Dienstag, 29. Dezember 2015

Jamileh - Famous Persian Belly Dancer

Jamileh

Famous Persian Belly Dancer

Jamileh dancing 'Baba Karam' for Aristoteles Onassis

Fatemeh Sadeghi, who was mostly known by her stage name Jamileh, was a Persian professional dancer and actress. She was born in 1946 in Tehran.

She is also considered as the most famous dancer of the country. Jamileh started her career by playing in the movie Ayar. Before entering the world of acting, she was a professional actress, she then continued professional dance in cabarets and bars.

She had also performed in different TV shows, series and movies. After the revolution, she left the country forever, she then immigrated to the USA.

Source: Lido Cabaret in Tehran

Baba Karam Dance by Jamileh

Baba Karam, a chain dance, derived from a Sufi story whereby a servant at the court of the king falls in love with one of the harem girls and sings this song out of grief of not being able to be with her, was traditionally featuring male dancers but nowadays also performed by women.

Video: Baba Karam Dance by Jamileh

Jamileh Dancing in Dokhtare Zalem Bala

Vocal: Ramesh

Video: Jamileh Dancing in Dokhtare Zalem Bala

Video: Jamileh - Arabic Belly Dance (Baladi Dance)

Video: Jamileh - Arabic Belly Dance (Hezaro Yek Shab)

Video: Jamileh - Bazme Khayam Dance

Frauengeschichte

Gemälde: Leona Wood (1921 - 2008)

Es war ein heißer, schwüler Tag. Eine frisch verheiratete Frau saß auf dem Sofa und trank Eistee mit ihrer Mutter, die gerade bei ihr zu Besuch war. Und wie die beiden so über das Leben, die Ehe, über die Pflichten im Leben und Verantwortung des Erwachsenseins sprachen, schwenkte die Mutter nachdenklich die Eiswürfel in ihrem Glas hin und her und schaute ihrer Tochter gerade und ernst in die Augen: „Vergiss nie deine Schwestern“, so lautete ihr Ratschlag, während sie in ihrem Glas die Teeblätter umrührte, so dass sie auf den Boden des Glases sanken. „Sie werden immer wichtiger, je älter du wirst. Wie sehr du auch deinen Mann liebst, egal, wie wichtig dir einmal deine Kinder sein werden, du wirst immer Schwestern brauchen. Unternimm auch jetzt schon immer wieder mal etwas oder verreise zusammen mit ihnen.“
„Denk daran, dass mit dem Wort `Schwestern´ ALLE Frauen gemeint sind ... Deine Freundinnen, deine Töchter und auch all die anderen Frauen, mit denen du verwandt bist. Du wirst andere Frauen brauchen. Denn Frauen brauchen einander zu allen Zeiten.“
„Welch seltsamen Rat sie mir da gibt!“, dachte die junge Frau bei sich. „Habe ich nicht gerade erst geheiratet? Schließlich befinde ich mich doch nun in der Welt der Paare! Himmel, ich bin nun doch eine verheiratete Frau, erwachsen! Da wird doch mein Mann und die Familie, die wir gründen werden, wohl ausreichen, um mein Leben sinnvoll zu machen!“
Aber sie beachtete trotz allem den Rat ihrer Mutter, pflegte den Kontakt zu ihren Schwestern und schloss auch jedes Jahr neue Freundschaften. Rasch vergingen die Jahre, eines nach dem anderen, und allmählich begann sie zu verstehen, dass ihre Mutter absolut keinen Unsinn geredet hatte. Und während die Zeit die Frauen verändert und die Geheimnisse der Natur auf sie wirken, bleiben Schwestern in ihrem Leben eine wichtige Stütze.
Nach den über 50 Jahren, die ich nun schon auf der Welt bin, sehe ich es KURZ GESAGT so:
Die Zeit vergeht. Das Leben nimmt seinen Lauf. Entfernungen trennen uns voneinander. Kinder werden erwachsen. Jobs kommen und gehen. Liebe wächst und vergeht wieder. Männer tun nicht, was sie tun sollten. Herzen brechen. Eltern sterben. Kollegen denken nicht mehr daran, dass man bei ihnen noch etwas gut hat. Karrieren gehen zu Ende. Jedoch ... Schwestern sind immer da, egal wie viel Zeit und wie viele Kilometer uns von ihnen trennen. Eine Freundin ist nie so weit weg, dass sie nicht für dich da sein könnte.
Wenn du durch einen jener einsamen Abgründe hindurch musst, und zwar ganz alleine, dann stehen Frauen deines Lebens oben am Rande des Abgrundes und feuern dich an und ermuntern dich, beten für dich, ziehen für dich, setzen sich für dich ein und erwarten dich mit offenen Armen am Ausgang des Abgrundes.
Manchmal sind sie sogar bereit, die Regeln zu brechen und neben dir her zugehen … oder zu dir zu eilen um dich aus dem Abgrund herauszuholen. Freundinnen, Töchter, Enkelinnen, Schwiegertöchter, Schwestern, Schwägerinnen, Mütter, Großmütter, Tanten, Nichten, Kusinen und andere weibliche Familienmitglieder, sie alle machen unser Leben glücklicher!
Die Welt würde anders aussehen, wenn es die Frauen nicht gäbe – und auch ich wäre ohne sie nicht die gleiche! Wenn man anfängt, sich in dieses Abenteuer namens Frausein zu stürzen, hat man keinen blassen Schimmer davon, welche unglaublichen Freuden oder auch Leiden einen erwarten. Auch weiß man nicht, wie sehr Frauen einander brauchen.
Und wir brauchen einander immer noch – jeden Tag aufs Neue. Leite diesen Text weiter an alle Frauen, die dazu beigetragen haben, deinem Leben Sinn zu geben. (Verfasserin unbekannt!)

