The workshop started late. In between fiddling with the mic and hissing away the men who tried to infiltrate the classroom Bari made us thank god for our beauty, health and talent to the sounds of Omar Faruk Tekbilek. Then she proceeded to dance on the stage while we were desperately trying to follow her. Naturally, Bari didn’t explain anything, because how would you break up her majestic poise and grandeur? Self-confidence and the sense of superiority are gained through years of hard work.

The next day the hall was packed even more, as we all gathered to hear Bari’s story. I’m not going to retell this jumble of self-flatter, preaching etc. etc. ad nauseum. Instead let me try to describe Bari’s dancing, because this is something I will remember for many years to come.

After a short change of dress Bari entered the hall to the opening sounds of Inta Omri under a canopy of a long turquoise veil. She briefly scanned the stage and then discarded the veil revealing one of the most stunning costumes I’ve ever seen. The long slinky dress emphasized all the curves, which was rather ironic, giving the sermons we had heard earlier regarding revealing dancer’s flesh. The dress had long draping skirt and sleeves and veils were attached to it from behind to create an effect of wings.

Bari’s dancing was spectacular. She was in total command of time and space. Her hip work was subtle and precise, her arms – exquisite, long and willowy, she was one with the music, she was divine… Bari reminded me of the Egyptian Golden Age dancers, only if I might say better.

Led by Yardena’s gong we started by connecting to the ground and reaching for the sky. Yardena spoke of the dance, its essence and therapeutic nature. She told us about her young students, how each and every one of them had a “Dance and Movement” notebook, where they documented their innermost dance experiences. She kept those notebooks safe from outsiders’ eyes, but we were in for a treat: Yardena asked me to read a few pages from one of the notebooks. The discolored pages treasured musings of a 10-year old girl. She imparted to us that at Yardena’s classes she pays no attention to the surroundings, she forgets it all and fuses with the music. She continued that since the dawn of time people had been striving to break off the earth with no success, and yet she had been flying free at Yardena’s studio.

The class proceeded to guided improvisation. Most of the topics were inspired by the Old Testament and the Passover and Yardena stressed self-presence and connection to one’s dance partners. We thanked the serpent for gifting us with the awareness of our bodies, we drew Moses out of the water, we lay crushed on the ground exhausted by the 40-years wandering in the desert and lastly we impersonated Hagar, expelled from her home by Sarah and Abraham. Contrary to the Biblical story Hagar was welcomed back to restore peace in our land.

From Yaron Margolin’s “The Twelve Pioneers of Dance in Israel”
Yardena is a “Sabra” (born in Israel, 1910), an original creator and the first to introduce the concepts of dance therapy in Israel.

Cohen employed an orchestra of Arab and Jewish musicians, playing music which told of love, sorrow & despair, and passed from one generation to another undocumented. She hired Israeli musician Boskowitz to document some of these ancient tunes. Inspired by what he heard, he wrote the “Semite Suite” (1945), which was later performed by the Israeli Philharmonic, and the Vienna Symphony, and wrote a Piano version of the score for Cohen. Cohen often worked with musicians who wrote original score for her.

Cohen brought her dances into open air spaces. She built tents and temporary structures, using the natural landscape as a backdrop. She invited some unconventional performers: shepherds with their herds, horse riders, and used all available nature’s elements in her harmonized choreography.

Cohen inspired a generation of dancers and creators, and encouraged them all to learn various dance techniques, Classical Ballet, Modern dance and more. She affected a new trend of Dance Therapy and was noted for her success in helping some holocaust survivors.

Fananas (female artists) are admired and worshipped by the general public, yet their shameful conduct is condemned along with other disrespectful activities that are attributed to their working environment, such as drinking, smoking and homosexuality. However, they could redeem themselves by giving up their careers and independency in favor of starting a family. The ideal wife should be attractive yet modest, loving yet not jealous, witty yet ready to sacrifice everything for her husband and children.

The movie also provides a glimpse into the dancer’s daily routine: late night performances, followed by dinner, retiring to bed in the daylight. The hardships of foreign entertainers aren’t forgotten either: Azza, the Tunisian singer, laments the restrictions of her contract: foreigners only get a six-month visa and work permit, despite being in demand. Eventually the go-getting Azza settles for a “visa marriage”.

There are several dance scenes, each one with distinct music and costumes. The opening scene is my favorite, where Samia, dressed in white assuit with black head scarf and hip sash, dances in a rural setting while Kouka(Azza) accompanies her by singing and playing sagat.

The movie is distributed by the Arab Film Distribution and is available on Netflix. For an in-depth study on Egyptian female entertainers I recommend “A Trade Like Any Other” by Karin van Nieuwkerk. Bear in mind that this book is based on a PhD, its language is rather dry and academic, but the content is well worth the effort.

