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REVIEWS ON THIS PAGE: Nadia Gamal Dance Workshops(DVD); Nadia Gamal - The Legend (DVD); Bellydance in Turkish and Moroccan Nightclubs; Lebanese Bellydance and Debka;
Lebanese Bellydance and Debka Volume 2; Dances from the Reda Movies; Muwashahat;
Reda Troupe TV Festivals Volume 2; Souher Zaki; Dina in Monte Carlo; Bellydance Trio; Fifi Abdo;
Nadia Gamal (VIDEO); Samia Gamal, Shining Star of Egypt; Nabila and Dina
 Total playing time : Approx 90 mins. ALL REGIONS |
Nadia Gamal Dance Workshop (DVD) This is the only record of Nadia Gamal teaching on video. The workshop featured was originally six-hours long; the footage has been edited to 90 minutes. Considering the footage was shot over 25 years, ago, I was delighted with the clarity of picture, sound and camera work. The DVD menu is divided into four basic sections; Oriental "Raks Sharki" Dance; Bedouin "Folkloric" dance; Nadia's biography and Bobby Farrah's statement. The DVD contains all the highlights of the second day's choreography plus a 15-minute overview of the first day's session. The powerful, dynamic raqs sharqi choreography contains various dance styles including oriental , folklore, basic beledi, and drum solo. The second choreography is a Bedouin folkloric dance. The liner notes don't contain any details of the music used by Nadia, but my investigations have revealed that the Oriental choreography is to a piece called "Amina" that was from an album: SONO CAIRO #17-75119. It was composed and written by Fathi Hijjazi. My gratitude and thanks go to Angelika Nemteth for sharing this information. Unfortunately the details of the Bedouin choreograghy are unavailable. Although orientated towards advanced/professional students, dancers of an intermediate level will also find this DVD useful. This is not just a straight choreography video. It is a technique class by a true master of Lebanese style. Nadia demonstrates (in English) various techniques of creating movement; including both stationary and moving shimmies. Listen carefully to what Nadia has to say, and you will learn some fantastic tips on musical interpretation. The movements are not broken down step by step, but as Nadia is wearing a cat suit type leotard it is easy enough to see how she creates the movements with her legs and feet. Throughout the workshop, Nadia dances and teaches in high heels in front of the studio mirrors so we see her clearly from two angles. The only slight problem is that the floor of the studio is very dark and Nadia's black leotard is a little hard to see against this, but if you watch with just a little care you will be able to see what she's doing, and how she created those famous movements and that passionate, intense style. There is an absolutely fantastic question and answer with Nadia, which gives even more insight into Nadia's technique and style, and advice on creating movements and controlling your body - Nadia could not only DANCE but was a excellent teacher who was generous and sharing with her information and obviously cared passionately about presenting the dance in the best light possible. Nadia teaches the oriental choreography in sections, building up on each section as she goes along. At the start of the Bedouin choreography session, Nadia explains and breaks down the basic movements and style used in the dance, which helps the viewer to learn the short choreography very easily. There is the ONLY recording on Nadia's teaching - it's not only highly recommended for just this reason, but also for the superb production quality, content and information which you'll learn a lot from. Aladdins Cave sell this DVD at a bargain price of £18 GBP plus postage, which is excellent value for money - the DVD contains a full 90 minutes of first class teaching from one of the biggest legends in oriental dance - compare this against the price of other Middle Eastern "big name" performers and teachers DVD's and videos that have terrible production quality at a hugely inflated price! You will be buying from Aladdins Cave direct (not the Raqs Sharqi website) |
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 Total playing time : Approx 60 mins. NTSC FORMAT |
