by Edwina Nearing
Khairiyya Yusuf Mazin is one of the last exponents of Ghawazi dance, which is perhaps the primary origin of Egyptian "belly dance." She is the sole remaining practitioner of the authentic dances of the Nawari Ghawazi of Upper Egypt.
The Ghawazi are the famed female dancers described so often in Western travelers' accounts since the 18th century, and probably the major wellspring of Egyptian danse orientale. A hundred and fifty years ago, professional female dancers of both Cairo and the countryside were called "Ghawazi;" now the term Ghawazi is used in Egypt to describe the dancers of the countryside who still perform in the traditional manner, who had not added anything to their repertoire from ballet, Latin American or modern Western dance as the "oriental dancers" of Egyptian city nightclubs have done.
For the usual sad litany of reasons -- Islamic fundamentalism, economic pressures, Westernization and official opposition -- the old Egyptian custom of employing Ghawazi to entertain at weddings and other celebrations in the villages is dying out. The Ghawazi of Lower Egypt, an area bounded on one end by Cairo and on the other by Alexandria, have long been going into these cities to work, where they have been influenced by the dance as practiced in the cities. Thus the style of Lower Egypt's few Ghawazi, probably due to this intermingling, seems to be fairly homogeneous at present. The Ghawazi of Upper Egypt, on the other hand, inhabiting a vast and relatively isolated area far from the great cities, have maintained some distinctive regional and, possibly, ethnic styles of dance. Regional style is dictated, at least in part, by the requirements of the musical accompaniment which, at most Upper Egyptian Ghawazi dance parties, usually held outdoors, is provided by drums and mizmars (a loud oboe- or shawm-like instrument).
Rababa (a bowed string instrument) bands, less expensive to hire than mizmar groups, are sometimes used for parties staged by tour companies or others for foreigners and the unknowledgable, but are generally unable to render the specific rhythms and music styles required for specific Ghawazi dances such as the Raqsat al-Jihayni or 'Asharat al-Sibs, and do not inspire the good dancer; hence Ghawazi dance to the rababa is not seen at its best. Differences in dance style due to diverse ethnic origins rather than musical reasons are harder to prove without much further research, but seem likely in view of the diverse ethnic origins of many Upper Egyptian Ghawazi, differences of which they themselves are still aware. Many of the Ghawazi from Balyana to Aswan, for example, belong to ethnic minorities known as Nawar, Halab and Bahlawan.
If, throughout their sojourn in Egypt, these peoples have preserved something of their native tongues, they may have preserved something of their native dance styles as well. Egypt's most famous family of Ghawazi, the Nawari Mazin family, seem to have a dance style somewhat different from that of other Ghawazi whom the author has seen, though whether the difference is Nawari or simply "Mazin" is difficult to determine on available evidence. Opportunities to see Upper Egyptian Ghawazi dance and study regional and possibly ethnic dance styles are difficult to come by in Egypt's current inimical social and economic climate, a climate which has severely curtained their opportunities to perform, forcing most of the Ghawazi into retirement. On the line Balyana-Aswan, as elsewhere, it is especially the better and more experienced dancers, like the Mazins, who have quit, leaving the field to newcomers with little training who are desperate enough to work under any conditions, however degrading or unremunerative. Thus, even if one can attend an affair for which Ghawazi have been hired to perform, the dancers may not be adequate exponents of any particular Ghawazi tradition, or competent dancers in general. (Even if one dancer is well qualified, some Ghawazi dances require more than one dancer, so the "good" dancer cannot perform those dances which the others with her may not know at all.)
Khairiyya, youngest (about 35 years' professional dance experience) member of the family's premier dance ensemble, the "Banat Mazin," still performs, albeit infrequently, at the great outdoor celebrations which a few villages continue to hold in defiance of current trends. In recent years she has been augmenting her irregular income by teaching the traditions of Mazin Ghawazi dance to visiting foreign dancers and researchers. Her present address, a small apartment near the center of Luxor, is: Al-Masakin Al-Sha'abiyya, Those who wish to visit her may simply hail one of the many taxis or horsedrawn carriages that ply the larger streets of Luxor and show the driver the address in Arabic:
The author hopes
that all who respect the traditional arts of the Middle East
will do what they can to help Khairiyya remain active in the
dance field and preserve the antique art of the Ghawazi. Have
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