São Paulo – The Egyptian dancer Mohamed El Sayed will head a workshop in the city of São Paulo on February 15 and 16. During the lessons, he will teach belly dance and Sufi dance techniques, as well as popular and gypsy dances from Egypt. The workshop is taking place at the Al Qamar dance academy, in the Vila Mariana neighborhood.
Sayed was born in Cairo, but moved to Spain at the age of 14. There he started attending a dance school, at the invitation of a professor who saw his interest for the art. The dancer specialized in Sufi and folkloric dances, and also plays the percussion.
“A man may teach a feminine dance. Every man has a masculine side and a feminine side. He may teach the dance invoking his femininity,” stated Sayed about the belly dance classes he also teaches.
He says that, as well as the corporal techniques, his lessons focus on the dancers’ spiritual side. “My lessons work the mystical aspect, how to understand oriental dance through mysticism. The oriental culture works the body and soul together. By working the body alone, you lose the real essence,” he says.
For Sayed, it is important for the dancer to work with the various sides of her femininity. “I always explain that the feminine energy is varied, it’s not only sensuality. There is friendship, maternity, I teach that there is more to femininity,” he emphasizes.
Sayed lives in Madrid, but holds workshops and presentations in many countries in Europe, South America and also in the Arab world, participating in events in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. He says he has even made a show for the Moroccan royal family.
The Egyptian dancer has been in Brazil four times, passing by São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, in oriental and Sufi dance festivals. “Brazilian ladies are talented,” he says about local dancers. In order to improve their dance skills, Brazilians need “more information, to understand the energy of every dance, what each movement means.”
For those interested in learning the techniques by the Egyptian dancer, contact Fadua Chuffi, also a dancer and responsible for organizing the workshop. According to her, the event is directed at dancers starting at an intermediate level and up. Lessons with Sayed take up to 25 participants.
Service:
Workshop with Mohamed El Sayed
February 15 and 16
Venue: Al Qamar Academia de Danças
Rua Domingos de Morais, 1497, – Vila Mariana – São Paulo
Price: R$ 300
For further information call (+55 11) 5073-2484 and (+55 11) 97951-5523 or email faduachuffi@hotmail.com
*Translated by Silvia Lindsey