Music and Rhythm
Artemis introduces us to the 9/8 family of rhythms, specifically the Karsilama, and makes an important distinction between the Romani Karsilama and the Cabaret Karsilama, and how the difference between them affects the dance.

Isolations
There are total of 9 isolations presented in this section. Artemis shows each isolation from 3 different angles (front, side and back), her explanations are clear and she uses lots of imagery and creative ideas to get her instructions across. Most isolations are demonstrated to both the slow and the fast versions of Karsilama, and although most of the isolations would be familiar even to a beginner level student, they are tweaked to hit the 9/8 accents. The isolations are: head slides, shoulder shifts, shoulder shimmy, shoulder rolls, abdominal undulation top to bottom, pelvic isolation 12 o’clock up, knee-driven hip shimmy, hip circle, hip circle with knee bounce.

Turns
Artemis teaches 2 types of turns: 3 step to 9/8 with accent variations and the barrel turn. I was particularly fond of Artemis’s instructions on spotting during barrel turn.

Steps
Once again Artemis demonstrates how familiar steps are adjusted to fit into both slow and fast Karsilama. She starts from the basic step (front-back-back-front) with embellishments, then proceeds to step-hip, travelling shimmies, step-together-step and travelling full-body undulations. Then Artemis teaches knee lifts and Eva hops. In the end Artemis combines the steps together, first to the slow and then the fast rhythm.

Gestures
In this section Artemis presents gestures that are intrinsic to Turkish Oriental style. She warns from over-indulging in gesturing, and suggests to rather use them as accents. She also points out on cultural differences between Greek, Turkish and Egyptian audiences that the dancer should be aware of.

Combinations
Artemis teaches 4 slow combinations, that employ many of the movements reviewed in previous sections. Then she moves on to teaching a short choreography to a fast Karsilama, using a very famous song ‘Rompi-Rompi’.

Performance
This is by far my favorite part of the video. Artemis first dances to ‘Rompi-Rompi’ and then to ‘Keman Karsilama’. Her performance is passionate, joyful, truly captivating, and it showcases her superior sense of music and rhythm, vast movement vocabulary and her zill virtuosity. Through her dance you could see the profoundness and uniqueness of Turkish style.

Notes on Production
As with other IAMED instructional DVDs the production quality is superb. The decor is unobtrusive, and Artemis’s leotard is in good contrast with the background, we can clearly hear her voice and the camera focuses exactly on the parts of the body that are of interest to dancers. The credits contain information on music, costume, photography, as well as contact information of various artists. Total run-time is 2 hours!

Wishlist
I wish that Artemis would not look so often on the floor while demostrating the moves. She does look at her audience during verbal explanations, and she looks just ahead of her when she demonstrates the moves from the side and the back, however she often does not maintain visual contact with the camera while showing the moves from the front. I found it very distracting at the beginning, but got used to it quickly. I also wish there has been a zill section. Artemis shows great zill proficiency (speed, tonalities, taste) and I wish we could learn more from her on the subject.
My last wish would be that the combination sections would have been shot in front of a mirror, so it would be easier to follow the steps.

In conclusion, I enjoyed Artemis’s instructional style and her warm presence and I would recommend this video to anyone who wants to learn more about the Turkish Style of Oriental dance.

How to Order
You can order an autographed copy directly from Artemis

This was Jim’s first Rakkasah as a teacher, and I truly believe he’s got a lot to share, especially with regards to class environment and organization. Any dancer knows how frustrating it could be when a teacher comes to class unprepared, or when he doesn’t remember what music is used, or when she’s unable to control the students .

Well, Jim’s done his homework! He started the class passing around handouts with exaustive information on what we were about to learn, including the music being used, the outline of the drills, timelined(!) choreography notes and even the goals of the workshop! I mean, what more could you ask for? And yet he managed to surprise me once again. Being a musician, Jim rendered a custom CD to suit our “special needs”. The drum solo was split into short excerpts, with each excerpt pasted numerous times, sometimes half or 3/4 time to accomodate our repetitions. He even introduced pauses in between the music for comic relief. No time was wasted and yet the class was so much fun! Add to this Jim’s approachable personality, his sense of humor and precise technique and you will get a recipe for a perfect 3-hour workshop.

Unfortunately I missed Jim’s performance during second Rakassah weekend (looking for a parking spot, damn it!), but judging from his workshop demonstrations, he’s got a charismatic stage presence and a fine sense of music.

Links

Jim Boz – official website

Jim’s performance at Rakkasah 2006, 2 video clips

Rakkasah – official website