Cultural Appropriation * Fusion or
Confusion Series, Article 2
Denise Enan – Canada’s Adopted
Egyptian
Written by: Hadia
Welcome to my second article in the
Fusion or Confusion Series, inspired by our panel discussion at MasRaqs Boston
September 2011. During our discussion, Karim Nagi had quite passionately stated
that we needed a more prominent VOICE from the native Arabic dancers in order
to approach some of the questions involved in the subject of the cultural
appropriation of Belly Dance from a more balanced perspective. In this article
I would like to present the very unassuming, sweet and gentle voice of Denise
Enan, one of my most respected Egyptian teachers and artists with a huge wealth
of knowledge of and love for all that is Egyptian Raqs Sharqi, Baladi and Shaabi.
For those of you who have not yet
had the pleasure to meet, see or study with Denise, you are in for a very big
treat and in the meantime, I offer you this brief introduction.
Denise was born in Egypt to a
French mother and Egyptian father, who had met and later married in the Alsace
Lorraine area of France while her father was there to get his degree in pharmacy.
Although Denise’s mother never danced, she LOVED to watch dance. Because Denise
was such a shy young girl, her mother enrolled her in classical ballet from the
age of four. At age 14, two of Denise’s ballet classmates Amira (of Pharonics
costumes) and her sister Nabila, encouraged Denise to audition with them for
the National Folklore Troupe of Egypt (Firqa Kaoumiya) after seeing an ad in
the newspaper. All three gifted and well-trained dancers were immediately
invited to join the company, which had already embarked upon a three-year
selection, formation and rehearsal period including daily ballet classes from
members of the Bolshoi Ballet. The female students in the troupe were also taught
Oriental Dance by Saneya Shawki, one of the best professional dancers from the
famous Mohamed Ali quarters in Cairo.
Denise quickly rose to become a
principal dancer with the Kaoumiya, as well as being responsible for teaching
the troupe repertoire to new members. Among her students are such prestigious
names as; Faten Salama, Freiz Sayed and Lubna Imam, among countless others. In
addition to teaching the Kamoueiya repertoire to the main troupe, she also
trained many new students in the Folkloric Institute of Egypt. Denise and her
husband Ahmed, who was also a principle dancer in the National Troupe, began
establishing dance groups in four different regions in Egypt and in 1971 won
first prize at the television National Competition in folkloric dance.
Denise and Ahmed have danced for
many celebrities around the world including presidents, emperors, and kings.
She has also performed in many international festivals throughout Europe, Asia,
Africa and the Middle East.
When I asked her to tell me how
life was for her and Ahmed during this truly golden time in Egypt, she glowed
and said, “This time was so wonderful and magic, dancing, performing and
touring everywhere together. We were also very lucky to be able to leave our
kids with my family so that we could travel and tour together with no worries!”
In 1975, after 14 years of dancing
with the National Folkloric Troupe, Denise and her family moved to Canada.
Wasting no time, she began passing on her knowledge and experience of dance and
choreography by teaching classes and seminars across Canada. Denise has
traveled the world over several times as an acclaimed performer and workshop
instructor. She has gathered many devoted students that she has groomed and
trained to become professional dancers.
In 1978, Denise and Ahmed formed
the Enan
Egyptian Troupe with many of Denise’s most devoted students. The troupe
is a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve, enrich and promote
Egyptian folkloric dance and oriental dance as an integral part of the Canadian
mosaic, and is dedicated to serving as a resource for the Egyptian and
Middle-Eastern communities in Canada. They
have performed all over Canada in many multicultural festivals and social
events including charitable fundraisers and private functions.
The Enan Egyptian Troupe is
recognized as a cultural ambassador of Egypt, including popular styles,
vanishing traditional dances and contemporary Oriental dance. The Troupe
maintains contact with the purity of traditional musical roots while exploring
new artistic possibilities.
Interview with Denise Enan, by
Hadia
Hadia: “As both you and Ahmed are indeed cultural
ambassadors of Egyptian dance, and have been for over 40 years, what kind of
changes have you seen in the world of “belly dance” during the past 10 years,
particularly with respect to its explosive growth throughout almost every
country in the world?”
Denise: “Oh this is a very big question.
Well, first I think that it is great to see that there are now so many people interested
in learning oriental dance all over the world. I believe that this rising popularity
is very positive in many ways, especially the fact that people from other
countries want to learn our dance and culture. I also see many foreigners who
seem to love this dance very much and I think have worked so hard to learn it
and to present it so well. Actually, I’m very, very impressed with the number
of people in different countries who really love this dancing and are very
beautiful, beautiful dancers. And even some who are less talented are still
trying it and enjoying it. This is the most important thing; to enjoy it and to
feel good inside yourself, whatever your age, your size, your shape.
It is a wonderful opportunity to
bring our culture to the world. I am so very proud when I see my students and
troupe members working so hard and to represent authentic Egyptian dance in
their performances. It makes me so happy
that they love our culture and art this much.”
Hadia: “I know that so many foreigners
love, perform and teach oriental (belly) dance, but do you see much interest in
folklore these days?”
Denise: “This is interesting, because even
though our troupe focuses very much on Egyptian folklore, I don’t see so many
foreigners doing folklore or baladi. On
the other hand, I did notice many dancers performing what they call “folklore”,
often with the correct costuming and music, when they are actually doing
American belly dance movements. Although their dancing is very lovely, it does
not capture the right feeling or idea of the dance.”
