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READ NAIMA'S BIOGRAPHY ONLINE
After having watched and thoroughly enjoyed the first Naima Akef video in the "Stars of Egypt" series, I eagerly sat down to watch part 2, and I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed!
Overall I found that the Part II video to be really as good as the first, with the same excellent mix of styles of music and dance clips. The choice of clips on the two videos really get across what a multi-talented dancer Naima was; she really was able to dance in a large range of different styles so very effortlessly. I loved these videos for all the variety of music and dance they contain and I can easily say that IT IS possible to learn such a lot from Naima's dancing as she really was so polished - she makes everything look so easy! Even when the music is fast and the dance is vigorous!
The video also has an added bonus of teaser-trailers for the rest of the "Stars of Egypt"™ (Taheyya Karioka, Samia Gamal & The Great Unknown) series at the end of the video, and details and music clips from some of Hossam Ramzy's CD's.
Running time 65 minutes.
Available from Ramzy Music International.
http://www.hossamramzy.com
Clip no. 1
This clip is set at a private party - there are groups of men and women all dressed very smartly in their best party dresses and suits and Naima is dancing in front of them. She is wearing a very dark coloured (possibly black) coloured badlah (suit) which is just beautifully covered or should I say smothered (!) with beads and fringing and the full-length skirt matches the badlah. She also wears a kirdan (a dowry necklace). She dances a while with a veil but quickly discards it but does so very gracefully. As she dances around the room, we see that there is a small orchestra at one end that includes violin, nay, qanun and accordion. The music is beautifully orchestrated and a female singer begins to sing "Ah ya leil" - her voice is just wonderful and sends the most delightful shivers up my spine. We see a close up of Naima's belt and skirt - WOW! What a skirt! It has rows and rows and more rows of beaded fringing going right down to her ankles and has a centre-front split. Boy, would I love a skirt like that - I marvelled at it thinking about all the hours of work that must have gone into making all that fringing! Naima's dancing in this clip is just so graceful - I particularly enjoyed the way she used half figure of 8 and regular backwards figures of 8 to travel around so effortlessly with such beautiful facial expression. She ends the dance with a couple of spins and a fantastic shimmy and the group gathers round her and show their appreciation. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 2
Naima comes out from behind a beaded curtain into a bar area playing sagat. She is wearing a very pretty thobe (full-length one-piece dress) and a hip scarf. The music in this clip is wonderful and suits the clip perfectly. There is also some great, artistic, camera work as we see a shot of Naima dancing from behind the beaded curtain and later on, we see that a man is in fact behind the curtain watching her. She dances her way around the bar - tables with beautiful musical interpretation playing sagat. She kneels at one of the tables - as she dances she talks quietly to the man seated at the table - just a couple of sentences. She was asking him if he brought her the present he promised her, and that she will meet him later at their usual meeting place, before she gets up and carries on dancing her way around the bar. I really liked the section where one by one, some of the men in the bar try to grab hold of Naima and she fights them all off and carries on dancing. This is just acted out and filmed beautifully - the camera shot closes in giving a real sense of just how threatening something like must be. This part portrays how working in such a den is quite humiliating for a woman, especially as a dancer. Every part of this clip, the dancing, the acting, and the music, all melds together perfectly into a brilliant piece of film making. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 3
The clip starts with a clever camera shot from behind a staircase - we see Naima coming down the stairs into the bar shaking the bells on her anklets with each step. She is wearing a badlah that is heavily decorated with coins and a dark coloured skirt patterned with sequins. She begins dancing her way round the bar in a circle. A man is seated in the bar seems fascinated by Naima - he can't take his eyes off her. Naima dances brilliantly in this clip - I particularly loved the way she combined her hops with a turn in mirroring the music perfectly. She goes over to the seated man's table and dances in front of him - she does some figure 8's and then the most crisp, precise knee/hip drops I've ever seen. I also loved the way she danced to the nay and the tabla section of the music with soft arms and hips gently following out the beat. He whispers something to her and she dances away from him but he still can't take his eyes off her. Naima dances wonderfully in this clip and I loved her interpretation of the music. She finishes the dance beautifully and gets well deserved rapturous applause from everyone in the bar. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 4
This clip begins with a shot of Naima dancing in a elegant dark coloured badlah which is beautifully accented with patterns of lighter coloured sequins; the top has an unusual one strap style and has rows and rows of looped beading and she is also wearing absolutely gorgeous matching gauntlets. Her full-length skirt and matching veil (worn butterfly style across her throat) are in a lighter coloured fabric and drape wonderfully. We then see a shot of Naima at home listening to the radio - she seems to be dreaming about dancing. The camera shot changes back to Naima dancing again and a man is watching her intently and with great interest; he does this the whole way through this clip. Naima uses the veil beautifully in this clip to accent her dancing. She is joined by about twenty chorus dancers all dressed in individually designed bedlahs which are all beautifully designed; some are made from metallic fabric, others have been covered with sequins and beads but they tops all have looped fringing. Some of the chorus dancers skirts have patterns of sequins sewn on them, some have splits, or are opaque, while others are very sheer. I love the way they are wearing their veils draped across one shoulder - it looks so gorgeous. Naima begins to sing - her voice is lovely and it is wonderful to hear her actually singing as she dances.