Nadia Gamal - The Legend (DVD) This show was recorded live at a top Lebanese cabaret with a large live orchestra. The DVD sees the legendary Nadia Gamal perform in front of an absolutely packed house. This was the first and last taped performance in ten years; it looks like it was recorded at some time during the 1980's as it features an older, but still wonderfully entertaining Nadia before her untimely death from breast cancer in 1992 aged just 57. The picture quality on the DVD is far superior to that of the video copy. The DVD runs as a video would, with no root menu, but it is possible to go backwards and forwards through the various chapters, which have been divided into sections of two or three dances/music pieces per chapter. On the back cover of the DVD, as well as Nadia's biography, there is also a chapter list which gives the names of the music pieces that Nadia dances to in order. For students of Middle Eastern dance, this is a godsend as you'll be able to identify and learn to recognise classic Middle Eastern dance music, as well as educate yourself about this legendary dancer. Nadia comes on stage wearing a very pretty white bedlah set decorated with diamond shaped multicoloured sequin patterns. In this section she does some amazing hip circles that combine with a backbend into a stunning move and some fantastic head flicks. She was a real first class entertainer. This first section also includes a brief floor work section. Nadia's dance style is fiery, yet infinitely feminine. She gave 110% *all* of the time, in every step, movement and gesture she made while dancing. Her stamina and energy levels were unsurpassed. Even towards the end of the DVD (an hours show), her dancing is just as vibrant and fresh as when she first entered the stage. You can learn a lot by studying Nadia's dancing in this show - her flawless transitions between wonderful signature movements; the way Nadia's arms and hands beautifully echo her hip movements, fabulous spins, amazing zillwork and a dynamite stage presence. Nadia goes off for a costume change, and comes back in a beautiful gold sequinned tabard under which is a black long sleeved chiffon top and harem pants, worn with a black beaded fringe belt. She plays sagat for a while, but the sound is almost completely drowned out by the orchestra. You can still see that her sagat work is just absolutely amazing and she combines the finger cymbals with hand movements in a fantastic way. Nadia also performs with a cane, first of all baladi style and then goes into a saidi routine before moving out to the audience with her cane in hand. She goes right round the club stopping at tables and the audience get up to dance with her. I loved the way she interacted with the audience in this section. Her The men help her up on to the chairs to dance, and as she goes round the tables, one lady gets up on a chair to dance for Nadia herself. Nadia goes round the tables with boundless energy and enthusiasm and great personality. She finally gets back to the main stage area and does another tabla solo before doing a unmissable, agile dance hopping on one leg with the other leg held horizontally in the air to the theme tune to Bonanza! The end of the show sees Nadia's debka dancers joining her on stage to dance to "Wah Wah" (an instrumental version of which can be found on the Hossam Ramzy album Egyptian Rai) with Nadia. This song was a Lebanese hit that was hugely popular in the Gulf because of its use of the Adani rhythm from that area. I loved the brilliant dancing on this video, and I'm delighted by the huge improvement of the picture quality for the DVD of this performance. This DVD preserves a piece of dance history and every dancer needs to have in their collection as an important reference work. Nadia's evident enthusiasm and passion for her art is sorely missed. You will be buying from Aladdins Cave direct (not the Raqs Sharqi website) |
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 Total playing time : Approx 120 mins. NTSC FORMAT |
Bellydance in Turkish and Moroccan Dinner Clubs The performances on this video were recorded on location at various clubs in Instanbul, Turkey and Fez in Morocco. The production quality on this video is generally excellent. All the performances were recorded by a single camera in the audience, and literally just once or twice, the camera wobbles a little, but not often enough to spoil the performances. It has both excellent sound and picture quality with the clips all seamlessly edited together. There are seven Turkish, six Moroccan and two Egyptian dancers featured on this tape. It is divided into two sections: performances recorded in Turkey, followed by the Moroccan dancers, with a short clip of Egyptian gypsy dancers completing the tape. Each clip seems to be a complete dinner club performance by each performer, with the exception of the Egyptian performances which are shorter in length. What I liked about this video in particular was the large number of different dancers, all with their own individual styles of dance and costuming, together with the fact that you get to see their complete shows. All the performances are solos, with the exception of one Turkish performance by a group of men performing some traditional Turkish folk. The music is mostly performed by small groups of musicians. The "live" element came over really well on film and and this video is an excellent insight into how the dance is performed in its native environment. There are some outstanding performances and some beautiful costuming on this video, both on the Turkish and the Moroccan side, with excellent examples of floorwork and audience