Middle Eastern Illusion
To understand Middle Eastern Dance without watching it, think of the mystery of Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, green, red, orange and purple colors, coins, beads, zills (finger cymbals) and dancers who know how to shake it.
It was, without a doubt, an Arabian night.
Accompanied by upbeat and seductive Arabian music full of percussion and rhythm, the dancers shimmied and shook nearly every part of their body, while their head remained almost still, requiring utmost coordination.
The performance was Shazadi’s third annual soirée, sponsored by the Utah State University’s Middle Eastern Dance Club, and was held in the Morgan Theatre Saturday night.
The show included guest performer and belly dance superstar Ansuya for the show
“They make it look really easy, but it isn’t,” host Ana Kitka za Sofia said.
It was also a night of cheering and hollering from the audience.
“Opa! Opa!” members of the audience would continually shout to give their approval of the performance.
During the slow and seductive moments, the audience would hiss.
“[The dancers] really like it when you make noises,” Sofia announced before the show. Sofia, who is director of the Kashmir Dance Company in Salt Lake City, has been hosting the Shazadi sorées for the past few years.
“The music is beautiful and exotic. The costumes are wonderful. But, there is something about the movement.” Sofia said. “It’s not like any other dancing.”
The evening included 14 performances from solo artists and troupes such as Shazadi and Zivah, both made up USU MED Club dancers, Midnight Mirage Dance Company and Desert Orchid from SLC and more.
For the final performance, Ansuya took the stage.
She was adorned with an elaborate Middle Eastern dance costume with a coin and bead- tasseled bra, necklace and skirt that chimed when she moved.
She twirled and danced around the stage, shaking and shimmying perfectly to the rhythms, while clapping zills. With every move, the audience approved by cheering loudly and yelling “Opa.”
For one part of the dance, she shimmied gracefully around the stage while on her knees.
The audience gave her a standing ovation after the performance.
Sumra, a solo dancer, member of Shazadi, USU MED teacher and choreographer, said Ansuya is one of the best belly dancers.
“If you’re talking about Hollywood, she’d be the A-list or the Academy award winner of belly dancing,” she said about Ansuya.
Ansuya took time off the Belly Dance Superstar’s national tour to perform in Logan. Earlier on Saturday she taught a belly dancing workshop for the USU MED Club members and students.
Sumra said Ansuya taught the group how to layer dance combinations and emotionally interpret the music.
“Belly dancing is supposed to be from your feelings and you’re trying to interpret those from the music,” she said.
Sumra performed with Shizadi and also performed a solo dance in the first half.
Besides a couple of audio problems, Sumra said all together the “dancing was awesome.”
“It was a good show with high energy and a good crowd response,” she said.
“The talent in Utah blows my mind,” host Sofia said.
Sofia said belly dancing is great, because it is for all women.
“We all come from ballet backgrounds to jazz backgrounds. It’s a way to express yourself and feel really good about yourself, because there is no particular body style, there’s no age limit, you don’t have to a certain color. It’s just for all women,” she said.
Sofia also said it’s more than just dancing.
“It’s a fabulous form of exersise. It’s more fun than aerobics,” she said.
USU MED holds classes on belly dancing every semester. For information go to www.usu.edu/shimmy.
-joelfeathers@cc.usu.edu
(Photo by Michael Sharp)
(Photo by Michael Sharp)
(Photo by Michael Sharp)