Hind Rostom (هند رستم)

Hello Dancers,

Today’s clip is inspired by our class last week where we were working on entrances and directing our energy outward to our imaginary audiences, even from the confines of our respective living rooms.

This clip features Hind Rostum, and Egyptian actress who also danced in some of her films. You can see her lovely warmth radiating outward towards her audience from her first moments on the screen. As a viewer, this gives me such a happy feeling! And you feel this even more when you see a belly dancer in real life.

This is actress Hind Rostom dancing in a scene from the 1957 Egyptian film 'Ushaq al Leil' (Lovers of the Night عشاق الليل ) which starred Yehia Shaheen, Magda, Hussein Riad and Abdel Menam Ibrahim. Hind Rostom (1929-2011) was an Egyptian actress who's remembered mainly for her good looks and her many film roles as a seductress, which is a bit sad as she was a good actress when her range was tested. To quote Egyptian journalist Reem Ghazal, 'Rostom was presented as an intoxicating mix of Rita Hayworth, Brigitte Bardot and Marilyn Monroe.' And as you can see, Hind Rostom was also a good bellydancer. She retired in 1979 saying that she wanted the audiences to remember her at her best. Hind Rostom's second marriage to Dr Mohamed Fayad lasted nearly 50 years. Unfortunately at the time of her husband's death, shortly before hers, Dr Fayad's family took legal action against her to reclaim assets they said were theirs.

The caption below the clip is courtesy of the CaroVan, the place I have probably spent the bulk of my sheltering-in-place hours!

And then just a reminder that our virtual classes continue tonight (Wednesday) at 7PM. The South San Francisco Parks and Rec Department have made these classes available to the public for free, but you do need to preregister at their online catalog so they can send you a secure invitation to join. Enter code SP1-471 in the box under ‘Filter’ and our class will come up - it’s called ‘Virtual-Belly Dancing’.

You can always contact me with any questions!

I can’t wait to see you all in class tonight :)

Taheya Karioka (تحية كاريوكا‎)

Hello Dancers,

A little more classic glamour today to take our minds off more serious matters. Here are two lovely clips of the Egyptian dancer Taheya Karioka (تحية كاريوكا‎). I always learn something when I watch her, but sometimes it’s also lovely to just get lost in the music, costumes and overall beauty and not think too much for a bit.

These are both from wedding scenes but the costuming is quite different for each one. They are both just lovely.

تحية كاريوكا

This is Taheya Karioka in a wedding scene from the 1942 Egyptian film “Dreams of Youth” (أحلام الشباب Ahlam al Shabab). She plays the part of Bahia, a dancer who tries but fails to make Farid al Atrache fall in love with her, In this scene she’s hired unknowingly to dance at the wedding of Farid and Elham played by Madiha Yousri. Everything goes along fine until she realises who the groom is. The bride’s aunt is played by the wonderful Marie Munib who’s on the left of screen with the feather in her hair.

The caption above is courtesy of The CaroVan on Vimeo.

Online classes belly dance classes continue through the South San Francisco Parks and Rec Wednesdays at 7PM. The classes are free but you need to pre-register at their online catalog so they can send you a secure invitation. Please contact me if you have any questions!

Virtual Belly Dance Class Updates

Dear Dancers!

Great news - we are set to go live with virtual belly dance classes through the South San Francisco Parks and Rec! The office staff have worked so hard to get this going for us on their secure online meeting platform.

Our first class this way will be Weds 4/22 at 7PM.

The classes are completely FREE but you need to pre-register via the South San Francisco Parks and Rec online catalog. Click the link and then enter code SP1-471 in the box underneath the word ‘Filter’ on the left-hand side. This will bring up our class which is called ‘Belly Dancing - Virtual’. You can follow the instructions to register from there.

Please contact me if you have any questions or problems with the registration process and we will sort it out.

It is important to register as soon as you can so we can make sure everyone who wants to take class gets an invitation to join.

