Long Live Egyptian Bellydance!

Erik

New member
This is my last thread on this or any other forum for a while (and possibly forever). Neglected problems demand attention, although I still intend to check the IMDb once a week. They have some extremely knowledgeable people there, and if a problem happens to come up that only I can solve, a week shouldn't be too long to wait.

I dig watching these old clips, but then all my life I have been fascinated by the past and tended to take the present for granted. It is the Way of the Erik.






So the question is....where's Tito? And Randa, and Dina, and Fifi? Please attach them to this thread if you like, and enjoy them while they last. Egypt is changing, and some of us are disturbed by these changes, but I like to think of the dance as eternal. ;)
 

Erik

New member
Hope its not foerever, Erik.

Thanks, Duvet. I'll be around, but I don't really have a need to comment on everything I see anymore. Some of the threads I have started here and elsewhere turned into much more than I bargained for, but once started I am obliged to stay with them. Hopefully this one will be harmless; just a thread where people can post videos of their favorite Egyptian Style dancers, both past and present.

I've enjoyed your postings.

Thanks again, and it cuts both ways. Your thread about the Ghawazee was brilliant. I had planned to do the same earlier on this forum but feared opening another giant can of slimy worms as I did on Tribe. The first time was unforeseen, but a second time might have branded me as someone out to stir up the mix, so I didn't even put any time into it. Your research from the original sources should clear up a lot of that copy-and-paste nonsense.

I kept forgetting to tell you that, just as I keep forgetting to tell Janene Aliza how much I like her variation of "Stop, Drop, & Roll." :)
 
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khanjar

New member
Oi Erik, don't you think to take a back step, for what you post here is refreshing in many ways and that I understand may be because despite being male, you are a non dancer and speak from the perspective of one who follows dancers, which is quite different than the majority of others here, as perhaps many might forget, this website is for dancers and those that admire them, or at least their craft.

But strange you should mention Egypt in your OP, for recently I have been delving through the music and performances of what was called Egypt's Golden age and I have developed a liking for the music of the era, and that of the star of the East.

But of the things that are happening now in that country, what uncertainties they face, now more than ever before I am remembering the news I heard long ago that Sadat had been assassinated. Yeah fine the Golden Era was becoming more Western and perhaps Egypt was becoming more acceptable to the West, but I can see that would rankle some, but what is the alternative, be part of the world or be separate from it and of that separation, what of the people there subjected, do they agree ?
 

Erik

New member
Hi, khanjar. Thanks for your reply. My thoughts on Egypt are extremely complicated and take too long to explain, and where the country is going would be only hypothesis. Truthfully, I had never given any thought to how Egypt's defection to the West under Sadat may have affected the Golden Age. Must look into that someday.

It's basically about time and how I am using it. I end up spending ten hours in front of the computer, with the benefit of cold brew ha-ha, and I need to be dealing with real-life matters.

Already on the IMDb I NEED TO KNOW board I have solved one easily and smacked down a would-be troll. He advised me to grow up, so I linked the thread I solved with a thread he started a day or two previously.

http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/19915.jpg

He was asking how many guys would LOVE to have one night alone with her. And what does THAT have to do with the cinematic arts? I'm the one who needs to grow up? There are no moderators there which makes an ideal situation for these clowns, so I may have to call it quits there for a while too. I enjoy it, but I'm simply spending too much time online.

The members here have been mostly very nice, and quite understanding of my non-bellydancer ignorance. I have no hard feelings toward anyone. Just wanted to do one last thread.

BTW, Egypt has been bringing in foreign dancers for the last three decades, so the dancer need not be Egyptian by birth to be considered an Egyptian dancer in my mind. I have read that in 1952 the dance was outlawed in Egypt but public outcry demanded it be legalized again. It could happen again, but permanently. I hope not.
 

khanjar

New member
Erik, I do understand if the need to be elsewhere is because of the amount of time spent online, I am the same myself and with me a radical change in my lifestyle has made the online world less appealing. I can't believe really, only one thing and a minute one at that and I feel more need to be doing something in real life instead of living in the fantasy world that the internet can be. As to what that change is, well four weeks now since I quit smoking, smoking, the ultimate hunger killer and initiator of perpetual time out and 'me' time. As a result, I can taste my beer now and it isn't that appealing, so the pubs are seeing less of me, which can only be a good thing given the cost of beer and what it does to my belly.

But as to other places online where others congregate to talk like interests, understand the fantasy, the original second life that the text out of the ether is, and there understand many who dwell in the online world and would they say boo to a goose in real life, for the anonymity that online is, is a fantasy come true to those who know nothing beyond..

But, if you go away for a while, know this, you will be missed, so come back now and again will you.
 

Duvet

Member
Some of the threads I have started here and elsewhere turned into much more than I bargained for, but once started I am obliged to stay with them. Hopefully this one will be harmless; just a thread where people can post videos of their favorite Egyptian Style dancers, both past and present.

Well, at least you've posted threads that have been stimulating, excited people's imagination, and kept their interest alive for what's going on in this forum! That's a huge contribution anyone would be glad to be making, and one that'll be missed.

I second Khanjar - its good to have people here with a nondancer perspective, and I hope you keep an eye on us. Where would bellydancers be without an audience? But I don't want to hijack your OP and turn this into a 'reasons why Erik would be missed if he stopped posting' thread, so here's a clip of Taheya Carioca from 1951;

 

Erik

New member
Thanks, Duvet and khanjar.

khanjar, congrats on your break with smoking. And your writing about Internet bullies was right on the mark I thought. I'd love to meet some of these guys face-to-face and see how fast they shrink up.

Duvet, thanks for the clip. I was beginning to think no one was going to post one. I've never seen that clip before. In Egypt, the dancers seem to have had a lot more "star power" than in the UK, US, and other Western countries where they were not treated as well, sad to say.

I appreciate the words of support. I'm not leaving entirely, just toning it down. The bellydance community isn't scraping me off its heel that easily. :)
 

Erik

New member
Those were beautiful. I just watched 'em all, one after the other, straight down the line.

Thanks, Jane! :)
 

Aniseteph

New member
You can't call a thread "Long Live Egyptian Bellydance" without this clip. It's the law.



How much awesome is that?

Erik said:
I appreciate the words of support. I'm not leaving entirely, just toning it down. The bellydance community isn't scraping me off its heel that easily.

Glad to hear it Erik. :cool:
 

Erik

New member
That was cool! Thanks, Aziyade.

Believe it or not, I started to mention both Mona and Soheir in the original posting, and then I decided to wait and see if anyone else named them.
 

Erik

New member
I didn't promise to die, and I didn't promise not to post. I only promised not to start new threads; a promise I've already broken twice on other web sites (one and zero replies respectively). The Internet is more addictive than alcohol.

Can't say I was wild about the movie, but how often do we get to see Samia in color? Samia Gamal - episode from movie "Ali Baba" - YouTube

And here's a dancer who might have been as great if not for her politics. Tahia was more fortunate in that regard. Hekmet Fahmy Egyptian bellydancer 1942
 
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