In the next section, we see Naima in a change of costume. She is dressed in the most exquisitely designed light-coloured (maybe white) badlah with matching gauntlets and cap attached to the back of her hair - everything is heavily decorated with jewels that catch the light beautifully and rows and rows of light-coloured looped beading. The long skirt is made of dark coloured chiffon and has a centre split and is decorated all over with sequins - the combined effect is stunning. The music in this section is wonderful; a really funky sort of Latin American style music and I was just totally fascinated by Naima's dancing to it - she interpreted the music beautifully and you could virtually see every shake of the maraca's in her hips. I adore this section of this clip. The chorus dancers come out on to the stage again and join in with Naima as she begins to sing.
Again the music changes and we see Naima together with the chorus dancers in yet another costume - a gorgeous dark coloured badlah. The top has a halter neck strap and both the top and belt are heavily adorned with beads and extremely pretty little loops of beads all the way around. This is teamed with a sheer, pale-coloured skirt, wrist cuffs and a veil, again worn butterfly style across Naima's throat. I particularly loved Naima's tiny elegant hip drops in this section. The clip ends with another shot of Naima listening to the radio at home - she seems to be totally lost in thoughts of dancing and seems fed up to be sitting at home. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 5
This clip is set on stage in a theatre - we see Naima pick up a fez and a walking cane from a coat stand, puts the fez on her head and begins dancing with the cane. She is wearing a Western style ¾-length dress and a simple hip scarf tied around her hips. This is only a short clip but is a wonderful one that I really enjoyed - I really like the way Naima handles the stick in this clip and the baladi style music with some beautiful nai has been interpreted beautifully in this clip. Naima handled the cane with such skill and confidence - I particularly like the way the way she spun the cane while doing a hip shimmy facing on the diagonal and how she made figure of 8's with the cane as she spun and her end pose was just perfect. Not the best picture quality but you can still how she dancing clearly enough.
Clip no. 6
This clip is set on stage in a theatre. We see Naima dance her way down the front steps of a small house to some really amazing music - it has just a beautiful rhythm and an original melody. A man sings to her from the window of the house - he has a fantastic deep, rich voice.
Naima is wearing a very pretty badlah that has some unusual touches with matching gauntlets. The badlah is made from two-tone metallic shiny fabric and has lots of beaded fringing. I particularly like the hip belt that has a gorgeous appliqué accent on one hip. The skirt is extremely pretty - it is full length and the front part is made from lighter colour fabric than the back and is dotted all over with sequins.
The male singer joins Naima on the main stage as she dances and from the rear, six chorus dancers join them. The chorus dancers are all wearing stunning individual bedlahs - the designs are beautiful and some of the skirts are really just exquisite. There is a particularly nice section where we see a close-up of two of the chorus dancers with Naima and it is possible to get a better look at their costumes. One of the dancers who has dark long hair, is wearing a very pretty badlah. It is totally covered in dark coloured sequins with looped beading and I liked the belt - it has a rosette at centre-front; the full-length skirt has been heavily sequinned to create a swirling pattern that covers the entire skirt. The other dancer is wearing a really unusual, gorgeous badlah - it has an amazing diamond-shape pattern used both on the top and on the belt. The pattern is made up with rows of diagonal dark coloured sequins and inset in each "diamond" silver sequins have been used; it also has looped beading and this gives the badlah a really fantastic, stunning look. The use of a light coloured skirt and veil with this costume really does highlight and compliments the unusual design of the badlah.
