Male malaya dance

[Duvet]

I've tended to avoid Malaya Leff workshops because I didn't think the 'character' quite suited me, but throwing inhibition to the wind I finally took one and was informed there was a male version, or a male element in it.

Armed with the words samsimaya and bambooty (which I later found out were more accurately simsimiyya [the music] and bambutiyya [the dance]) I found a clip which seems to involve bellydance, charleston, tap-dance, spoon dance, stick dance and I don't know what else! The dancer is an Egyptian teacher and performer (Mohamed El Hosseny). It looks fun, but choreographed as a show piece - for thrills and entertainment. Can anyone distinguish for me which parts are his own infusion into the choreography and which are part of an already existing dance style? And more about what that style is?

[video=youtube;h5936MBFtF8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=h5936MBFtF8[/video]

I also found a couple other clips - see below.

 

[Duvet]

This clip has the woman performing solo, but later joined by two men (at 2:30). Again choreographed, but looks more folksy (pulling on ropes, heaving in nets, etc type of mimes).

[video=youtube;MWboayHDYyQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU77l0b2d8qQuFPV7U3h2Kgw&v=MWboayHDYyQ&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

 

[Duvet]

Finally, an all female troupe, but three are dressed as male sailors. Is this just a costume choice for cuteness, or is it actually representing a original male element in the style? Maybe not the whole repertoire of their moves, but some of the arm movements and the spoon playing and clapping look too similar to the other clips for me to think its just costume choice.

Does this simsimiyya/bambuttiyya dance exist anywhere other than as a stage piece? Its said to originate from the Suez Canal area. Can anyone give me some information, or ideas where to look?

[video=youtube;ol25OElJYEg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ol25OElJYEg[/video]

 

[Duvet]

Okay! . Stupid me! Should have thought about checking these archives first! Duhhh!

Thread exists here; http://bellydanceforums.net/video/13982-documentary-about-simsimiyya.html
Documentary about the music; stage performances; then some 'live action' dancing with musicians.

 

[BeatriceC]

Bamboutiya is Alexandrian, Simsimaya is from Suez. Bamboutiya is often associated with Melaya because melaya is often done in Alexandrian dress, and to music that references Alexandria/the sea. So combining the female melaya dance and the male bamboutiya dance is a good way of creating a sea-based Alexandrian tableau for the stage or for performing at an Alexandrian wedding!

But the Melaya is not *exclusively* an Alexandrian thing, and although it may be convenient, artistically, to put it with Bamboutiya, the two dance styles are independent, they're not connected.

 

[SidraK]

My troupe is planning to work on a choreography this fall which is a spoon dance from the Port Saiid (sp?) region. Some of the elements look similar to the first and third videos posted. We're also going nautical with the costumes which is fitting with the point of origin/inspiration for the piece. I'll have to bookmark these for future reference....

 

[Tarik Sultan]

Your own searching has answered alot of your questions, but I'll add what I know. As far as real folklore goes, there is no such thing as a Melaya dance. That was a character dance created for the stage by Mahmoud Reda, not sure exactly when though, but it is not something that a guy would do.

As far as real folklore goes, you are correct, the dance is Bamboutiya and the music is called semsimiya after the instrument which is the featured element in the orchestra. The dance itself is traditionally done by men because it was created by the sailors in the port cities of Suez and Port Said. For the most part, the movements mime activities of the sailors, rowing the boats, throwing nets etc. The boambouties would row out to the big ships and sell things to them, so there are hand gestures that immitate sign language for agreeing on prices, throwing the merchandise up and catching money thrown down. It has been speculated that there are elements of the Charleston in it, picked up from British and American sailors in the 20's, but not sure if that is really true or not.

The instrument is quite ancient and can be found all along the East African coast as far south as Eithiopia, which attests to the cultural links between Egypt and East Africa going back to pharaonic times.

As far as the dance in this clip, it's not really a bamboutiya dance. I would say it is his artistic interpritation borrowing inspiration from various elements found in that region of Egypt. The videos in the link you provided do a good job of showing this. Not for nothing, but I prefer the expression of the actual people than the slicked up stage versions. Its the difference between a meal in a swanky restaurant and momma's home cookin'. Both are good in there own way, but momma's cookin' has a soul you can't reproduce comercially! Motivation
for us to take a few trips and do some field research!

I've tended to avoid Malaya Leff workshops because I didn't think the 'character' quite suited me, but throwing inhibition to the wind I finally took one and was informed there was a male version, or a male element in it.

Armed with the words samsimaya and bambooty (which I later found out were more accurately simsimiyya [the music] and bambutiyya [the dance]) I found a clip which seems to involve bellydance, charleston, tap-dance, spoon dance, stick dance and I don't know what else! The dancer is an Egyptian teacher and performer (Mohamed El Hosseny). It looks fun, but choreographed as a show piece - for thrills and entertainment. Can anyone distinguish for me which parts are his own infusion into the choreography and which are part of an already existing dance style? And more about what that style is?

[video=youtube;h5936MBFtF8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=h5936MBFtF8[/video]

I also found a couple other clips - see below.

 

[Kashmir]

Okay - this is NOT a male melaya dance. The melaya lef tableau is explicitly drawing on the costume and ideal attitudes of the bint el beled - ie daughter of the people. It is a dance for women which involves acting and manipulation of the melaya (standing in posing doesn't really make it). Men may fill out the tableau but that's it.

Bumbotaya is a sailors'/traders' dance. It includes mime and furiously fast footwork. Traditionally these people were men and young women - but the women would not wear a melaya on board! Totally impractical. They would dress like the men.

There is no real connection between the two. I think bumbotaya was a real folk dance - while the meleya lef never existed outside of the theatre. Some forms of bumbotaya are associated with Alexandria and some styles of meleya are. So what? The feel, the music, the movement vocabulary is completely different. I have, however, seen them briefly merge in a piece of music whose name escapes me (Zum - they did it at your hafla). In this, there is a few seconds of bumbotaya music in a beledi piece. When we played with this with Denise Enan she slipped the men's bumbotaya steps just for those few seconds.

 

[Aniseteph]

Okay - this is NOT a male melaya dance. The melaya lef tableau is explicitly drawing on the costume and ideal attitudes of the bint el beled - ie daughter of the people. It is a dance for women which involves acting and manipulation of the melaya (standing in posing doesn't really make it).

That's what I always thought - attitude, and using the melaya in terms of what it is meant to be, ie. not some kind of heavy veil.

 

[Safran]

Here is another great article on simsimeyya
Sing oh simisimiyya

I guess Alexandria and the Canal get confused because of the port-characteristics. I have seen a bit of seaman-pantomime in the Canal dances, but there is definitely imitations of rowing/gazing the sea/whatever else seamen do in the Alexandrian dances. All the staged Canal dances I have seen tend to be fast and "skippy", while in the Alexandrian dance there are "jumping" movements, but they are bigger and calmer. Of course, I haven't seen all the different Canal dancers, nor know every detail about Alexandria...

As for mileya - it used to be an item of clothing that was worn by women to cover up. Like Tarik said, Mahmoud Reda brought it on stage as a character - according to him there is no mileya-dance, but a dance with mileya. The first character to wear a mileya was actually in a scene portraying a street in Cairo, I think. But the character has went on to live her own life, somehow ending up in Alexandria, being overly flirtatious and chewing gum in some cases.