Hanadi: Solo Orientale Dance ShowPalmyra: A seedy clubTannoura at the CitadelVariety Show at FelfelaMiscellaneous Dance Related Shots
A friend and I went on the Nile Maxim cruise one evening. This is a five-star restaurant run by the Marriot Hotel. I had heard the dancer Randa Kamal danced on the boat. I had seen her perform on prior trips to Egypt, and while I would love to see her again I was excited to see a new (to me) dancer. Hanadi did three costume changes, was great with the crowd, and was a good dancer. Her costuming emulates the popular Dina style...small bras that are feats of engineering, tight straight-skirts, and no belt.
As a working dancer myself I am always curious about the conditions dancers perform under. I was surprised to see that Hanadi changed her costumes and got ready in the same bathroom customers used. I assumed that the ship would have a dressing room for their dancers.
Most of the crowd seemed to be tourists form other Arab countries. I think my friend and I were the only two Americans, and there may have been some Egyptian couples there...it was p[retty easy to check everyone out as the ship was quite empty. The buffet was yummy, with lots of good salads. The whole evening--buffet and entree, solo Oriental Dance show, tanoura (whirling dervish) show, and a supremely cheesy light rock band cost 180 Egyptian pounds (about US$30).
Hanadi with a fan.
Hanadi.
Hanadi taking a bow in front of her excellent band.
Hanadi with Saiidi musicians.
Hanadi in red.
One night I went to a club called the Palmyra. It is downtown, off Sharia 26th of July. I had gone to this club once before with my cousin, in 2002. I recall that it was seedy in a way, but remember good dancers interspersed with the mediocre ones. I also liked it because there was no cover and a low minimum, and we were treated respectfully by the management and staff. There were also other women in the crowd...non-working women, that is.
Things have changed quite a bit at the old Palmyra. This time you could not miss the prostitutes working the room, overall the "dancing" was pretty bad, and we were told there was a big cover. I did manage to get that waived, though.
I was sad to see the state of the club, but not surprised. To go out and see dancing in Cairo you either have to pay upwards of 150 to 500 pounds to see good performances, or buy a few Stellas and appetizers at a divey club and take your chances. There is not much in between. That said, even at the Palmyra there were some true artistic gems among the women who just wandered around twitching to the music waiting for someone to show some cash before going over to their table to dance. But they were rare.
This woman was a really good dancer. She had it all--good moves, great ear for the music, and a nice personality.
This woman was very nice, if not the most exciting dancer to watch. When she started her set, my small group (Americans and Europeans) were the only ones in the club. This is not a good thing for the dancer, since we are not the ones who are going to throw down serious cash. She still was great to us, inviting us to dance and being cool. Luckily a group of Saudi men showed up before she was done. While I did tip her, the Saudis are the ones the dancers want in the crowd. We all got bills to pay!
This woman was by far the best dancer of the night. She was *good*. I would have been thrilled to watch her dance all evening! She had 'it', 100%. Unfortunately she was either not the nicest person or was having a really bad day. She smiled once in the whole set, and it was in response to something her singer said to her. She was such a good dancer, though, that even though it was clear she was hating every single person in the club that night with each cell in her body, we all still loved her!
I had to have a memory of this costume. I do not remember much about her, but I remember the outfit.
One of my favorite shows in Cairo. Photos coming soon...
A wild day...an Egyptian friend was very excited to take me to what she dubbed a "tourist spot" where I could see lots of dancing. It was indeed very, very touristy. Alas, everyone was from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf! It was an interesting day, and the staged show was good. Pictures soon...
I am scanning as fast as I can!
