Leyla Lanty was the guest speaker at the Giza Club on Sunday, July 22. She was going to tell us of her recent trip to Cairo where she went for a little dance and R and R from Silicon Valley. The Giza Club met a little before Leyla began her talk to work out some details on membership, future activities and how to make the web (giza.org) more accessible to members. Any members wishing to volunteer time for administrative duties are welcome to come forward. Leyla settles
into her Cairo apartment
After Leyla told us how she found her apartment, which was having a Cairene friend go from "bawab" to "bawab asking about vacancies ". (The bawabs, are usually Saidis, Egyptians from the south of Egypt, sometimes including Nubians who are known for their honesty and who are the door men and, essentially, the building's caretakers.) Then
She said amid the long line of fifteen percussionists on the stage were two of Said's brothers, Sokar (yes, Sugar) and Dedda (dancer Dina's main percussionist). There were fifteen, mostly professional, back up tabla players (Egyptian for drum) and the seven or eight dufs (wood frame drums similar to tambourines) and a student tura (cymbal) player. They played their own routines and they backed up all the other soloists except the Nubian group. This drum band did not include a riq (tambourine) player. They were so well rehearsed that even without Said conducting them, they were able to make the many drums sound as one. The drumming varied in intensity; sometimes loud, and louder, and then bright, and brighter. At one point, they faded down many decibels and the audience, as if on cue, gasped - at the synchronicity and the musicality of the playing. The next group was teenagers and very young adults doing a Nubian piece. They had flat hand drums hanging from their necks flat against their abdomens and they played the drums with flat sticks. They were accompanied by Said standing in typical drummer stork position (one foot on a chair) playing his tabla with one hand, using a flat stick. The playing technique was vaguely eminiscent of that for the Tabla Beledi (the large Saidi bass drum). The next act was Dedda's two sons, one aged 7 and a very short 11 year old named, believe it or not - Hummos. These two boys played so hard on drums proportionately too large for them that the senior Artiste's had to help hold the drums in place. Hassan Anwar, the tambourine player, did a long solo with technique not to be believed. At one point he balanced--did not hold--the tambourine on his hand and proceeded to do a series of rhythmic changes while continuously rolling and shaking the tambourine. Said also featured women percussionists and played duets with a woman drummer and riq player. This recital was really a bargain too. Only 10 Egyptian pounds! Not to be confused with the English pound, the 10 Egyptian pounds are equal to about $2.50. Besides Said's drum school, there is also a state run music school. The Music Scene Leyla told us of one incident where she had become acquainted with some young musicians who would hang out and perform for free after hours at a Khan el Khalili coffee shop. (They seem always to be dressed and ready for action, in tuxes.) Later she saw them again on a subsequent trip to Egypt as featured singers with their own bands!
Showing the costumes led her to stories of the dance festival in Cairo. I must admit, I was green with envy when she told us that she (and another 150 to 200 attendees) got to dance along with beautiful Soheir Zaki and do three choreographies for three hours. These were typical "I do, you follow, I do again, you follow again" format. What better way is there to learn and capture the spirit of the beledi of MY favorite dancer, than to dance along and hope some of it rubs off? Oh, well! She got to dance along, not me, but at least I got to hear about it, all for $60. That's only $20 a dance!
The Cairo
Dance Festival, produced by Mme. Raqia Hassan, did not
just feature Soheir Zaki. It featured Kayria Maazin
and two of her fellow Ghawazee dancers and many new rising stars
of Cairo. Surprisingly they were not all foreigners. Leyla saw
Dina in costumes she described as brief, briefer and briefest.
