created the national and
international fads and trends, and had the talent and drive to make our dance
what it is today; one without borders, attracting many students and fans
globally.
Because of the eclectic nature
of vintage photography and film, please accept the mixed quality of many of
these older clips.
Then the show begins. Each
Legend’s segment includes an explanation of the dancer, where they lived and
danced, a bit about their personal life, all during a photo and video clip
slide show. After the explanation
we are treated to a “performance”.
Adrianna
Miller, born in Boston, MA and a Graduate of the Boston Conservatory of
Music, she is an expert on the history of ethnic Dance. She has an early background in jazz and
interpretive dance as well as that of actress and photographers model.
She was a friend, mentor and teacher of Ibrahim Farrah who she met
while he was working as a waiter at the Astor. She went into semi retirement in the early 80s. 1993 she was inducted into the American
Academy of Middle Eastern Dance, Hall of Fame. Her papers are included in the dance archives of the Gelman
Library at the George Washington University in Washington DC. She was the first
Middle Eastern Dancer to be inducted into the archives. Adrianna, Shadows on Yellow Silk is a
documentary about Adrianna, and her rise to fame as a Belly Dancer in
Washington DC. She had worked with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. and claims to come from Show Business,
not just dance.
Her clip is a performance in 1979 with the wonderful George Abdo. Short but breathtaking just like all of
the wonderful photo clips throughout the narrative.
Aida Al
Adawi originally of San Francisco California began studying with Jamila
Salimpour in1970. In 1971, she
began working at the Baghdad in San Francisco, and the Parthenon in Walnut
Creek and then the Casbah. For the
next twelve years she did 5 to 7 shows each night between clubs.
She also was an incredibly talented musician playing oud and classical
Arabic singer. She has insisted that her dance troupe learn to play their own
music, sing in Arabic as well as dance.
Currently she resides in Dearborn Michigan and travels with other
scholars lecturing and touring working closely with the largest Arabic
community I the world outside of the Middle East. She is an incredible zil
player and is well known for her amazing spins and large oversized veils. She demonstrates in her performance for
us, her very own zil solo, in which she dances and zils with no additional
musical accompaniment. A true
original.
Aisha
Ali internationally recognized authority on the dances of Egypt and North
Arica and top performer in the art of Belly Dance since the 960’s. She was the first American to dance
with the Banat Mazen a well known family of Gahwazee know who are entertainers
of Upper Egypt. She traveled to
the Middle East to observe first hand many different styles not yet seen in the
United States. She as well lived
with the Ouled Nail in Algeria, a tribe famous for its dancing women. She has contributed to numerous magazines
and has been internationally published, including the Oxford Press.
She tours internationally as a lecturer and performer and continues to
dance today for which you will see why in the fabulous clip included.
Aziz, of Salt
Lake City, Utah, took his first classes in Berkley California, studying with Shamarra,
Jamila Salimpour, and Bert Balladine.
Tall, with long blonde hair (that he would unleash from his signature
turban while spinning and piercing cobalt blue eyes Aziz captivated all who
watched him. His dance style was his own, a mixture of ethic/tribal style and
the precision of Egyptian style; it is said he was the ultimate free style male
dancer of his time. He founded and
directed several dance troupes over his career. He took a 7 year sabbatical, but returned in the early 90s
for which many of us are grateful.
He is today, a very successful artist in Salt Lake City, no longer
travelling and dancing (I will continue to hold out hope of a return).
You will most assuredly see why in his performance clip.
Roman
“Bert” Balladine! The
opening clip of a bearded, muscular Bert is just incredible; a pixilated side
view of his face, as he moves showing bared chest and an intensity that to this
day is unmatched. Relating himself
as a “Berliner” with a nationality of “Show Business”. And he was in show business his
entire life, having toured around the world with an acrobatic team. There are clips of Bert from the 40’s
and 50s that will just make you sob. (It did me). He
has worked with and known some of the greatest in the business; Samia Gamal,
Tahia Carioca, Sohair Zaki and more.
He made his way to the Bay Area in the 1960’s and later Gov Reagan gave
him the award of honor. He was the
first to introduce the workshop idea in Germany, opening the door for many of
our American dancers, including Amaya.
Often described as a dance psychologist, he instilled in his students
and workshop attendees a sense of sensuality and entertainment. Feel, emote, groove on the music he
would say.
He lived on a farm in Petaluma, California, surrounding himself with
exotic animals and pets. I
remember well when he would come to Rakkasah, cowboy boots and all and would
talk about his wonderful pets at home.
His clips are awe inspiring and will bring a tear to the eye as those
who knew him will always love him but know we will see him once again, someday,
on that great stage beyond.
Dahlena – opens
with the picture on the cover of this album. A wowza photo.
One of the leading experts of actual breakdown of dance movements and
developed the notation of the Dahlena Method. She has taught lived and travelled throughout the United
States, Canada, Germany, France, Iraq and Syria and was born in Oregon. Her first dance training was in ballet
although she loved ethnic dance. She
collaborated with Ibrahim Farrah, performing as a duo throughout California and
Oregon.
She has produced several albums as well as written the book, The Art of
Belly Dancing, and currently resides in Yuma, Arizona. You will be treated to some of that
precision she is so well known for in her clip.
De Ann (Miss
Sonoma County in 1968) as she was driving through San Francisco she heard the
music of Fadil Shahine on the radio, and so her career in Belly Dance began as
she found her way to the club he was playing at – the Casbah. She studied with Jamila Salimpour and
danced with Jamila’s troupe Bal Anat – sword dancing her specialty. She began working with Doug Adams and
eventually they produced the first album of Middle Eastern music done entirely
by American musicians. She was the
original fusion style dancer known for pushing the envelope of our dance – and
she continued to push that envelope her entire career as an inspiration to so
many of us.