I am very excited that we can do this. I can’t wait to dance with you all on Wednesday!

Very best,

Alisa

Aziza - Naima Akef (نعيمة عاكف)

Hello Dancers,

I find great joy and comfort in watching old black and white movies - both American and Egyptian. I want to share this clip today because it features the song we are learning in our online belly dance class.

This is Naima Akef performing in a scene from the 1954 Egyptian movie “Aziza”. In this movie she plays dual roles as Aziza and also her younger sister. Emad Hamdi plays Hassan the policeman who has a soft spot for Aziza and also starring were Zeinat Sedki and Said Abou Bakr. Farid Shawki plays Khalil who becomes obsessed with Aziza. . Trivia: The movie was directed by Hussein Fawzi who was Naima Akef’s husband between1953-1958.

The song Aziza was originally composed by the great Egyptian composer Mohammed Adel Wahab. It is a belly dance classic here in the US as well, and almost every band you can dance with, at least in the Bay Area, can play this one so it is a good one to learn if you have dreams of performing live one day.

You will notice that the tempo of this version is faster than the version I am using in class. I feel like this is closer to how I hear it played by the bands.

I hope you enjoy it! The caption is courtesy of The Caro Van, an essential resource for any belly dance lover.

If you liked this post, please subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter for more. I never share your email address.

If you are interested in my online classes, please contact me for info.

A little bit more about Naima Akef here.

New Class Information - Spring 2020

Dear Dancers,

I have lots of news to share today.

Belly Dance Class Cancelations due to Covid-19

First of all, due to the extension of the shelter-in-place order to May 3rd, the City of South San Francisco has cancelled all Spring 2020 in-person classes. If you were registered for either of my belly dance classes through the SSF Parks and Rec you will be issued a credit or a refund directly from them.

Future In-Person Belly Dance Classes

I have information below about how we can keep dancing together while honoring the vital shelter-in-place rules. But first a look ahead: I’ve updated my Classes Page with info on the Summer 2020 sessions of Beginning Belly Dance and Intermediate Belly Dance. Our scheduled start date for the Summer Session is Wednesday June 24th. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!!

Registration for the Summer Session opens on Monday, May 3rd for South San Francisco residents and Monday, May 18th for non-residents. If you are on my mailing list, I will send out an email reminder on the 18th. Not on my list yet? Contact me and I will put you on!

Let’s Keep Belly Dancing in the Meantime…

We can still dance together while saying safe! I’ve had a lot of fun learning to teach on Zoom. I am currently offering mini online dance lessons for free so we can keep dancing. Please contact me if you would like an invitation to join us.

I am also working on recorded belly dance instruction for the South San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department website. It is my understanding that these videos will also be offered for free to the community, so please stay tuned for more information about that when I have it.

I’m working on a few other goodies to keep us inspired as well, so please check back back or sign up for notification of new blog posts. I have a great archive of belly dance clips here on my blog, many annotated with what I like about the clip and how it relates to the things I teach in class, and I will be updating and adding to this over the next weeks.

How Can I Help?

Of course, there are many ways to help, probably most essentially donating to food banks or other charities on the front lines, and making masks. However, if you are interested specifically in supporting the belly dance community at this time, a great way is to support the venues that host live music belly dance events. You can purchase a gift certificate or order takeout from your favorite Middle Eastern restaurant to help ensure that they are still there when this is behind us and we can all get together and dance again. Not sure where to help? Please consider purchasing a gift certificate to Al Masri Egyptian Restaurant in San Francisco. Al Masri is owned and operated by a belly dancer and provides a wonderful venue for live music, Student Nights and professional belly dance shows. It is an irreplaceable part of our community.

Thank you

I’d like to end by offering my thanks to all the essential workers in our community. Words are not enough to express out appreciation for your sacrifices, but they are all we have. So thank you for keeping our society going and keeping the rest of us safe.