I was chuffed to see "BellyLorna" as one the Followers of My Blog.
I visited her blog and found it very interesting. We always see the performance side of a dancer and don't really have an insight into the dancers point of view. Lorna's blog http://bellylorna.blogspot.com/ gives the reader that insight. She is a Scottish lady who now performs in Cairo.
I enjoyed reading her blog posts and then found a link to a video of her performance:
I realised I have watched her perform on the Nile Pharoahs Boat at least 4 times. And I always recommend our house guests to do their Dinner Cruise with Nile Pharoahs, because she is the best Belly Dancer on the boats as of now and the Boat also serves Indian Food if you book in advance.
So yes, I am a fan of Lorna's dancing and her blog. I'd recommend the blog, it makes really interesting reading.
Here's another older video
Showing posts with label Performance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Performance. Show all posts
Monday, June 15, 2009
Saturday, November 15, 2008
ICAE Diwali Function at Mena House Oberoi
Had a ball of a time at today's Diwali function held by the Indian Community Association in Cairo.
Met a lot of old friends, made some new ones. The decorations were awesome and felt like being back in India with bright diyas and colorful rangolis all over the place.
Usha Uthup was in town, to perform for the function and she got the crowd on their feet (although some of them were on their feet just to capture her on camera)
Good Indian khana. Over 800 guests. This was a diwali party to remember!
Met a lot of old friends, made some new ones. The decorations were awesome and felt like being back in India with bright diyas and colorful rangolis all over the place.
Usha Uthup was in town, to perform for the function and she got the crowd on their feet (although some of them were on their feet just to capture her on camera)
Good Indian khana. Over 800 guests. This was a diwali party to remember!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Villa Grey Cultural Center
Villa Grey
24, Abdallah al Kateb Street
Between Midan Fini and El Nil Street
Dokki 12311
+2 02 3338 2184
Villa Grey is the latest location on the Cairo scene to host photography/painting exhibitions and screen interesting off beat movies that do not normally make it to the regular cinema halls.
This center was opened under the auspices of Grey worldwide and Gerard Avdessian, their Managing Director in Egypt.
Gerard studied theater in the Soviet Union and has directed, produced and written plays in Lebanon for several years, a parallel with his almost 40 years in the advertising business. He came to Cairo in April 2007 to head up Villa Grey and to realize, as he puts it, the “dream child” of Grey’s director in Lebanon, Philip Skaff, the “madman” behind the beloved community arts project.
We had gone for the Wednesday night movie screening that the Villa Grey holds, hoping to watch the Oscar winning German movie "The Lives of Others"
Unfortunately, the copy of the movie that they received that day, did not have English subtitles, so they could not screen it. They ended up showing Travolta's Hairspray so we left. (We had already watched the movie)
The viewing room is quite cosy and comfortable, so I'll definitely go back when they next show a movie that I want to watch.
To receive the schedule of Villa Grey movies and other events in Cairo, do send a blank mail to whazzupcairo-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or whazzupcairo-subscribe@googlegroups.com
The Villa Grey building itself is worth a trip. Its a traditional old style Egyptian bungalow with lots of Mashrabiya work, beautifully inlaid doors, ornate ceiling and lovely flooring. Reminded me of the Eicher Consulting office in Bangalore for the use of an old building as an office space. This is one of the best kept old bungalows with access to the public that I have seen in Cairo.
24, Abdallah al Kateb Street
Between Midan Fini and El Nil Street
Dokki 12311
+2 02 3338 2184
Villa Grey is the latest location on the Cairo scene to host photography/painting exhibitions and screen interesting off beat movies that do not normally make it to the regular cinema halls.This center was opened under the auspices of Grey worldwide and Gerard Avdessian, their Managing Director in Egypt.
Gerard studied theater in the Soviet Union and has directed, produced and written plays in Lebanon for several years, a parallel with his almost 40 years in the advertising business. He came to Cairo in April 2007 to head up Villa Grey and to realize, as he puts it, the “dream child” of Grey’s director in Lebanon, Philip Skaff, the “madman” behind the beloved community arts project.
This talent will come from the visual arts — including painting, graphic design, sculpture and installation, photography and fashion, performing arts, music concerts, poetry, script readings, film screenings — and whatever else shows up on the marble steps to inspire Monsieur Avedissian and his team.
