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Travel (vicariously)
with Raksanna to Cairo, Egypt - Dec 2-17, 2007
Quick note: You'll
find the most current journal entry at the top of the page. To read in
chronological order, please start at the bottom of the page. I'd love to
get e-mail from you! Send me a note:
raksanna@raksanna.com and
I'll answer it when I'm on-line (typically every other day).
Wednesday, December 12, 2007 ~ 6:30 pm
Cairo time
It has been so wonderfully crazy over the last few days – I haven’t had
a chance to write! Patricia and I spoke on phone and she said that
everyone is excited about sharing the experience with me, so I took a 30
minute break to update the site!
The week has been a beautiful blend of
dance class and the experience of Cairo. The dance conference started
with an opening reception on Wednesday (Dec 5) evening. It was a nice,
informal gathering that gave the dancers a chance to meet each other and
the course teachers. This year, there are about 25 more participants in
the course, bringing the total number of dancers to approximately 60.
There are women from more than 12 countries including Brazil, Russia,
China, Spain, Columbia, England, Belgium, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia,
Indonesia and the United States. There are about 10 dancers from last
year who have returned and it is wonderful to see old friends again. It
feels like family!
 Because
the Intensive Teachers Course is designed to provide teachers with a
full spectrum of styles, critiques and more, Raqia intentionally keeps
the class size small. We have two groups that each have 30 dancers and
that is absolutely perfect to get one on one attention and truly immerse
yourself in the content and the dance. This is my second year to
participate in the conference and it is well worth the investment of
time and money, as it provides such a rich dance education and the
opportunity to build friendships that will last a lifetime. Pictured
left: Me and Claudia from Madrid
Dancing Non-Stop for 8 Hours a Day!
Classes begin each morning at
9:00 am with Ballet for 30 minutes. There are two teachers, my friends
Mostafa Mohsen and Alaa El Agamy, and they stretch us out, polish our
arm work and fine tune the fundamental technique. After ballet, the
schedule runs with Master Classes from 9:45-12:15, Folkloric Dance from
12:30-2:30 and Master Class from 3:00-5:30 pm. Lecture begins in the
evening at 7:30 and runs until about 9:00 pm. The days are quite full
and take a great deal of energy and thought, as we learn entire dances
(between 4 ½ to 7 minutes in length) in each class. (That explains why
it has taken me so long to update the blog!)
I’ll post more detail about each
instructor and what they present
- as of right now, Wed, 12/12, I have trained with twenty one of the
best instructors of Egyptian dance from across the world including Raqia
Hassan, Randa Kamel, Nabil Mabrouk, Kamel Naem, Momo Koudous, Dr. Mo
Geddawi, Dina, Magda and Atef. There are two American instructors here
as well – Morocco from New York and
Jehan Kamel. Topics have included Oriental dance (both classic and
modern), Saidi, Alexandria (Melaya Leff), Czar, Pharonics, Drum Solo and
Fusion Fantasy. Pictured Right: My friend, Randa Kamel, her son,
Karem and me
Evenings: Lecture and Fun Times
The evenings have been filled with lecture and some social events. I had
the fantastic opportunity to be the guest of Magda and Atef and see the
Reda Troupe perform. Founded by Mahmoud Reda in 1959, the Reda Troupe is
now supported by the government and they perform beautiful dances from
different regions of Egypt. Magda and Atef were once performing dancers
in the Reda Troupe and are now directors.
Atef and Magda took seven of us to the
show. We drove through immense Cairo traffic for about an hour and
arrived at the famous Balloon Theatre. We walked a small alleyway to get
to the theatre and then were treated to a stunning performance by the
troupe. There are about 15 men dancers and 12 women dancers currently in
the troupe, many of whom are my friends (Raghatee, Doa, Ibrahim, Alli
and his brother, to name a few). The show included Hagallah (when the
men dance for one woman and she chooses her husband at the end of the
show), Saidi (a country style of dance that uses sticks), Oriental,
Melaya Leff (from Alexandria by the sea) and a breathtaking grand finale
of Nubian style dance that really got the crowd going!
I was not able to take my camera into the
theatre so I do not have any photos to show you, but trust me. It was
simply beautiful and if you ever get the chance to visit Cairo, a
must-have experience.
Another evening activity was a great
dinner and show. Raqia treated the conference participants to a
mouthwatering dinner at a very nice restaurant. The buffet featured
chicken, roast beef, pasta dishes, salads, vegetables and tantalizing
deserts. After dinner, we were treated to an energetic show of Nubian
 dance,
followed by a Czar presentation.