She saw Egyptian Amani do a nice, but not very emotional
show. She saw rising star Bedia and the new Soheir
-- a kind of "Dina look alike" and Leyla told us of
her new favorite rising star - Randa. Randa, wearing a
short jungle outfit danced with Fifi-style pizzazz and Soheir
Zaki-style emotions. All in all, the rising stars seemed to be
following Dina's trend of brief and briefer. How can she get away
with that? There were many cut outs, minis, micros, Raqia presented some Brazilian dancers and featured some of her protégés, such as the Russian dancer Noor. Noor is technically perfect, but she still doesn't "get it". Yet. Besides dancing with Soheir Zaki, another highlight of Leyla's trip was performing at the Alhambra Nightclub at the Cairo Sheraton. After Leyla finished her talk describing her performance, and some favorable comments from Dr. Mo Gedawi, we went back to our cakes and cookies and wished that we, too, had been there. When reality set in, we decided to finish the night dancing along with the music of the Arabian Knights while dreaming of Leyla's real life Arabian Nights. So ended another fun Giza Club meeting. Ready
for more? 11-12-01
SUMMER CARAVAN 2001,
Scottish Rite Center, July 28 & 29, 2000 by Susie Poulelis 11-4-01
Tribute to Dalilah!
|
Gilded
Serpent presents...
If
you live the nightlife because of the heat being almost unbearable
in the day, you may get a visitor before you are out of bed. It's
convenient to be able to roll out of bed and answer the doorbell
without having to find a robe or caftan with which to cover up.
You will already be wearing it. One such example is: the meter
reader coming to the door. Leyla said that in Cairo the electric
meters are read inside the apartments, and the meter readers come
whenever, so it is handy to have something cool and presentable
to wear as a cover up for less modest clothing. She proceeded
to tell us that after the meter reader leaves, about a week or
so later another person comes to collect the bill (in person).
She said that business transactions are generally done in cash
as checking accounts are only for businesses. The phone bill is
paid once a year, cash also. The telephone is included in the
rent of short term rentals. In order to avoid big bills, the owner
of the apartment restricts the telephone to local calling. Being
restricted to local calls can be an inconvenience if you need
to reach someone who has a cell phone because in Egypt calling
a cell phone is the same as "long distance". 
After
introducing us to Cairo life, Leyla showed us her "trip book".
It is a handy book that she uses whenever she travels. The first
sheet in it is a packing list which she said she would share with
others wishing to be as organized as she. The packing list consisted
of items one would need while living in an apartment in Cairo.
She methodically discussed the list, which included items of personal
toiletry, clothing, handy household items, and books. Her trip
book also had a list of phone numbers from the Cairo newspaper
"Egyptian Gazette": bank, embassy, hotels, tourist offices,
night clubs, as well as personal phone numbers of friends and
connections in Egypt. Leyla discovered that one whole district,
Dokki, had new prefixes and she needed new numbers for special
people such as Raqia Hassan. Leyla had with her a travel
diary with a calendar and her passport number. In it, she wrote
impressions, notes, comments on the weather and traffic, and how
much she was spending. She keeps a "gift list" that
records what was purchase and how much was spent. Leyla also maintains
a list of "what to do"; and a current address book.
The
Family of Drummers
Though
it was only $2.50 U.S. to see a drum concert, the nightclub shows
in the five-star hotel nightclubs (the few that are still doing
shows) run a minimum of $65-$75. This does seem quite high, but
then this usually includes a full meal and a show featuring big
stars from midnight until 4:00 or 5:00 or later (not including
beverages and/or bottled water). Although many of the shows seem
to be losing their quality dancers and folkloric shows because
of economics, Leyla did see and meet many famous dancers and musicians.
She also saw and met dancers and musicians the natives' way, in
the street, or rather, in the coffee houses situated in the street
or square around the Khan. 
Nowadays,
women can go in more coffee houses besides just el Fishawi in
the Khan, but usually they must be escorted in order to be considered
respectable. Across the street from the Khan el Khalili is a wonderful
stone mosque/palace-like building of Islamic design. It is home
to the government -sponsored tanoura troupe (whirling dervishes).
They give an awe-inspiring, breath-taking, yet spiritual performance.
However, after hours, you can find them also playing music and
dominoes in the coffee houses at the Khan. Sometimes, though,
they have to be reminded to turn off all cell phones which play
Arabic tunes instead of ringing.
Leyla
showed us some beautiful costumes she bought at Mahmoud's,
which is also in the Khan el Khalili. As she said, she didn't
really need another two or three costumes, but how can one not
buy a few costumes when the "price is right"? 
sheers,
and what seemed to be skirts with built-in panties. Were they,
perhaps, to help keep the decency level from rising above the
level of the crotch? 