Vielen Dank an meine liebe Seelenschwester Bea Hayat Bär

Montag, 28. Dezember 2015

Leona Wood (1921 - 2008)

Leona Wood - Los Angeles Music Center, late 1960s

source: Habibi magazine

The Best of Habibi: Leona Wood - From the Kamarinskaya to the Danse du Ventre by Susan Marshall

Leona Wood performing a Tadjik dance. Photo: Philip Harland 1965

Leona Wood (May 21, 1921 – February 7, 2008) was a 20th-century American painter, dancer, writer and co-founder of the Aman International Folk Ensemble. Her early paintings were considered a part of the Surrealism school.

Leona Wood - the Painter

Wood's paintings were exhibited in the Lane Galleries in Westwood, California for over a quarter of a century. Although she stopped showing shortly after her husband’s death in 1980, she continued to paint even more prolifically. During this time, she produced paintings on a wide range of themes, including Venetian maskers and mythological scenes.

watch her artwork:

http://www.leonawood.com/

'Gossip', 1983
oil on fine paper
Leona Wood

Leona Wood - the Dancer

Aman Folk Ensemble in Ouled Nail dance from Algeria. Front row: left, Ronda Berkeley, and right, Michelle Gerard, c. 1977.

Leona was born on May 21, 1921 in Seattle. As a child, she studied ballet and also learned Caucasian folk dances.

Source: AMAN International Folk Ensemble

In the 1960s, the Harlands were active in the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, where Philip Harland (Leona Wood`s husband) was teaching drumming. When Harland began playing at Middle Eastern venues, Wood learned Middle Eastern dance in order to accompany him. Before long, the Harlands formed Friends of Arabic Music, a music and dance group, and they became a feature in the Westwood folk dance world.

The Harlands' group often performed with a recreational group called the Village Dancers, led by Tony Shay. He found her to be a "mesmerizing, spectacular performer" and urged her to join forces. In 1965, they co-founded the Aman International Folk Ensemble. Aman was the first local dance company to be presented at the Los Angeles Music Center. Los Angeles Times music and dance critic Martin Bernheimer called Aman "one of the finest ethnic companies anywhere. Repeat: anywhere."

In 1978, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra engaged Aman to dance to their performances of several compositions based on folk themes, and in 1979, the company made its debut in New York.

Inspired by her involvement with costume design for the company, Wood began painting Middle Eastern dancers and their milieu in the style of 19th century Orientalist painters.

Wood taught courses on Middle Eastern dance in a cultural context at UCLA extension, and continued to participate in UCLA's Department of Ethnomusicology for many years. She wrote numerous articles on Middle Eastern and other forms of dance. These articles appeared in scholarly publications, magazines and on record and CD covers.

Source: Leona Wood - Biography - Wikipedia

VIDEOS:

AMAN -- AZERBAIDJAN

The Canopy Dance from Azerbaidjan is performed by the Aman Folk Ensemble. This number was choreographed by Leona Wood.

AMAN -- INDIAN

Aman Folk Ensemble presents two dances from India, choreographed by Leona Wood.

