From Milan, Italy
Jamila Zaki and the Marvelous World of
the Zagharid Circle
By: Alessia Cardigliano for iShimmy.com
I enter the Zagharid Circle and Jamila Zaki asks me sit down in the hall. The atmosphere is very relaxing and comfortable. I can hear the music coming from the dancing room...it is very sweet and inviting…it embraces me like the intense fragrance of vanilla and I can already imagine the pyramids and fascinating women dancing in the dark, near the endless dunes of the Sahara desert. I would like to dance but I am in front of the most appreciated belly dancer in Italy and we immediately start our conversation.
Her beauty is not striking but it is very peculiar. Her black eyes seem to be as deep as the Red Sea and her very thick and curly hair recalls for me the majesty of the Victoria Falls.
The director of the Zagharid Circle considers herself to be a pioneer of this discipline in Italy, because when she started studying, Oriental dancing was not widespread in our country. She started dancing when she was only 20 in the middle 80’s. In that period she met an American teacher, Maude Aziza, (Nancy Hagensick), from Oregon who passed on to her this passion. Jamila attended her courses at the Kinesis Center in Milan for three years.
She thinks that her first teacher has had an important role in her own career because she let her understand the real meaning of belly dancing and the values of the female universe. Jamila tells me that this American woman was really special and succeeded in changing the common opinion many people had 20 years ago. As a matter of fact most of the people in Italy considered it only a seductive discipline. The work of this girl who came from far away contributed to overcome this prejudice.
In Jamila's opinion also the look of Maude Aziza was very charming, as a matter of fact she did not wear the classical costumes which are generally decorated with colored pearls and beads but she looked very “tribal”: her costumes were made with Indian and Indonesian fabrics and embellished with silver coins. And thanks to Maude, Jamila knew from an artistic point of view the style of the most famous belly dancers of that period such as Azza Sharif and Fifi Abdo.
Also Mahoumed Reda and Zaza Hassan have had an important role in Jamila's professional life because she appreciated the vision of belly dancing they had. From them, Jamila learned the authentic meaning of Egyptian dancing.
Afterwards she studied the Turkish style with Nesrine Topkapi and she improved her techniques by attending Ehladi Cheriffa's courses who taught her the splendid Maghrebinian dances. Jamila has traveled all her life both in order to study and to perform. She is very famous not only in Europe but also in Northern Africa and she often goes to New York.
During our conversation and interview the director of the Zagharid Circle points out that in her opinion in Western society women are often compelled to conform to parameters that they do not share. They often lose their femininity in order to be appreciated on the job. She tells me that a lot of women have lost their own roots and they live in disharmony. Belly dancing can represent a way to get the sweetness and the sensitiveness they need.
She further believes Oriental dancing lets them enter a completely different dimension; the world of Beauty. This discipline can open one's mind from a cultural point of view and even if at the moment to attend a course is considered to be very trendy. In Jamila's opinion every dancer should understand the real meaning of this magic world. She always tries to convey to her students this way of thinking by proposing the right course to each one and since the foundation of her troupe in 1993 Jamila has always tried to be “ against the stream”. That is why the Zagharid Circle is well-known throughout Italy.
As Jamila tells me, the Zagharid Circle cannot be considered a mere dancing school because it permits you to enter deeply into the Oriental world. As a matter of fact, one can also attend drum and Arabic language courses. Through this the pupils are allowed to immerse more completely in the Oriental lifestyle.
Moreover the school regularly hosts international teachers who, thanks to their experience, give a high level of contribution. For instance, last March Jamila invited Hassan Afifi for a workshop. Mr. Afifi has worked on more than 130 cinematographic productions and 18 theater shows and is a very famous choreographer in the belly dancing world.
2008 has been a very important year for Jamila's career and for her school. In February she performed at Teatro Le Erbe in Milan in the show “Shisha” which was a true success.
Her energy is never-ending and she has a lot of plans for the future; she is going to celebrate the first ten years at the current location of the Zagharid Circle (via Bergognone near Navigli) and new courses are starting soon. At the end of September there is going to be a lesson about the Beledi Style of the 70s and Jamila is teaching the use of cymbals during a workshop. Jamila's pupils appreciate her not only for her cleverness but also for the way she teaches. She gets them involved in the dance in a very special way.
I have personally attended her courses and can say there is no doubt that she is not a common teacher. As she tells me during the interview when she dances she really feels she is in a new dimension, without boundaries. It is a very peculiar sensation, which permits her to get across both to the public during the shows and to the students during lessons. She often smiles and she emits such a strong energy that everyone in the room can really perceive.
Attending a belly dancing course permits you to improve your coordination and your bloodstream and through lessons a student can also mold ones hips and belly.
Moreover the benefits are not merely physical. In fact a belly dancing course can really wake up our femininity and let every woman feel like a goddess.
Biography of the author:
Alessia Cardigliano was born in Taranto in 1977. In 2001 she got a degree in Political Sciences at Luiss University in Rome. She worked as a researcher at the Grobal Research and Group Reports in the field of Defense and Intelligence. Afterwards she contributed to the Italian magazines Analisi Difesa, Intelligence&Storia, Top Secret and Danzadance. She loves belly dancing and she has been attending Jamila's courses since 2006. alessia.cardigliano@libero.it
