Safaa singing his first song in Cassino Andelouse 1981
Gilded Serpent presents...
Interview with
Safaa Farid
by Leila


Safaa Farid has been singing for and managing belly dancers in Egypt for over 25 years. Over the course of his career he has performed with many different dancers in thousands of venues from the Caberettes of Harem to the best five star Hotels in Cairo. As an orchestra leader, he has directed orchestras in nightclubs in Germany and Vienna, in theater engagements in Australia and England and in festivals in Finland and Egypt (both the Ahlan w Sahlan and Nilegroup festivals). He has recorded numerous songs for CD's of bellydance music and acted as art director and producer of CD's for many international and Egyptian dance artists. He has also appeared in three films singing with dancers. This interview was conducted in Arabic and translated by Leila.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST SONG YOU REMEMBER SINGING?
When I was 10 years old I sang Om Kalthoum, "Enta Omri" for the school and after that I was always the one they would choose to sing for the haflas. When I was 15 my neighbor passed away and man who reads (sings) the Koran at funerals didn't arrive so they asked me to read the Koran. After this, the neighborhood began to ask for me to read the Koran and after a while I began to make money from this.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SINGING WITH BELLYDANCERS?
A very long time, since 1981 or 1982. I started with Badia al Alami from Lebanon. Our first show was at Cassino Andalouse (that is the picture of my first show). I had gone to work for her as an accountant but her husband had heard that I could sing and it was his idea to make me her singer. My name is Safaa Mohamed Hassan Hassan but he gave me his name Farid as he said it sounded better for a singer.

WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR FIRST WORK WITH BADIA?
I found work with Badia that was interesting to me. She made many taubeauxs and used many classic songs which I like. One tableaux was very famous from the 1930's that talked about many subjects of people you would see on the street like soldiers, basha (rich man), workers and she and her dancers would act out these. She would also make many Lebanese songs by Fayrooz. She was a real artist and money wasn't important to her, it was about the work. She would bring four boys (dancers) and six girls and a large orchestra. Many famous musicians who are still playing today started in her orchestra.

WHAT OTHER DANCERS HAVE YOU WORKED WITH?
After Badia went back to Lebanon I began working with the famous Zizi Mustafa and I stayed with her for 7 years. Then there was Samasen of Sweden and Dunia of Morrocco. Following, there was Zahara of Germany and I directed her orchestra in Germany for two years after she left Egypt. I returned to Egypt and sang with many Egyptians who were working in Harem and parties, i.e. Sohair Said, Azza Sherif and Hindaya but the work in the cabarets was not my style and it was only about making money and not the art. It was just the times and a singer would come and make only one song in the show and then go to another order. Then I met the English dancer Asmahan who was working in Hilton Ramses.

I found the foreigners to care about the quality of the work and not to look only for tips.


Safaa and his wife, Leila, at the Nilegroup Festival, Egypt 2006

But Asmahan would make only one show a night so I would leave her and go to Harem to work many orders after her show was done. It was during this time I sang with Lucy and some of the last orders for Sohair Zaki. After Asmahan left I worked with another English dancer Yasmina in Meridian Heliopolis and Camila of Brazil in Semerameese. Now I had left the cabarets behind. By the time Camila returned to her country and Yasmina retired, I was not only acting as a singer but the leader of the orchestra. If a dancer needed an orchestra I would create it for her. At the same time I managed Liza Laziza of England and Aida of Russia. For the last four years I have been managing Leila of America and recently Oti of Finland.

HOW HAS THE DANCE CHANGED OVER THE 25 YEARS YOU HAVE BEEN ON STAGE?
All dance has it's time. Everything has changed. In the past the dance was not so fast and more lyrical. Now the music is faster and so is the dancing. There is satellite TV and everyone wants everything faster. The dancers used to have very large orchestras and they would make a big show. Now people ask the dancer to come with a small orchestra because they don't want to pay.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EGYPTIAN AND FOREIGN DANCERS?
You can tell instantly when a dancer is Egyptian. It is the feeling. No Egyptian can dance the dances of Europe like Europeans do and no foreigner can dance Egyptian dance like we do. If a foreigner lives in Egypt for many years she may start to understand our feeling. It is not the movement that can come by training. But it's not possible to get the feeling from training.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT THE FOREIGN DANCERS?
They are polite. A foreigner can do very sexy moves on stage but it does not seem sexy because in her culture this is OK. But an Egyptian knows it will be sexy because our culture is more conservative. Also foreigners come to their show on time and they have a great work ethic. Foreign dancers want everything straight and they trust me and I can work with someone who is straight who wants to make art and who needs direction. It takes five years for a foreign dancer to become good here in Egypt and she needs someone to give her advice on how to succeed here. I like to have ideas for a career.

