{"id":976,"date":"2009-11-04T21:51:56","date_gmt":"2009-11-05T04:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=976"},"modified":"2009-11-05T10:07:25","modified_gmt":"2009-11-05T17:07:25","slug":"deniseaws09p2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2009\/11\/04\/deniseaws09p2\/","title":{"rendered":"

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

\"Raqia<\/p>\n

Page 2:Teachers from Around the World<\/h2>\n

Photos by Denise Marino<\/a>
\ntext by Leyla Lanty<\/a>
\nposted November 4, 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<\/span>‘s Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival<\/span>!\u00a0At 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

Raqia hires a large staff of teachers from all over the world.  They range in fame from the top stars of Cairo to those who may only be known to Raqia and in their own home localities as top notch teachers and performers.  <\/p>\n

On Teachers’ Night, held on the night after the Opening Gala, AWS teachers who wish to perform have the opportunity to show their special talents to festival attendees The next day many people go to the registration desk and register for additional classes with teachers they saw in the show.\n<\/p>\n

On days one through six, classes are held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Mena House hotel.  Raqia hires a number of professional drummers on a stand-by basis so that any teacher who needs a live drummer only has to ask and a drummer appears in the class ready to accompany the instruction and practice.  Classes taught by superstar performers and teachers such as Dina<\/a>, Randa Kamel<\/a>, Dandash<\/a>, Raqia<\/a><\/span> herself, Dr. Mo Geddawy<\/a><\/span> and more are held in the large ballrooms, while the smaller classes, from about 10 to 60 people, are held in the conference rooms, dining rooms and other spaces.  Over the four years I’ve taught cymbals at AWS, my class has been in the nightclub, two conference rooms, and the basement disco. Heard in the lobby after the Teachers’ Night show "So many teachers, so hard to choose!"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Teachers at AWS Fest 2009<\/h3>\n

\"Abir
\nAbir & Magdy of Egypt<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
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\"Alba<\/h5>\n
Alba Hayal of Barcelona, Spain<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Amara
\n\tAmara Saadeh of Brazil\t<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Amir
\n\tAmir Thaleb of Argentina<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Angelika
\n\tAngelika Nemeth of California<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
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\"Antonia
\n\tAntonia Canal of Colombia<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Aziza
\n\t \tAziza Abdul Ridha of Italy<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Bella
\n\tBella of Taiwan<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Dana
\n\t \tDana Amar of Chile<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Dina
\n\t\tDina<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Dina
\n\t\tDina of Egypt<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"Farida
\n\tFarida Seidi of Algeria<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Fatima
\n\tFatima Serin of Turkey<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Giselle
\n\tGiselle Castro of Brazil<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\n
\"Guo
\n\t\tGuo Wei of Beijing<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Julia
\n\tJulia of Russia<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
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\"Leyla
\n\tLeyla Jouvana of Germany<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\"Leyla<\/h5>\n
Leyla Lanty<\/a> of California<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\"Rome\"
\n\t\tMaryem
\n\t\tfrom Rome, Italy<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Meera
\n\t \tMeera of California<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Mohammed
\n\tMohammed el Sayed of Egypt<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Monika
\n\tMonika of Italy<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\"Munique
\n\t\tMunique Neith<\/a> of Spain<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Nabila
\n\tNabila of Germany<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\"Nadja
\n\t\tNadja of Sweden<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Nancy
\n\tNancy Kua of Taiwan<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Nazharit
\n\tNazharit of Venezuala<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\n
\n
\"Raja
\n\tRaja of Algeria<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Rosadela
\n\tRosadela of Spain<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\"Samarah
\n\tSamarah Salah of Morocco<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\"Samara
\n\tSamara Haya of Spain<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Seiya
\n\tSeiya of Germany<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Shabanna
\n\tShabanna of Venezuela<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Shahinaz
\n\tShahinaz of Italy dances with the singer (name
\n\tunknown<\/a>)<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Simone
\n\t \tSimona Minisini of Italy<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
\n
\"Sujee
\n\t \tSujee Choi of Korea<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
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\"Yael
\n\tYael of Paris, France<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
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\"Yasmina
\n\tYasmina<\/a> of Cairo & the UK <\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Denise Marino<\/a><\/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.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Have a comment? Use or comment section at the bottom of this page orSend us a letter!<\/a>
\nCheck the "Letters to the Editor<\/a>" for other possible viewpoints!<\/p>\n

Ready for more?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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