As you may already know, I gave up my comfortable life in
beautiful California to come live in Egypt for belly dancing.
WHAT? CRAZY? Yes!! I
know.
LOGIC? What??
How can I let that stop me? ;)
So I ended up in the mist of revolution
But revolution or
not, to dance in Cairo there are “few” requirements
Looks and Looks!
You need to be curvy, sexy, and preferably pale skin. Hair color doesn’t really matter!
Dance skills? Great if you got them, but seriously I don’t
think it matters as much as the look.
Just my option and hey! all my dancer friends in Cairo are beautiful and having dance skills!! :)
As described above, an average size Asian girl like me doesn’t
really “fit” into these criteria. I
danced few times, but my “exotic” look didn’t really take me very far.
I settled and eventually took an executive assistant
job in a fashion company to pay for the bills.
Being a starving artist isn’t as much fun when you really have to
starve!
Finally my friend Luna who is a very popular talented American
dancer here in Cairo, called me on a Thursday night
Luna: “Hey Bonnie,
what are you doing this Sat?”
Me: “Hm, not sure yet, why?”
I thought it might be another costume modelling gigs
Luna: “I got a wedding on Saturday so I can’t dance on the
boat that night. Do you want to dance on
the boat for me?”
Me: “….. Can I call you back after 30 mins?”
hmmm, because I needed to check my super “busy” schedule so I
wouldn’t sound too desperate?
Luna: “Sure!”
REALLY?? I get to
dance on a Nile Cruise!! Literally
dancing ON NILE with Egyptian live band!!
So for Saturday night, this was what I needed to prepare for:
A usual routine on a cruise, you have to dance two
sets.
First set you will dance oriental with about 3
songs. After that, you get about 15 mins break while Tanoura dancers entertaining the
guests you will change into something folkloric. You have the choices of Alexandria Maleya,
Saidi and Baladi. At the end, finale with a drum solo.
You will dance about total of 30 to 40 minutes.
Phew, lots of work.
And I only had 2 DAYS!!!
I didn’t even have enough time to freak up. I just had to reply on my last minute procrastination
skills and Egyptian “inshallah” (if God willing) attitude.
To be continued