participation that really cannot be missed. This video also includes other techniques such as veilwork, cane, sagat and even fire-eating! In many ways you'll see the Egyptian influence featured in both the dancing and costuming in both Turkey and Morocco. There are a few less highly skilled performers, and the Egyptian gypsy section is mercifully short at five minutes. However most of the peformances are of a good standard and I really enjoyed this tape. In particular some of the wonderfully skilled Turkish performances really changed my perception of Turkish dancers; and there is an excellent performance of Moroccan style dance, very similar to Shikhat, with authentic moves and music, and if you want to study Turkish or Moroccan style, you'll definitely need this tape. I learnt a lot from this video - it is an excellent reference guide for students, dancers, teachers and enthusiasts. With a running time of 2 hours, and with such a wide range of native dancers, this video represents excellent value for money. To read about Neon's other bellydance video productions, visit her website. You will be buying from Neon direct (not the Raqs Sharqi website) |
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 Number of clips: 10 Total playing time : Approx 70 mins. © Music Axis |
Lebanese belly dancing and debka Lebanese bellydancing vcd available from http://members.aol.com/musicaxis/ - also other Arabic music VCD's. Price $10 US plus shipping; e-mail MusicAxis@aol.com for shipping prices and information or visit their website They also sell a good selection of Arabic music video CD's, please see their website for a complete listing. This is a great video CD - the clips are all really good quality and there is some fantastic dancing on here - including one very amazing lady who does a fantastic stick dance(this has to be seen to be believed!), in all there are five different dancers. It also contains quite a few fascinating clips of Lebanese folk dancing (debka) and a male and female singer. All the dancers have excellent technique and a lot of style. The VCD arrived from the US very quickly and was extremely well packaged. Excellent sound and picture quality. I liked this VCD and it was very easy to use - I played it back through my computer and it has inbuilt software so it will play on any PC - but if you have anything under a Pentium 500 processor and 128 memory, the picture will be a little blocky full screen, but better at a smaller size. If you've got a PC of that specification or above, then it will be just like watching a video on screen. It will also play in a DVD player, but you'll need to check that your DVD player is VCD compatible first. Very very enjoyable! You will be ordering direct from Music Axis, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). Track listing: Lebanese belly dancing (Sirt El Hob); Lebanese Debka in Baalback; Lebanese belly dancing (Jeet Bewaktak); Lebanese Debka Show; Lebanese belly dancing (Zay El Aasel); Debka - Yaba Yaba Leh; Lebanese belly dancing (Debka music); Assi Al Hillani - Ya Eyn Tar El Leil; Belly dancing (Ashedou); Nelly Makdessi - Ya 3oumdi. |
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 Number of clips: 14 Total playing time : Approx 80 mins. © Music Axis |
Lebanese belly dancing and debka volume 2 Lebanese bellydancing vcd available from http://members.aol.com/musicaxis/ - also other Arabic music VCD's. Price $10 US plus shipping; e-mail MusicAxis@aol.com for shipping prices and information or visit their website They also sell a good selection of Arabic music video CD's, please see their website for a complete listing. I liked this VCD very much, it has a fantastic up-to-date variety of star dancers and singers from across the Middle East; featuring concerts, live tv performances and in pop videos. There are eight different dancers on this VCD. This video features some great performances by the dancers, especially by Lilas wearing a gorgeous orange costume and the clip of Amani on this VCD is absolutely unmissable as she does an absolutely dynamite tabla solo, (this VCD is worth getting for this clip alone). The ever controversal Egyptian dancer Dina stars in several clips here that includes an interesting performance in a pop music video, if you're a Dina fan then you won't want to miss this. There are also two other pop music videos, one starring Mayssam Nahas who bellydances and sings her way to the lovely track "Lamoni" and another by the REG project featuring a bellydancer by the name of Harir Setian. It also features performances by singers Najwa Karem and the Iraqi male singer Kazem Al Saher live in concert. Most of the dancers here have excellent technique and you'll be able to pick up new moves easily from their performances. I particularly liked this VCD as it features all recently filmed performances so it was great seeing the dancers performing in the latest modern styles and in very recent pop videos. As