I frequently tell my students, dont assume that the Egyptian folklore presented by the Egyptian national folklore troupes is an exact representation of the original folk dances. These dances have been HEAVILY altered for a variety of reasons (the directors vision, the governments vision, the need to make the dance bigger or more entertaining for a theater stage, etc.). Case in point..pare the Furqa Qawmiya (National Troupe) ghawazee dance with the actual ghawazee style upon which it is based. https://youtube/watch?v=gZjWeWRclxo vimeo/109361887 Its so important to understand the difference between the theatrical folklore and the real deal. There is nothing wrong with theatrical folklore! But if you are in search of the actual folk dances, the ideal situation is to seek out the actual practitioners of those dances, or at least video footage of those dances, so that you can discern the difference. There ARE still practitioners of the real deal who are very happy to teach and share their knowledge.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 22:48:22 +0000