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What is Pharaonic Dance? - Page 3© Shira
In the mid-1980's, Horacio Cifuentes (now in Berlin, Germany) released a video showing several of his performances, including a Pharaonic piece. He no longer sells this video, but you may be able to obtain it through used-video sources such as eBay. When I asked him about the video, he told me that he has a new video titled Best of Oriental Fantasy with what he feels is a better Pharaonic piece on it. I haven't seen that video, so I can't comment on its merits.
Some belly dancers organize special theatrical presentations which build dance performances around a central artistic theme. For example, every summer Dhyanis sponsors a show in the San Francisco area called The Living Goddess which focuses goddess-themed dance performances. When appropriate to the theme of such a show, some dancers may present Pharaonic-style performances. In 1996, Laurel Victoria Gray produced an entire show in Berlin, Germany of dances inspired by ancient Egypt. She created much of the choreography herself, and drew from other dancers such as Delilah Flynn of Seattle to contribute some pieces. Since then, "Egypta: Myth, Magic, and Mystery" has also been performed in the U.S. on various occasions. The above illustration shows the postcard that Laurel used to promote one of the performances of Egypta. The wings for the costume of the goddess Isis were made from over 200 separate pieces of fabric. Dance Festivals or Seminar Shows At a dance festival that offers continuous performing on stage or a seminar show that features a dozen or more individual dance acts in one show, the audience can grow weary of an endless parade of generic belly dancing. Even a highly talented dancer can have trouble holding the audience's attention if seven other good soloists have danced just prior to her. For that reason, some dancers will experiment with other approaches, such as Pharaonic dance, to stand out from the crowd. Performance Art Occasionally, belly dancers will be invited to participate in artistic events that showcase a variety of dance styles. In these situations, they may experiment with unusual approaches, such as dancing while poetry is recited, performing Pharaonic dance, or enacting a story. There aren't many belly dancers who teach or perform Pharaonic dance because it's not part of the mainstream. For that reason, you'll probably have difficulty finding a teacher in your community who has worked with Pharaonic dance. You may need to rely on videos showing performance of Pharaonic dance as a source of ideas and inspiration.
The copyright of the article What is Pharaonic Dance? - Page 3 in Middle Eastern Dance is owned by Shira. Permission to republish What is Pharaonic Dance? - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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