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 Aisha Ali in Workshops
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Aisha Ali
in Workshops
The Warehouse Athletic Facility,
Spokane, WA, USA
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Dance Workshops
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Danse du Ventre Workshop
This workshop included the historic and geographical
background of the dance; how to manipulate abdominal muscles—isolations, rolls,
flutters, quivers and accents; and applying the techniques in Oriental dance as
well as folkloric dance. After breaking
down the movements, we practiced the movements continuously following
Ms. Ali. With the class in a circle,
everyone could easily see Aisha as she performed the moves to different
directions. She stood in the center at
times, joined the outer circle at other times, and paired up with each student
as needed to check her technique.
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Saiidi & Tunisian Jar Dances Workshop
During the Tunisian Raqs
Jarra lesson, we learned how to balance the water jar on the head while
moving the hips in dynamic thrusts.
Ms. Ali covered four different steps, story telling with mime, and a brief
choreography. After drilling the
different techniques, we moved into the Saiidi folkloric dance. In the Saiidi Raqs al Ballaas, Ms. Ali covered appropriate music, movements,
costuming, and water jar placements.
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About Aisha Ali
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Aisha Ali's Bio
Aisha Ali is an internationally recognized authority on the dances of
Egypt and North Africa. Following her successes in the United States,
she performed widely in Europe and the Middle East. For over twenty
years she directed her folkloric ensemble, the Aisha Ali Dance Company.
In
1971, Aisha traveled to the Middle East to observe firsthand many
traditional styles of dance not seen in the United States. She made
subsequent visits to Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia from 1973 to 1997 to
document folkloric materials that were fast disappearing. As a result,
she has released numerous audio and video recordings.
In
1973, while a featured soloist at the Municipal Theater in Sfax,
Tunisia, the Maison de la Culture asked Aisha to form a dance company.
Later that year she stayed among the Ouled Naïl in Algeria, a tribe
famous for its dancing women. Over the years she has frequently danced
at celebrations in Upper Egypt with the Banat Maazin, a Nawar gypsy
family of Ghawazee.
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Aisha Ali and Nadiyah Vahdahty
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In
the United States, Aisha directed the North African performers at the
Los Angeles Olympics opening festival in 1984 and was soloist at the
grand opening of the LA Festival in 1993. In 1994, she was inducted
into the Hall of Fame by the American Academy of Middle Eastern Dance
in New York, and in 2000, she was an honored speaker and soloist at the
International Conference of Middle Eastern Dance. Recently she was
featured in a folk dance program at Cornell University.
For
many years, Aisha contributed articles to Arabesque magazine, and
continues to write articles for Habibi. She has contributed articles to
numerous publications, including an article on the Ouled Nail published
by the International Institute for the Study of Islam, the section on
Egypt for the JVC/Smithsonian "Anthology of World Music and Dance," and
articles on Algeria and the Ouled Naïl in the International Encyclopedia of Dance published by Oxford University Press.
In
addition to teaching classes at her Los Angeles studio, Aisha gives
lectures/demonstrations at universities such as UCLA and Cornell, and
conducts workshops and master classes in North America, Europe, New
Zealand and Australia. She is presently editing her latest Egyptian
footage.
Copyright © 1998–2004 Aisha Ali
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Copyright (c) 2003-2008 Nadiyah's. All rights
reserved.
Info@Nadiyahs.com
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