 Aziza!'s Troupe Banat Zelzeleh |
A Period of
Innovations
by Aziza!
 Click here to see the full orignal program with all the participant's interesting bios |
In the late 1970s, there were two events produced for the belly dance community that were different from things that had happened before - events that began and paved the way for so many that were to happen later.
The First
- in 1976 - was called Isis.
It was a convention for dancers that included many classes during
the day and a great show in the evening. This event was put on by Amina
and Hoda, and it was really a big deal! Classes were
given by the likes of Jamila,
Nakish,
Bert Balladine,
Magana Baptiste,
Aida,
Zahra Anise, Rhea,
Hoda, Vince
Delgado and Zoraida, teaching such things
as karsilama, showmanship, belly work, dumbek, drops, East Indian hand
and arm movements, professionalism, shimmies, etc., etc.
The
Second was in 1979.
It was a symposium and panel discussion, followed by a show including
the members of the panel. The purpose of the symposium/discussion was
"to discuss and respond to various questions and issues presented by
the belly dance community at large; audience participation welcome."
The members of the panel were all either dancers with at least ten years'
experience or other people who were involved in the dance community
in some way. They included: Amina,
Aziza!, Hoda, Mimi
Delgado (Spencer), Najia,
Naji Baba (musician), Bob Zalot (editor
of Habibi), Sabah,
Ilyana , Charlotte Bocage (treasurer
of MECDA), another musician and a club owner (if I remember correctly,
it was Fadil
Shahin). We had invited Jamila,
but she chose not to participate. It was on a Sunday in February at
the Unitarian Church on Franklin in San Francisco, and the place was
packed. The discussion was animated, but pleasant, and everyone seemed
pleased and interested.
 Aziza! |
 Sultana |
The evening show included all the above dancers, as well as Rhea and Farma. The musicians for the show included Fadil, Vince Delgado, Ron Ransford and some others. It was well-received, though there was one performance that certainly had everyone talking! Ilyana chose to present a dance that represented a birthing, moving from orgasmic sex through the appearance of the baby from between her heaving thighs! Yow! No one had expected it, so it was certainly the highlight(?) of the evening!
There was a long and winding road that led to this event (no, not the "birth"!).Rhea and I had been talking about how good it would be to get everyone together to discuss the various issues and such that were of current concern to the community, and trying to figure out what would be the best way to do it. Neither of us had any experience at this, but we were trying!
We finally hooked up with Ilyana, a dancer and teacher from Marin County who put on a lot of small shows, so she knew what she was doing. She said that she would be glad to set things up and be the hostess for the event, as long as it was produced under the aegis of BAMEDA, the Bay Area Mid-Eastern Dance Arts Association. Well, once we had arranged for that, things sped along much more quickly! She was able to produce a much more professional flyer than we had come up with - it included a questionnaire so that attendees could let us know ahead of time what issues they would like to see discussed.
Mary Ellen Donald also put on a series of evening shows (after day-long workshops known as the Summer Seminars), called Arabian Splendor. Nakish and Ma'shuqa were her perennial stars, and they did spectacular things! In 1981, Nakish's entrance was striking - as the curtains opened, she was standing with her back to the audience, holding out her veil, on the top of a pyramidal flight of stairs, which she proceeded to dance down. ( I seem to remember that she was wearing brown, but
surely that is wrong!) Unfortunately, there was a problem with the curtain and they had to start over, but it certainly was a spectacular start to her performance! That year Ma'shuqa came out and was doing her dance (very nicely), and when it came time for her taqsim, the stage lights dimmed and we discovered that she had running lights around the top of her belt and on her bra! Wow!The next year, 1982, Nakish made what seemed to be a magical entrance from the center of a gang of backup dancers - she hadn't been there a minute before! That was good, but Ma'shuqa had had a flashier idea: she was carried onstage by a strongman named Ken - both of them wearing blue feather masks! After a little, she took off her mask and danced, and we were almost blinded by her skirt, which was something shiny silver, and looked like vertical blinds! When the lights hit that sucker, we needed our dark glasses for sure!
Other performers who were featured in Mary Ellen's shows included Bert Balladine, Aisha Ali and her troupe, Issa Deeb and the great Flamenco artist Cruz Luna, sometimes accompanied by Reyna, who used to belly dance with us at the Bagdad, but later turned to Flamenco.
I will mention one more series of shows that came out of this fecund era, which was the Choreographers' Showcases, presented in the South Bay area in a beautiful theater. There was also a show that joins them in my mind, though I think that it was actually a separate entity. It was called Strictly Cabaret, and was (another) workshop and concert, presented by Habibi (Bob Zalot). The music was by Jalal and Salah Takesh, with Sulieman and Armando. Singers were Alireza, Khalil Aboud and Maha. The dancers were pretty spectacular: Rhea, Sultana, Feiruz Aram, Nakish and Marliza Pons. I have heard that the dressing room was in a cloud of marijuana smoke - but it didn't slow anyone down! I can remember standing in line for the show for a long time - I had on a snake necklace that kept pinching my neck - what a thing to remember!
 Aziza! |
1976 Isis Convention Program
1979 Panel Discussion Photos
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Check the "Letters to the Editor"
for other possible viewpoints!
Ready
for more?
more from Aziza!-
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6-22-03
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So I married
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4-5-04 Rakkasah
West Festival Photo Teaser March 2004, Richmond, California
photos
by GS Volunteers including: Biram, Clare, Cynthia, Krista, Lynette,
Michelle, Monica, Sandra, Valentino, Yasmine and probably more! Let
us know if you recognize faces!
4-3-04 Part
2 of Photos
by Ram, the Featured Stars, Aida
Nour & Magdy El-Leisy, and Wafaa
Badr
in
Dallas, Texas, January 9-11,
2004, sponsored by
Little Egypt