I really like the way the chorus dancers wear their veils draped over one shoulder. One man in particular in the audience in particular seems to be really enjoying the show and seems very proud of Naima dancing up on the stage. The chorus dancers all circle round with their veils as Naima dances in the centre to the man's singing.
This clip has so many wonderful elements and my favourites are the music and the singing, and the way Naima uses her arms and hands to accent her moves in this clip - while turning, her head followed her hand which has held at waist level creating a very graceful look. I also loved the way she used her hands to frame and highlight which part of her body she was moving; for example she held her hands gently at waist level while doing tiny belly rolls. She also changed the position of her arms and hands that gave the same move lots of interest and created a different look. Naima also does a beautiful travelling knee drop and some very elegant breaks (hip circles). I also enjoyed the way the chorus dancers undone the veils and began to dance with them (some of the veils are made from very sheer materials, others are opaque). I liked the way they held it outstretched behind them to create a backdrop for themselves, and the way they brought the veil round to the front and held it at waist-level to emphasise their shoulder shimmies. At the end of the dance they bow forward and close the veils over them, which is lovely. The clip ends with the audience and the proud man in the audience rapturously applauding everyone on stage. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 7
This incredibly cute clip is very special. It has some really incredible special effects (for that era). Naima is standing in front of a painting looking at it and clapping happily - the painting is of a Bedouin - desert scene with a couple of tents that miraculously come alive. In the front of the photo, a bearded man dressed in Bedouin clothes is clapping along to the music. Naima is also in the living painting and is sitting in front of one of the tents - she gets up and comes to the foreground and begins to dance. Actually there are three Naima's in this clip - if you look really closely you'll spot her, but you'll need to be on the ball! Naima is wearing a folklore or baladi dress made from shiny fabric with a simple hip scarf. She does this amazing move which seems to be a combination of a forward single hip circles and a hip drop at the same. The clip ends with the Naima in a baladi dress going back to sit in front of the tent. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 8
This is an interesting clip. In the background there is a row of triangular shaped screens. We see a silhouette of Naima dancing behind one of the screens. A man who is dressed in a galabaya steps out from behind another screen that next to Naima's and begins to sing. Naima then also steps out from behind the screen and joins the singer and the chorus dancers - there are men in galabeya's dancing Saaidi with sticks, and women wearing a mixture of Assuit, Baladi & Fellahin dresses dancing with terracotta water jugs (known in Egypt as Bal-las). Naima is wearing a gorgeous Assuit dress and a simple fabric hip scarf. In this clip, Naima's moves are very powerful and earthy; her arms are more static and create a simple frame for her hips. Along with hip drops, she also does some very earthy hip lifts which are followed by hip drops going down in two stages which I really liked. Her hip shimmies are very vigorous in this clip. The clip ends with a pose as the music finishes. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 9
This is another unusual clip with highly effective special effects. It begins with a shot of a theatre auditorium and we see a transparent Naima running towards the stage. As she begins dancing on the stage, she gradually becomes more and more visible. She is wearing a very pretty, white light chiffon dress that has a very wide flowing skirt that gives her dancing a wonderful feminine touch. A man dressed in a suit is also on stage and he is singing words of love to Naima as the female chorus dancers pose and clap to the rhythm - they are wearing dark coloured possibly black evening dresses and they look so elegant. Naima dances around and among the chorus dancers. In this clip, I liked the way Naima uses the beautiful skirt of her dress to accent her dance and her figure of eight's as well as the way she shimmied one shoulder at a time. The clip ends with another shot of Naima running towards the audience and as she does so she becomes transparent again before disappearing completely - the audience show their appreciation and those left on stage take their bows. This clip has been beautifully choreographed and executed. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 10
The clip begins with a shot of a man playing keyboards at home in his living room of his basement apartment. The music is just exquisite - it really gets to your heart - the man's playing is just full of feeling. We then see a shot of Naima waking up on her bed as she hears the beautiful music. She looks so happy to hear it. She gets up and combs her hair at her dressing table. Then, she dances her way around her bedroom with her hair towel before choosing a dress for the day. We then see Naima dressed and downstairs with a simple hip scarf tied round her hips. She dances round the living room as the man continues to play the keyboards. Her dancing is just so elegant and refined in this clip with beautiful musical interpretation - her arms are mostly just softly held more-or-less at waist level and she has beautiful isolation in this clip; it is just her hips that are used to follow both the rhythm and the melody. I loved her the way she did a backwards half-circle hip combined with a forward step, and the way she accented some of the dom (bass beats) with a sharp backwards swerve of on hip (this is very effective). Another man comes into the room, he is wearing his pyjamas and has his tabla with him - he sits in the armchair and joins in. The clip ends as another lady looks over the balcony watching the events in the room. I loved this clip and it really is just full of charm. Beautiful! Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 11
