(As printed in the Quarter 2/2005 issue of The Belly Dancer Magazine)
Sausan's Academy of Egyptian Dance
4-Day All Intensive Seminar * San Francisco, CA
By: Erna Woo
A few months ago I received an auspicious e-mail which said: "Learn to dance the way the Egyptian Greats danced in Egyptian cinema. Uncover the secret of what makes Egyptian dancers "look" Egyptian. Find out why it is so easy to "get" this concept yet so difficult for most dancers to execute. Go on to experience how to claim the stage like Taheya Karioka, express yourself like Samia Gamal, project like Na'eema Akef, embellish your dance with arms like Nagua Fouad, strut like Fifi Abdou, shimmy like Katie, enjoy your shoulder shimmies like Hala el Safy, prance like Suhair Zakhi, and more! Find out about their lives as well as the lives of little known Egyptian Greats like Nahed Sabri, Nabaweya Moustafa, Liz & Layn Gamal, Suzi Khairy and more! Learn about the great musicians and singers like Mohammad Abd el Wahab, Abdel Halim Hafez, Om Kolsum, Ahmad Adaweya, and others who composed the music, played, and/or sang these classic pieces for these Egyptian Greats. In a word, discover the "expression" of Egyptian dance."
My heart leapt for joy at just hearing these great names whose works I have admired for so many years. Sausan was going to teach this in a 4-Day Intensive Seminar and I definitely wanted to be there. One of my passions is working with the Egyptian cosmology and the Ancient Egyptian Healing techniques that come from an oral female tradition. It is a very specific body of work and I was very curious as to how much of it has been preserved in the Egyptian dance. I intuitively knew that there would be "treasures" unfolding for me at this seminar and the timing was so right.
Well, January 6 came and I embarked on my adventure to San Francisco like a first time belly dance student. It was a bit chilly, damp and foggy but my spirits were up! Sausan picked us up, Maizena from Denmark and me, and whisked us away to the fabulous Al-Masri Restaurant. The inside of the restaurant was decorated to feel and look like an Egyptian courtyard. Very cozy, personable, and colorful. We met some of Sausan's students, ate delicious morsels of Middle Eastern food, and got familiar with our schedules. She gave us each a very thick folder full of information and materials that comes with the course explaining that she really wanted us to "get it". Now, I am into resource handouts but this was a mini library of CD's, DVD's, biographies and lessons. I am very grateful to connect with someone like Sausan who is so generous with her resources.
My roommate, Alessandria, from Costa Rica arrived later but we managed to talk story even though we were quite exhausted from traveling. It was great to connect and learn about other dancers and their experiences. It was also comforting to know that I would have some company while I was there.
The next 4 days were filled with expressing Passion, Pain and Joy while learning the Egyptian Code using the Sausan Method. She covered in 4 days what she would normally teach in 12 months or more. One of the things that we did was to list all of the many sayings or words that we were taught, to describe a movement. Camel, ¾ shimmy, snake arms, etc. Then throughout the course she would cross them off when we learned the actual movement and how it was performed… I found this to be so enlightening because even in my many years of dance I was not satisfied with the names or the execution of these movements that was so commonly accepted. The authenticity in which this was presented and seeing the dance in the manner that it was intended really helped shift my paradigm around this ancient dance form.
Sausan has an abundant flow of energy and one can see why. When a dancer "gets it" NEPHIS, the specific accents of the movements with the music, the internal alignment of the undulations, the positioning and movements of the arms, the grounded shimmies, bridges, and the "AAHHHH" to name a few, one may experience a continuous flow of life giving energy throughout the body. This is one of the treasures that I had the pleasure of experiencing.
We were also treated to a lunch-lecture by Musa Hanhan a musician, composer who shared his love for his culture and music, giving us a lot of insight and information. I could have listened to him all day for his joy was so abundant. You can see him performing at Al-Masri on Friday and Saturdays.
Our Sunday lunch-lecture was given by Dr. Hatem El Sayed, PH. D. He shared his personal experiences and life stories which I found to be very fascinating. He also covered different composers and dancers, emphasizing their many accomplishments. What a wealth of information.
Our hosts had us immersed in as much of the culture as possible while we were there. Continental breakfast and lunches were served at the studio and dinners were at Al-Masri. The food was absolutely delicious and I chose to experience a different dish every night. Sausan's best students were showcased every evening, Thurday-Gabriela, Friday-Amany, and on Saturday- Samra. Watching the dancers perform was truly the icing on the cake for me. Fifi, the chef, even came out to dance for us, moving in such a natural rhythmic manner. Everyone was having such a great time and for awhile I imagined what it would be like to be in Egypt..
On Sunday our last evening, we were entertained with dances by the participants so Alessandria, Maizena, and Rachel performed for us, all of which we enjoyed very much. We also honored Sausan with a bouquet of flowers and with a heart felt thanks for her generous hospitality, her passion for Egyptian dance and her commitment to preserving it.
And I too came home with a rekindled passion , focus and appreciation for Egyptian belly dance and know that I had truly found many gems in those 4 days For those of you who would like to have an authentic Egyptian dance experience without going to Egypt, Sausan's 4 day intensive seminar is a must. These teachings bringing an authentic aspect of belly dance to the community. May we see it grow.
(c) Life Arts
