Perceptions of Eastern Dances And Cultures

Hello, thank you for your interest.
To introduce myself as Shereen - the dancer or as myself - Katerina are two quite different things. When I started dancing

I almost forgot and lost who I was before. I got so absorbed by the Middle Eastern nightlife, that I didn’t want to use my real name anymore. My job changed who I was and I sometimes didn’t see my parents for months, because sitting in their living room felt to strange and uncomfortable. I didn’t know what I wanted and where it was going, I just found it extremely exciting and I had the feeling that this was a chance of a lifetime, that it had a meaning and it would be an important experience for my future. Years later I slowly started finding my way back to what most people would call normal life.

I started my philosophy studies at the Charles University in Prague and later at the Sorbonne. I started using my real name again and found a balance between my two personalities that worked for me in a long term and didn’t feel schizophrenic. Now I have a very normal, almost boring life (compared to what it was before). I sometimes miss the old times, but then when

I have a chance to see up-close a glimpse of what it actually was I realize that what I miss are just some of my happy memories.

I still travel almost every weekend but it’s just like going to any work. I’m probably luckier then most people, because I really  enjoy what I do and I see a purpose in it.
Now I focus on developing my own knowledge of the dance and music of the Middle East and I’m trying to help my students develop their own personal approach to this dance culture.

Where did you get your dance education from? What have been the most crucial points and teachers on your way as a dancer?

I learned the most important things on stage. When I look at the big picture, anything before I started dancing with live music on stage didn’t mean anything. Still I want to point out that that was in a time when oriental dance education in Europe was mostly built on fairytales. I learned the way the old school dancers did. Not in studios, but in action. Sometimes

I feel like the last dinosaur when I see the massive crowds of young girls trying to make a dance personality happen in a dance studio. Some things that people work hard for came so easy to me, on the other hand I had to fight many other obstacles that most dancers never face today and I almost feel reluctant to talk about those things, because I feel like I’m spoiling someones precious fantasy. I recently read in a very good blog post of Diana Esposito, something in the sense that the authentic oriental dance is a dance of deprivation. I’m glad I had the chance to find out for myself what this statement really means. Of course coming from a perfect middle class family, I had to inflict this feeling of deprivation and frustration willingly upon myself, which makes the result very different from what Middle Eastern girls from poor families have to go through, but it was the closest I could get.
Another important issue is that the dance is changing drastically because the way people learn it is different. There is oriental dance before social media and oriental dance after social media, and I’m lucky to have experienced both. I started with no informations, no resources, every little piece of music or a video was a gem. We had it harder, but when I talk to people with a similar path we agree, that we wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I have lots of respect and find a lot of inspiration among the older generation of US dancers. They were true pioneers. I do repeat myself constantly, but especially Sahra Saeeda and Morocco are among my inspirations. I could listen to these ladies for days and never get bored. Farida Fahmy is another amazing lady that is in a class of her own. I’m often impressed by a young talent, but it’s the maturity and wisdom of the older generation that gives meaning to what I’m striving to do.


I know that you had the chance to work in arabian clubs/casinos in London. How important was that for your dance and attitude? How did it shape you as a dancer?

It has been a long time now since I left that world so it is hard to be objective. One thing is for sure, it did change everything. Live music is the one thing I truly miss in my dance life. On the other hand, looking back, it was incredibly hard to be a white teenage girl with no knowledge of arabic language in this kind of crowd. London in the early 2000’ was the closest you could get to the authentic Middle Eastern way of life in Europe. The traditions, the culture, the decadence, the way of life of a nightclub dancer it is still somewhere inside me. Thanks to all that the way I see oriental dance now makes sense to me.

I dance and it feels like I’m touching something real with my feet and my arms - however strange that might sound.

Which style of „Belly Dance“/Oriental dances do you perform and what are the characteristics of your style?

That is a hard question. I have a problem with the whole style concept in oriental dance. How can we talk about style in a dance where one single Ukrainian teenager can form the global face of oriental dance with one youtube video? Style in our dance means couple of influential people with distinctive moves that are being copied by thousands. Social media had made this possible and completely turned the meaning of the word “style” on it’s head. That might be why I’m trying to look back and find inspiration in folklore and the dance before internet. I get inspired by what I feel and hear more then by what I see.
And the characteristics of my style? I like to think that the “freedom within rules” is it. The rules being of course what

I managed to discover about Middle Eastern dance and music culture so far.

