Intensives 2008-2010
JtE-1

Culver City, CA:
January 25-27, '08
April 25-27, '08
August 1-3, '08
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San Francisco, CA
May 9-11, '08

Iowa City, IA
July 17-20, '08

Philadelphia, PA
August 22-24, 08

Munich, Germany
October 3-5, '08

Ontario, Canada
November 28-30, '08

Washington D.C.
January27-29, '09

Montreal, Canada
February 13-15, '09

Dallas, TX
April 23-25, '10

JtE-2 in 2009

Irvine, CA:
January 2-4, '09
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Philadelphia, PA
February 6-8, '09

JtE-3 in 2009

Cairo,Luxor,Aswan,
Egypt
June 2009

More JtE
are being planned

Firsthand Fieldwork
Photos: Usama Salama.
Above 1: Having tea with the men before being allowed into the women's world.
Above 2: A woman comes over, I will be allowed into the women's world.
Above center/right: Women after interviews, tea, baked bread and shy singing.
Right: Southern Sinai Bedouin women gather to view themselves in Sahra's video camera - November 2007

USA & Canada Intensives include:

Teaching notebook, Map of Folkloric Zones, new "Journey through Egypt" DVD, music CD, and
Certificate upon completion of 20 hours.

Subjects Include: Nubia, Ghawazee, Saidi,
Cairo (Awalem, Orientale, Hassaballah, Shamadan),
Suez Canal Zone, Delta, Siwa, Bedouin &
pan-Egypt (History, Moulid, Tanura, Melaya Luff, Zar)

USA & Canada - Full intensive only, not enrolling in individual dance zone classes
For Munich, Germany enrollment details: Contact Ludmilla & Monika

Return to Schedule click here
Above Photos: Usama Salama. Sahra with the Southern Sinai Bedouin (tribe of St. Catherine mountain).
November 2007
Calendar and Links

JtE-1
San Francisco, CA May 9-11, 2008 Amina Goodyear aminajune@aol.com & Monica Berini (sold-out)
Iowa City, IA July 18-20, 2008 Maleeha / Kahraman www.kahramandance.org marie-maleeha@kahramandance.org
Culver City, CA Aug 1-3, 2008 Sahra C Kent JourneyEgypt@yahoo.com / www.LayaliYasmine.com
Philadelphia, PA Aug 22-24, 2008 Najia najiabellydance@mac.com / www.PhiladelphiaBelydance.com
Munich, Germany Oct 3-5, 2008 Ludmilla & Monika www.tanz-zentrum.de
Ontario, Canada Nov 28-30, 2008 Kellye Crockett Oasis Dance oasisdancestudio@gmail.com
Washington D.C.
Jan 30-Feb 1, 2009 Rachel www.saharadance.com
Montreal, Canada
Feb 13-15, 2009 Elise www.cicekpasaj.com
Dallas, TX
Apr 23-25, 2010 Tatika www.tatikastreasures.com

JtE-2
Irvine, CA Jan TBA, 2009 Sahra C Kent www.SahraSeminars.com & JourneyEgypt@yahoo.com
Philadelphia, PA Feb 6-8, 2009 Najia najiabellydance@mac.com / www.PhiladelphiaBelydance.com

JtE-2
Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Egypt June TBA, 2009 Sahra C Kent JourneyEgypt@yahoo.com / www.LayaliYasmine.com

Contents:
JtE Descriptions
FAQ
Fieldwork photos
Some thoughts
Buy Now
Calendar & Links
Included Materials

"Journey through Egypt" Intensives & Certification

"Journey through Egypt" Basic 1 Intensive weekend with Certification presents an overview of the Dance Zones of Egypt with attention paid to movement and posture recognition, zone location, historical consideration and cultural diffusion. Includes free notebook and study materials, map, DVD and CD.
JtE-1
JtE-2
"Journey through Egypt" Basic 2: Movement Intensive.
This Intensive weekend with Certification is an advanced "basic" overview, within which we base to our future research and specializations.
In JtE-2 we address movement proficiency, in addition to instruction in core Dance Ethnography concepts.
We aim to study and replicate each dance zone's movement at the levels of: authentic indigenous home-style, local performers, regional government groups, national government theater-stage troupes: both Reda and Kowmeya, and
within Night Club shows.
Pre-requisite JtE-1
JtE-3
"Journey through Egypt" 3: On-site Egypt.
As trained dancers and informed researchers, we tour the real Egypt, not just the marble floors of the 5-star hotels. Readied from our work in JtE-2 we will pick up the movement taught to us by a variety of indigenous peoples. Tour includes historical sites, our personal fieldwork, dance classes, and interviews with people in the know.
JtE-3 June 2009 will concentrate on Upper Egypt. After a couple days in Cairo and Giza we will travel to the Nubian and Saidi regions, as well as to the Ghawazee.
(Sahra will be traveling to Egypt at the end of August to set up tour specifics. She will not be able to up-date this site until November. For current information sign up for her mailing list.)
Pre-requisite JtE-1 and JtE-2
Sahra C Kent: Background and Credentials
Associate of Arts in Dance, Bachelor's of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and Archeology from UCSB (graduating at the top of her department).
Master's Degree in Dance Ethnology from University of California, Los Angeles with a specialization in Egypt (graduating with Honors).

