Category Archives: Music and Dance

Mohammed Reza Shajarian: Protest Through Poetry

Iran, Islamic Rituals, Music and Dance, Shi'a


by Steve Inskeep, NPR Morning Edition, September 27, 2010

[NPR this morning has a 7 minute segment on this famous Iranian singer; click on the website for samples of his music.]

Mohammed Reza Shajarian may be the most famous singer in all of Iran.

He’s also Iran’s most famous protest singer — even though, strictly speaking, his music doesn’t directly protest the government at all.

Just before they end their fast each day during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, many Iranians or people of Iranian descent around the world listen to a prayer sung by Shajarian.

“It has such power, and the power of it has virtually nothing to do with the words,” says Iranian-American scholar Abbas Milani. When Milani hears Shajarian’s recording of the prayer, it transports him back to his youth in Iran.

“When I still hear it, I get a chill to my bone and think that this is not the voice of a mere mortal — this is the gods speaking to us.”

Iranians heard Shajarian’s voice on the radio for decades — and then, suddenly, the music stopped. Shajarian, protesting a crackdown on voters after last year’s disputed election, asked that the government cease broadcasting his songs. Continue reading Mohammed Reza Shajarian: Protest Through Poetry →

Dance Workshop & Discussion: Leila of Cairo and Anthropologist Najwa Adra

Anthropology/Sociology, Conferences and Talks, Egypt, Music and Dance


Leila, left; Dr. Najwa Adra, right

Dance Workshop & Discussion: Leila of Cairo and Anthropologist Najwa Adra
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 6:00 pm at Alwan for the Arts

Workshop: 6:00-8:30 pm
Discussion: 8:30-10:00 pm

This evening of dance and discussion provides an opportunity much needed in the bellydance scene: to both embody the feeling of Egyptian raqs sharqi through movement and music, and also to speak to the controversial issues surrounding the dance through dialogue with experts. Alwan welcomes acclaimed dancer Leila of Cairo, and esteemed scholar Najwa Adra, to kick off its 2010-2011 season of culturally contextualized, quality dance and performance.

Dance Workshop with Leila of Cairo

Understanding Classical Egyptian Music for Dance

6:00-8:30 pm

The historic songs of Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez and Warda can be intimidating for dancers of all levels. Join Leila as she navigates through the musical structure of these complex compositions. Explore Egyptian versus Western interpretation of these songs, and utilize Egyptian technique to express the music and ultimately, yourself, within the dance.

Take advantage this rare opportunity to learn with Cairo-based, American-born Leila, who has won over Egyptian audiences with her dance, film and stage appearances.

Discussion with Najwa Adra PhD and Leila

Raqs, What’s the Point? Diverging Bellydance Traditions in Egypt and the U.S.

8:30-10:00 pm

This discussion focuses on differences of perception, meaning, context and technique of the dance known simply as raqs or raqs sharqi in the Arab world, and as bellydance in the US. Leila draws upon her experiences as a US-born dancer who has an exceptionally successful career as a performing artist in Eygpt, while Najwa highlights related issues from her fieldwork research, writings and lifetime of participating in social dance traditions of the Arab world. The talk-back will touch upon notions of authenticity, cultural appropriation and orientalization in the dance. Come with questions and comments! Continue reading Dance Workshop & Discussion: Leila of Cairo and Anthropologist Najwa Adra →

The Fifth Annual Arab-American Heritage Park Festival

Food and Drink, Music and Dance

The Fifth Annual Arab-American Heritage Park Festival

Sunday, July 18, From 1-6pm

Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY

15th Street Entrance

Presented By: The Arab American Family Support Center & Alwan for the Arts

Bring Your Family & Friends of all ages to Celebrate Arab Heritage

Directions:

F Train to 15th Street/Prospect Park B-68, B-69, or B-75 Buses to Prospect Park West & 9th Street

Enjoy music, cultural performances, savory Arabic food, traditional Arabic shisha, professional henna artists, heritage arts and crafts, face painting, bouncy house, plus enter the raffle to win lots of great prizes!

