What happened after graduation?
The August after graduation, I moved to
New York City. In NYC, my plan was
to do musical theatre. I auditioned
for shows, and had the opportunity
to do some off Broadway
productions, independent films,
as well as dance with some
contemporary dance companies.
I taught ballet, jazz and musical
theatre in several dance
studios in the city and also the
Hamptons, as well as being dance
faculty and choreographer for
Long Lake Performing Arts Camp
for 3 years. One highlight was that I
was hired to choreograph for the Boys
& Girls of Clubs of America’s 100th Year
Anniversary Celebration which was held in
Boston. That was a huge honor!
In addition to belly dance, I continued to study acting, voice
lessons, and attending dance classes at Broadway Dance Center.
Prior to moving to NYC, I inquired about finding venues
where I could dance. I did some research and found Cedars
of Lebanon (supper club) – and I found Amal. I exasperated
her greatly! She said to me, “you remind me of my cousin” and
she hired me. At first, she booked me to dance on
Tuesdays. I thought, “Who goes to restaurants then?”
But, I was able to get some good experience there.
Amal connected me with other dancers and teachers
who were booking at other venues. Thru Amal I
met Rayhana, and through her, I met Yasmeen. I
was able to work with Egyptian musicians, and this
experience taught me how to work a full oriental show
(45 minutes-1hour was the standard show time back
then) with a live band. Because of Yasmeen, I began
dancing at Cleopatra’s in Brooklyn.
El Saadany, Vice President of the Egyptian
American Folkloric Society. She was then
commissioned to work as principal
choreographer for the prestigious
Egyptian
American
Cultural
Association’s Folkloric Group.
For over a decade, Gamila was
called upon to design the dances
which represented specific areas
of Egyptian culture along the
Nile–from Nubia to Alexandria.
I was lucky to have been led to
her. It was meant to be really, and
I can’t imagine what the last 12
years of my l ife would have been
like if I had not met her! Gamila
became my mentor. She told me that I
was good, but that I could be better. She
handed me a VHS tape of Mahmoud Reda’s
troupe and said “watch and learn”. She was tough
on me, but I learned. Gamila didn’t want me to just be
good–she wanted me to be great. There is a term which she
coined “Fast Food Belly Dance” - take a few lessons, buy a
few costumes - and voila! You’re a Fast Food Belly Dance
soloist extraordinaire! Not that I would have fallen into
that category, but Gamila wanted to make sure she gave
me all the tools I would need to succeed.
Through Yasmeen, I met Gamila El Masri–who
danced at Ibis–NYC’s most prestigious Arabic
Supper Club in the 1970s-1980s. Gamila had been
named “Queen of the Ibis” and after her cabaret
career ended, she created an Egyptian Folklore
dance company. In addition to all of the work
which she did with her own company, Benat El
Nessma, she was also discovered by Dr. Mohamed
July 2016
The Belly Dance Chronicles
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