Leah and Lynette perform at the International Belly Dance Conference of Canada, Toronto

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GHAWAZEE  RESOURCES

Terrific dance scenes and interviews can be viewed in this 1981 video “The Romany Trail: Gypsies of Africa” – Please note, the narration is dated and sometimes simply wrong (particularly about the Zar). The Banat Maazin dance at 11.52, and another Ghawazee troupe at 21.40.

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Glimpses of “Ghawazee” costume history

Mid 1800s:

1890s:

1920s:

1960s Banat Maazin:

1960s Khairiya of the Banat Maazin

Recent image of Khairiya of the Banat Maazin 

This excerpt is from a 2017 wedding party featuring Khairiya, of the Banat Maazin family. She is the last one of their famous dance troupe who continues to perform. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RsNjyOYVXA

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You can find lot of information about the Banat Maazin and Ghawazee online eg. This wonderful first-person account of meeting Ghawazi in Egypt, with historical photographs and references. The six part article was written over several decades 1970s to 1990s by Edwina Nearing. The link below takes you to Part 1, with links to the other sections at the end, thanks to the dance magazine “Gilded Serpent”.http://www.gildedserpent.com/articles25/edwinaghawazich1.htm

Another inspiring article reviews 19th century historical travel writing: https://www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2012/04/16/when-victoria-was-queen-and-the-ghawazi-ruled/

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If you’d like to see more video, costuming, etc. about Ghawazi, check out this (and other) Youtube playlists:

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TURKISH ORYANTAL RESOURCES

Here are some video examples of Turkish Oryantal.  You can find many more by searching Youtube on an artist’s name or the dance form. (I particularly recommend everything featuring dancers Tulay Karaca or Nesrin Topkapi, even though the video quality is variable.)

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Vivacious Gigi Dilsah dances Turkish Oryantal in this video with lots of sparkle, drama, surprise, floorwork, and hair tosses! https://youtu.be/_QOgaJ1tQVc?si=dVOUNZUNVLEupMf0

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Here’s an Oryantal piece by Artemis Mourat, she starts with Turkish Roman and flows into an Oryantal performance. https://youtube.com/watch?v=1Lzf38FlQrU%3Fsi%3DW9FkgqIqYwfQiCZa

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Elegant, exquisite Tanyeli! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLjQe3IwXkY

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MUSIC SUGGESTIONS

For the Turkish Oryantal choreography, we danced with “Söylim Mi” (Shall we tell?) by Asena.

There are a great many inspiring Turkish musicians and ensembles. Here are some that I used for warm-ups, stretching exercises, learning Oryantal vocabulary, and improvisation activities during my workshops: Burhan Ocal and the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble, John Bilezikjian, Ney Defteri, and the albums Second Nature by Minor Empire, and Gypsy Fire by Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Richard Hagopian.

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