You organized a Symposium for Oriental Dance in Prague. What was your main idea behind this event, the spark to create it. What makes it special/different? Tell us a bit about it please.

I had the feeling that there are plenty of events that promote dancers but not really that many events, that are about the dance. I’m afraid that people connect the dance only with famous faces and forget that there is much more to this dance culture then a small exclusive group of “belly dance celebrities”. There is a need for balance between the technical skill and the knowledge. I have heard a lot of absurd things from people who were technically amazing and claimed to be international masters. That makes me nervous, because there is a very limited chance to set the record straight. The people who are attracted to this way of practicing oriental dance rarely go to teachers who are focused on theory, so many people are stuck with information that is not correct and worse they build their own teaching method on it. I have seen people teach “intensive theoretical programs” from what they found on internet. Among the blind, the one eyed is the king. Middle eastern dance ethnology is very young and I give credit to everyone who does their best in an honest pursuit of knowledge.

I created the SHRQ Symposium as a platform for people who are willing to listen, discuss, share experiences and form opinions. It was also a little bit of a test if an event with an academic visual style, posters without famous faces and no competition or other chance for self promotion could even survive in our community. I did work and it was amazing.

I’m already planing the next edition. I hope that it will inspire people to include some theory in their event programs as well.


In your opinion, whats the most important value and skill a dancer should carry in her attitude towards the dance and in her performance.? What makes a dancer special?

I think that people relate to a great variety of dancers because they inspire in them different qualities. Relating to these qualities elevates the audience. Some people feel elevated by glamour, power, perfection, sophistication, knowledge, courage etc. Every dancer that has a following represents some strong set of inspiring qualities. On the other hand the value of these qualities is very subjective so there is no way of saying which is the right one. There is no such hierarchy.
I personally like honest dancers who are able to take who they are and what they know about this dance and forge it into a dance that is unique enough to give you a glimpse of this dances future but is still connected to this dances roots enough to make you feel what it used to be. I like humble dancers who understand the this dance is not all about them, that they are merely borrowing it from the past generations to pass it on to the next.

What does dance mean to you in your personal life?

There isn’t one single reference to oriental dance and the Middle East in my flat, except if you look at my library. I keep it very separated. I have couple of friends in the dance community that I see as a part of my personal life, but that is not because they are dancers, but because they are exceptional people. To be honest, I have a feeling that to be able to be involved with dance 100% 3 day of the week, I need the rest off.

In your opinion, where is a good place to start research about Oriental Dance/Raqs Sharqi? Any advice for the serious dancer?

Morocco’s book “You asked Aunt Rocky” is a great start. There are plenty of books, blogs, articles. University studies taught me to always double check, ask for references, be critical - once you learn that you know how to work with sources. People who don’t have this experience are at great risk to take seriously any piece of information someone throws at them. Being famous, having done it for decades, being pretty, being Egyptian - I have seen all these things being taken as a factor for informations being taken seriously. The only real factor is first hand experience of a trustworthy person and sources with references that can be proved. I know this might sound harsh, but lovering our standard for getting knowledge while our technical standards are skyrocketing is not the right way to go in my opinion.

Do you feel times have changed when it comes to dance/scene? We see many new styles evolve, some genuine, some not. Is there a difference in feeling and attitude towards the dance that you see in nowadays dancers compared to the times of the well-respected (at least in the dance community) famous Egyptian dancers?

Yes, times have certainly changed. I don’t have any problem with the dance evolving. I have a problem with the dance being increasingly ego obsessed, because it is an approach that doesn’t contribute to the future of the dance. I have seen dance communities quickly rise and completely fall apart because under the whole big glittery loud expensive spectacle there was no genuine love and respect for the dance that would inspire the people to go on. I think that the path many people are following is very short sighted. The recent deifying of the dance teachers has deeper social and psychological implications and it is far beyond the dance itself. Social media had a great impact on that and there is no way to run away from it or ignore it. I’m doing my best to reserve myself from judgement of particular people and invest my energy in what I think is productive in the big picture.

What are your activities as a dancer/teacher like? You live in Prague as far as I know, do you teach weekly classes or regular workshops there? Do you also work internationally?

I don’t have any weekly classes. I was recently covering for a friend who had a baby and it was a valuable experience to see how different this kind of work is from weekly workshops. I basically only travel internationally. I do weekend workshops, but my favourite work is intensive classes that sometimes take up to 2 weeks. I do this kind of work mainly in Asia. This gives me the time and chance to develop individual skills and deeper understanding in the students rater then just selling

a choreography.

