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1.
Inheriting verses imitating:
learning
belly dance with Asmahan
by Fiona Stephen
As a student of Asmahan, Fiona writes about Asmahan's teaching
technique.
She appreciates the fact that a professional dancing career performing
with the
stars of the Oriental Dance World has prepared her to teach in
a very informed way.
Studing dance with a teacher who has trained with the masters
of dance and performing
in the prestigious shows gives the students a history of experience
that the dance students
inherits. The knowledge has a history and gives a sense of comparison.
2.
My Adventure Begins
by Asmahan
www.gildedserpent.com
Asmahan contributes her story of dancing in San Francisco for
the
Northbeach Memories Series in the Gilded Serpent Feature.
This is an account of
the characters and events in the Arabic Dance Clubs: The Casbah,
Bagdad
and Greek Taverna in the famous Northbeach Strip.
3.
Face the Music and Dance
by
Michelle Cotterill
Mosiac, Spring 2006, Issue 36
The
BBC presented a series "Facing the Music",
a reality program that helped people
who once had ambitions to perform but had lost their way. Asmahan
was contacted to
help Rania, who is Lebanese, fullfill her dream to sing on the
stage. Rania was given
Dance Classes in
Raqs Sharqi to give her confidence in her physical abilities
to perform.
4. Rocks Sharqi
Mosiac, Issue 34, Summer 2004
Asmahan
performed with her band, El Karnak, at the Shepherds
Bush Empire
as the opening act for Alabina. Two of her students were
hired by Alabina as
back up dancers.
5. Vitality Show
Mosiac, Issue 28, Summer 2002
Pineapple
Studios presented a showcase ot their most prestigious teachers
dancing with their students for the Vitality Show at the Olympia
Exhibition Center
in London. Egyptian Dance was featured with Hip Hop, Jazz, Salsa,
and Cheerleaders.
6. Travels with my
Tutu
by Jill Warnell
Habibi, Volume 19, No 1, Winter 2002
As part of Deborah Bull's dance series, Travels With
my Tutu, commissioned by
the BBC, in which she studies different dance styles.
Asmahan was asked to teach
the prima balerina an Arabic dance choreography. Deborah is shown
interviewing
Asmahan and training with her to learn the basics of Oriental
Dance.
In this series it was called Bellydancing.
Deborah was costumed and trained by Asmahan and then performed
before an
audience at Maroush on Edgeware Road in London.
7. GO FOR IT: EGYPTIAN DANCE
by Alex Mattis
Hot Tickets, 19-15 October 2001
Alex
Mattis takes Asmahan's Egyptian dance class at Pineapple Studios.
She
declares even at first lesson stage it looks quite swish. The
dance is steeped
in history, incredibly feminine, and the lesson is spent learning
basic
movements which are strung together into a routine.
8. DANCE your way
to a better body
mind and body feature.
NOW, 12 September 2001
Even
though you are doing flowing movements, it's still an amazing
cardiovascular workout. It opens up your ribcage and you are
breathing in a
more yoga based way. Because you are taught to lift from the
balls of the feet
it improves your posture and balance. Many pop dance routines
have Oriental
influenced movements.
9. Travels with my
Tutu
by Jill Warnell
Mosiac, Issue 24 Spring 2001
Deborah
Bull is
a prima balerina with the Royal Ballet, besides being
a regular
contributor on the Arts to the Daily Telegraph, and an
accomplished presenter of
dance programmes on television. She recently presented Arabic
dance on network
television. Deborah stated in an article in the Telegraph that
"the dance
itself is a delight: understated, gentle on the body and sophisticated
in style.
10. Shaking all Over
by James Thompson
Metro, Thursday 10 August 2000
An
infatuating and rhythmic art form, Raqs Sharqi is not just a
dance performed
to music but the creation of rhythm and beat through the punctual
movement of
the body and synchronised combination of drums and percussion.
In the Middle
East it is taught within the family and is danced at weddings
and celebrations.
Some claim that it is an exploration of what women can do with
their body, as
the dancer is said to "transcend time, place and her own
limitations and touch
something eternal-something even divine."
