What follows is my personal vision of what 'experimental or 'dance theatre' means to me in relation to Middle Eastern Dance*.

I'll start with two quotations:

To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)

To challenge the audience, you first need to challenge yourself. Afra al Kahira

Click here to read what people have been saying about Afra's most recent experimental works

Although I have trained in other dance disciplines, Middle Eastern Dance has been the main focus of my career in dance. Sometimes however I have been inspired to produce a dance work that doesn't really fit into the category of Middle Eastern Dance or fusion**. These dance works fall outside of what what people would normally associate with Middle Eastern Dance.

In the past I used fusion as a kind of catch all to describe anything that wasn’t Egyptian oriental, but as time passed I recognised that some of my work fell way outside that, so fusion was something of a misrepresentation. I now use the term experimental to describe numbers don’t fall into either those categories, as they are not about blending dance styles or dance & music. These are numbers that might tell a story, have strong dramatic elements, a sociopolitical message, use unusual props or portray things that fall outside the normal parameters of belly dance. It’s not just about telling a story, props, etc., but I do see that as a starting point. These works are constructs based on a very personal interpretation of a piece of music and an exploration of where my imagination takes me, using my Middle Eastern dance movement vocabulary as a starting point.

The Bride

Water

Click on a photo for larger image

Quite a few of my works are very abstract in nature, they do have an under-lying narrative, but a very loose one and I like the fact that audiences can interpret what they see in different ways based on their own experiences, without any guidance from me. It’s a more subtle way of exploring and challenging boundaries. I sometimes feel like catalyst opening the way for audiences to see beyond the norm, and hopefully to inspire them to expand/push their own boundaries.

I also use my experimental dance work as an opportunity to really push my own boundaries, to explore, develop and grow as a dancer. That’s an important aspect of it for me personally and when I teach workshops on the subject I place emphasis on this. You need to be able to challenge yourself in order to challenge your audience.

Here in the UK there isn't a great deal of what I would define in general terms as experimental dance performed as yet. So hopefully this description will provide a fairly clear explanation of the differences to the average UK audience (from my perspective). It is hard to quantify it accurately, but this should give a pointer to expect something that for them is out of the ‘norm’. Some people will hate these types of dances because for them it has nothing to do with the art of Middle Eastern Dance and I can understand that. I accept that by presenting such works I am likely to attract a fair amount of criticism, but you cannot grow and develop in a vacuum. My experience has found that people either love the concept or hate it completely, and there is often no middle ground.

Right now I see my own experimental dance as challenging the boundaries in British dance first and challenging boundaries in the larger sense second, but that’s mainly because of the nature of the current dance scene here. At present we tend towards the parochial and can be quite conservative. In some ways it’s not that hard for me to challenge the boundaries merely by doing something that is viewed as ‘different’.  As time goes on and audiences become accustomed to seeing, and hopefully appreciating these types of numbers, I want to push the envelope much more (I’ve lots of ideas hidden under my hip-belt!), but most UK dance audiences are not ready for the really 'out there' numbers just yet!

* I am using the term 'Middle Eastern Dance' to try to be as encompassing as possible. In this context it serves to describe 'belly dance' or 'oriental style' and their associated movement vocabulary.
 

** These days I use the term fusion to describe things that are a mix of dance styles i.e. Flamenco/Arabic or the basic fusion of belly dance movements with non mid-eastern music. These types of numbers are more easily identifiable as coming from a belly dance background and I call them fusion to distinguish them from Egyptian oriental which is my other main style of dance.

Here are links to some US dancers and dance companies whose work I have found inspirational.

EEMED - An Evening of Experimental Middle Eastern Dance
Desert Sin
Sa' Elayssa
Dondi
Subee Djinn

If you would like to book Afra to dance an experimental number at your event, click here to ask for more information.

Afra performing 'The Siren' and you can see further examples of her work by looking at the Celebrating Dance 2006 Gala Show Photos here and see a clip of Afra performing The Siren here

Email Afra if you'd like more information: afra@afraalkahira.com

Mersin Spring Haflah 2006 - "One highlight was Afra’s Gothic Bride, in turn soft and sharp, spooky, pitiful and menacing, full of atmosphere – just what we had hoped for."

Celebrating Dance 2005 - "Afra appeared as “The Siren” on a raised plinth, the lighting dimmed and the wings held open. Her whole body shimmered gold, her eyes were coated with glitter and her white and gold costume completed the illusion that a supernatural being had appeared in front of us. Her performance was a mixture of dance and drama. Her facial expressions matched the dramatic; and at times melancholy mood of the piece, whilst she used the wings to their full potential. Afra excels at this type of performance and I look forward to the many wonderful treats in store for us from this very talented dancer and teacher."

"A performer with obvious acting talent and a taste for the daring! "

Haflah starring Yasmina of Cairo, Summer 2005 - "The final section of the show began all in gold – our lucky charm by the performer Afra al Kahira. Afra performed a fusion number as Hathor (House of Horus) who was a goddess of many things, among them she was a Goddess of love, music and beauty, Afra's performance was original and refreshing to watch."

©Afra Al-Kahira 2005