(Italicised extract from Egypt Today, December 2007)
We had gone for the Wednesday night movie screening that the Villa Grey holds, hoping to watch the Oscar winning German movie "The Lives of Others"Unfortunately, the copy of the movie that they received that day, did not have English subtitles, so they could not screen it. They ended up showing Travolta's Hairspray so we left. (We had already watched the movie)
The viewing room is quite cosy and comfortable, so I'll definitely go back when they next show a movie that I want to watch.
To receive the schedule of Villa Grey movies and other events in Cairo, do send a blank mail to whazzupcairo-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or whazzupcairo-subscribe@googlegroups.com
The Villa Grey building itself is worth a trip. Its a traditional old style Egyptian bungalow with lots of Mashrabiya work, beautifully inlaid doors, ornate ceiling and lovely flooring. Reminded me of the Eicher Consulting office in Bangalore for the use of an old building as an office space. This is one of the best kept old bungalows with access to the public that I have seen in Cairo.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Disney on Ice
A combination of circumstances meant I wasn't able to attend the "Disney on Ice" show last summer. But after being reassured by friends with kids that the show was as much fun for adults as it was for kids, I managed to catch the last show of this year on the 23rd.
The Disney on Ice show has been coming to Egypt since a couple of years and has been qite a success as they put on a different show each year. This year was built around a family adventure for the Incredibles (who visited Disney Land)
Although yallabina.com reported that tickets would be sold at LinkDOTnet Customer Service Offices in Cairo, I found that wasn't true on a wasted trip to their Dokki office.
The Disney on Ice, Egypt print advertisements and website assured an online booking at http://disneyegypt.com/html/tickets2.html Fortunately it was a Cash on Delivery Deal, because the tickets from this mode, never arrived, even 3 days after the show that we had made bookings for.
In the end, it was quite easy to get tickets at the location itself, even though we just turned up a couple of hours before the show. and the stadium wasn't anywhere near even 50% occupied.
With 100LE tickets, we were some distance away from the rink
but had a pretty decent view nonetheless.
The tickets said gates would close half an hour before the show was to start. This was a good marketing trick to get parents in with their kids and push them into buying overpriced Popcorn (10/25Le for small boxes) and cotton candy (20LE for 4 balls) The extra price could be for the Disney branded packaging but the popcorn was salty and not worth it. The Cotton Candy was good and it was thoughtful of them to include a wet wipe t the bottom of the packet. That was really neat, practical and great consumer insight.
The Show itself was awesome. The performers were flawless in all their synchronised pieces. There were shades of High School Musical in the opening Sequence. there were some outstanding performers in the lead roles which made it a very enjoyable couple of hours.
The Stadium was comfortable and at a good temperature. So no issues on that front. The only problem here was that seats weren't pre-allotted, so there was a lot of pushing and shoving to get inside. But once we got in, things were fine.
Below are some of the pictures I took which haven't come out great because of the distance from the stage and the constant movement. But it gives a flavour of what to expect.
Next years theme is "High School Musical" which should draw in the teenage audience too.
The Disney on Ice show has been coming to Egypt since a couple of years and has been qite a success as they put on a different show each year. This year was built around a family adventure for the Incredibles (who visited Disney Land)
Although yallabina.com reported that tickets would be sold at LinkDOTnet Customer Service Offices in Cairo, I found that wasn't true on a wasted trip to their Dokki office.
The Disney on Ice, Egypt print advertisements and website assured an online booking at http://disneyegypt.com/html/tickets2.html Fortunately it was a Cash on Delivery Deal, because the tickets from this mode, never arrived, even 3 days after the show that we had made bookings for.
In the end, it was quite easy to get tickets at the location itself, even though we just turned up a couple of hours before the show. and the stadium wasn't anywhere near even 50% occupied.
With 100LE tickets, we were some distance away from the rink
but had a pretty decent view nonetheless.The tickets said gates would close half an hour before the show was to start. This was a good marketing trick to get parents in with their kids and push them into buying overpriced Popcorn (10/25Le for small boxes) and cotton candy (20LE for 4 balls) The extra price could be for the Disney branded packaging but the popcorn was salty and not worth it. The Cotton Candy was good and it was thoughtful of them to include a wet wipe t the bottom of the packet. That was really neat, practical and great consumer insight.
The Show itself was awesome. The performers were flawless in all their synchronised pieces. There were shades of High School Musical in the opening Sequence. there were some outstanding performers in the lead roles which made it a very enjoyable couple of hours.
The Stadium was comfortable and at a good temperature. So no issues on that front. The only problem here was that seats weren't pre-allotted, so there was a lot of pushing and shoving to get inside. But once we got in, things were fine.
