On stage in Paris with her dance company performing Zikrayat - Tribute to Om Kalsoum
(choreographic piece of 95 minutes)
a page of commentary in the famous daily newspaper ‘Le
Monde’. For me, this signified that I had WON THE
BATTLE FOR RECOGNITION of this dance as an art
form. To paraphrase her critique: She didn’t mention the
color of my costume, how many minutes I shimmied, and
how pretty I was…” “I dance being an African, an Arab,
and a Human. My roots are multiple. Like Nazim Hikmet
(famous political Turkish poet or Pablo Neruda (famous
political poet and writer), I say: “Write, I am Human”.
I understand that you teach in Paris, but your work as a
soloist and choreographer of Oriental dance has been
recognized and you have also been invited to perform
internationally. Tell us about some of these professional
experiences abroad.
In part, what makes Leila unique in the genre of Raqs
Sharqi is her style of dancing Raqs Sharqi. Leila says, “Thanks
to my experience in theaters, what makes my Raqs Sharqi
performances quite unique is my use of the space. I make
use of the entire staging - covering the whole space. My
secret to designing performance on the large stage is the use
of architectural principles and drawing lines of movement
and flow. My focus is the music as I translate it with the
movements. Music is my master, and I translate it with my
dance. Each instrument, qanun, ud, nay, tabla... is put in
the limelight, but also in total harmony within the Tahkt.
My only concern is to be at the service of the composer,
be in total synchronicity with the music. The most complex
thing is interpretation of the musicality, the dynamics and
expression within the music. It is like a play. Dancing is
acting. Movements are words, sentences, poetry and each of
my choreographies is a story I am sharing with my audience.
For my point of view, it is very important to ‘understand
each style’ and show it through dance, costumes.”
Leila - among modern choreographers, her work as
a choreographer and a dancer is recognized and her love
for the dance led her to teach classes, workshops here in
Paris, in France, in Europe and all over the world. Leila
teaches, among other subjects, Raqs Sharqi, Balady, Saidi,
North African Traditional Dances (Algeria, Morocco,
and Tunisia). Leila is known for her beautiful dance and
performs wearing elegant Assuit costumes she wears when
Photo by Carl F. Sermon
she performs Balady; and
when she performs Tunisian
traditional dances – wearing
the elaborate and authentic
native costumes and jewelry
of her beloved Tunisia.
Leila explains, “I started
to become well-known
among the dancers and
choreographers and I had
many articles in national
daily, weekly, monthly
October 2015
The Belly Dance Chronicles
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