What is the story behind this clip? (Fifi)
- Thread starter gypsy
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mahsati_janan
New member
To me, it looks like the musicians probably added an extra bit to that section unexpectedly and she was already getting ready to catch the next part. When it didn't happen, she patiently waited and then cued them to the part she wanted. At 4 cts of 8 of the part she is on, she looks over which usually means that the next section should start, but they do at least one more count of 8 of it than she had wanted. 
That's my guess.
That's my guess.
~Diana~
AFK Moderator
Well that was very...awkward. Never seen a dancer just stop like that because of music. She could have easily continued on dancing till they got to where she wanted to be or at least continued dancing and turned her back to the audience to make eye contact with the lead to get him to move on.
It almost makes me think it was all choreographed and when the music didn't move like she expected she didn't know what to do, very amateur reaction to me. I would expect all professional dancers, especially those who dance to live bands, to be able to react to any unexpected changes rather than just stop dancing and look lost on their face.
It almost makes me think it was all choreographed and when the music didn't move like she expected she didn't know what to do, very amateur reaction to me. I would expect all professional dancers, especially those who dance to live bands, to be able to react to any unexpected changes rather than just stop dancing and look lost on their face.
mahsati_janan
New member
That's all true for most of us, but there is absolutely no doubt that she could have kept dancing if she wanted to. This isn't a new or amateur dancer at all, so it is very unlikely that she was thrown by it. Often when a band messes something up while backing a famous singer or dancer, the star doesn't cover for them. As a star (now and then), sometimes you don't have to follow the same rules. Example: I attended a concert with a wonderful well-known singer. The band missed the timing on a bridge in the music. The singer turned around, gave them a glare of death, and announced over top of their playing, "We will do that again. Correctly." Then, she waited until they restarted from the beginning.
Would I do it? Not a chance. Does it happen? Yep.
Amanda (was Aziyade)
Well-known member
To me, it looks like the musicians probably added an extra bit to that section unexpectedly and she was already getting ready to catch the next part. When it didn't happen, she patiently waited and then cued them to the part she wanted. At 4 cts of 8 of the part she is on, she looks over which usually means that the next section should start, but they do at least one more count of 8 of it than she had wanted.
It almost feels as though the violinist was dragging the tempo down a bit. Even the other musicians seem to be looking that way. To me it sounds like he's playing in a different tempo for about 10 seconds before the pause. Then when she "cues" the band with the cymbals, they all seem to collectively sigh and go "Oh, okay. NOW we're back on." weird.
Duvet
Member
It's very strange.
It looks like something catches her eye off stage, then grabs her attention causing her to hesitate, stop dancing and look quite upset and a bit confused, before she has an "Oh well" moment, heaves a sigh, and starts zilling to reassure the musicians, and herself, and the dancing commences.
She's definately not looking at the musicians when she gets distracted. The music only falters after Fifi stops dancing, as if the musicians are confused as to what's happening too, and she zills inorder to get them to keep tempo and carry on (ie to bring them all back into the stage show).
I think its quite a professional response (she stays in charge), but I'm intrigued to know what caused such a disturbance.
It looks like something catches her eye off stage, then grabs her attention causing her to hesitate, stop dancing and look quite upset and a bit confused, before she has an "Oh well" moment, heaves a sigh, and starts zilling to reassure the musicians, and herself, and the dancing commences.
She's definately not looking at the musicians when she gets distracted. The music only falters after Fifi stops dancing, as if the musicians are confused as to what's happening too, and she zills inorder to get them to keep tempo and carry on (ie to bring them all back into the stage show).
I think its quite a professional response (she stays in charge), but I'm intrigued to know what caused such a disturbance.
Jane
New member
I seriously doubt Fifi Abdo would get distracted by anything off stage.
The musicians had a problem transitioning to the part where she wanted to play sagat. The music totally fell apart. She looked annoyed, because it sounded like sh!t, then got them back on track after her laser eye death glare. Fifi did have a right to expect better, she only hires top level professionals, and I bet she was the one paying them. The audience knew what was up; you don't fly in Fifi and her orchestra and entire entourage unless you really, really appreciate her high level of entertainment.
There's a clip out there of Souheir Zaki doing something similar to her orchestra. I think it was a performance in Germany.
The musicians had a problem transitioning to the part where she wanted to play sagat. The music totally fell apart. She looked annoyed, because it sounded like sh!t, then got them back on track after her laser eye death glare. Fifi did have a right to expect better, she only hires top level professionals, and I bet she was the one paying them. The audience knew what was up; you don't fly in Fifi and her orchestra and entire entourage unless you really, really appreciate her high level of entertainment.
There's a clip out there of Souheir Zaki doing something similar to her orchestra. I think it was a performance in Germany.
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I think there was some brief distraction offstage too - maybe someone important arrived or something fell. It's not that Fifi was distracted, it's the audience that was distracted. Fifi stopped momentarily and looked at them, clicked her cymbals and got their attention back. I've seen her do this once before at a wedding. It only takes her a few seconds to regain the audience's attention. When the dancer stands still the audience notices rather quickly.
Aniseteph
New member
I think so too. At 4:44 they are all looking at something to their left. If the orchestra had messed up she might be looking elsewhere waiting for them to notice that she'd stopped, but they would be looking at her. Also if they were messing up leading up to the stop it'd make more sense to try to get them back on track while facing them, which she was moments before in those camel circles.