Nubia is located in southern Egypt (or
Upper Egypt) and has an estimated population of 10,000. Their language
is referred to as Nubian (Creole) and some report that the language is a
mixture of Swahili and Egyptian Arabic, which comes from their
association with Kenyan African Society. The music is very earthy,
vibrant and fills your soul with joy. Pictured left: Nubian woman
The Czar dance is a theatrical
presentation of a religious trance dance. Drums are used to play heavily
and the dancer (traditionally male) spins and spins for what seems like
an eternity, lasting up to 30 minutes. The goal of the dance is to go
into a trance-like state and rid yourself of negativity or bad energy,
similar to an exorcism. When put on the stage for performance, the
dancer will spin and while spinning, do many things such as use tiers of
skirts to make shapes like a top or a baby. It is quite gorgeous to
watch and, from a dancers perspective, certainly a feat to keep spinning
for
so long! On this night, we saw both a single male dancer and two young
boy dancers that were simply amazing! Pictured right - two young boy
dancers; pictured below left - Czar dancer and band; pictured below
right - single male Czar dancer
 The
energy that night was amazing. Everyone (almost) got up and danced like
there was no tomorrow. Spirits were high and playful and it was such a
wonderful evening – a great treat in the middle of the conference that
provided a much deserved night of entertainment and camaraderie!
Tomorrow night is the competition at 7:30
pm. I prefer to think of it as a Gala Show and not think of it as a
competition. It will be a great experience to dance again in Cairo and
to perform again for the dance masters that I hold in such high esteem.
I’ll let you know how it all goes – and I will make sure to get some
photos!!!
Speaking of photos, here are some
pictures of different belly dance costumes. I had a request to see
Beledi/Saidi dresses, so here you go – and there are also examples of
Kialegee and of course, Oriental.
Left: Beledi (red), Oriental (Blue)
Below: Beledi (black), Oriental (Blue)
...Below Right: Kaleghee
Keep those e-mails coming – and I’ll post
again on Friday!!
Happy Shimmies!
Roxanne (Raksanna)
Wednesday, December
5, 2007 ~ 6:20 pm Cairo, Egypt
Yesterday was a blur of activity! I have made a new friend, Claudia,
from Madrid Spain. She is originally from Brazil, but moved to Madrid
five years ago with her husband, Luciana, who is a Flamenco musician and
teacher. Together, we are practicing our Arabic and have the goal of
knowing and understanding 30 new phrases by the end of the two week stay
here!
We spent the day in the vibrant, lively
city of Cairo yesterday. Cairo, literally translated, means “The
Vanquisher” or “The Triumphant,” is also known as Al-Qahirah or Old
Egypt. It is the capitol of Egypt, with a population of approximately
17.2 million people.
 Cairo
is a very old city, officially founded in 751 AD, has a rich culture and
heritage. The Pyramids are in the greater Cairo area, in a district
called Giza. The hotel in which we are staying this time is literally in
the shadow of the Pyramids. Approximately 98% of the country is Islamic,
with the remaining 2% Christian and there are only 4,000 Egyptian Jews
living in Egypt today, according to Bassem, my travel guide.
(pictured above right: map of Greater Cairo; pictured left: street scene
from Cairo)
Destination #1: Egyptian Museum
Our first destination yesterday was the Egyptian Museum.
Although I have been to Cairo many times, Tuesday was the first time
I had room on the agenda to go and I was very excited! (Ever since I
was a little girl, I have loved everything Ancient Egyptian. My mom
would bring home coloring books of King Tut, the pyramids, the
Valley of Kings – and I would be in heaven! My first huge novel was
“The Sphinx” by Robin Cook – a delicious, 320 page book that I
devoured at the young age of 15!). Ancient Egypt is considered
between the years of BC 3500 and 30 AD. (Just imagine, in America,
we think of buildings and things from the 50’s as being old!!)
 Bassem
guided us through the Museum, stopping at many lovely exhibits and
educating us on hieroglyphics, Pharaohs and so much more! The Museum
is two stories filled with treasures tiny and gigantic from
prehistoric times, the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom and
Late Period! We saw nearly 500 monuments including magnificent
architectural decoration. My two favorite exhibits were King
Tutankhamen (affectionately known as King Tut) and Queen Hatshepsut.
