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Aisha Ali is an American dancer who began her field studies in 1971, when she traveled to the Middle East to observe first-hand many traditional styles of dance. She made subsequent visits to Egypt and North Africa in 1973, 1974, 1977, 1983, 1988, and 1997 to collect certain folkloric materials that were fast disappearing. All her videos have accompanying CD's: Music of the Ghawazee, Music of the Ouled Naïl, Music of the Fellahin, Music for the Oriental Dance, Tunisian Dances, and Tunisian Rhythms. All her videos and cd's are available to buy online through her website www.aisha-ali.com. Both the videos and the CD's are invaluable archive material for anyone interested in authentic folkloric dance.

The production of this video is generally excellent, with steady camera work and good editing, and is nicely packaged. This is a record of authentic Egyptian folklore performed by the everyday people of Egypt. It contains both group, male and female solo dancers. The clips were filmed in various villages, towns and cities between 1971 and 1988. It contains explanations and footage of the "Zaffa" (wedding ceremony); demonstration of Awalim style performed by Aisha Ali, a wonderful section on the Zar ceremony - containing both an explanation of the ceremony and actual recorded footage of it performed by local people in Egypt; footage of the Fellahin (Egyptian farmers) going about their everyday business; actual video footage of entertainers and actual guests performing at weddings; Saaidi dancing horses; performances by real Ghawazee (Banat Maazin); tahtib (male stick dance); raqs al assaya (cane dance) performed by a male; male professional dancer performing bumbutiya style dancing and singing from Port Said; and Aisha Ali performing Raqs Sharqi. If you are looking to see how the REAL everyday folk and urban performers of Egypt dance, you won't be disappointed with this fascinating video. I liked the commentary on this video which was very informative but managed to avoid being too intrusive. There are one or two clips that are very dark, but the rest of the video is fine and given the educational value of the video with it's wonderful footage and explanation of Egyptian folklore styles, this doesn't detract from its value too much. I enjoyed this video very much and so I would highly recommend it! This is an essential video for everyone who is interested in Egyptian dance and culture and is an invaluable educational tool. However, please be aware that this is not a performance video, but shows native dancers performing in their homeland. There is a strong element of folklore in this video, so if you’re looking for “beads and sequins”, this is not for you. Highly recommended! $65 (US dollars) including shipping - approximately 42 GBP. Running time 60 minutes. ARAF Productions.

The production of this video is generally excellent, with steady camera work and good editing, and is nicely packaged. It contains both group, male and female solo dancers. The clips were filmed in various parts of Tunisia and Morocco between 1973 and 1982. This is a record of authentic folklore performed by the local people of Tunisia and Morocco. The video is divided into two sections - Tunisian dances and Moroccan dances. There is a wonderful selection of various styles of dances from the two countries. It contains an amazing clip of a professional Tunisian dancer called Nabila performing a jug dance, Raqs Shaabi and Raqs Sharqi Tunisian style and the male Ali Swiss music and dance group. There are also interesting clips of a male dancer performing the jar dance, local dancers performing at festivals and some young girls dancing at home, and the Tunisian National Folkloric Troupe are shown doing their daily drills. The first section ends with Aisha Ali performing Raqs Shaabi. The Moroccan part of the video contains footage of a gun dance, and there is a fascinating section with good commentary on the Shikhat dancers, with lots of clips recorded at various locations and festivals in Morocco. There is a short but interesting section on the Fantasia horsemen, tribal songs and dances from various parts of Morocco and a nice clip of Guedra. I enjoyed seeing the various styles of dances and costuming portrayed here and the fact that it contains authentic folklore dances from the two countries. The back of the video contained a useful list of the dances performed, and the video itself contains commentary but this isn't intrusive at all. This is a wonderful educational video if you're interested in the various types of folk music and styles of dances from North Africa as the clips seem to have been carefully chosen to clearly show the various styles. Again, this is not a sharqi video, and all the performances are folkloric in nature. Highly recommended! $65 (US dollars) including shipping - approximately 42 GBP. Running time 60 minutes. 1995 ARAF Productions.