Karim Nagi in Philadelphia – Weekend of Workshops and Gala Show

Fatima Bassmah and Ahmelek present a weekend of workshops and gala show with Karim Nagi in Philadelphia!

Saturday, April 16th, 2016
12 pm – 2 pm – LIVE DRUM SOLO FOR DANCERS
3 pm – 5 pm – CYMBALISMS

Sunday, April 17th, 2016
12 pm – 2 pm – SAIDI TAHTEEB & ASSAYA
6 pm – 8 pm – GALA SHOW featuring Karim Nagi and area dancers!!!

Each workshop is $45 if paid by April 1st or register for all 3 for $120!!! Workshops are $50 each after April 1st.

Show tickets are $20

Register at www.fatimadance.com/karim

Location – The Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine Street, Philadelphia, PA

Saturday, April 16th, 12 pm – 2 pm: LIVE DRUM SOLO FOR DANCERS (movement class): Some dancers fear it ! Some overuse it ! Yet everyone adores a solo where the rhythmic drums and the accurate body lock together. Melodic songs are lyrical and eloquent. But drum songs are percussive and articulate. Fact: drum solos in the Egyptian, Arabic, or Cabaret style are systematic. There have predictable themes. Each is like a variation on a famous story, retold with new voices and with different accents. Karim is a drummer and a dancer, so he knows what both creatures need in order to breed together. He will teach the iconic Hagalla sequence, the shimmy-to-roll-relation, dum hips & tak shoulders, signaling, Masmudi’s many Dums, Wahda Kabira to Fallahi. Ayoub’s momentary Zaar, and how to ‘Finale’ together, benevolently! After this class transforms you, a deaf man will be able to hear the drums by watching your body. This class uses exclusively LIVE drumming, and teaches the dancer how understand and communicate with the drummer, what to expect, and how to be ready for improvisation.

Saturday, April 16th, 3 pm – 5 pm: CYMBALISMS (Zills, Sagat, Finger Cymbals w/ Movement): You are a dancer and a musician at the same time. Your hands can play any rhythm that a drummer can play. You can accent the orchestra, follow the dynamics of the song, or simply choose the right moment to not play. Sagat (Egyptian word) and Zills (Turkish word), when played correctly, can add to a dancer’s dynamism and effect. Karim will teach multiple sounds (Dum, Tak, Tik, Tok, Kish) to give the cymbals the desperately needed variety. He will teach ambidextrous technique, so the dancer can play, and Move, in both left and right directions. He will also teach several famous rhythms, so that the dancer can communicate to a drummer or to her own students. In addition, Karim shows how to play with a melodic song, when to play a rhythm vs. accents, and when to stop or not play. Finally, he shows movement combinations, both stationary and traveling, while playing the cymbals. Each dancer will be transformed into a moving musician

Sunday, April 17th, 12 pm – 2 pm: SAIDI TAHTEEB & ASSAYA: Dancing with sticks and canes is a quintessential expression in Egyptian village dance. The southern half of Egypt, know as Upper Egypt due to its higher altitude, is called “al-Sa’id” in Arabic (pronounced iSa-yeed)”. The Saidi people are famous for this semi-acrobatic stick dance called “Tahteeb” for men and “Raqs Assaya” for women. It is essentially a form of martial art where the manipulation of the stick and the demeanor of movement replicated village life or battle scene. The main motions with the stick include spinning, twirling, rowing, flipping and striking. Often two dancers will enact a friendly battle with synchronized sparing and coordinated strikes. But the essence of the Saidi dance is in its demeanor. The body moves heavily and confidently with a subtle pulse. Grace is more valued than aggression. This dance is done solo or in groups where the sticks are operated in unison, and men and/or women play together. Karim teaches with the strait cane (any dowel between 3′ and 4′) and covers all the basic spins, flips and strikes. He stresses ambidextrous technique and utilizes both hands for the entire lesson. Double Cane is also demonstrated. The class culminates in a short choreography.

ABOUT KARIM NAGI
Karim Nagi is a native Egyptian drummer, DJ, composer and folk dancer. He is the creator of Turbo Tabla, and has released four internationally distributed CDs of this unique brand of Arab House/Electronica using acoustic instruments. Karim has authored instructional DVDs for the Tabla/Doumbek, Riqq tambourine, Maqam & Taqsim, Drum Solo for Dance, and Arab Folk Dance. He is well versed in the ultra-traditional styles of music, and has lead the Sharq Arabic Music Ensemble since 1999. He promotes and fosters the study of Arab dance in the USA as the director of the Arab Dance Seminar. Karim performs and teaches Tahteeb Cane Dance, Dabka Line Dance, and Zikr Sufi Dance. He taught at the New England Conservatory of Music for 5 years, and has lectured and presented at Harvard, MIT, Yale, Bowdoin, Princeton, Stanford, William & Mary, Georgetown, and several Community Colleges. Additionally, Karim Nagi’sArabiqa program has conducted over 300 school assemblies across America, exposing young audiences to Arab traditional arts. His performances boast a dynamic concoction of live drumming and dance, done in unison. Because of his proficiency in both music and dance, his workshops deliver students to a new physical understanding of the connection between these two disciplines. As a dance and drum teacher, Karim has taught in dozens of festivals in the United States, Asia, Europe and Cairo, as well as all major Arab Culture festivals in the USA. Karim Nagi is a true crossover artist, uniting the Cabaret and Tribal, Traditional and the Modern, the Ethnic and the Urban.