{"id":1196,"date":"2010-01-27T10:26:27","date_gmt":"2010-01-27T17:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=1196"},"modified":"2010-03-01T14:02:32","modified_gmt":"2010-03-01T21:02:32","slug":"yasminshooshooamin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2010\/01\/27\/yasminshooshooamin\/","title":{"rendered":"

Shoo Shoo Amin <\/h3>"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Forgotten Treasure of the 80s<\/h2>\n

by Yasmin Henkesh<\/a>
\nposted January 26, 2010<\/span><\/h3>\n

Twenty years ago when I told people I had worked with Shoo Shoo Amin<\/span> in Cairo, the response was  \u201cWow!\u201d Now, people go \u201cWho?\u201d Today no one seems to know who she is. For belly dance purists, this is a tragedy. Every so often, someone my age or older will wax lyrical about her on-line, but for the most part, she\u2019s an enigma \u2013 even to young Egyptians. But ask older Egyptians if they\u2019ve heard of Shoo Shoo Amin and they sing her praises. \u201cOne of the best dancers of the 80\u2019s!\u201d \u201cVery good dancer!\u201d \u201cSo sweet, not like [ Fifi Abdou<\/span><\/a>, Sahar Hamdi<\/a><\/span>, or any C rated dancer working in smoky dives for poor vacationing Saudis]. I could take my wife to see her.\u201d <\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly where I met Shoo Shoo Amin, in a place where Egyptians took their wives. It was a famous supper club on the Sharia al-Haram called the Auberge<\/i><\/strong>. Nagwa Fouad got her start there in the 1960s. It seated 700 people. At the time, I worked downstairs in the nightclub, while Shoo Shoo worked upstairs in the main \u201csalla.\u201d When she went back to London, I took her place. I used to come early every night to watch her. She made everything look so easy. But looks can be deceiving. To this day when I teach her signature moves, students take a year or two (if they\u2019re lucky) to master them. <\/p>\n

I first saw Shoo Shoo in London while I was working at Mona Said<\/span>\u2019s Omar Khayyam<\/i><\/strong>. She worked at a luxurious place called The Empress<\/i><\/strong>. Khamis Henkesh<\/span> was her drummer. In my mind, the two of them created the perfect drum solo – along with Mona\u2019s, of course. <\/p>\n

Shoo Shoo had a spectacular shimmy that she maintained all the way down to the floor and back up again. She also had an amazing down-hip three-quarter shimmy that she did double time around the stage.<\/p>\n

Her timing was perfect, her stage presence engaging and she played finger cymbals like a pro. I was mesmerized. So when I found myself able to watch her for free every night in Cairo, I knew I was in heaven. (Dealing with the owner was not heaven but that is another story.) <\/p>\n\n\n
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Shoo Shoo convinced her family to let her become a dancer in the early 1970s. She went \u201cpro\u201d at the age of 19 and soon landed a contract to work with Hassan Abou Saoud<\/span> (Shik Shak Shok<\/i> composer) in Japan. She stayed there for a year. But London was where she was happiest. She worked on and off in England until she retired in 1994. She was an innovative dancer, but stayed close to her roots. She is the only one I know of who incorporated live zar musicians into a folkloric tableau. The tableau can be seen in the video clip below. This group, Awlad Abou al-Gheit<\/i>, plays on Zar \u2013 Trance Music for Women<\/a><\/i> and one of the songs she used is Benat al-Handasa<\/i>, track 7. <\/p>\n

Shoo Shoo had many signature moves. The ones I remember most are: <\/p>\n