Below are some of the pictures I took which haven't come out great because of the distance from the stage and the constant movement. But it gives a flavour of what to expect.
Next years theme is "High School Musical" which should draw in the teenage audience too.
Phantom of the Opera by MSA University
The MSA University of Cairo put up the Phantom of the Opera on 4 consecutive nights at the Opera House from the 20th to the 23rd of July.
It was advertised on facebook as
For the first time in Egypt and the Middle- East.
Dr.Nawal El Degwi Proudly invites you to attend the First Musical production (The Phantom Of The Opera) .The first and largest English musical production in the Middle East. This production, "The Phantom of The Opera", is one of the wonders of the international theatre and has been a great success for many years at Broadway .That includes more than 100 students from different nationalities that will be held at the Main Hall of the Cairo Opera House for four running days 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd of July 2008.
All the revenues will be invested in the charity project “Contribute in Building one hundred Schools” which is targeted at renovating and building schools under the supervision of the first Lady of Egypt Mrs. Susan Mubarak".
We caught the 2nd public performance on the 21st.
It started off with 3 songs from the original musical played live by their band. The band was good. Its a pity, they did not play live for the rest of the performance. The drummer and acoustic guitar player were the best. Somehow most of the semi-professional guitar players I have seen in Egypt do not exude the attitude and confidence that most guitarists in other countries do, even though they do play well.
Then a couple of students sang the most famous pieces. The lead Singers Samaa Mohamed and Othman were excellent. Samaa faltered a bit at the start, but quickly recovered to give an admirable performance for the rest of it.
The entire story was shortened to a one hour performance. So obviously a lot of the story line was lost. The accents were a bit hard to follow. Raoul was the clearest speaker but not the strongest performance. The phantom was agood performance but I wish he could have been more menacing. Instead of scaring us, he made us want to give him a hug and tell him "Everything would be ok in the end"
Christine was played well, but the best performance was undoubtedly that of Joseph Boque who had a minuscule speaking part but he was the most authentic of all the characters.
Carlotta's acting was good, but with her put on Italian accent it was difficult to follow her lines.
The one professional ballet dancer in the group, who performed a solo (actually a duet, but the male dancer was more of a prop to her dancing) was excellent.
The dancers were good but could have done with more synchronization.
The costumes and sets were Outstanding!
All in all, it was an average college performance studded with a few stellar ones in between. It was definitely over priced, but since all ticket sale money is supposed to go to charity, I guess that makes it worth the price.
It was advertised on facebook as
For the first time in Egypt and the Middle- East.
Dr.Nawal El Degwi Proudly invites you to attend the First Musical production (The Phantom Of The Opera) .The first and largest English musical production in the Middle East. This production, "The Phantom of The Opera", is one of the wonders of the international theatre and has been a great success for many years at Broadway .That includes more than 100 students from different nationalities that will be held at the Main Hall of the Cairo Opera House for four running days 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd of July 2008.
All the revenues will be invested in the charity project “Contribute in Building one hundred Schools” which is targeted at renovating and building schools under the supervision of the first Lady of Egypt Mrs. Susan Mubarak".
We caught the 2nd public performance on the 21st.
It started off with 3 songs from the original musical played live by their band. The band was good. Its a pity, they did not play live for the rest of the performance. The drummer and acoustic guitar player were the best. Somehow most of the semi-professional guitar players I have seen in Egypt do not exude the attitude and confidence that most guitarists in other countries do, even though they do play well.
Then a couple of students sang the most famous pieces. The lead Singers Samaa Mohamed and Othman were excellent. Samaa faltered a bit at the start, but quickly recovered to give an admirable performance for the rest of it.
The entire story was shortened to a one hour performance. So obviously a lot of the story line was lost. The accents were a bit hard to follow. Raoul was the clearest speaker but not the strongest performance. The phantom was agood performance but I wish he could have been more menacing. Instead of scaring us, he made us want to give him a hug and tell him "Everything would be ok in the end"
Christine was played well, but the best performance was undoubtedly that of Joseph Boque who had a minuscule speaking part but he was the most authentic of all the characters.
Carlotta's acting was good, but with her put on Italian accent it was difficult to follow her lines.The one professional ballet dancer in the group, who performed a solo (actually a duet, but the male dancer was more of a prop to her dancing) was excellent.
The dancers were good but could have done with more synchronization.
The costumes and sets were Outstanding!