Master's Thesis research on "Zeffat al Aroosa" and "Firqet Zeffah" collected while living 6 years in Egypt. She returns yearly to research.
Sahra not only understands the dance of Egypt academically.
Sahra C. Kent lived and performed in Egypt 1989-1995.

The "Sahra Show" performed over 1600 shows in Cairo, Egypt alone. The ensemble included Sahra, Egyptian musicians, singers, folkloric dancers and authentic Saidi musicians and dancers.
Now, in 2008, JtE is presented in full intensity for the first time!
Based on years of research in Egypt and a strong academic base, Sahra has presented portions of this intensive for Middle Eastern dance students and teachers worldwide, graduate level anthropology seminars, and even to diverse groups of interested persons in museums and churches.

FAQ

Q. Will the JtE Folklore workshop include your new research?
A. Yes. This year I continued research on Nubians in Aswan, on the Bedouins in southern Sinai, Zar music and Zar musicians of Egypt and Sudan, as well as numerous interviews of Nubians in diaspera. And yes, all of this will be part of the "Journey through Egypt" Basic 1 presentation.
Q. Whom do I contact and how do I enroll?
A. Each location has a different sponsor contact, price and enrollment process. All classes have limited enrollment. Below are sponsors and their websites.

You can enroll for the Los Angeles area (Culver City), CA courses through www.LayaliYasmine.com/JtE Shopping cart
Q. Do we get a Certificate of Completion?
A. Yes. You receive the Certificate of Completion when you have completed the 20 hour course. Sahra also teaches Folkloric Dances of Egypt in other venues, as well as a one-day, or one-workshop course of "Journey through Egypt - lite." But you only receive the Certificate if you complete the 20 hour course.
Q. What is the schedule for the August Culver City course?
Friday night 6-10 pm (doors and parking open at 5:30),
Saturday day 10am - 6pm with 1 hour lunch break,
Saturday night Zar lecture/experiential 7:30-9:30 pm (includes dinner during lecture). You are welcome to stay, talk and relax until 10:30 pm.
Sunday day 10am - 6pm with 1 hour lunch break.
Q. Is Culver City near an airport and lodging?
Culver City is 10 miles from LAX airport. Two convenient hotels are close by, one within walking distance. If you want more information and details, please write JourneyEgypt@yahoo.com and they will be E-mailed to you.
Q. What is the cost?
Each location has a different sponsor, and because of different expenses the cost will be different.
Including the 20+ hours of instruction and the Certificate, you receive a free notebook with study guides, a map of Egypt and the Folkloric Zones, the new "Journey through Egypt" DVD, and a music CD.
Because our expenses are low in LA we can offer all this for $250 for the weekend Intensive.

Some Thoughts

"I wrote the following thoughts in January 2008. Already some of my goals for JtE have come true! Below are some of my thoughts while organizing a more comprehensive study than is normally presented."
Sahra C Kent, June 2008
What's next? These are the goals I am working towards:
"JtE" Basic I for academic credit
"JtE" Basic II Intensive/Certification weekend and for academic credit
"JtE" on-site: Study in Egypt, traveling to Folkloric Zones
(to be considered ready to go to Egypt JtE I & II must be completed.)
"Basic" does not mean "beginner" - For 28 years, I have been seriously studying, researching, interviewing and taking classes from the actual "first-person population" as well as with the masters and pioneers of Egyptian Folklore and Folkloric Performance dance. Often information presented in JtE is rather new to me and still in research. There is still so much for all of us to learn.
I truly enjoyed sharing information with the intelligent, informed members of JtE January 2008! and I look forward to the six more intensives this year!
This interest in Egyptian folklore is still relatively new. When I started teaching, only a few students were interested in "Folklore" as opposed to "Orientale" or Bellydance. When "Folklore" started becoming popular often we did not know what cultural group the dance was referencing, often we did not even know which country. Most of our teachers had never been to the Middle East, some of them had never seen or danced with Middle Eastern/Americans.
Even in Egypt respect for Egyptian Folkloric dance was hard earned. Mahmoud Reda and Farida Fahmy have their pioneering positions in bringing Egyptian Folkloric Dance to Egypt's Theater stages. Little is written, little is filmed. No wonder research is difficult.
Understanding appropriate performance space. As non-Egyptians, once we began to have the sophistication of having music, dance moves, and country compatible, we found that some movements were only to be done in religious worship, some were considered "performance only", some were not to be done in polite company, while some could be done in any social situation no matter how conservative.
Different movement for different stages and audiences. Then to make everything even more confusing we find that most Dance Zones have a local repertoire of movement (some male, some female, some private, some public, some home-style, some as local professionals).
There are also National Folkloric Troupes, with access to large theaters, with their own history, artistic directors, repertoire of subject and movement, and their own particular way of referencing each dance zone.
It also may be the case that we only know of certain dance zones by the way they are referenced on the Night Club Stage. I find these several degrees of distance from the original informational in their own right.
It is my goal to observe first-hand, to collect information, filming and recording when I can, and to serve as an information bridge between East and West, specifically Egypt and dancers outside of Egypt.

August 1-3, 2008
Culver City JtE-1

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