This is another one of my absolute favourite Naima clips as it gets the story across in a very powerful way. It begins with Naima who is wearing just everyday clothes and with short hair entering a big set of doors into a building that is a large club and has a large stage at the back. The hall is dark and empty and the chairs are piled-up on the tables. She stands quietly just inside the entrance for a couple of second before softly dancing her way up to the stage - how she longs to be up on it dancing! I love the way Naima slips behind the closed curtains and onto the stage. The set is decorated with many beautiful archways and columns, there are also some large urns on pedestals decorating the stage, and the main archway has a very large and very beautiful ornate opaque window that is etched with gorgeous circular patterns. Two men who are working in the sound booth catch sight of Naima as she looks around. She begins to spin and as she turns, she becomes magically transformed into a dancer in costume. Her everyday clothes become a light coloured sequinned and beaded badlah with matching harem pants that are open at the sides and are sequinned all the way up; she now has long hair and she is wearing sagat - she looks absolutely stunning. The dancing in this introduction uses a lot of expressive improvisation. I love the way she interprets the short, fast notes of the solo violin so expressively - running lightly round the stage with the grace of a beautiful butterfly with her arms mirroring the music beautifully. The violin in this intro is just full to exquisite feeling with sadness in those beautiful notes that really touch the heart. The men in the booth are watching in amazement. She does a superb backbend and the splits in perfect time to the music. I adore the way she uses the drum roll to come up from the floor acrobat style. This is a wonderful combination of Naima's old Circus training, fused in with Oriental style dancing at it's best. The main orchestrated section of the music starts and now we really see Naima become totally immersed and at one with the music. The music here is a wonderful combination of western style music fused with Egyptian rhythms that changes in emotion and style several times during this clip and Naima interprets each and every mood, note and rhythm of the music perfectly. Apart from the men in the booth (whom she is utterly unaware of) - she is totally alone but she gives the most amazing, show-stopping performance I've ever seen. In this section she performs some wonderful move combinations - I love the way she combines a gentle hip drop with a step to the front, middle and back and the way her arm followed the hip. I also really liked the way she did her shoulder shimmies with both arms held out to the front which give this move a totally different look. Her knee drops in this clip even while turning in a circle are just so crisp and precise, she follows the rhythm perfectly with these and this is just so amazing to watch. Her sagat playing in this clip is brilliant; it shows how she really could execute any move at all with while moving her arms and hands in anyway whatsoever and still play sagat perfectly and I was totally filled with wonder by this. Naima executes the choreography in this clip with so much flair and style. It shows just what an accomplished and talented dancer she was, being able to turn her hand (or should I say feet!) to so many different styles such as Ballet, Modern Expressionist (for that era) as well as Jazz, Tap not forgetting her acrobatic abilities and of course her marvellous Egyptian Baladi. She spins and spins very, very fast and completely flawlessly in a big perfect circle without putting a foot wrong which honestly has to be seen to be believed and as the music reaches its finale she collapses on stage and the sound men rush to her rescue. Naima's dancing in this clip is absolutely jaw dropping, inspirational, and perfect. I can sum this clip up in one word. MAGIC. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 12
The scene seems to be a big party or celebration - there are rows of lights hanging up and lots of people are present, seated in a big circle and Naima is dancing in the centre. A live orchestra is playing with oud, violin, qanun, tabla, req, nay, a female singer (who is wearing a beautiful mermaid style dress) and a couple of female backing singers. Naima is wearing a light coloured badlah and matching skirt. The badlah is decorated with rows of short, light fringing and is very feminine and very unusual. As Naima dances you can see that the base of the top and belt have been covered with sequins, and the fringing lies on top covering the sequins base, and as she moves the sequins sparkle through the fringing. Sounds over the top but I promise you it has been very tastefully done. She is also wearing sequinned wrist cuffs and the skirt is made from chiffon that floats beautifully around Naima as she dances. Her musical interpretation is lovely in this clip. It is a delight to watch her dance around the circle. She does some great fluid vertical figure eight's and some hip circles and I also particularly liked how she used her arms and hands to frame some of her movements and accent her dancing in this clip. Everyone in the audience look like they are enjoying the fantastic music and the dancing and some of the men who have sticks are happily banging them on the floor in time to the music, which is a sign of true enjoyment. Naima finishes her dance beautifully and the clip ends with everyone applauding. Good sound and picture quality.
