{"id":3564,"date":"2011-12-13T16:19:51","date_gmt":"2011-12-13T23:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=3564"},"modified":"2011-12-13T16:19:51","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T23:19:51","slug":"najia-saudis-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2011\/12\/13\/najia-saudis-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudis in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Encounters of a Dancing Kind<\/h2>\n

\"Beer-money-cleavage\"<\/p>\n

by Najia Marlyz<\/a>
\nposted December, 13, 2011
\nPreviously published November 24 1987 in Habibi<\/a>, Vol. 10, no. 4.\u00a0
\nRevised and expanded for Gilded Serpent December 12, 2011<\/span><\/h3>\n

Where have all the Saudi princes gone? As an observer looking back in time, it seems to me that once we dancers in San Francisco began to see less of the fabulously wealthy Saudi youths who were studying in the United States during the late \u201870s and early \u201880s. We also began seeing many of our common music and dance watering-holes here in the United States dry up because of the loss of their generous support.\u00a0 I had heard also, via the grapevine, that because of the Saudis, significantly more songs and dances were played upon the heartstrings of our dancers, happening behind the scenes (back in the day) than happening onstage or in public.\u00a0 I was privy to some of those minor stories and incidents; perhaps you would like to share the wealth…<\/p>\n

My first encounter with a Saudi prince happened back in the mid \u201870s when I went to Broadway<\/a>, San Francisco, to enjoy a cabaret evening, watching professional Belly dancers dance to live Arabic music.\u00a0 That particular evening, the nightclub\u2019s waitress approached me and said in serious tones, "The Prince wants you to go sit with him." \u00a0I looked at my students, rolled my eyes and snickered, disbelieving what I had just heard, thinking that it was some kind of standard cabaret joke.\u00a0 I answered, "Oh, certainly!\u00a0 Well, tell Mr. Prince, if he wants to speak with me, he’ll just have to come here and ask me in person!"\u00a0 I fully expected her to laugh and that would be the end of the story.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

However, no. Instead, Prince X sent a drink to everyone at my table, except me, just to underscore his apparent disapproval of my offensive behavior\u2026 <\/p>\n

Many months later, I had occasion to encounter the same person and he engaged me in polite small-talk while I waited for my dancer-friend to return from the club\u2019s dressing room.\u00a0 I was hard-pressed for anything relevant to say to him and did not remember him from our former encounter. Not knowing that he was a member of the Saudi royal family, but appreciating that he was a foreign visitor to the USA, I asked, "Are you enjoying your stay in the United States?"\u00a0 and for lack of inspiration, I followed up with, "Do you have any brothers and sisters back home?"\u00a0 (Yes, it would have been a stupid question, if I had known that I was speaking with one of the many Saudi princes that existed at that time.)\u00a0 He answered, "Yes. I have 17 brothers and 13 sisters."\u00a0<\/p>\n

I am embarrassed to admit that I giggled, and commented in my California carefree style, "No.\u00a0 I mean, really<\/em><\/strong>!"\u00a0 He patiently explained that his father had had several wives and that this was quite common in his situation.\u00a0 Oh…<\/p>\n

As time went by, I was able to recognize him and I kept my distance, but it was my habit to accompany a group of my students to the San Francisco nightclubs for an evening of live Arabic music once a month in a place that he frequented when he was in town.\u00a0 On one of those evenings, one of my students who was particularly attractive (and quite buxom), passed by the prince on her way to say good-bye to me.\u00a0 As she passed him, he quickly wadded-up a $100 bill and stuffed it into her ample cleavage.\u00a0 I think that one of the funniest silent communications I have ever witnessed in a nightclub was her seamless reaction:\u00a0 She stopped walking and an annoyed expression crossed her face.\u00a0 She looked down into her cleavage, retrieved the hundred dollar bill, opened it, and holding it as if it were a dead mouse tail held between her index finger and her thumb, she swung around, dropping it directly into his mug of beer without any comment, and continued on her way. (Yes, the prince had been drinking alcohol\u2026)<\/p>\n

My next encounter with anything related to the Saudi Arabian culture was in 1977, when my first husband was preparing to go there on business.\u00a0 I became quite miffed because he said I could not go along on the trip with him. He explained that he couldn’t take me with him, because the Saudis did not, at that time, give out any tourists visas, and he showed me the handbook of comportment that was required reading for his three-week stay.\u00a0 I quickly read it and decided that he was correct.\u00a0 It seemed to me that an American woman like me would have a difficult time adapting properly to the requirements of the Saudi society, and the result would certainly be no delightful movie-like fantasy of Oriental culture.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

When I viewed the slides he brought back, showing the huts provided for foreign workers and the huge block-compounds of the Saudis, I felt satisfied that I had not pressed him any further to go with him.<\/p>\n

However, approximately two years later, I met through a musician friend of mine, a young Saudi family that was visiting the United States for the first of what became their annual, and sometimes, semi-annual visits to San Francisco.\u00a0 My first husband had become part of my history by that time, but my second husband and I hosted the little family frequently, and we were invited many times in return. <\/p>\n

It was interesting to see their family as it changed over the years.\u00a0 The children grew and matured, and I shared continuing love of music and dance with them.\u00a0 They brought me videotapes of Saudi dance, and their teenaged daughter exchanged dance lessons with me at my home: I taught her to dance the Egyptian style, and she taught me the Saudi dance done at women\u2019s parties. One year, the girl gifted me with a fabulous black, sheer thobe <\/em>(dance gown) heavily embroidered with gold thread that I still treasure. I have been pleased to dance in it many times, especially for teaching the Khaleedge dance in workshops.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n