Hadia:
” Why do you think this is?“
Denise: “Oh, maybe this is because
oriental (belly) dance is a newer and more modern kind of Egyptian dance, and that
it was so much influenced by the West when it began, so it must be easier for
foreign dancers to understand and copy the movements. But, the older original shaabi (folklore) and
baladi styles are maybe trickier because they are not really about lots of
different steps and movements and not about choreography at all, but more about
feeling and improvising and playing with the music. I think that when you don’t
grow up in the culture, these things take a long time to absorb, I think and
are not really something that they can learn in workshops or with videos or a
few sessions of classes.”
Hadia: “This is a very important point, I
feel. So, then thinking about understanding Egyptian/Arabic culture and its
importance in the dance, what do you think of American Tribal Dance?”
Denise: “When I first heard about it, I was
very excited and immediately wanted to know from what tribe(s) and regions that
the dances were from. We have many different tribes with many different kinds
of dance and this is so interesting. I actually didn’t understand what kind of
dance(s) they were doing, so it was confusing. When they say that they are
doing and using movements from many different dances, I found that it takes
away from the original forms that they try to use (or fuse) – and doesn’t give
the idea or feeling of them.”
Hadia: “Have you noticed any changes in
the content and atmosphere of the dance classes and workshops that you teach
now compared to 10 or 15 years ago?”
Denise: “Well, my own classes are more
relaxed and less demanding now. I don’t push them so much like I used to do in
the earlier days. Most of the students are coming here just to have fun and to
enjoy learning and dancing together. Most are not serious about being
professional dancers now. On the other hand, in the workshops, the students
have become more demanding and want specific things and a lot of content and
choreographies. I think that this might be because many of them are dancing
professionally and there is so much competition for them for performing and
teaching they want so much from any of the workshops that they decide to
attend.”
Hadia: “I know that you and Ahmed and
many of your troupe dancers go back to Egypt regularly. Have you noticed many
changes there also?”
Denise: “Yes we have taken several tour
groups over to Egypt and although you can still find areas where the people are
still dancing the old folklore styles, there are some very big differences in
cities, especially with the professional Egyptian dancers. Some have kept the
old ways, feminine soft and graceful; the feeling and style, especially the
spontaneity of reacting to the wonderful Egyptian orchestras. But I have also seen
many of them changing the way they dance by imitating Americans, counting their
choreographies. There have been some interesting new developments but also a
loss of the heart or the essence of the dance. Some even don’t do anything now,
just walk around and count on their figure and their looks, or that they have
made a big name for themselves.
There is also a totally different
climate in Egypt now. The time that we were with Koumaiya was a very open,
progressive time, with so much happening in music and dance, lots of work, lots
of opportunity and creativity. People were very comfortable with the west. You
could find oriental and folkloric dance presented nightly in all of the big
hotels and clubs. Also dancers and
orchestras were hired for every wedding. Now, because of the growing
fundamentalism, which disapproves of dance, there are almost no dancers even for
weddings, just men drumming and singing.
This has really changed, I can say almost stopped the dance culture in
Egypt. There are mostly only foreigners dancing there now.”
Hadia:
“Hmmm. Thinking back about what Karim stated about needing to hear the
Arab Voice during any balanced panel discussion about cultural appropriation,
this growth in fundamentalism IS a very complicated situation indeed. Although
men do perform folkloric dance and some even teach oriental, it is a woman’s
dance, in fact the most feminine of all dances. So, what we need is the Female
Arabic Voice and that, unfortunately has been silenced by fundamentalism. So,
where do we go from here?”
Denise: “Well, like I was saying earlier
about the growing popularity of oriental dance all over the world, I am very
happy to know that Egyptian dance can still keep alive and strong and growing
because the teachers can bring the dance to students all over the world, even
if it not the climate to do that in Egypt now.” This is really wonderful
because it is also not just Egyptian or Arabic teachers that can continue to
share our traditions, but also some foreigners who have spent so much time learning
about our dance and culture. Teachers like yourself, Sahra Saeeda, Cassandra
have really dedicated so much of their lives to our dance. . This is why I have
invited you all to come to teach workshops to my students in my studio. And
Hadia, I also really love to see how you have found your very interesting and
different way, how to teach real Egyptian dance to other non-Egyptian/Arabic
students. This is really wonderful!”
Final Comments
Denise and I will be starting to
teach workshops together in the next few months and the first 2 bookings are
May 5th to 7th, in Calgary (followed by 3 more days of my intensive
professional training on May 8th to 11th) and Toronto which is planned for late
September/October (dates to be confirmed soon).
We are also collaborating with
Jalilah Zamora for our second annual Summer Intensive Training at Denise’s
“Oasis Studio” in Gatineau, Quebec (Ottawa) which is scheduled for August, 2012.
For more details on this event, click on this link http://baladi.ca/SummerWorkshop-AtelierEstival
I also invite you to visit www.hadia.com, where you can join my Facebook
page, as well a sign up for my occasional newsletters and updates for my
upcoming events, including the first of a very wonderful collaboration with our
wonderful “Real Egyptian Super Star”.
Thanks so much for reading and I
look forward to hearing from you soon.
Xoxo, Hadia