These days there are times I feel I've seen everything an Egyptian dancer can do in the first five minutes of her show. She doesn't change. But foreigners study the dance very hard and they put much time into their show so that is it interesting for a whole hour.


Safaa singing in Harem Street 1992

IN YOUR OPPINION WHAT WAS THE BEST TIME FOR DANCE IN EGYPT?
It was from 1980 until 1990. All the dancers were famous and there were so many dancers all trying to outdo the other. Each dancer would make a bigger show than the next and the best was Fifi Abdo. Her show had power and style and she would bring 20 Saida out on stage just for one number. She was strong and funny and had exciting costumes. The people loved to go see the dancers. There were always guests and if they didn't like the dancer in one nightclub they could go down the street and see another dancer. The dancers knew this and it made them better because of the competition.

WHAT WAS THE WORST TIME FOR DANCE IN EGYPT?
Now. There have been many wars lately in Iraq, Philistine, Lebanon and the state of the world has made the people not in the mood to be happy, to go out and enjoy themselves. Before, many people came to Egypt to see dance and be entertained. Now the feeling is down.

DO YOU THINK BELLYDANCE IS DYING IN EGYPT?
No, dance will never die in Egypt. For example, we say: When the mizmar player dies, his fingers still play. We have talent that has yet to be seen in the dance. I see many young Egyptian girls who are trying to become good dancers because they love the dance.

I KNOW YOU HAVE SEEN THE BELLYDANCE SUPERSTARS VIDEO. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE AMERICAN INTERPRETATION OF BELLYDANCE?

This is not raqs sharki. This is estaarad and I can't compare it to raqs sharki. This is something new and maybe the people in Egypt would be interested in seeing this new type of dance. But we can't compare two things that are not alike.

HOW DID YOU COME TO RECORD YOUR FIRST CD?
I made Om Kalthoum, "El Hob Kooloo" on the CD for Raqia Hassan. This was in 1994. I made this song and gave her ideas for three more songs in the CD but these songs were for women singers. After this I recorded many songs and organized many CD's.

HOW DO YOU PUT TOGETHER A CD FOR A DANCER WHO COMES TO YOU FOR ART DIRECTION?
For example, if she doesn't have any ideas I see her dance, and then I start to think what would suit her. Some dancers love tableaux and some like songs. Some dancers dance quickly, and some slowly, and each has her own style. Sometimes a dancer comes to me with an idea for the entire CD. I tell her if she needs something more that people haven't recorded many times before. Also you need a good variety of songs for a CD to succeed.

HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SING ONSTAGE OUTSIDE OF EGYPT? DO YOU THINK THAT FOREGINERS CAN UNDERSTAND ARABIC MUSIC?
In the festivals outside of Egypt, the people come to the concerts because they love dance and Egyptian music. They want to hear Egyptian music from their hearts. Sometimes an Egyptian person listens to a foreign song, and we don't know what the words mean, but, we feel the song and love this song. It is the same for foreigners, maybe they don't understand the words but they understand the feeling. The artists can convey much of what the song is about even without the listener understanding the words. Julio Eglasias came to Egypt and gave a concert. I didn't understand the words he was singing but I felt the music and I felt the passion in what he was singing. I love to sing for foreign audiences because they give me a reason to sing and if they love my songs I feel I've succeeded even more.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
I will travel to England with the orchestra for the Farha tour with Farida Dance in November 2006 and then to Finland in the spring for the Yalla Festival. I am talking now with someone about a tour of Austrailia in 2007. We can't talk too much about the future, it is not in our hands.

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