São Paulo – The organizers of the 6th Sergipe Arab Dance Festival, due on August 3rd in Sergipe state capital Aracaju, have announced the substitution of one of the event’s main attractions. The Egyptian dancer Amr Abd Alla, who was scheduled to perform as announced by ANBA in an Al-Sharq section article on the 11th, has cancelled his performance due to a death in his family. The artist, who has been to Brazil before, had to return to Egypt, according to festival organizer Flavia Kahyna.
According to Kahyna, he will be replaced by the dancer Ali Khalih, from São Paulo. His style is different from that of Abd Alla’s, whose performances are based on the “tanoura,” the dance of the whirling dervishes, who are followers of Sufism, a mystical strain of Islam. Khalih, in turn, specializes in traditional male Arab folklore and his own creations.
“His [Khalih’s] unique feature is he creates new performances based on traditional dances,” said Kahyna. According to her, the dancer learned different styles in Europe and then brought them to Brazil. The highlights of his work include the use of props such as the “fan veil,” a combination of a hand fan and a silk veil, as well as swords and fire.
Kahyna noted that the remaining attractions all remain the same, including the cello player Thiago Salvino, from the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. “He combines classical music and Arab dancing,” the organizer explained. The event will also feature 200 dancers arranged into different groups from various cities in Brazil, such as Salvador, Recife, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
The groups will perform various Arab dancing styles such as belly dancing, folklore dancing, classical dancing, and even dancing combined with theatre. “We will feature a show combining Eastern dancing and theatre. It is like a musical,” said Kahyna, who holds a degree in physical education and has worked with belly dancing for 12 years now.
Service
6th Sergipe Arab Dance Festival
August 3rd at 7:00 pm
Teatro Tobias Barreto
Avenida Presidente Tancredo Neves, 1997, Aracaju, Sergipe
Ticket: R$ 10 (US$ 4.50) and 1 kg of non-perishables. The theatre capacity is 1,350 seats
For information email ciacarpediem@gmail.com or call (+55 79) 9954-6422
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