Sonntag, 27. Dezember 2015

The History of Shaabi Music

Randa Kamel

The History of Shaabi Music
© Amina Goodyear

In the 1970's after the introduction and popularization of cassette tape recorders and their accompanying boom boxes, musicians and singers all over the world were able to sidestep the corporate world and self-produce and self-promote. There were several movements throughout the world that seemed to simultaneously create music in the genre called "cassette culture". Most notably this type of music was evident in England and the U.S. with punk music, in Jamaica with Reggae, in Algeria with Rai and in Egypt with Shaabi music. The literal origin of the word Shaabi (Sha’bi) in Egyptian Arabic is "of the common people". Here we will refer to it as music created by working class people, mainly of the younger generation.
Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt's president who gave Egypt back to the Egyptians died in 1970 and some of his nationalism died too.The policies of the government that followed opened the doors to the West. The working class people (Shaabi) with their rural roots were finally able to enjoy a little economic relief. Thanks to the newly oil rich Gulf Arabs hiring Egyptians and thanks to their tourism in Egypt, money flowed enough to make owning cassette players and boom boxes a staple in their homes. But in the 1970's Egypt also lost three of it's beloved singers - Farid al Atrache, Om Kalthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez. All this marked the end of Egypt's Golden Age and the era of pure love, unattainable love and repressed sexuality. It was time to move from fantasy and dreams to reality. The people needed to move on and were ready to declare war against the monied society and its conservative codes, the government, politics, corruption and just the general state of affairs in their miserable lives. True, there was a little more money flowing, but only enough to let them know that there really wasn't enough. With the readily available cassettes - commercially made, homemade and bootlegged - the Shaabi people were able to sustain a voice and it was no longer ruled by that Egyptian monopoly, RCA, the so-called " voice of the people".
The first well known Shaabi singer is undeniably Ahmed Adaweya. I like to call him the godfather of Shaabi music. He used his voice to sing songs of protest to various social injustices and veiled commentaries on the government and its policies and the cassettes he made spread the word. He was born in the mid 1940's in a working class (Shaabi) "hood" (harah) in the outskirts of Maadi, a district in the southern part of Cairo. He eventually moved to Mohamed Ali Street (also known as Shariaa al Fann -Street of the Artists) where he changed careers and gave up plumbing to work as a waiter in a café. There he was able to present folk songs and his popular mawaweel (pl. of mawwal or vocal improvisations, usually heart-wrenching). By the end of the 1960’s he went from singing at mulids (religious festivals) and street weddings to high-class weddings in hotels. In the early 1970s he was singing regularly in the clubs on Shariaa al Haram (Pyramids Road) and his popularity and his new sound sold millions of cassettes. With his baladi roots, his shisha smokers' raspy voice, his memorable mawal and sometimes satirical lyrics, his combination of modern and traditional instruments, and just his general gruffness and way of life, he provided a template for the Shaabi singers who followed him.
Shaabi music is the sound and voice of the working class people. Many of these people are first and second generation from the countryside and they brought their baladi sounds with them to the city. They combined the Egyptian folk music and traditional instruments with the urban classic or art music and modern western instruments. Although it may seem that there is disregard for the traditional and cultural in their songs, quite the opposite is true. Their music is actually more versed in the Egyptian vernacular than the music and songs of the upper class modernized and westernized Egyptians. (Our beloved Mohamed Abdel Wahab's music was quite influenced by European and Russian composers. His music probably gave permission for others to follow along the same vein. Some of Farid al Atrache's songs are good examples.)
The singer's voice, besides being emotional almost to the point of tears, quite often has a low, raw and raspy almost gruff edge. The singer may begin many of the songs with a plaintive mawal. This vocal improvisation like much of the mawaweel of traditional Egyptian songs may sing of love, but often will be couched with references of disdain for the government, corruption and the establishment and other social issues.The mawal usually does not have a rhythm, but it may be accompanied or answered by the traditional nai, or the modern accordion, saxophone or keyboard.The mawal tells of the beliefs and feelings of the singer and sets the emotional stage for the actual song. Ahmed Adaweya, Hasan al Asmar and Shaaban were known for their mawaweel (pl) and many times their mawal would be the song. Following the mawal and preceding the actual song and melody is usually a fast upbeat tempo (such as maqsoum saeria- double time maqsoum) played by the tabla.The song, short and fast, can sometimes be shorter than the mawal and can broach many subjects. The lyrics are usually simple, contain slang or street talk and may complain of many things such as the use or non-use of drugs and alcohol, poverty, work and money, love and marriage, food (which is usually used as a metaphor for sex) and just the general hopelessness of living and life in general. More recently the state of economy has brought about even more depression and many of the songs also appeal to a greater power.
These songs, used as a popular form of resistance, using humor, irreverence and street talk to mask the true meanings, are often censored in the governmental supported media. Through the cassette culture cottage industry, they are passed on from person to kiosk, to taxi drivers and microbuses, and on to the general popular public. More recently Shaabi styled artists such as Hakim and Saad have been "discovered" and their music, although sometimes censored locally, has nevertheless been promoted worlwide as the music of the youth "in-crowd" or the "hood" - music like hip hop and reggae - slightly bad, so it's really in.The cassettes are a cheap and easy way to distribute the music. Even the stars such as Hakim and Saad don't seem to object to their music being bootlegged because the sales and thus, their popularity, can eventually lead to big gigs in large venues - and this translates to big money.
Another newer method of passing on the Shaabi music has been through the more modern tools that are virtually accessible to all. This is the mobile phone and the internet. In the late 1900's the saying was "telephone, telegraph, tell an Arab". Now in the 21st century that funny little joke is a reality as the mobile and the internet indeed quickly spread the lyrical word.
Also there is a slew of new Shaabi musicians using the nomenclature DJ Mulid and DJ Sufi. They hang out at mulids (religious festivals) and remix songs for the youth to dance to. Many of these Shaabi songs latch onto the rising conservatism of the times.The songs of love and money and the lack of both, seem to focus more on social injustice, poverty and giving up drugs and alcohol.The melodies and remixes can be hypnotic and trance-like (as in a dhikr -repetitious invocations) and often invoke the aid of a higher being.This new music is quite popular in Shaabi weddings as the repetitive rhythms and lyrics pull the audience in and are quite danceable.
This modern urban musical style with its rural roots combines a very eclectic range of instruments from the most classic and traditional such as the riq, cymbals, large and small (tura and sagat), the nai and the kanoun to the western violins, accordion, saxophone, trumpet, electric keyboard and now the digital sounds of the computer.
Since the turn of the 20th century Mohamed Ali Street was the main Shaabi center of these urbanized baladi artists - artists who had their roots in the country. Today, thanks or no thanks to the gentrification of the historic parts of Cairo and the economic neccessities to move to the outskirts of Cairo such as to Feisal Street and Pyramids Road (southeast towards the pyramids and Giza), the new main Shaabi center for the baladi artists - the musicians and singers - is the mobile and the internet. The Shaabi neighborhoods are now linked - almost as in a virtual Shaabi center.

