Sophie’s Dancelog

I’m co-producing this event with Sagit Elmaliach , the director of the Belly Dance Center in Jerusalem. We are very excited to host Bella Fuegas , Elana Brutman and KC Van De Merkt for a weekend of workshops and a show.

Bella Fuegas , KC Van De Merkt and Elana Brutman , began performing as a duet in 2004. They debuted as poi dancers and swiftly evolved into alluring hoop artists gracing the stage in multiple cities across the nation. As their ability to convey emotion through movement paralleled their polished skill level, they attained a level of uniqueness audiences rarely witnessed. To round the edge of their performance, they embarked on a study of Tribal belly dance which provided them with an opportunity to teach their art to students of an entirely new sub-culture. Today, KC and Elana entwine the arresting essence of fire dance with the ancient practice of belly dance, paving the way for a new perspective on two distinct art forms.

A glimpse at the ghawazee coat making

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These are a few excerpts from the Belly Dance Center Purim Party in Jerusalem. I’m dancing to Aziza, an all-times favorite dance tune composed by Mohamed Abdel Wahab.

Elad Gabai who teaches us piyutim at the Oriental Music Center sings “Yaarat Dvash” accompanying himself on a qanun. We just studied this piyut two days ago. What a pleasure!


Lyrics, explanations and various renditions can be found here (mostly Hebrew).

Enjoy!

On Friday afternoon after the class I headed straight to Bella’s shop at Şişli Bella is known for her high-end dance costumes and for this reason bargaining there is futile. Credit cards are also useless in her shop, because she accepts only cash! For 3 days in a row I was traveling around Istanbul with a ridiculous amount of cash and I was very relieved to off-load the money and finally get my costumes, that are by the way fitted perfectly adding a 3D effect to my shiny-rosy self. Happy and giddy I unloaded the costumes at the hostel and headed straight to Pera Museum for the Pirosmani exhibition. I must confess that normally I hate museums, in most cases finding myself wandering around with no clear purpose and a rather obvious lack of joy, but this one really got to me. It’s small - only 5 floors with 2 halls on each floor. The top floor featured the works of students of Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Art and Design which I didn’t dig at all. The fourth had the most amazing collection of Pirosmani’s paintings crowned with my favorite “Bear in the Moon Light”. Next is a very pleasant surprise at the third floor: “Portraits from the Empire” exhibition, a selection of works portraying the Ottoman world from the 18th to 20th century. I was very pleased with the notes they had on Westerners’ harem portrayals and on the daily life of Ottoman women. Continue Reading »

After the class with Reyhan I decided to go to Pierreloti, a cute oasis in the residential neighborhood of Eyüp. It is named after a French writer Pierre Loti who had special affection for Istanbul coffee houses. Since I took a bus from G.O.Paşa I couldn’t find the Teleferik (a cable car) so I climbed to the top of the hill and was rewarded with the most beautiful view of the Golden Horn and a portion of manti. I lingered at the restaurant for about an hour giving my sore feet a good rest. Taking the teleferik down didn’t feel as stupid as I expected it to be thanks to the view.
After Eyüp I headed to Unkapani, an industrial zone that hosts a whole building full of music distributors who sell CDs and DVDs in wholesale prices. I stopped at 5 with no luck for Ahırkapı Büyük Roman Orkestrası (but no fear, I got later this week on Istiklal!!!).

My day starts with a class with Reyhan Tuzsus. Reyhan and one of her daughters meet me at the Gaziosmanpaşa Kültür Merkezi square. Lovingly yet firmly Reyhan grabs my arm and leads me through the noisy streets untill we reach the outskirts of the neighborhood. Following her into a narrow passage we descend into the mahalle. The slums go all the way down the steep hill and up on the other side of the valley. Thousands of houses marked with poverty and decay. Garbage and rubble everywhere.
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