[Artemisia] Re:because you can can can!

[Stephanae Baker]

I'm afraid I can't recommend a technique video. I was a very lazy  
belly dancer, and I always relied on my teachers or troupe mates to  
find cool things and show them to me. I didn't even care very much if  
they were authentic as long as they looked good. It's kind of strange  
and unlike me since I'm a compulsive googler when anything piques my  
interest, but when it came to belly dance, I didn't do my research.  
Sometimes I think it's because, while I love dancing, it also makes  
me very sad. But I won't bore you with that story.

As far as fans being period, my (wild) guess would certainly be no.  
They definitely seem like the sort of prop that some Egyptian or  
Turkish cabaret dancer probably decided to pick up at some point.  
Again, I have to guess. Not only did I not do my research when I was  
still dancing seriously, but I stopped dancing seriously before I  
became part of the SCA—not that the occasional fireside dance or  
hafla hasn't been fun. I've only recently entertained the notion of  
picking it back up again, and I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to  
cross over to dance that would fit in SCA. I kind of like cabaret.

Ha! I can't say I've ever attended an Egyptian wedding with a zeffa  
in Ogden, UT, either. Although I've seen a shamadan dance or two at  
Kismet's belly dance fest. I do think I have a half memory of  
watching a snippet of video of men's Saidi stick dance, too.

Belladonna




On May 24, 2007, at 10:02 PM, Reuben and Arwen wrote:

>   I hear ya'.  Sometimes the SCA is too wonderful in too many ways  
> and you have to make these darned choices!  Fan sounds like it  
> could be fun.  Can you recommend a technique video?  I don't think  
> anyone in my area teaches it.  Is there any possible connection to  
> an SCA period dance done with fans?  That could be interesting.   
> Cane is a blast, as well as maybe being period documentable (is  
> that a word?)  I'm working on finding out.  Shira interviewed  
> Mahmoud Reda about this recently.  I've pasted the info from  
> Bhuz.com below.  I know Isis wings and shamadan are modern, but it  
> would be fun to try just them just once.  Ain't too many zeffas in  
> Helena, Montana <wink>  We must get an Arabic translation for Dance  
> of the Turkey Leg.  How about a can dance in a Melaya leff dress?   
> In an odd way it seems to fit the bill.  Esther
>
>   "Arwen, I interviewed Reda for 3 hours last July, which generated  
> a series of 9 articles. The first 3 articles in the series have  
> been published in Zaghareet Magazine, starting with the November/ 
> December 2006 issue which had Reda on the cover. The first article  
> in the series was an introductory overview talking about how Reda  
> did his research, how he created his dances based on his research,  
> etc. The second article in the January/February 2007 issue was  
> devoted to melaya leff, the third in the March/April 2007 issue to  
> the men's Saidi stick dance. I expect the fourth to come out any  
> day now - it will be about hagalla. In each article, I've included  
> a map of Egypt which shows the part of Egypt associated with that  
> particular dance.
>
> You should be able to purchase the back issues from Sharina (the  
> owner of Zaghareet) - her web site is http:// 
> www.zaghareet.freeservers.com/ and I'm sure you can find contact  
> info on there."
>
>   I'll see if I can drum up an appropriate cane or cane substitute for
> myself, although I think I'll skip the metallic foil ones. I'm
> actually not 100% sure I'll be able to attend, although I am going to
> try. Someone might want me to do a hair wrap or something. Just
> between you and me, being a merchant is nice when it pays for the
> event, but not so nice when the event has 100 classes on the list you
> want to attend.
>     Fans are FUN! You must try them. They're a little like veil in  
> that
> they're pretty easy to bling the audience with at any level, but
> there are plenty of ways to make them more hard and interesting as
> you become a more advanced dancer. I did a fan dance when I was in
> Thia's troupe Wisteria that was pretty fun, but the really, truly fun
> one I did was with a private troupe, Nenephta. We had one great big
> fan and three sets of small fans, and well, you'd probably have to
> see it, but I promise it was very, very cool. As for Isis wings, EEK!
> Wisteria did a wing dance one year. I hated it. I think both Wisteria
> and Nenephta did cane dances, too, but it was after I left.
>
> I've never tried Shamadan, either. I thought about that when I
> mentioned missing props, but I've actually always thought dancers
> looked just a bit funny with candelabras on their heads. But then,
> who am I to talk? I decided to put a plate with a turkey leg on it on
> my head last weekend at a ren faire, along with a plate of curly
> fries on each palm. That might just be as ridiculous as the Egyptian
> can can costume I envisioned.
>
> Taja (Belladonna)
>
>
>
>
>
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