BabaYagaMusic.com » Encyclopedic Dictionary for the Ethnic Dance Arts » Ghawazee Dance, Music and Costuming
Sometimes folkloric stuff is too much like 'eat your spinach it is good for you' but never with the dancing of the last remaining Ghawazee, the Mazin sisters. Habiba came to Kentucky a few years ago to teach us what she learned from them and I was surprised to find out how fast the music plus dancing pulled me into a trance state..
Edwina Nearing was an American woman who did field research on the who-what-where-and-why of the Egyptian Shawazi in the 1970s. The Habibi magazine published her article series on her findings. These articles, now out of print, can be found in the Sirat Al-Ghawazi series at the Gilded Serpent.
Nearing also published some articles in Habibi Magazine online:
Habiba also published information about her studies with the Mazin sisters in Habiba, but those volumes are not online. From her article in Volume 21 No. 1 : "Samia was quick to point out that their family had invented (the Pharonic costume, the one with the ribbon skirt)... they explained that, for the most part, when they danced at hotels they wear dresses, and when they dance at a hafla or wedding locally they wear their own style of costume. " But then Habiba inserted a time-line of Ghawazee dress that indicated that the Pharonic style was 'active' from late 19th century to mid-20th, at which point the dress took over. Anyway, I would assume the ladies on the boat are dancing for tourists for sure.
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