Clip no. 13
The clip starts with a close-up shot of a record player - we see a hand starting the record off playing. Naima dances her way into the room - it's someone's living room but there is plenty space for her to dance around. She looks very feminine wearing a white coloured lightly beaded badlah and a gorgeous chiffon skirt which drapes beautifully and flows around her hips as she dances. She is also wearing a very light chiffon veil in a darker colour draped around her throat butterfly style. She flows so gracefully around the room with soft moves and figures of eights, one of her most loved movement that she dances with perfect control that compliments the music. She does not look at the man hardly at all, and does not seem to be dancing for him willingly. However, she looks sad and detached. Her musical interpretation is unique in this clip - she follows both the rhythm and the melody to perfection, watch as she flows with the music (not just to it). Naima takes the plunge and dances towards the man but recoils in disgust - this is acted out by the book, perfect. The man is nonchalant and just has another drink and carries on watching happily. I love the way she interprets the solo nay section of the music. Naima's soft, gentle moves with arms and veil and her gliding, more ethereal hip figures of eight's perfectly mirror the lighter notes of the nay; she uses the heavier sound of the lazmah (the whole orchestra playing in unison) to turn, and do bigger, more earthy hip circles and figure eight's. This is just wonderful harmony between sound and motion. By the time Naima has finished dancing the man has fallen asleep in the chair after drinking too much during her performance. Good sound and quality.
Clip no. 14
This clip begins with Naima dancing and playing sagat in front of a big broken wheel. She is wearing a beautiful costume - the top is fairly simple and looks as if it's white. The skirt is just gorgeous and is made from long strips of light-coloured material and has contrasting strips of long rows of darker-coloured beaded fringing that reaches all the way down to her ankles and a simple fabric hip scarf. The skirt creates great movement as she dances. She dances down a few steps onto the main stage where men and women are sitting watching in the background. She is joined by six female chorus dancers who are all wearing very pretty fellahin style dresses made from floral material teamed with simple fabric hip scarves, they look very ethnic and wonderful. Six men dressed in Galabeyas come in. They begin dancing behind the ladies with sticks and do a bit of a dance with them. We then see another shot of Naima dancing on a big revolving wheel - very clever! - The, she is joined on it by some of the female chorus dancers. There is a section that I like a lot, where some young children plus a very small boy. The boy is entertaining them with a stick dance - he has all the right moves and he looks fantastic, he dances so well for someone of such a young age. I loved Naima's dancing in this clip which I believe is the simpler fellahin style but of course Naima would make it *look* easy wouldn't she! The clip ends as the dancers do their end pose. This clip does suffer from some picture break-up a couple of times.
Clip no. 15
The clip starts with a shot of a nay player dressed in a stripy Galabaya and fez playing a taqasim. Naima pops up next to him and begins singing the words "Ya leil". She is wearing a stunning black chiffon Baladi dress and matching headscarf and hipbelt. The dress has big bell sleeves that are decorated with circles of sequins and the hem of the dress and the hip belt are decorated in the same way. This clip has a wonderful and very useful bonus in that Naima's singing is subtitled into English. The music is great, and Naima's dancing matches the mood of the music exactly. There are men and women dressed in their "party best" looking on. Three waiters at the party are enjoying themselves so much they are dancing to the music themselves. Naima's joyful dancing in this clip really is so delightful to watch - even wearing high heels she still glides across the room with great ease and skill. She ends the dance with a short spin and end pose and gets rapturous applause from everyone. I won't spoil it for you, but there is the most marvellous section of the clip where the waiters put their trays down and do something very unusual! In the next shot we see Naima who is dressed in Western style floral skirt and a white blouse is dancing on top of a bar - a man and woman watch on as she sings "I ask for nothing but to dance". She dances for a bit and then sits on the bar and carries on singing and playing sagat…and the camera fades to black and that is the end of part 2. I finished watching this video agreeing with Naima a hundred percent - "But the best of them off, when the bodies twist to the rhythm of the music, it is the Baladi dance". What truth is greater than that? Good sound and picture quality
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