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