All in all, it was an average college performance studded with a few stellar ones in between. It was definitely over priced, but since all ticket sale money is supposed to go to charity, I guess that makes it worth the price.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
ICAE (Indian Cultural Association in Cairo) - talent show
Stop 1 on Friday morning was the Swiss Club Cairo
Stop 2 was the Korba Street Festival Heliopolis
Stop 3 was a quick halt to click pictures of the City of the Dead & Souq al Gumma
I later proceeded to the Talent Show hosted by the Indian Cultural Association in Cairo - ICAE for Indian adults and children. There were about 55 participants for the talent show and another 5 or so for the Fancy Dress.
It was fun to see the kids dressed up in Indian clothes and all made up. Over 200 people turned up to support the participants. Yummy chicken biryani, spicy samosas and hot gulab jamuns were on the menu for the hungry few as were a range of chilled drinks.
The stage at the Maadi British International School seemed a little large for the individual performances by the tiny tots, but they did an admirable job.
It was a fun informal way to meet the Indian Community in Egypt especially the bus load of Indians who came in from Port Said for the event.
Stop 2 was the Korba Street Festival Heliopolis
Stop 3 was a quick halt to click pictures of the City of the Dead & Souq al Gumma
I later proceeded to the Talent Show hosted by the Indian Cultural Association in Cairo - ICAE for Indian adults and children. There were about 55 participants for the talent show and another 5 or so for the Fancy Dress.
It was fun to see the kids dressed up in Indian clothes and all made up. Over 200 people turned up to support the participants. Yummy chicken biryani, spicy samosas and hot gulab jamuns were on the menu for the hungry few as were a range of chilled drinks.
The stage at the Maadi British International School seemed a little large for the individual performances by the tiny tots, but they did an admirable job.
It was a fun informal way to meet the Indian Community in Egypt especially the bus load of Indians who came in from Port Said for the event.
Korba Street Festival - Heliopolis
Last Friday was the annual Korba Street festival in Heliopolis - a residential suburb in Cairo.
Baghdad street was closed off to traffic and stalls were put up along the sidewalks. There were stalls from the Asean countries selling native food and some handicrafts.
The Indian stall just had posters urging visitors to visit India. Nothing else. :(
There were tables along the sides for families to relax and grab a bite and the main road was left free for kids to express their creativity on the road with chalk and paints.
Marriott's Bakery, Swiss Inn, Sultana Ice Cream had tables on the road and were serving food there. The Swiss Inn even had a buffet set up on the road. But the more exciting stuff to eat were the street stalls which were selling things like cotton candy,the hummus drink and beans.
I attended in the morning half and left by 1:30pm, before the crowds really started to pour in. This meant I missed out on the musical performances (by Wust el Balad among others) and the puppet show, but what I managed to catch was great anyway.
My friends tell me, there was a short parade later in the noon with flower covered floats and giant coke bottles. More of advertising than Spring flowers was a comment I heard.
What I got to see, kind of reminded me a bit of the Kala Ghoda festival in Bombay, but just a little bit. The concept is similar, but there is so much further that the Korba festival can go. Its a good start though, just to have an open air event in a residential area of Cairo.
I would definitely catch it again next year.
Also published on desicritics.org
Baghdad street was closed off to traffic and stalls were put up along the sidewalks. There were stalls from the Asean countries selling native food and some handicrafts.
The Indian stall just had posters urging visitors to visit India. Nothing else. :(
There were tables along the sides for families to relax and grab a bite and the main road was left free for kids to express their creativity on the road with chalk and paints.
Marriott's Bakery, Swiss Inn, Sultana Ice Cream had tables on the road and were serving food there. The Swiss Inn even had a buffet set up on the road. But the more exciting stuff to eat were the street stalls which were selling things like cotton candy,the hummus drink and beans.
I attended in the morning half and left by 1:30pm, before the crowds really started to pour in. This meant I missed out on the musical performances (by Wust el Balad among others) and the puppet show, but what I managed to catch was great anyway.
My friends tell me, there was a short parade later in the noon with flower covered floats and giant coke bottles. More of advertising than Spring flowers was a comment I heard.
What I got to see, kind of reminded me a bit of the Kala Ghoda festival in Bombay, but just a little bit. The concept is similar, but there is so much further that the Korba festival can go. Its a good start though, just to have an open air event in a residential area of Cairo.
I would definitely catch it again next year.
Also published on desicritics.org
Friday, April 18, 2008
"Remember Africa" - Charity Bazaar
Attended the "Remember Africa" - Charity Bazaar at the All Saints Cathedral today.