a fan of Arabic music, I also very much enjoyed the clips of today's popular singers. This is a great VCD if you're looking for recent footage of dancers. The VCD arrived from the US very quickly and was extremely well packaged. Excellent sound and picture quality. The VCD was very easy to use - I played it back through my computer and it has inbuilt software so it will play on any PC - but if you have anything under a Pentium 500 processor and 128 memory, the picture will be a little blocky full screen, but better at a smaller size. If you've got a PC of that specification or above, then it will be just like watching a video on screen. It will also play in a DVD player, but you'll need to check that your DVD player is VCD compatible first. You will be ordering direct from Music Axis, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). Track listing: Lebanese Belly Dancing (Lilas); Kazem Al Saher - Eid Wu Hob (concert); Lebanese Belly Dancing 31/12/2002; Lebanese Belly Dancing 31/12/2002 (Sayida); Najwa Karam - Deku El Mehbaj; Lebanese Belly Dancing - Mashaal (Alisar); Egyptian Belly Dancing (Dina) - Hayerti Albin Ma3ak; Assi Al Hillsni - Mowal - Huwara (concert); Lebanese Belly Dancing (Amani); Mayssam Nahas - Lamoni; REG project; Belly Dancing Video starring Dina; Egyptian Belly Dancing - Dina (Inta Fein Wel Hobi Fein); Egyptian Belly Dancing - Dina (Taht El Chubak). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 95 mins. PAL FORMAT |
Dances from the Reda Movies This video is a compilation of lots of clips from various movies starring Egypt's legendary Reda folklore troupe. In a lot of the clips, the troupe are dancing in Western style clothes. All the clips contain superb choreographies and dancing perfectly executed by the Reda troupe, most of the clips tell a story and are very easy to follow, even though they are in Arabic; for example there is a great clip where a guy meets lots of different women from various parts of the world who all reject him except for the one from Egypt who falls in love with him; another clip portrays a group of males thieves out stealing and being caught by female police officers. I found this video to be very entertaining and it kept my attention. There are lots of different styles of choreographies on here, solo male and female, male and female duets, female group, male group, and mixed sex group dances. I guess that the clips come from films during the 60's and 70's. The dances have a huge Western modern dance and ballet influence to them, so this is not real Egyptian folklore, but there are dances which do contain a lot of baladi, saidi and tahtib elements although obviously "jazzed up" for the cinema. There are some nice clips of "fellahin" men and women dancing in the fields, and dances recorded at the Ancient Egyptian temples of Hatshepshut and Karnak, and I greatly enjoyed seeing them dancing amongst the monuments. Most of the clips are in colour, but there are a few in black and white. All the choreographies were wonderfully done and expertly danced and this is a professional troupe at its best. I found it to be a fascinating insight into dance and the Egyptian cinema. Incidentally, I read in an interview once that Dina started her dance career as a member of the Reda Troupe, although obviously at a much later date than the period during which these films were recorded. In this video, you might recognise the song Ranet Al Khul Khal which was composed by Ali Ismail for the Reda troupe (a version of which is available on Jalilah's Raks Sharki 1 (Pir41-2). Medium to good quality. You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 60 mins. PAL FORMAT |
Muwashahat This is a really beautiful video - all the dances here were shot in a studio so the picture quality is excellent and the camera work is really superb; the sound quality is not quite so good. It has mainly all female group dancing, with a female soloist Farida Fahmy dancing solo in sections of the various dances. It does have mixed sex dancing, and all male dancing in parts. This is not a belly dance video, but a performance video of the Reda troupe dancing - they are heavily influenced by and ballet and modern dance, but this is very tastefully and expertly done, but be aware it's not bellydance. The group are beautifully costumed in this video - sometimes in matching outfits in different colours, sometimes in the same colour costumes. This is a wonderful video if you're looking for some ideas of groups choreography and floor patterns and positioning, or costuming for group choreographies; you'll be able to get lots of ideas from this troupe who are of the highest professional standard. There are some fascinating dances on this video which I found I was inspired by; I particularly enjoyed the one where they danced with two long pieces of chiffon (this stunning dance could give you some ideas possibly for double veil dances), and the tambourine dance which was superb, and of course this could be done group or as a solo. The video ends with an absolutely stunning dance using huge pieces of chiffon fabric in different colours which is used to create a variety of effects, and the way they kept those huge pieces of chiffon afloat in the air was just amazing. This is a later video of the Reda troupe, probably recorded in the last decade (sadly the cover doesn't say what year it was filmed). This is a brilliant video both as entertainment and as a tool for creating group choreographies. Highly recommended! You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 60 mins. PAL FORMAT |
