Ep 74. Hassan Khalil: The Roots of Oriental Dance

Prof. Dr. Hassan Khalil lived in the time of the great oriental dancers like Naima Akeef, Samia Gamal, Tahiya Karioka, and even lived in the same neighbourhood with some of them. Later he also worked with Nagua Fuad and Suheir Zaki and many other famous dancers. He is a master teacher and choreographer for many of the most well known Oriental dancers all over the world. Khalil was the director of the Balloon Theatre, the general director of the Oum Kalsoum Theatre in Cairo, as well the general supervisor for folklore in the Ministry of Culture in Egypt. He is also the founder of the famous folk dance group, the National Ensemble of Egypt.

In this interview you will learn about:

• The nature and roots of dance itself,

• Differences between Pharaonic and folklore dances of Egypt,

• Influence of the Turkish Ottoman harems in oriental dance,

• Behind-the-scene stories of the Golden Era period,

• How the ancient history of this dance influence current belly dance trends

Show Notes to this episode:

Find Prof Dr Hassan Khalil on his website, Instagram, and FB. Video about life and work of Prof Dr Hassan Khalil is available here.

Find Iana on Instagram, FB, Youtube, website .

Bellydance Evolution and information about their new program and casting: bellydanceevolution.com

Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

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