Raqs Nerd: musicality concepts for non-musicians 🎶 Every year, I get to meet hundreds of dance students, in my classes and workshops - and to guide dancers through not only the movements of Raqs Sharqi, but the vital relationship between dance and music And one thing I find consistently, when I ask about it, is that only a small minority of dancers - at least here in the UK - have ever had the opportunity to take music lessons, or to learn to sing or play an instrument Which is to say, very...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Raqs Nerd: raging against the machines 🤖 and gratitude for humans 💖 Are you subscribed yet to Zara's brilliant online bellydance magazine "Zameena"? If not, you definitely should be! This month, Zara wrote in her "music corner" column about the rise of AI music in Egypt - and she raised some really important questions... Read it here Now, I am not going to lie - I find the news that AI-generated music is now trending in Egypt to be genuinely upsetting And in general, not just in Egypt, I find...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Raqs Nerd: learning what you "don't need to know" Back when I was at school, there were few things more infuriating than asking what you thought was an interesting question in class, out of genuine curiosity... and the teacher answering "oh don't worry about that, you don't need to know that for the exam" It drove me up the wall because of the inbuilt assumption that actual learning and understanding didn't matter, that genuine interest in (let alone love for) the subject matter was...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Raqs Nerd: the collector 🦋 and the scientist 🌌 - which are you? As my long-time readers will know, before bellydance came into my life, I was on a different path entirely - studying physics, with the hope of becoming a particle physicist. That didn't go to plan at all (as you can tell by the fact that I'm here, writing this)... and these days, I tend to feel that that part of my life is very much behind me - almost as if it happened to a different person. In fact, this summer I even...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Raqs Nerd: in praise of small - why I'm NOT organising a dance festival 🙅♀️ OK, so I'm going to start by saying - bellydance festivals can be brilliant! I go to them. I teach at them (check out Dance JoY and Celebrating Dance - both lovely and very welcoming events here in the UK). I really appreciate that they exist. And I am absolutely not knocking them. But also, although I put on events myself, I am not a dance festival organiser - and I don't aspire to be one. Allow me to explain......
2 months ago • 4 min read
Raqs Nerd: how Egyptian baladi music is like the Odyssey 🏺 Thanks to Christopher Nolan, it's hard to escape the fact that ancient Greek epic poetry is trending this Summer... And today I'd like to talk a little about the connecting thread that runs between the ancient epics of Homer, and the Egyptian baladi music we love to dance to: oral tradition, and arts that develop without being written down. Most scholars agree that the Odyssey and the Iliad weren't created fully formed, and written...
3 months ago • 7 min read
Raqs Nerd: one thing bellydancers get wrong about baladi music 🪗 This Summer I am on a mission: Namely, to seek out the finest Egyptian ashra baladi music known to humanity - and to make an absolutely top-tier playlist for my September baladi class series... In this mission, I've been going beyond my trusty favourite dance CDs, and trying to hunt down more recordings by traditional Egyptian musicians - the OGs of baladi music. I've found some absolute gems already - some new to me, and some...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Raqs Nerd: what's your dance built on? - more notes from the studio Last week I wrote to you about the pelvic anatomy that's been on my mind during my daily dance practice recently... And this week I am back with more thoughts inspired by my daily practice ritual (imagine me with a little butterfly net, trying to catch the thoughts that wander through my head while I dance, so that I can write them down for you!) For most of this year, my personal practice has been very focused on "classic"...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Raqs Nerd: where ARE your hips? - notes form the studio I'm back this week, and writing! And I'm also going way off my plan - I had intended to write for you this week about my journey with learning the Arabic language, and why I feel it's such a worthwhile thing for dancers to do, even in tiny steps. But you will just have to make do with my social media post on that, because in order to be able to write, I have to write about what's fresh in my mind, which is not always what was planned....
3 months ago • 4 min read