TV Festivals with the Reda Troupe Volume 2 This video is a compilation of live stage performances shown on TV by the Reda folklore troupe. Although this video is medium quality, it's very entertaining and this video has some really great choreographies and costumes, and I really liked their choice of music in this video. Some of the songs they danced to were the original version of Gafnouhou by Mohammed Abdul Wahab (this track can be found on the album Cairo Road and Ganalhawa - an instrumental version of this can be found on Best of Abdul Halim Hafiz. The dances vary and are mainly mixed sex dances, female group, and male group choreographies. Some of the highlights on this video are a mixed sex fellahin jug dance where the men and women take it turns to dance with the jugs; and there is another jug dance where two long strips of fabric in turquoise and blue are used to create a really effective river effect. The dances are a mix of traditional and modern/ballet styles - overall in this video the dancers wear traditional Egyptian folklore costumes. There's a little bit of Saidi here too; and I liked the mix of different styles of dance and costume on this video; although of course being "folklore" (jazzed up for the stage), there's no bellydance or cabaret. The troupe all move absolutely flawlessly in time with each other as always, and the female dancers wear some beautiful beledi dresses. I think this is a fairly recent video. Medium picture quality. You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 80 mins. PAL FORMAT © Hollywood Music Centre |
Souher Zaki Souher Zaki is one of the legendary dancers of the 60's and 70's. Souher is joined in concert here by a live orchestra - the stage and background look like they are entirely made out of concrete but this stark background was a good thing as I found I wasn't distracted at all from Souher's dancing. The dancing on this video is fantastic - Souher Zaki's moves are very hip orientated; her sense of rhythm is impeccable and once I started watching her follow the rhythms with her hips, I found I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. I really enjoyed her dancing a lot. Interestingly I don't think I saw her do one shoulder shimmy throughout the video. Some of her moves were amazing - I loved watching the way she could fire off tiny pelvic drops like a machine gun and the way she effortlessly combined a walking camel with a non-stop shimmy. Hip circles and hip figures of 8's in various forms also feature highly in her dancing. In this video she wears a silver, white and black two piece costume, the skirt is really pretty and has lots of silver beaded fringing. The camera work in this video was sometimes annoying - occasionally there are some special effects where we see Souher dancing within a ring of flowers or superimposed over an image of her skirt, but all of her dancing was still visible and this was only a minor irritation. Some of the songs Souher danced to on this video were Yamsahharny, Ana Fintizarak, Gannili Sheway Sheway (all of these songs are are available on the "Best of Om Kolthoum" by Hossam Ramzy (EUCD1194) and Lissa Fakir (available on Jalilah's Raks Sharki 1 Pir41-2) - all these songs were sung by the legendary singer Om Kolthoum. Souher also does a dance with sagat to Sanatein Wana Hayel Feek (available on "El Amar" by Hossam Ramzy (EUCD1589). Other songs Souher danced to on this video include Ya Hassan and Shik Shak Shok, both of which can be found on the "Saher El Accordion" album by Hasan Abou El-Saoud (JAZCD74). Good sound and picture quality. Highly recommended! You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 60 mins. PAL FORMAT © Hollywood Music Centre |