For more information contact Bret Denning at bret@aafscny.org

Last day in Lamu

Conferences and Talks, Food and Drink, Music and Dance


Chamba dance in Lamu Fort

I am sitting in the lobby of Lamu House on the delightful Swahili island of Lamu, my last day after a seminar sponsored here by the Rift Valley Institute on the Horn of Africa. On Wednesday night I attended a reception given by the Lamu museum and other respected officials and members of Lamu town. The highlight of the evening was a performance in “The Fort” of the Chamba wedding dance, a slow-moving line dance with swords and sticks held steadily. On Saturday I went on a dhow trip with Captain Abu (anyone going to Lamu should ask for Abu; he is superb and knows the area well, and the Rasta man Hasan is a fantastic cook) and met Muhammad Famou Othman, head of the dance troop, who took us on a tour of his village.

On Monday I delivered a talk to the Lamu community in The Fort. The talk was in English and I will post it here anon. But I also gave a brief introduction in Arabic, which was well appreciated. I would very much like to learn Swahili now and inshallah return to Lamu to do research on those here who have Yemeni ancestors.

My last day, chilling in a rather warm climate but with a strong breeze.

Fruitful Picks at the Pomegranate Gallery

Iraq, Lebanon, Literature, Music and Dance


Drinking Juice, 2003
Bronze Cast by Oded Halahmy

The following upcoming events are scheduled for the Pomegranate Gallery in Manhattan:

WHITE MASKS: Elias Khoury’s remarkable novel of the Lebanese civil war
Book signing and Reception
Thursday, April 15th, 2010, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
“No Lebanese writer has been more successful than Khoury in telling the story of Lebanon…Khoury is one of the most innovative novelists in the Arab world.” Washington Post Book World

SWEET DATES IN BASRA: A new novel by Jessica Jiji
Book signing and Reception, with live Middle Eastern music
Thursday April 29th, 2010, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
“In this story of love and search for identity, Jessica Jiji succeeds fully in capturing passions, depth of feeling, and strong relationships beyond ethnic and religious differences.” – Naim Kattan, author of Farewell Babylon

REMEMBERING BAGHDAD: An Evening of Iraqi Music, with Yair Dalal, Omar Bashir and Erez Mounk
Saturday, May 1st, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Continue reading Fruitful Picks at the Pomegranate Gallery →

Blame it on Lady Gaga

Arab-Israeli Conflict, Gender and Sexuality, Israel, Journalism and Media, Music and Dance, Palestine

Why is the “Muslim world” angry with America, asks columnist Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal? Well here are your two choices:

Pop quiz—What does more to galvanize radical anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world: (a) Israeli settlements on the West Bank; or (b) a Lady Gaga music video?

If your answer is (b) it means you probably have a grasp of the historical roots of modern jihadism. If, however, you answered (a), then congratulations: You are perfectly in synch with the new Beltway conventional wisdom, now jointly defined by Pat Buchanan and his strange bedfellows within the Obama administration.

Of course, how could it be Israeli policy. It must be the loose women and jazz singers that really upset Muslims, because that is what Sayyid Qutb said way back in 1951 after visiting Colorado (if only they had shut down those speak-easys in Boulder, who knows!). Yes, here is what Qutb, the “intellectual godfather of al Qaeda,” said:

“The American girl,” he noted, “knows seductiveness lies in the round breasts, the full buttocks, and in the shapely thighs, sleek legs and she shows all this and does not hide it.” Nor did he approve of Jazz—”this music the savage bushmen created to satisfy their primitive desires”—or of American films, or clothes, or haircuts, or food. It was all, in his eyes, equally wretched.

Qutb, notes the columnist, was also anti-Semitic, and blamed the Jews for being at war against Islam. And, to seal the argument for Stephens, here is the real beef (or cheesecake or kosher wine) because: Continue reading Blame it on Lady Gaga →

My name is Khan

Film and Video, India, Islam in America, Islamophobia 101, Music and Dance

Anyone who is interested in issues of Islam in America must certainly go see the new Shahrukh Khan film My Name is Khan. Despite all of its Bollywood silliness and melodrama, the film is surprisingly discerning on the experiences of Muslims in American society. Though it is set almost entirely in the U.S. (beginning in San Francisco and ending in Georgia), this film will go down as one of the most important Bollywood movies Shahrukh Khan has ever done.

Most obviously of course, the film reminds audiences all around the world that Bollywood’s biggest star ever is in fact a non-violent Muslim (the film’s most repetitive line is “My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist”). But it also does a number of other absolutely fascinating things, such as performing a reinterpretation of the Qur’anic Abraham-Ishmael story, and in a surprising turn, it spotlights the U.S.’s government abandonment of poor African-American communities. Continue reading My name is Khan →