To get to the King Tutankhamen
exhibition (which contains more than 130 pieces), you must go
upstairs and travel through several rooms that showcase such pieces
as sculptures, vases, architectural décor and much more. You finally
arrive at the boy-king’s display and enter an air-conditioned room.
To your right, there he is! King Tut is breathtakingly beautiful.
The famous face mask, made of gold, is lit up in a glass display
case. He is as brilliant today as he must have been during the time
of his reign. To your left are the two outer coffins, both covered
in gold, are richly ornamented and stunning. He was buried with many
riches including jewelry, game chest, sculptures and more.
(pictured to the right - King Tut's face mask)
 Queen
Hatshepsut is one of my favorite Egyptian pharaohs. She is one
of only a handful of female rulers of Egypt and was arguably one of
the first women’s rights activists. According to Consul General
Abderahman Salahelding, “Hatshepsut was a symbol of the empowerment
of women.” The daughter of the powerful pharaoh Thutmose I, she
began her reign around 1473 BC and ruled for approximately two
decades. She believed that there were no differences between man and
woman and the way each ruled. Among her
accomplishments were a long and prosperous reign, the
re-establishment of trading relationships that had been previously
lost and that brought great wealth to Egypt and raising the caliber
of Ancient Egyptian architecture to a standard that would not be
rivaled by any other culture for a thousand years. (pictured
above left: monument of Queen Hatshepsut; pictured right: modern
artists rendition of what Hatshepsut may have looked like)
After the Museum, we went to lunch at a
very nice restaurant and continued our travels to Coptic Cairo,
the home of the most ancient Christian Churches and Synagogues in Egypt.
Known as “Old Cairo,” this ancient part of the city is quite piece and
remains rich with monuments, churches and monasteries.
 Ancient
Churches (Very Beautiful!) The first Church we visited was the
Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. It is a 4th-century Church and
is considered to be the oldest of Cairo’s Christian churches. It is
believed to be the home of the Holy Family (Joseph, Mary and the
infant Christ), where they lived when Joseph worked at the fortress.
(pictured left: inside the Church; to right: entrance to Coptic
area)
Then, we visited the Ben Ezra
Synagogue. The synagogue was originally a Christian church that was
sold by the Coptic Christians of Cairo to the Jews in 882 AD to pay
annual taxes imposed by Muslim rulers at the time. The church was
purchased by Abraham Ben Ezra, who came from Jerusalem during the
reign of
 Ahmed
Ibn Tulan. It was a place for pilgrimage for North African Jews and
the site of major festival celebrations. (pictured left: entrance
to Ben Ezra Synagogue)
Our third and final church was
The Hanging Church. Known in Arabic as al-Muallaqu (literally
translated – The Suspended), it was built in the 7th century
and is the most famous Coptic church in Cairo. Named for its
location about a gatehouse of the Roman fortress in Old Cairo, it is
suspended over a passage. To enter, you must walk up a flight of 29
steps. Both inside and outside, you are greeted with beautiful
murals, icons and a gorgeous marble pulpit. (pictured right:
mural in courtyard of Hanging Church)
 After
enjoying the peacefulness and tranquility of Old Cairo, we left for a
visit to Khan el-Khalili.
Before I tell you about this magical
marketplace, let me just say that traffic in Cairo is an exhilarating
adventure each and every time you get in it!!! Claudia and I sang George
Michael’s “You Gotta Have Faith” out loud many, many times during our
trip! You just have to trust, have faith – and don’t look outside! There
are very few traffic signals, no organized lanes of traffic and an
interesting mixture of motorcycles, pick up trucks, cars and donkeys
pulling cars that share the road. I do not know what the traffic laws
are, but it appears that it is each motorist for him/herself. Amazingly,
there are very few accidents. (pictured above: Donkeys share the
streets with motorists alike - the magic of today's Cairo where old
meets new)
Step into A Magical Place:
Khan el-Khalili Khan el-Khalili is Egypt’s most famous market
and one of the most historic of any markets across the globe. It was
founded by Emir Djaharks el-Khalili in 1382. The market is credited
with developing such an influence of trade and goods moving from the
Eastern world to the West, that it was directly responsible for the
discovery of the American continent by Eastern explorers. According
to various sources, the ruling Mamluks of Egypt had such a monopoly
on the spice markets that explorers such as Columbus were forced to
find alternative routes for goods coming from the East.