Dina in Monte Carlo This is a video of Dina recorded at the "Monte Carlo" nightclub in Beirut, Lebanon. She is joined by a Fatme Serhan and orchestra, and male and female singers. Dina enters the stage first of all in a lime green costume and veil - the top is really ornate, the skirt is very short at the front (just like a mini-skirt) but has a long train at the back. Dina's style of dancing in this video is comprised of tiny, tight movements - lots of tiny hip pushes and bounces (but I guess she couldn't do much else in that tight mini-skirt!) It is useful from a student point of view though to be able to see her legs. Dina wears a lot of different costumes in this video, in the section of her routine we see her appear in a black mini-dress (again with a longer train at the back so it's a little bit more modest than it would be otherwise). This isn't a new idea though as I've seen Taheyya Karoika wear a similar costume in the "Stars of Egypt" videos sold by Hossam Ramzy. During the third section of her routine dancing to a song "Bint Al Balad" (daughter or girl of the country), she comes out in a crocheted brown and gold dress....of course this is is completely see through and under it she just wears a brown bra and matching hot pants. A man in the audience is seen covering his face in this section and later on we see him just watching through his fingers (this kind of reminded me of someone watching a horror movie!). In this section Dina also dances to "Taht El Shabeekah" - "Under my Window" (a version of this song is available on the "Laura in Balady" album (HMC 1033). Dina goes off for yet another costume change and this time comes out in something much more modest and a bit more "traditional" looking (for sharqi dancing anyway) - this time she is wearing a pair of black, sheer chiffon harem pants covered over with a hip belt that has long fabric panels at the front and back and a matching top. She also dances to Gannili Sheway Sheway (a version of this song are are available on the "Best of Om Kolthoum" by Hossam Ramzy (EUCD1194). The dance I enjoyed the most on here was Dina's interpretation of Lissa Fakir (a version of this song available on Jalilah's Raks Sharki 1 (Pir41-2) - for this dance she wears yet another costume - this time a heavily scalloped and very ornate white top and matching white mini-skirt. I really liked the way she interpreted the violin with some beautiful hip figure's of 8's and hip circles in this section. All of the costumes we see Dina wear in this video were really original and shows just how much the costume fashions and attitudes towards the dance and costumes has changed over time. While I wasn't "head over heels" in love with her dance style, I thought she was very good at what she did, and she definitely had the figure, legs and looks to carry off the costume styling. Interestingly, she also didn't wear any sort of stomach cover that I could see. The only gripe I do have with this video is that the HMC phone number and "Hollywood Music Center Presents Dina in Monte Carlo" kept flashing up on the screen at regular intervals, but this tended to be in between dances so it wasn't overly intrusive. This video is definitely worth getting if you're interested in seeing what the modern Egyptian style of dancing has to offer or are interested to see for yourself what the fuss is all about with Dina's costumes. Good sound and picture quality. You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 60 mins. PAL FORMAT © Hollywood Music Centre |
Bellydance Trio This video is a compilation of three Lebanese dancers, Samara, Dani Boustros and Amani, recorded at various locations in Lebanon. All the performances were recorded with live orchestras and are set in clubs. The opening titles and HMC's phone number do pop up on screen from time to time but this isn't too annoying and doesn't distract from the dancing. The first dancer according to the back of the video is Samara, who is wearing a white badlah set. Samara performs some interesting move combinations; I particularly liked her camel combined with a very sharp hip drop and the way she combines hip figure 8's and chest circles to create a look of one, fluid body movement. Samara also does a long tabla solo in this performance and uses some interesting variations on the pelvic drop (or snap) move. I'm unfamiliar with Lebanese dancers; but I've been reliably informed that the second dancer is the amazing Amani who combines great musical interpretation with brilliant technique (she had wonderfully fluid upper body and arms). Her two performances on this video are unmissable; in the first she dances in a white badlah set with very a very pretty almost shell like design; I loved her wonderful, big hip circles combined with a ribcage circle going right back nearly into a backbend. In the first performance she also does a veil dance and does an interesting dance with sagat. Her second performance (after the section featuring Dani Boustrous) shows the dynamic Amani in a unusual red bedlah set; I enjoyed this perfomance especially as it had some more interesting move combinations during her tabla solo - chest pops combined with a shimmy and a walking small hip circle combined with a shimmy. Amani dances with great flair and style and it's possible to learn a lot from the unique way she dances on this video. The middle section of the video is very interesting and we see clips of what looks like a panel of judges watching the performance. The third dancer (in the middle section of the video) is Dani Boustrous, wearing a green pailette dress and beaded hip belt. Her performance includes a short baladi stick dance before moving into a Saidi section and the much loved folklore song "Sallam Allay" (which can be found on The Best of Hossam Ramzy EUCD1417 or Ahlamy EUCD1363. Very good sound and picture quality. PLEASE NOTE: The running order on the back cover is incorrect. The dancers are as follows: 1) Samara, 2) Amani, 3) Dani Boustrous, 4) Amani. You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 60 mins. PAL FORMAT |