Video: اغنية حكيم حلاوة روح - كاملة - من فيلم حلاوة روح - هيفاء وهبي

Youtube Playlist: Popular Shaabi & Belly dance videos

I am NOT the author. I just collect and share bellydance knowledge.

Dienstag, 22. Dezember 2015

Jamila Salimpour

Jamila Salimpour was born in New York in 1926.

Jamila Salimpour with snake, Rennaisance Faire, 1969

Jamila 1967

Jamila Salimpour is the originator of tribal belly dance in America, and has been influential in belly dance for over 50 years. She is also the first one to solidify a format of terminology in belly dance still used today. Her format is taught and applied to dancers’ movements worldwide.

The creation of the legendary dance troupe Bal-Anat evolved in 1968, when the opportunity to perform in an outdoor theme festival, The Renaissance Pleasure Faire, challenged Jamila Salimpour, to create a variety show which one might see at an Arabian Festival or Souk.

From being a member of Ringling Brothers Circus in 1942, Jamila implemented that format in creating Bal Anat. As a belly dancer, Jamila Salimpour worked with many dancers including Algerian water glass dancers, Tunisian pot dancers, Male Tray dancers, magicians, and presented many varieties of entertainment. The Sword dance, Mask dance, and Snake dance were seen for the first time in Bal Anat. The resulting show became a show featuring tribal dances from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The show inspired a whole generation of American Belly Dancers, giving way to the rise in popularity of the Tribal Belly Dance genre.

Source: http://www.salimpourschool.com/legacy/jamila/

Video: Jamila Salimpour Bellydancing History

Read Jamila`s biography:

Shaping a Legacy: A New Generation in the Old Tradition by Shareen El Safy

Jamila Salimpour in her beautiful Assuit

Jamila Salimpour performing with finger cymbals. Be sure to take a look into her history of finger cymbals.

A very, very rare clip of Jamila performing. Clip features Jamila and Suhaila at a 1977 workshop show in the Northwest United States (either Portland or Seattle). The performance clip has two sections: 1) Sallem Alley and 2) Atchan Ya Sabaya (both from Dances for Festive Nights).

Video: Jamila & Suhaila Salimpour 1977 (Duet)

An improvised finger cymbal duet between Jamila Salimpour and Suhaila Salimpour at Rakkasah West 2005.

