She is also the Artistic Director of the Egyptian Dance Company which will be performing The Egyptian Panorama, this Saturday March 31st at the Betty Oliphant Theatre.
People may wonder why did I, Miss Totally Average White Canadian Woman choose this particular dance academy to learn Egyptian dance.
My first reason was that the owner of the Academy and the Artistic Director of the dance company is native Egyptian Nada El Masriya.
To begin with, look at how gorgeous she is! Wow. No wonder I now work out so regularly at the gym, and stick to my "Eating Clean" diet. This lady provides me with some serious motivation. I know that I've got one tough act to follow with this Egyptian dance-diety at the helm of this school.
I remember when I first started out with Introductory level classes at this academy thinking that Nada had the figure of a mythical Egyptian Queen and I would never, ever, be able to even imagine having a figure close to hers. I weighed a whopping 200lbs when I started out two years ago. Yes. I really did. No, I no longer do. You can ask my doctor if you want to. And no, I don't believe Nada ever struggled with her weight like I did before I took up belly dancing. She's danced her whole life on a professional level, and it shows.
You can go follow the link to Nada's complete bio site if you want to, or you can read my
much shorter summary of her det's here:
* Nada was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt.
* She grew up belly dancing as part of her culture.
* She studied it seriously as part of her native culture's art and history and folklore in depth at the University of Cairo (while also earning a degree in Egyptian law). Wow!
* She was a member of the Reda Troupe for several years.
* She's been performing Egyptian dance professionally for well over 17 years to date.
* She keeps up to date and current in the latest developments and styles in Egyptian dance
by constantly returning to Egypt, studying under the greats, and bringing them
to Canada as well (e.g.: She brought Randa Kamel to Toronto last year in 2011...Hello?! Rrrrranda!!!)
* So Nada is the real deal folks. She's got "it" like nobody else here does. Her dance style is deeply experienced and soaked through with true training in authentic Egyptian history, tradition and folklore, yet it's also exciting, pulse-pounding and fresh, mesmerizing, subtle, complex, nuanced and incredibly intricate and elegant. Dr. George Sawa Phd, the respected Egyptian Musical Scholar from Alexandria has compared her dancing to the ever-golden Samia Gamal's. And, Fifi Abdou has called Nada "The Ambassador of Egyptian Dance in Canada". Now, if that's not high praise, and honestly-earned, I don't know what is.
Maybe you haven't heard much about her yet. If you haven't, I think that needs to change. She's comparatively new to Canada, so she is still one of Canada's "hidden jewels" (to borrow a recent phrase from someone who knows her personally).
As a neophyte of only two years so far, I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate and blessed to be studying under Nada. I'm also hoping that people will start to realize and appreciate what an exquisite and rare treasure they have from Egypt sitting right here in the middle of Toronto waiting for them to see her shine.
So here is your chance to come out and see not only Nada herself, but also some of the dancers that she has been training, and the most recent and revolutionary dance production that she has created for the stage, Egyptian Panorama 2012!
No comments:
Post a Comment