Fifi Abdo This is an interesting compilation of performances by Fifi recorded at different stages in her career. The first section is from her concert with live orchestra recorded in 1980, where she made her famous, timeless entrance onto the stage via crane. This section has medium quality picture and sound. Fifi dances to Ana Hena, Al Atlal and Lissa Fakir (a version of this song available on Jalilah's Raks Sharki 1 (Pir41-2), and is wearing a white and silver badlah costume set. Fifi has a wonderful earthy, baladi style and does her moves in a big, vibrant way. The second section of the video shows an older Fifi dancing in a club with the *biggest* live orchestra (must be 30+ musicians!) I've ever seen, and they take up most of the room on the stage. This section again is medium quality and during some quieter sections of the video, there is a loud buzzing sound. She dances for a while in a very pretty turquoise and orange beaded and sequinned badlah set, and bravely (some would call it blasphemous I guess!) dances to a CD recording of one of Om Kalthoum's songs. She then talks about a maalima and the sheesha...giving us a clue to what she is going to be doing next! She goes off for a costume and returns to the stage in a man's shirt style galabeya and does her famous sheesha dance, followed by a really lovely piece of ashara baladi. The last section of this video is of a slightly younger Fifi dancing in a a blue badlah set, one of the songs she dances to in this section is Sanatein Wana Hayel Feek (available on "El Amar" by Hossam Ramzy (EUCD1589). This section of the video has poor picture quality in places (too bright colour or completely black and white). Although the quality of this video isn't the best, it is interesting seeing Fifi dance at different times in her career and it does have footage of some her most famous performances and together with some beautiful dancing, and I feel personally sometimes poorer quality can be forgiven if the content is good, and I think this video is worth the money as it has some very interesting footage of Fifi. You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 80 mins. PAL FORMAT © Hollywood Music Centre |
Nadia Gamal Recorded live at a top Lebanese cabaret with a large live orchestra, this video sees the legendary Nadia Gamal perform in front of an absolutely packed house. The video cover says that this was the first and last taped performance in ten years; it looks like it was recorded at some time during the 1980's as it features an older, but still wonderfully entertaining Nadia before her untimely death from breast cancer in 1992 aged just 57. This video really isn't the best picture quality and goes from medium to poor quality in places which is a great pity as there is some absolutely fantastic dancing on here (which is still viewable). The lack of picture quality is really disappointing, however the performance kicks off literally with a male/female debka group; check out the lead man's costume, he is wearing a bright red boiler suit with gold lame boots and matching gold lame cape! Nadia comes on stage wearing a very pretty white bedlah set decorated with diamond shaped multicoloured sequin patterns. In this section she does some amazing hip circles that combine with a backbend into a stunning move and some fantastic head flicks. She was a real first class entertainer. This first section also includes a brief floorwork section. While Nadia goes off for a costume change, we see another debka number and have a little bit of music from the orchestra and Nadia comes back in a beautiful gold sequinned tabard under which is a black long sleeved chiffon top and harem pants, worn with a black beaded fringe belt. She plays sagat for a while, but the sound is completely drowned out by the orchestra. She does a cane dance, first of all baladi style and then goes into a saidi routine before moving out to the audience with her cane in hand. She goes right round the club stopping at tables and the audience get up to dance with her. I loved the way she interacted with the audience in this section. The men help her up on to the chairs to dance, and as she goes round the tables, one lady gets up on a chair to dance for Nadia herself. Nadia goes round the tables with boundless energy and enthusiasm and great personality. She finally gets back to the main stage area and does another tabla solo before doing a unmissable, agile dance hopping on one leg with the other leg held horizontally in the air to what my other half swears is the theme tune to Bonanza. (!) The debka dancers return to dance to "Wah Wah" (an instrumental version of which can be found on the Hossam Ramzy album Egyptian Rai) with Nadia. This song was a Lebanese hit that was hugely popular in the Gulf because of its use of the Adani rhythm from that area. I loved the brilliant dancing on this video, but as I said, it's a great pity that the picture quality isn't better. You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 80 mins. PAL FORMAT |