Her clip is a compilation of performances, set to the music of Light
Rain, and Doug Adams.
Helena
Vlahos hit the scene in the 60’s and was instrumental in creating the
American Belly Dance style we know today.
She was born in Greece, moving to the US when she was 8 years old first
to New York then to Los Angeles.
She was dancing in clubs in Hollywood by the time she was 17 and hasn’t
stopped since. Well known for her
quarter rolling tricks which truly are amazing and she is actually in the
Guinness book of world records for unique abdominal dexterity (all together,
ever other one, or one at a time – it is a remarkable thing to see). Although
this is a great trick, Helena is more well known to dancers as having a
classical, exciting style, founded in elegance and grace. She is always a pleasure to watch and
more so to study with.
She is now residing in Phoenix, Arizona. Her clips are shown throughout the narration – much to our
delight.
Ibrahim
Farrah who said, “Why be good when you can be great?” was a lifelong scholar
of Middle Eastern Dance Orientale, and was the founder (in 1975) of the
publication “Arabesque”. He was
known as “Bobby”, raised in a strong Lebanese American community who had a
degree in history. He began to
explore his own culture and eventually made his way to our dance, studying
first with Adriana Miller and then moving to New York where he began teaching
at the International Dance School at Carnegie Hall. He received a foundation grant from Doris Duke which helped
him travel and study and then open his own dance school in New York.
In 1982 Bobby received the Ruth St. Denis award for choreography – what
an honor. We have for many years
referred to his loyal dance students, those he worked with throughout his
career, very affectionately, as “Bobby’s Girls” or “Bobby Dolls”. They were and are trained in such a
classical and unique way, they always stand out.
I saw Bobby dance in San Francisco one year. He stood, and merely shimmied, first for a minute, then he
stopped and we screamed. Then for
a few minutes, and he stopped, and we screamed. Then again doubling the time until once again, he stopped
and we screamed. We screamed
because he had the confidence to do it, because the look on his face was pure
joy, because he could instill in his audience what he felt in that moment.
His last known performance is included as the clip and I assure you –
there will be no doubt in your mind as to his ability on stage, and how he
would bring the crowd to a screaming frenzy. As he exits, the smile tells all.
Jamila
Salimpour a powerful dancer and woman who influenced thousands of dancers around
the world is considered by many to be the Mother of Dance in our country. She began her performing career at the
age of 16 with Ringling Brothers Circus and had five elephants in her act. She had her first lessons in Middle
Eastern Dance with her Father who had been stationed at a Navy Station in Egypt
– where he learned some steps of the dance. Jamila began her own career in Middle Eastern Dance in the
40’s and was the first woman to own a Middle Eastern club in California – the
Bagdad. Jamila’s first taught her
own classes in ME dance in 1949.
This was when she began developing her unique method of verbal breakdown
and terminology for her movements; original phrases such as Basic Egyptian,
Turkish Drop and Maya – much of the terminology we still use today.
In the 60’s, she rehearsed in the same space as Janis Joplin, made body
jewelry for Jimmy Hendrix and had costumes that were designed by Bob
Mackey. Her birth of Bal
Anat - -the original tribal troupe and dance, with snakes, pots, swords, canes
and more were incredible performances with up to 40 dancers in a show. She has been contributing editor to the
publication Habibi and has produced her own books including a complete book of
zil patterns. She is amazing in
the classroom, even in her 80’s she gleans serious work from dancers, all while
instilling a sense of fun and excitement.
Jamila forever changed the face of oriental dance in America.
John
Compton, with his brilliant blue eyes that can melt the toughest of
hearts. He first performed as a
soloist in Jamila Salimpour’s Bal Anat troupe in the 1970s. He formed his own show for the King Tut
Exhibit in San Francisco in 1976 and is now the co founder with Rababa of Hahbi'Ru. Hahbi'Ru is an early term for
the Bedouin tribes who wandered the Arabian Desert enriching themselves by
taking what they –pleased from the many countries they traversed. Hahbi'Ru's focus is on the old world
folkloric style, based on tradition.
John currently resides in San Diego, where he continues to dance and
wow audiences. His performance
clip starts with his signature tray dance, full of candles and deep bends to
the floor, including his signature push ups with balanced tray. Spectacular as always.
Morocco, Auntie
Rocky, a multi lingual dynamo hit the scene in the 60’s and hasn’t slowed down
since. The Arabian Nights club,
the first she had worked in, is where she received her name. The owner insisted she looked Moroccan
and hence began calling her such.
She has written for numerous magazines as well as performed on many TV
shows; Ed Sullivan, David Frost, Johnny Carson, Dr. Joyce Brothers and
more. She has taught and performed
all over the world and works tirelessly to preserve ethnic dances to save them
from extinction. (Morocco is also featured in the Legends column here on iShimmy.com)
So, all this said, this DVD is a must have and in fact one I would be so bold as to say is the best DVD on the market, because without the knowledge of our history we are weak at best.
I want to mention the music and all of the credits are not shown on the actual DVD cover, but are rolled at the end of the DVD. Music is featured during the film clips and in the background as Amaya narrates. Much of it you will recognize - but here is a list (web site addresses are offered with the credits): Pangia's "West of East", Ibrahinm El Samahy's "Moon Over Cairo: Amayaguena", MaryEllen Donald's "Encore! Bert's Baladi", Harry Saroyan's "Saroyan Sings "Cairo", Kara Nomadica's "Kara Nomadica", and Light Rain's "Dream Dancer".
The DVD is distributed by Hollywood Music Center, Middle Eastern Music Specialists: http://www.hollywoodmusiccenter.com and if you have questions for Amaya, you will find her at: http://www.maria.amaya.com.
As Amaya says "ENJOY"!!!!!
