This classic Belly Dance favorite is excellent for acclimating to the Egyptian big band era music. It is a prime example of Mohamed Abd elWahabs trademark composition, demonstrating in those times a revolutionary musical diversity by combining rhythmic and musical elements in ways like never before. Mohamed Abd elWahab composed many songs in this fashion, and later went on to make songs for Oum Kalthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez, like Fakarouni, Lailet Hob, Nbety Mnain el Hikeya and many many more. Now a days this format has become almost indispensable for Egyptian Dance music and is viewed as classic and traditional...However, in the composers prime, it was seen as revolutionary, contemporary and by a few traditionalists, even blasphemous and corrupting of traditional Arabic music. Years later, due to his great success with his unique musical stylings, Mohamed went on to compose the song Fakarouni for singer Oum Kalthoum, who had always performed songs in a much more traditional fashion. He introduced the Egyptian Tabla (Darbuka or Goblet Drum) to her music for the first time, something which she at first objected to highly, for this drum was used in the night clubs for Belly Dance Music, which many people felt was a taboo culture along with anything associated with it . He eventually convinced her that the Tabla was essential for its ability to highlight the different rhythms of the music, which instantly made the instrument more popular amongst the masses. Perhaps if not for this hallmark moment in Egyptian history, there would be no Drum Solos as we know them today, Belly Dance culture would still be limited to dingy night clubs and street corners and the music of Egypt as we know it today would be something else entirely. I believe that Mohamed Abdel Wahab is one of the most important composers of the 20th century and certainly the most relevant for ANY Belly Dance culture or style. This Song Aziza is as I said before, a prime example of his composition style and an excellent place to further explore this style of music. Whether you have been dancing for years, or are new to it, regardless of your preferred style of Dance, be it contemporary or folkloric, Arabic or Anatolian, one can not deny the fact that the Egyptian Cinematic Golden Age is one of the prime contributors to the art in its popularity and development. We have composer Mohamed Abdel Wahab to thank for this, and dancers like Naima Akef who showed many people that Belly Dance could be glamorous and artistic, breaking some of the negative stereotypes and taking the art to a much more respectable level. Here is a clip from the 1957 film, Aziza, starring Naima Akef. youtube/watch?v=T4aSHw44DzY
Posted on: Tue, 06 May 2014 17:25:31 +0000
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