Video: Jamila & Suhaila Salimpour Finger Cymbal Duet, Rakkasah West 2005

From Many Tribes

The Origins of Bal Anat

The Best of Habibi: From Many Tribes The Origins of Bal Anat by Jamila Salimpour

The origins of 'Bal Anat', the troupe that laid the groundwork for American Tribal Style belly dance (by Jamila Salimpour)
Bal Anat including beginning second from left: Lisa, Aida, Galya, Meta and Feiruza.

Video: Bal Anat Documentary 1970/1972

Video: Bal Anat Studio Performance early 1970s

Montag, 21. Dezember 2015

The newest work of Louis Markoya:
Hyperrealist Painting of Abstract Thought_ Oil on canvas

motion effects by George RedHawk
(google.com/+DarkAngel0ne)

DIE SEELE

~ Lord Byron

Wenn Nacht begräbt des Staubes Schmerzen,
Wohin wird, ach die Seele fliehn?
Sie stirbt nicht - aus erloschnem Herzen
Muss sie zu anderen Reichen ziehn.
Wird sie entkörpert dann auf Sternen
Und Schritt um Schritt zum Himmel gehn?
Wird sie sogleich des Weltalls Fernen,
Ein lebend Aug´entschleiert sehn?
Unendlich, ewig, nie verwesend,
Allsehend aber unsichtbar,
Das Buch der Erd´und Himmel lesend,
Schaut sie im Geist, was ist und war;
Die schwächste Spur aus grauen Jahren;
Die im Gedächtnis dämmern mag,
Das Bild der Dinge, welche waren,
Steht wieder da wie heller Tag.
Zurück ins gärende Gewimmel
Des Chaos taucht sie, und hinauf
Bis zur Geburt der letzten Himmel
Sucht sie der Dinge grossen Lauf.
Durch künft´ges Werden und Verderben
Umspannt ihr Blick den Flug der Zeit,
Ob Sonn´erlischt und Welten sterben
Reglos in seiner Ewigkeit.
Hoch über Lieb´und Hass und Trauer
Lebt sie in reiner, tiefer Ruh´;
Äonen fliehn wie Jahresdauer,
Und Erdenjahre wie ein Nu.
Weit, weiter schwebet ohne Schwinge,
Ein ew´ger namenloser Geist,
durchs All und übers All der Dinge,
Und weiss nicht mehr, was Sterben heisst.

Die Smaragdtafeln von Thoth

https://pravdatvcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/smaragdtafeln.pdf

http://www.pravda-tv.com/2012/12/die-smaragdtafeln-von-thoth-dem-atlanter-videos/

Samstag, 19. Dezember 2015

Freitag, 18. Dezember 2015

Meine Links

MEINE SEITEN

Gmail - Inbox

Oskar Alfred BLETH & Ida Emilie LOOPS (meine Großeltern) hatten einen Sohn (mein Vater).
Sein Name war Horst Bleth, geboren am 4. September 1928 in Bismarck / Kreis Heydekrug. Er war selbständiger Radio-u. Fernsehtechnikermeister.
Er heiratete Anneli Else Schußeng (meine Mutter), geboren am 16. Dezember 1935 in Sodeiken / Kreis Gumbinnen / Ostpreußen.
Sie heirateten in Duisburg / NRW.
Wann exakt mein Großvater "Oskar Alfred Bleth" verstarb, weiß ich nicht, denn da war ich noch ein kleines Kind. Aber es war in den 1960-iger Jahren in einer Klinik in NRW. Er besaß das Kapitäns-Patent für Fluss-u. Küstenschifffahrt und war bis zu seiner Erkrankung Rheinschiffer.
Meine Großmutter "Ida Emilie Zachriat, verw. Bleth, geb. Loops", geboren am 14. Juni 1905, verstarb am 31. Mai 1980 in Duisburg-Rheinhausen NRW.
Mein Vater "Horst Bleth" verstarb am 5. August 1999.
Seine Ehefrau (meine Mutter) "Anneli Else Bleth, geb. Schußeng" verstarb am 29. April 2013.
Meine beiden Eltern lebten bis zu ihrem Tod in Moers / NRW.

Ida Emilie LOOPS hatte eine Schwester, Meta Loops. Sie heiratete Rudolf Jokeit und lebte bis zu ihrem Tod in Radevormwald.
Sie hatten einen Sohn, Reinhard Jokeit.

Ortsfamilienbuch Memelland Familienbericht - Ida Emilie LOOPS

Ortsfamilienbuch Memelland Familienbericht - Emma Meta LOOPS

Bismarck (Kr.Heydekrug)