The main purpose of this bazaar was for Refuge Egypt to raise awareness of the plight of refugees in Egypt.
Speakers throughout the day, introduced the work done by Refuge Egypt and presented ways everyone could help.
There was some delicious Ethiopian food and contrarily enough - Polish sausages :)
But, the event wasn't as well attended as last year. Last years event was held at the AUC and there were tons of students attending, even though it was on a Friday. This times turn out was quite dismal compared to that.
The number of stalls was consistent. Some refugees selling spices, their own artwork and woven baskets. What was really remarkable were the short entertainment pieces by the refugees and the refugee children.
It is disheartening,that most Cairenes and Cairo's temporary residents are unaware of the plight of these refugees. A problem of legitimate organisations like Refuge Egypt is contacting more people who can help them carry on their good work.
Over the past 20 years, Refuge Egypt has sought to assist and minister to the ever fluctuating refugee population through Medical Care; Emergency Assistance; Self-Reliance; Advocacy Education & Spiritual Ministries. It has been their emphasis to sustain and support refugees in the first 2 vulnerable and critical years of their arrival in Egypt. Overall they have recognized that women and children (often the ones who suffer the most) have been impacted significantly. Giving from the community has enabled this target group of individuals to have access to better healthcare and nutrition; reduced maternal mortality rate; better health awareness on HIV, TB, immunization and child feeding habits; improved income and ability to work and engage in small trade; group healing and unity.
To learn more about Refuge Egypt and its projects and how you can help, visit http://www.refuge-egypt.org/
The main purpose of this bazaar was for Refuge Egypt to raise awareness of the plight of refugees in Egypt.
Speakers throughout the day, introduced the work done by Refuge Egypt and presented ways everyone could help.
There was some delicious Ethiopian food and contrarily enough - Polish sausages :)
But, the event wasn't as well attended as last year. Last years event was held at the AUC and there were tons of students attending, even though it was on a Friday. This times turn out was quite dismal compared to that.
The number of stalls was consistent. Some refugees selling spices, their own artwork and woven baskets. What was really remarkable were the short entertainment pieces by the refugees and the refugee children.
It is disheartening,that most Cairenes and Cairo's temporary residents are unaware of the plight of these refugees. A problem of legitimate organisations like Refuge Egypt is contacting more people who can help them carry on their good work.
Over the past 20 years, Refuge Egypt has sought to assist and minister to the ever fluctuating refugee population through Medical Care; Emergency Assistance; Self-Reliance; Advocacy Education & Spiritual Ministries. It has been their emphasis to sustain and support refugees in the first 2 vulnerable and critical years of their arrival in Egypt. Overall they have recognized that women and children (often the ones who suffer the most) have been impacted significantly. Giving from the community has enabled this target group of individuals to have access to better healthcare and nutrition; reduced maternal mortality rate; better health awareness on HIV, TB, immunization and child feeding habits; improved income and ability to work and engage in small trade; group healing and unity.
To learn more about Refuge Egypt and its projects and how you can help, visit http://www.refuge-egypt.org/
Sufi Performance at Wikalat al Ghuri
The tannoura / sufi dervish performance has moved from the Citadel to the Wikalat al-Ghuri at Khan el Khalili.
Timings :
Its held twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The doors open at 8pm and the show starts at 8:30.
Directions :
Get off at Al Azhar mosque. Then turn your back to the main road, with the entrance to Al Azhar mosque on your left walk straight ahead till you reach the roadside restaurant at the dead end. Turn right and walk straight down. Cross the vegetable market and a smaller wikalat before you reach the Wikalat of al Ghuri.
Price :
The performance is free.
Regular entry into the wikalat for non Egyptians is about 10 or 15LE as far as I remember, but this is waived for the Sufi performance.
The performance is wonderful and even more fun if you can catch it during Ramadaan.
Read more on
tripadvisor.com
touregypt.net
Timings :
Its held twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The doors open at 8pm and the show starts at 8:30.
Directions :
Get off at Al Azhar mosque. Then turn your back to the main road, with the entrance to Al Azhar mosque on your left walk straight ahead till you reach the roadside restaurant at the dead end. Turn right and walk straight down. Cross the vegetable market and a smaller wikalat before you reach the Wikalat of al Ghuri.
Price :
The performance is free.
Regular entry into the wikalat for non Egyptians is about 10 or 15LE as far as I remember, but this is waived for the Sufi performance.
The performance is wonderful and even more fun if you can catch it during Ramadaan.
Read more on
tripadvisor.com
touregypt.net
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