Edwina Nearing for the Gilded Serpent

The Gilded Serpent presents
Edwina Nearing

Orientalist and journalist Edwina Nearing majored in Near-Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and the, American University of Beirut. Past Middle Eastern Affairs Editor for Habibi Magazine, she wrote the book-Iength series, "The Mystery of the Ghawazi," for that publication. She is licensed by the Egyptian government as a folkloric dancer, and has performed with the Banat Mazin, Ghawazi as a member of their ensemble off and on since 1979.

Articles on Gilded Serpent by Edwina Nearing
6- 8-04 Nagwa Sultan: Cairo Soul
Like a number of other Egyptian dancers who retired in the early ‘90s, Nagwa couldn't turn her back on the dance world entirely, however tarnished the glitter had become.

1-3-04 Khairiyya Mazin Struggles to Preserve Authentic Ghawazi Dance Tradition
But when Khairiyya Mazin retires, one of the most distinctive traditions of Ghawazi dance may come to an end.

2-11-04 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 1
Begun in the mid-1970's , the early sections of "Sirat Al-Ghawazi" were first published under the title "The Mystery of the Ghawazi." We are happy to be able to respond to the continued demand for these articles by making them available to our readers worldwide.

5-16-04 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 2 by Edwina Nearing

8-8-04 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 3 by Edwina Nearing

9-12-04 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 4 by Edwina Nearing

9-12-04 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 5 of 9 by Edwina Nearing .

7-5-05 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 6 by Edwina Nearing

9-5-05 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 7 by Edwina Nearing

12-3-05 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 8 by Edwina Nearing

1-9-06 Sirat Al-Ghawazi, Part 9 by Edwina Nearing

Edwina Nearing on her Arabian stallion, "Horse," in Wadi Rumm, Jordan, 1987. Nearing explains that the unhappy expression on her face is due to her awareness that a storm is approaching, that she is riding straight into it, and that she has otherwise no clear idea where she is going. "Horse" had been tentatively named Al-Amin ("The Faithful") but, having tried to lie down in the sand and roll on his rider, was subsequently demoted.

Nearing in the ancient ruins of Palmyra (Tadmor), Syria, mid-1980s, at the annual Tadmor Folklore Festival

Nearing (lost again) in Rajasthan, India, 2003