{"id":957,"date":"2009-11-02T14:32:44","date_gmt":"2009-11-02T21:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=957"},"modified":"2009-11-11T12:07:03","modified_gmt":"2009-11-11T19:07:03","slug":"deniseawsfest09","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2009\/11\/02\/deniseawsfest09\/","title":{"rendered":"

Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival 2009<\/h3>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Raqia<\/p>\n

Page 1 of 3: Opening Gala
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Photos by Denise Marino<\/a>
\ntext by Leyla Lanty<\/a> and Denise
\nposted November 2, 2009 <\/span><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s June 27, 2009, in Cairo, Egypt, which can mean only one thing \u2013 the Opening Gala of Raqia Hassan<\/a><\/span>‘s Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival<\/span>!\u00a0 At the Mena House hotel<\/a> the excitement in the air is palpable, not only because of the highly anticipated evening show where dancers from all over the world gather to see the top dancers, musicians, and singers in Egypt, but the next week of classes with Egyptian stars and teachers from all over the world, nightly parties, and the Closing Gala, a spectacular evening of top dancers, AWS competition winners, musicians, and singers.<\/p>\n

Denise Marino<\/strong>, world traveling professional photographer, who has been a featured photographer at the festival for several years, contributed these magnificent photos from AWS 2009 to the Gilded Serpent. \u00a0See her website for more about her and to see more examples of her wonderful art.\u00a0 www.denisemarinophotos.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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Opening Gala<\/h4>\n

\"Whirling<\/p>\n

Whirling Dervish<\/h5>\n

\nDervish dancers from the Raqs Tannoura<\/span> show.\u00a0 About half of the performers from the full company gave us a sample of their full show by performing the secular whirling dervish dance called \u201cRaqs Tannoura\u201d or \u201cDance of the Skirt\u201d.\u00a0 The full company performs twice each week near the Khan el Khalili, free admission.\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\"Whirling<\/span>
\n\t \tWhirling Dervish<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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<\/span>\"Amir
\n\t \tAmir Thaleb<\/h5>\n

\n\t\tAmir Thaleb<\/span> and his troupe opened the evening with their show of oriental, folkloric, and debki dance, which is pictured here.\u00a0 The debki number was high energy excitement from start to finish!\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\"Soraia<\/span>
<\/h5>\n
Soraya Zaied<\/h5>\n

\t Soraya<\/span> is Brazilian and has been performing in Cairo since the 90s and is one of Cairo\u2019s favorites. Her show included oriental, folkloric, and highly Brazilian style oriental (see 3rd photo).\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\"Soraia<\/span>
\n\t\tSoraya Zaied<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Soraia
\n\t \tSoraya Zaied<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Randa
\n\t\tRanda Kamel<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Randa
\n\t \tRanda Kamel<\/h5>\n

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Page 2: The AWS09 Teachers, coming soon!<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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\nCheck the "Letters to the Editor<\/a>" for other possible viewpoints!<\/p>\n

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