11. Asmahan, an Egyptian
Dance Fantasy
by Maggie Caffrey
Habibi, Volume 17, No 4, Summer 2000
This
dance video has the distinction of being probably one of the
most original
works of art available to date in the sphere of Oriental dance.
As a dance
video, it is a kaleidoscope of exotic images from the past and
present, linked
by the elegant and graceful dancing of Asmahan. We are offered
a feast of
stunning costumes created my Asmahan herself, plus ravishing
settings filmed in
Cairo, including the pyramids at Giza, the Ismail Pasha Palace
at the Marriott
Hotel and Dr. Rageb's Pharonic Village.
12. Asmahan: An Egyptian
Dance Fantasy Video
by Maggie Caffrey
Mosiac, Issue 20, Winter 1999
For
me the most enduring images from this enchanting visual journey
are those of
Asmahan descending a staircase Samia Gamal style, of her emerging
from the
temple of Isis as the goddess herself, and of her balancing a
sword on her head
as she intertains bedouins in a desert shrouded in early morning
mist. A must
for all lovers of Orientalism, it is something to keep on the
the shelf for one
of those wet, wintry afternoons which cry out for a flight into
fantasy to lift
the spirits.
13. Asmahan Designer
to the Stars
by Cathy Selford
Mosiac, Issue 19, Summer 1999
Asmahan
has been famous for her costumes since her arrival on the dance
scene.
She designs and makes all her costumes and has made costumes
for such famous
movies stars as Nabila Ebeid. Asmahan made Nabila's costumes
when she played the
role of a dancer in "Al Raqassa Wal Siyasse', (The dancer
and the politician).
She also made the pharonic costume Nabila wore in L'Autre .
14. Dare you do It?
EGYPTIAN DANCE
by Caroline Langley
Cosmopoliton ZEST, March 1999
"The
Class at Pineapple was buzzing with excitement. The teacher Asmahan
was
giving detailed instruction of posture, intention of the dancer,
and step
patterns. Then this formula was woven into a dance pattern which
we did to
Arabic music, which created an authentic atmoshere. This dance
is an
exploration of mind, body and spirit; it is very elegant and
feminine. Some of
the moves are quite difficult and you work hard in the class
but you learn a
beautiful and alluring dance. It's different and I absolutely
loved it."
15. Asmahan, Dancer-Designer
by Elaine Mayson.
Dance Express, Issue No 17, November 1997
A career
profile of Asmahan as a fashion designer in California and her
evolution to a professional dancer. From designing and making
clothes for rock
stars to studying Egyptian Dance and the experiences of the Middle
Eastern
entertainment scene.
16. From Coins to
Sequins
by Maggie Cafrey
Mosiac, No 14, Winter 1997
The
dancing career of Asmahan starting with meeting Jamila Salimpour
and
studying with her to become accomplished in the art of Raqs Sharqi.
Moving to
London to perform in the most prestigious clubs, she was working
with the most
famous dancers, singers, musicians and composers from the Middle
East. She was
renouned for her costumes throughout her professional dancing
career.
She
started wearing only Pre-Napoleonic costumes (before any western
influences)
but progressed quickly to the most glamourous sequins and showgirl
elegance. The
full range of possibilities, from folklore, Saidi, ancient Egyptian
to modern
glamour can be found in her wardrobe. She discusses the varied
aspects of the
costume as a vehicle to express the style and complement the
creative aspect of
the dancer's movements and to define the "look" of
the performance.
17. Asmahan
by Jamila Salimpour
Habibi, Vol 3, No 12 Spring 1981
Jamila
Salimpour recounts her experience of meeting Asmahan and training
her to
dance. She recounts her correspondence with her through the various
progressions
of her career as she traveled to London and Egypt to fulfill
her career
aspirations. Jamila expresses her pride that one of her students
made it to the
top of Middle Eastern show business. She ends by printing a delightful
letter
she received from Asmahan while she was endeavoring to succeed
in Cairo.
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