Who do you consider living Legends in bellydance?

[Maria_Aya]

Hi all
This came as a spin-off idea from the thread about "Reda or National Folk group?"

So my question is this:

Who do you consider living Legends and people we got to hurry to study with them (God bless them and keep them active for many many many years more)?

For me:
Mahmoud Reda (studied with him already)

Farida Fahmy (amazing lady and teacher)

Dawlat Ibrahim (i'm crying everytime in her class)
I believe Dawlat is not so well known.
She is one of the most famous egyptian choreographers. She was trainer and choreographer for the Khaomeya Troupe and later she become one of the trainers and choreographers for many famous egyptian dancers such as:
Fifi Abdo, Nagua Fuad, Zizi Moustafa, Sahar Hamdi, Samya Hamada, Hala Zafy, Dina and many many others.
I want to share my personal experience in her lesson.
She is quite aged and heavy so she cant move, her sons lead her to a chair and sits in the middle of the class. She arrange as in a way that she can see all of us. Unfortunately her classes are not full (or maybe fortunately for us that attend) as most dancers want the teacher to be very active.
Her son teach the choreo and she stops us and correct, stand with help and walk to us, hug us in the class, whisper in our ear... alf mabrouk habebti (and we go on tears), speak to us about her life and how was it dancing in the 40's at Cairo and Mohamed Ali street. For me she is the living soul of dance in Cairo now.

Beside Egyptian teachers/dancers.

I consider a Living Legend Jamilla Salimbour, and would love to be in her class for once.

Also Rhea of Greece and we are lucky for having her here, with her always active and kind of crazy lol spirit (btw i'm going with her vacations at Cairo on March !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Nesrin TopKapi from Turkey !!!!! she is a must (and a young and active must)

Come'on add your Living Legends.

Maria Aya

[Souzan]

In addition to those you posted, I would add Morocco, Aida Nour, Shareen el Safy.

Souzan

[Jane]

Carolena Nericcio
Veda Sereem
Artemis Mourat
Eva Cernik
Bert Baladine
Ibrahim Farrah
Laurel Victoria Grey
Habiba

[lizaj]

Mona Said
Azza Sherif

[Salome]

Sema!

[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

Morocco
Nesrin Topkapi
Raquia Hassan
I've hd a seminar and Master class with Artemis Mourat. Great Lady. Let me tell you this story:
In November, Aegela sponsored Artemis(their friends) for a Turkish Workshop, show and a Master Class the following day. Well saturday night after the show, my teacher another student and I were in our hotel room. It was late and my teacher and I were finally getting ready to go to bed, when there was a knock at the door. "Who could that be?" We wondered, well as Ameenah opened the door, in came a tiny Lady wearing a gray coat over her night gown. It was Artemis!!! She and Aegela were in the room next door!
She asked"We still have some food from the seminar and we we wondering if you wanted some more?"
AAAAHHHH!!! Yes! So we scurried next door, while Artemis was packng her suitcase and we noshed on some more food. I sat there thinking the whole time"I'm in a hotel room with Artemis....wow..look at her..I can't believe it!" She was so sweet and down to earth, I tried to keep my cool, but that was the best part of the seminar weekend, just laying, chatting like old friends with Artemis Mourat! How cool was that!
Yasmine

[Aisha Azar]

Dear Gang,
I have been able to study with most of the legends that I want to study with.
I still want to study with Aida Nour, Sema Yildiz.
I regret that I will never be able to study with Suheir Zaki.
Of the new crop of dancers, though they are not legends, I want to study Egyptian belly dance with Randa and Turkish Roman with Reyhan
I seem to have a small wish list, but I know what I want!!
Regards,
A'isha

[Aziyade]

Originally Posted by Yasmine Bint Al Nubia

I sat there thinking the whole time"I'm in a hotel room with Artemis....wow..look at her..I can't believe it!" She was so sweet and down to earth, I tried to keep my cool, but that was the best part of the seminar weekend, just laying, chatting like old friends with Artemis Mourat! How cool was that!
Yasmine

LOL! Isn't it cool that our mega-stars aren't divas? (Well, most of them, anyway!) I hadn't been dancing that long before I went to a Shareen el Safy workshop, and since it was out-of-town for me, and I didn't really know anybody, the workshop organizer sort of took me under her wing and invited me to eat lunch with them. There I sat, next to Shareen el Safy herself, and I kept thinking the whole time "I'm actually sitting next to a woman who danced in Egypt. Right next to her!" I think she even passed me the Sweet n Low!

I'm still star-struck when I see my heroes at workshops. I can barely manage to scrape together 4 words when I see Morocco! I wonder if that ever goes away?

[janaki]

where do I begin Maria??

All egyptian greats of course!

Nesrin Tokapi from Turkey

Jamila Shalimpour, Aisha Ali from US

Hadia and Yasmina Ramzy from Canada

Dr Mo Goddawi from Germany.cairo


Amani and Mona Abi said from Lebanon

Oh god, there are too many.....

[Aisha Azar]

Originally Posted by Aziyade

LOL! Isn't it cool that our mega-stars aren't divas? (Well, most of them, anyway!) I hadn't been dancing that long before I went to a Shareen el Safy workshop, and since it was out-of-town for me, and I didn't really know anybody, the workshop organizer sort of took me under her wing and invited me to eat lunch with them. There I sat, next to Shareen el Safy herself, and I kept thinking the whole time "I'm actually sitting next to a woman who danced in Egypt. Right next to her!" I think she even passed me the Sweet n Low!

I'm still star-struck when I see my heroes at workshops. I can barely manage to scrape together 4 words when I see Morocco! I wonder if that ever goes away?

Dear Aziyade,
Of everyone with whom I have ever studied, and in 34 years the number is pretty vast, Shareen El Safy is my very favorite teacher. There is something about the way that she presents that makes me understand exactly what she is saying. I do disagree with her about posture, but in class I do as she says. I see posture as a much more dynamic thing than she seems to in class.She is my all time favorite teacher for several reasons:
She gets that the dance is not western in the way in which it is executed, and can demonstrate that in class as well as on stage.
She has a way of being able to see clearly how to help the individual dancer. Even in a room of 60 people, she still sees YOU. This is a rare trait in workshop presenters.
She is very down to earth.
We know a lot of the same people and she is up for a good catch-up session!
Regards,
A'isha