When you walk into Khan el-Khalili,
you are transported to a very special, magical place. It is like you
are entering Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley! Merchants call to you and
offer you amazing discounts (For you, I make a big discount – only
for today! I don’t know what you are looking for, but I am sure I
have it!). You have your choice of oils, water pipes, clothes, bags,
jewelry, original home decorations, statues, glass art and musical
instruments – and all at a really great price. Claudia is quite the
shopper and came home with many treasures! I visited my special
friend, a supplier of fine quality belly dance costumes and
accessories. I put in an order for a few special things and must
return later this week to pick them up. (pictured right: A
glimpse of the market)
 After
shopping, we stopped at one of my favorite restaurants in the world,
Nagib Mafouz restaurant in Khan el Khalili, for an early evening
coffee, ice cream and brownies (hey – we’re about to dance for 8
hours each day for the next twelve days – we need the calories!:-).
Then, we came back to the hotel. On the way home, the taxi driver
blew out his back tire, so we had to quickly change it en route. I
made my way to eat a hot dinner, take a heaven sent bath and went to
bed. (pictured left: my friend, Claudia from Spain and Bassem,
our travel guide)
This morning, registration for the
conference took place. Many of my dancer friends (teachers of the
conference, musicians and fellow students) are here and it is so good to
see them again. I registered and then spent the day working on a couple
of project for back home, took a dip in the freezing pool and am now on
my way to the opening reception this evening. I will write again soon
and continue to add more pictures, so you can see what it is like in
Egypt at one of the world’s most amazing dance conferences!!!
Saturday/Sunday/Monday,
December 1-3, 2007
On Saturday evening,
Chicago was hit with the year's first ice/snow storm. I left home
at 5:00 for an 8:00 pm flight on
British Airways and ended up leaving at 11:45 pm from the US. Many
flights were ca
Intro ...
Every year, I travel to
Egypt (continent: Africa) to study Belly Dance with the worlds greatest
teachers and choreographers. Hosted
by world-renowned Raqia Hassan, this Intensive Teachers Workshop is two
weeks of dance training from 9:00 am until 5:30 pm, followed by evening
lecture. Participants earn certification through Raqia Hassan's
program and learn technique, choreography, history, culture and so much
more! This year, there are two exciting evenings of competition
(yes, I'm participating!) and two magnificent shows.
 Many
students have asked me to share my journey with them. To that end, I'll
write about the experience on this page so that you can share the magic
of the Egyptian spirit !!!! My internet connection will take place at
least every other day, so be sure to check back frequently. Feel
free to send me an e-mail while I'm away:
raksanna@raksanna.com or
roxanne@roxfit.com.
ncelled, but BA did a great job of getting us to London.
The flight was pretty turbulent and trust me, there were many prayers
that paid off. We landed at 12:30 pm on Sunday afternoon. The lay over
was about three hours, so I chose not to transfer terminals and go to
the American Airlines Admirals Club like I normally do. Instead, I had a
nice English breakfast at my favorite place in the London Heathrow,
Terminal 4 airport: Weatherspoon's.
I finally landed in
Cairo, Egypt at 11:55 pm on Sunday night and arrived at the hotel at
1:00 am, Monday morning. Mohamed, my travel agent for years now, met me
at the airport. He had Claudia from Madrid with him. She is a dancer
from Spain who has come to the conference. She is very nice and we will
travel together tomorrow to see some of the sights of Cairo. We traveled
to the hotel together.
The hotel staff at
InterContinental Pyramids Resort remembered me, which was very nice! I
was met with a heart felt welcome, friendly hugs and a familiar place.
(This hotel is the same hotel we stayed in last December. Last June, I
stayed in the Mena House - equally amazing and just a few blocks away
from the InterContinental Hotel.)
With a ton of jetlag, I
slept until 4:00 pm Monday afternoon. The first day is usually dedicated
to getting adjusted to the time change. I had breakfast at 5:00 pm,
dialed into the weekly meeting at work and unpacked.
Then, I headed to the
Italian restaurant in the hotel. My favorite chef was working tonight
and he prepared a lovely meal of Australian beef cutlets and steamed
fresh vegetables, accompanied by a beautiful white wine called
Scheherazade (quite fitting for a dancer!). He joined me at the table
and we talked of many things including what is happening with the
tension between the countries in the Middle East, how the lives of the
individual citizens are impacted and caught up with each other as
old friends do.
Now, it is 1:30 am
Tuesday morning and I need to go to bed in order to adjust to the time
frame. I will write more tomorrow evening and post pictures from the
day. Please check back!! And let me know if you have questions,
want any thing from Egypt or just to say hi!!!
Happy shimmies!
Raksanna (Roxanne)
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