BADAWIYAT (Bedouin Women)
Performed at Dance New Amsterdam Theater
New York City
October 26-28, 2007
Dalia Carella, Artistic Director of the Dalia Carella Dance Collective was commissioned to choreograph a new work on dance professionals and students who attend DNA's school of dance arts as part of DNA's Choreographer's Series. This new choreography is a work in progress and will be fully completed in 2008. Members of the Dance Collective, as well as Dalia Carella will be performing in this dance epic.
Badawiyat is a fusion of traditional Bedouin and Near Eastern dance with contemporary movements for theater. The dancers paint their faces with authentic Bedouin and Berber tattoos and wear traditional Palestinian Bedouin shawls wrapped on their heads representing the "hijab". This piece is a statement to the world that Muslim woman are very strong and their survival threshold is amazingly powerful. In many parts of the world, people do not understand that wearing the "hijab" does not mean that Muslim women do not have rights, or that they not capable of taking care of themselves and their families.
Bedouins, both men and woman, are inhabitants of the desert and are a nomadic tribe of Arabia, the Negev and Sinai. Sometimes Bedouin woman are alone for weeks when their men leave and they have to protect themselves and their children. They are very willful women.
The dance transports the viewer to the desert at night, joining the Bedouin women on a beautiful, yet almost militant ride with sinuous and staccato movements culminating in an explosion of veils to represent a windstorm. It was a work of education, beauty and togetherness as a tribe using contemporary elements that are mystical and riveting at the same time.
Dalia explains her vision and inspiration behind her new dance piece, "Badawiyat"....
"....I was invited to do a choreographic work by Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) as part of their Performance Series that they do twice a year. Dance New Amsterdam (formerly Dance Space) is a world renown dance institution in New York City that caters to the education of mostly Ballet and Modern Dance. Since the recent past, they started offering classes in Hip Hop, Yoga and Pilates. They decided this year to bring in Near Eastern dance (Belly Dance per se) and invited me to teach several classes from Beginner to intermediate/advanced level. Most of the pieces that were included in the Performance Project were modern dance works. My work would be the only ethnic dance based work in the program. It was unusual that all the choreographers they chose this time were women. Usually they mix it up. I was searching for the right music for my program and it came to me by "My Space"...How? A woman wrote to me from Germany and I clicked on her site and she had this amazing music on her site by Hossan Ramzy and Phil Thorton called "Eternal Egypt". It was so mystical and powerful at the same time. Since all the dancers that signed up for the project were woman, I decided to show how powerful woman in the Near/Middle East were, especially Bedouin women, living in the outdoors, in tribes. It was a contemporary piece, as mostly all my works are...The dancers painted their faces with Bedouin and Berber tattoos and I had them wear Palestinian Bedouin shawls wrapped on their heads representing the "hijab". I basically wanted to show America that Muslim woman were very strong and their survival threshold is amazingly powerful. America does not understand that even though Muslim woman wear the "hijab", it doesn't mean that they do not have rights, nor are they not capable of taking care of themselves or their families. What we need to understand is that in their religious beliefs, modest clothing is worn in obedience to God and has nothing to do with submissiveness to men. Muslim men and women have similar rights and obligations and both submit to God. It is not the religion I follow, but I can respect it. Sometimes Bedouin woman were alone for weeks when their men left at times and they would have to protect themselves and their children. They are very willful women.
My piece, I hoped, transported the viewer to the desert at night, being a voyeur and watching these woman take them on a beautiful, yet almost militant ride with sinuous and staccato movements and then introducing veils to represent a dance during a wind storm that explodes in the end of the work. It was a work of education, beauty and togetherness as a tribe but using contemporary elements that are mystical and riveting at the same time. The piece, I felt, was a highlight of the evening because of the applause and feedback I got from inside the Near Eastern community as well as from the modern and ballet communities. All the works were amazing and I was so proud to be part of the Performance Series. I am planning to extend this piece of work to two other sections that the Dalia Carella Dance Collective will dance in. These two new works will be pretty athletic and some weapons will be used. (they are all safe for dance!)
The new works will be premiered in the spring in a salon showcase of the Dalia Carella Dance Collective. My work is Ethnic Contemporary Dance. My background includes studies in Near/middle eastern dance for over 35 years. Yes, 35. I was so lucky that I was a young woman who delved deeply into this art form. Because I have studied many forms of ethnic dance, including Flamenco, Bomba, Plena, Salsa, Samba, Afro-Haitian and Indian, I cannot help but become a global fusion artist and use these movements when creating a new choreography depending on the work that affords these movements and the music. I love to blend ancient and folkloric traditions and use contemporary movement to create dance art with a global awareness."