Birthday Blog

Today is my birthday. In fact, it’s my third consecutive birthday in Cairo.  And yet, if you ask me where home is, I’ll probably tell you the US.  

I’m not sure how many years you have to spend in a place before you consider it home, but the truth is, Cairo is as much my home as New York. I’ve been living and working here for almost three years now. I’m fluent in Arabic. I have sweat rivers that rival the Nile. I have made friends, enemies, and relationships to last a lifetime. I’ve laughed and made others laugh, cried and made others cry, lied and made others lie. I’ve helped people and been helped, fought and been fought, loved and been loved. I’ve been fooled, cheated, robbed and evicted. I’ve been supported and cheered on. I’ve had fits of laughter and fits of rage. I’ve almost been arrested, deported, and killed on several occasions. I’ve even experienced a revolution. In short, I’ve lived my life here, and I have a few grey hairs to show for it. If none of this makes a place your home, I don’t know what does. 

Showdown at the Semiramis Hotel

You know that hackneyed ‘everything happens for a reason’ cliché that people like to say when misfortune knocks at your door? Well, it’s true. At the time, I probably would have pelted anyone who told me that there was some larger esoteric reason for being kicked out of the Semiramis Hotel. In hindsight, however, I now understand why, in the larger scheme of things, this was a blessing in disguise.

The circumstances of my being contracted and de-contracted at the Semiramis were rather odd.  One typical Cairo evening, I found myself sitting in the Semiramis’ disco with a dancer friend and the two managers of the nightclub where Dina performs every week. Embarrassingly enough, it took me a whole hour to realize that the man sitting across from me conversing with me was the big shot manager who hires talent at the Semiramis. In my defense, I wasn’t told who this man was. My dancer friend simply asked me to accompany her to a party with some artists at the Semiramis disco, and “oh I’m auditioning here tomorrow.”  

The $6.78 CondunDRUM

The $6.78 CondunDRUM

After six months of changing drummers almost as frequently as I change my underwear, I finally found the perfect drummer to join my band. He’s skilled, powerful, properly translates my moves, and isn’t lazy or greedy. He’s everything I’ve been looking for in a drummer, and I couldn’t be happier. But, as always, there’s a problem. The other members of the band don’t like him. They say he’s arrogant and makes funny faces and gestures at them. And they want him out.

Do you see what I’m up against? Funny faces? I feel like I’m in kindergarten here.

Dealing with musicians is one of the most challenging aspects of my job. Technically, the band leader handles them for me because in Egypt, it’s not “prestigious” for a dancer to talk to her musicians (and because I have little patience for childish antics). Nevertheless, I still feel the effects of their inflated egos, childishness, and greed. And last night, it really bothered me. We were on stage, about to close the show with a drum solo, when all of a sudden, the band stopped playing. They left me hanging in front of my audience with no music to dance to. I turned around to see what the problem was, only to find them arguing with the drummer!

Finding Work in Cairo -- The Bare Naked Truth

For many belly dancers around the world, dancing in Cairo is the dream of a lifetime. Whether it’s the opportunity to perform every night to a live orchestra or the chance to earn recognition in the international belly dance community, belly dancing in Cairo brings hundreds of foreign women to Egypt each year. Some sell their homes, life possessions, and leave loved ones behind. Most go home disappointed and disillusioned, while others remain in Cairo for years hoping their dream will one day come true.

Though we all fantasize about it, belly dancing in Cairo is not for everyone. It takes a certain type of woman—physically, emotionally and intellectually—to succeed here as a dancer. And it’s not always the woman who wants it. As one dancer put it, Cairo picks you. You don’t pick Cairo. From what I’ve seen, this seems to be true. With that in mind, I put together a realistic guide to finding work in Cairo that examines the attributes of those dancers most likely to succeed. Please keep in mind that the following comments are based on my personal observations over the past two and a half years.

Dancing Deportation Drama

My Run-In with the Egyptian “Belly Dance Police”

 

At the time it was happening, it wasn’t funny, but now I look back on the day I almost got deported and laugh. I mean, who would have thought that belly dancing on a Nile cruise could land you in jail and get you kicked out of Egypt?  Do Egyptian authorities really have nothing better to do than arrest foreign belly dancers? 

It happened like this. After auditioning on the Nile Memphis last August, the management scheduled me to perform five nights a week (I negotiated hard to get two days off!) Sometimes I performed two shows a night, sometimes six. It all depended on how many reservations and sails the boat had. After doing this regularly for two months, one of the Egyptian belly dancers who previously worked there full-time grew resentful that she was now only dancing on my days off. But instead of coming to the boat to check out her competition and understand why she had been replaced, she tried to terminate my dance career. With me gone, she figured she would reclaim her position on the boat. So she called what I like to refer to as the belly dance police (mosannafaat in Arabic), and reported me for dancing without working papers.

"Les danseuses du Caire" ­ - “The Belly Dancers of Cairo”

French TV channel TF1’s 2011 Documentary on the Cairo Belly Dance World

A few months ago, I had the privilege of being filmed for a French documentary on belly dancing in Cairo. Three French journalists from French TF1 channel spent an entire day shadowing me from the minute I woke up (literally), to the minute I finished my last performance on the Nile Memphis. Their goal was to document a typical day in the life of a Cairo belly dancer. They also shadowed Brazilian dancer Sorayya Zayed; an unknown Egyptian cabaret dancer; and famous costume designer Sahar Okasha.

Being shadowed was nothing but fun and laughs from start to finish.  I am grateful to French belly dancer Maya Sarsa of Cairo for recommending me for this project.  http://www.youtube.com/user/mayasarsa

FINALLY!

Good News!!! Egyptian Paperwork Completed!

I woke up this afternoon to good news. The Egyptian government approved my work papers.  Well, whatever remains of the government. This means I am now legally authorized to work as a belly dancer in Cairo. Finally! It only took, oh, two and half years and a revolution. Actually, I was contracted to dance at the Semiramis Hotel last year, but that ended sooner than it started (for reasons I’ll write about in my next post). A week after that drama, I passed an audition at the Memphis Nile Cruise. Though intent on hiring me, the boat management lacked the requisite government license to hire foreign (i.e. non Egyptian) dancers. The management promptly apply for one, after which it contracted me to perform belly dance shows at their establishment seven nights a week. Very exciting stuff, but processing the paperwork took much longer than it should have.

This is why…