Samia Gamal - Shining Star of Egypt This video features the legendary dancer of the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema and dance Samia Gamal. The clips are from old black and white movies dating from the 1940's and 1950's when some would say the dance and music was at it's greatest. Many of the clips show Samia dancing while her real-life lover Farid El Atrache sings (they had a long love affair which was doomed to fail as Farid was a Lebanese Druse prince and would never have been allowed to marry a dancer). This video shows Samia dancing in different styles an, including modern and dressed in various types of costumes, bedlahs, baladi dresses, and evening dresses for example. There are 26 different clips on this video, two of them though are just of Farid singing alone. I've often heard people ask "what's the difference between this and the two Samia Gamal videos from Hossam Ramzy's "Stars of Egypt" series?". Having watched all three videos personally, I can say that only 8 of the clips here are duplicates of the ones contained on the Stars of Egypt videos (about 20 minutes), so this video has an hour of unique Samya clips not found on the Stars of Egypt series. Equally, the Stars of Egypt has 2 hours of unique clips spread over the two videos (and the repeated clips are divided between the two). The quality of the videos in comparison is exactly the same. If you are a Samia Gamal fan or if you collect footage from the old black and white videos, it's really worth getting all three videos. This video from does contain some really magical clips, including Samia and Farid travelling together on a magic carpet ride and Samia dancing in a darkened room decorated with huge candelabra's and mirrors. Remembering that these clips are from the old films, they do have pretty good sound and picture quality. You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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 Total playing time : Approx 60 mins. PAL FORMAT © Hollywood Music Centre |
Nabila and Dina This video is mostly of Nabila Mtwalli; on this video there are 50 minutes of great footage of Nabila and just ten minutes of the Egyptian star Dina. The Nabila sections were recorded on stage in a small club with a live orchestra and male singer; she first appears in a gold and black beledi dress and does a couple of powerful, earthy dances with some excellent sharp, precise moves. I loved her amazing chest pops. She goes off for a costume change and returns to the stage in a very pretty white beaded badlah set covering in pearls and pale blue accents, with matching crown and white veil and performs to the Zeffa piece "Doku El Mazhar" (Strike the Tambourines). Another costume change sees Nabila come onto stage in a feminine pink bedlah with an unusual crown headpiece, this section includes a great example of the Turkish drop move (where the dancer hits the floor from a standing position and goes straight into a total backbend). The next song sees Nabila performing a Saidi style piece with a cane, this dance includes some interesting ideas on including stick work with floor work. She has a great, lively fiery technique. The video then cuts to the Dina section in the middle of the video, who has a completely different style of dancing. The picture quality on this section isn't as great; it's a live performance and it is mostly filmed at a diagonal angle making it a little difficult to watch. Dina first dances in a silver badlah and black chiffon skirt; then we see her after a costume change; pushing the limits of acceptable costuming in the Middle East in a completely see through dark red beledi dress cut right to the top of the thigh with bra and hotpants. This section only lasts for ten minutes; but this isn't a problem for me on this video, Nabila is the star of the show. She saves the best until last with some interesting floorwork and the most amazing, fast head spins I've ever seen; I was fascinated at this even if I did find it a bit gruesome as it really looked like her head was going to fly off her shoulders. This looks like a fairly recently filmed video and has good sound and picture quality. Highly recommended! You will be ordering direct from Aladdins Cave, (not the Raqs Sharqi website). |
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