What countries have you been to to perform and teach? Where do you badly want to go?

I don’t want to take up space naming every country and attaching the appropriate flag (so it’s really clear to everyone that I’m international) that I have though in. I think what matters is the impact you make, not the number of countries you visit.

I think I have helped to make an impact in China, Malaysia, Indonesia (as support of one very brave teacher Christine Yaven), Thailand, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and of course Czech Republic. Then there are some countries where I had workshops, but it had more of an impact on individual people then the community. In total it’s around 30 countries. I would want to go anywhere where the people would be willing to listen and develop their own dance identity. I would go to Antarctica

if such people were there.

What is the most important thing/attitude about the dance you teach that you want to pass onto your students. How do you do that?

To study about the dance so they can be confident about doing something unique when they are dancing.

You are very active writing about the dance and your thoughts about it and recent situations which pop up in the dance scene (Your blog, Facebook). Why is it important to you to talk about whats going on, speak clear opinions and share thoughts/discuss with other dancers?

Again it is about the balance. I’m not fighting the people who have a different approach. It is not personal.

I’m just a voice saying that the technique, the effects, the power and speed is not all there is. My mother was a documentary film director. She was always very strongly opinionated about the way things should be and what is right. She used her gift for expression on screen to help promote what she believed in. I believe that Middle Eastern people have a wonderful dance and music culture that deserves to be preserved.

What are your wishes for the future dance scene?

I wish for more clarity. I wish that there would be more dance ethnologists among the dancers and I wish that the people who do it as sport would find the motivation and the strength to be clear about what they are doing, and make their own rules and labels. I think it’s slowly happening so I have to give them credit for that.
 
Most disturbing thing you experienced in relation to dance recently?

I have seen a whole bunch of disturbing things on Facebook. But oriental dance is not what it seems to be on Facebook. Apart from that, when I go to Asia I’m always astonished by what people sell as solid information, how many teachers are creating a community that is only able to copy. It is a smart business strategy, I give them that. It is super easy for a teacher to make

a choreography. To the experienced ones it doesn’t take hours, it takes minutes. Then you travel around the world and just keep repeating it in front of a crowd for some time and you are done. But even in this matter I see a development into a good direction. But it is exactly because people are calling out that this approach is wrong and that teachers should be informed and share the information.
If you are asking about a particular thing. What stuck in my mind is when a very good group dancing with a shamadan in Malaysia got the last place (got basically disqualified) because they were not dancing the shamadan choreography to

a zaffa rhythm. The people who disqualified them are superstars (as much as I dislike the term, here it is true). What kind of signal does it send when two of the most famous teachers in the world don’t know basic facts?
Another really disturbing thing was when Diana Esposito told me in December when I was in Cairo that even there dancers are stopping to dance with live music and the orchestras are getting smaller. It is a huge change since 2008 when the orchestras were still quite big. I see the disappearance of live music as a dangerous trend for the dance’s future.

Most beautiful thing you experienced in relation to dance recently?

The live music in Cairo. The success of my friend Sahar who is promoting Moroccan dance here in Czech Republic.

Seeing the people making progress in my improvisation classes.

Any future plans you wanna share with us?

I’m planning the next edition of the SHRQ Symposium. It is taking longer then I would want to because of my health,

family and busy work schedule, but I’m getting there.

Anything I didn’t mention but you wanna share with us? Things that need to be said? Space for some free thoughts here.

I think it would be great if dancers would meet and talk more, which was also one of the reasons to create SHRQ. I think that discussing things on social media is good but it often creates a very confrontational environment. I’m sure that if people would have more chances to discuss things in person things would be much clearer. I feel that people are sometimes afraid to question people who are famous. In my experience, the people who know a lot always want to share, so don’t be afraid to ask. Once I asked an Egyptian teacher after a Ghawazee workshop where the choreography started with arabesques, where is his knowledge of Ghawazee coming from. He was a bit offended and replied that he is a world famous folk dance master teacher. In an environment where people share thoughts and knowledge such answer is not acceptable. In an environment where teachers feel a responsibility to their students as a basic standard of their work, such answer would not even take place.
On a more positive note. The fact that there are blogs, interviews and critical Facebook posts is very positive. The worst is when you feel something is not right but you feel alone and powerless, so you rather don’t do anything about it.

Oriental dance is not a fossil, it is a living thing that not only moves but things and talk as well. Let’s keep it alive.

Thank you for the great in-depth Interview!