Serpentine Dance Studios

Washington DC Welcomes LUNA OF CAIRO for another Egyptian dance intensive !

Luna is an international belly dance star who performed in Egypt's top hotels and Nile cruises from 2008 - 2018. She appeared on Egyptian television channels such as El-Tea and in music videos of some of Egypt's most popular singers (Higazi Mitqal, Mahmoud El-Hosseiny, Simsim Shehab, Ragab El-Prince, and Ahmed Salah) as well as being a featured dancer in several movies.

In addition to performing, Luna has taught all over the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, England, Poland, Japan, and Egypt, where she was a regularly featured teacher at Raqia Hassan’s Ahlan wa Sahlan Festival.

Luna holds a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University, where she studied radical Islamist movements in the Arab world. She is fluent in Egyptian Arabic, Spanish, and English, and holds a B.A. in journalism and political science. Luna keeps a blog about her belly dance experiences at Kisses from Kairo* (www.kissesfromkairo.blogspot.com) and sells costumes at www.kairokloset.com.

SCHEDULE

Friday 18 September 2020:
7:30 - 9:30 pm - Champagne Reception and discussion “Crash Course in Egyptian Culture - Things No One Wants to Teach You …”

Saturday 19 September 2020:
11:00 - 1:30 pm - Shaabi
Are you ready for Luna's famous shaabi workshops? This year Luna is bringing the slums of Cairo to DC in a ridiculously real and raw shaabi class that will bring out your inner Egyptian teenage boy. Get ready to sweat and move in ways you never thought possible.

Shaabi dancing is the child of Egyptian street culture. Like raqs sharqi, it is an improvisational dance form, however the movements borrow heavily from hip-hop and Egyptian street dance. Luna will also explain the significance of the gestures and a transliteration and translation of the lyrics.

Lunch

2:30 - 5:00 pm - Egyptian Arms, Hands, & Spins
Proper arm and hand placement are essential to good Egyptian style dancing. In this workshop, Luna will demonstrate clean, precise, and creative arm and hand patters to frame your dancing, as well as distinctive ways to spin to add dramatic effect.

8:00 pm - low key performance opportunity at the studio. Luna will be performing! A video of your performance is included.

Sunday 20 September:
11:00 - 1:30 - Mawal
Many Egyptians songs  feature a  mawal, a type of vocal improvisation that is usually presented before the actual song begins.  It is characterized by emotional singing  with little if any musical accompaniment, and is an excellent example of tarab.  Sometimes, the singer "mawals" the refrain of the song. Other times, the mawal's lyrics do not repeat any of the song's words.  Either way, dancing to mawals is challenging. It requires both fluency in Arabic and a familiarity with Egyptian gestures. In this workshop, Luna will walk you through 3-4 different mawals (classic and shaabi), translate their lyrics, and explore different ways of interpreting them.  By the end of this class, you should feel more confident dancing to mawals, and not edit them out of your routines.

lunch

2:30 - 5:00 - Egyptian Technique & Combos
Luna will teach some typical Egyptian-styled movements, as well as some of her signature ones that she developed over the course of her dance career in Cairo. She will explain how they differ in emphasis,  genesis, and meaning to American-flavored movements, as well as demonstrate how to string them together into unique, unpredictable combinations.  Luna will also break down the movements into "families" according to their qualities and explain how to use that categorization to develop your own unique technique.

PRIVATE LESSONS
Luna will also be available for a limited number of private lessons for anything you want to work on including, competition coaching, improvisational technique, choreography, etc. Contact info@serpentine.org for details on cost and availability.

ALL CLASSES AND EVENTS TO BE HELD AT THE STUDIO.
NO REFUNDS