Charles T. Low Photography
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Raks Sharki Dance
-beyond belly-dancing
Liz (Eleeza)
I had the rare privilege of an invitation to act as second photographer
(to the incomparable Bill Milward — thank you, Bill!), at Hafla! 2023 on May 6th, a performance sponsored by the local Raks al Sharki dance instructor Karen Elizabeth, founder of Aaliyah Dance. They called this show Hafla! 2023
, created by Karen with (she told us) the support of friends in her dance community.
Notes
We had next-to-no light, and we couldn't use flashes ... a longer story, but suffice it to say that it was one of those projects, not my first, when I started off by thinking, Charles, this is impossible, so ... just get to work and see what happens.
What you see here is what happened. I'm quite pleased that I could even register images, and the grain
and motion-blur could be considered as evocative, even artistic.
- For the techno-geeks among you — and I see you both, and encourage you to think more about the art than about the numbers — then most of these were made with a good camera and pro-grade telephoto lens on a tripod, ISO 6400 (not even remotely possible with film), f4.0, and shutter speeds of 1/60 or slower. I rescued processed them authoritatively in Photoshop.
-info kindly provided by Karen:
There is a vast range in Middle Eastern and Belly Dances. Raks al Sharki is one style. This dance form stretches from the Maghreb (Northern Africa) to the Middle East and North to the Levant and Turkey. In Egypt alone there is shaabi, raks al sharki, baladi and traditional and folkloric dances from the various regions. The dance by Angelina with the platter on the head has roots in the Amezigh people of the Maghreb. The dance with the spinning (Cathy) has roots in ritual. What Valizan and Silk Road Collective perform is an American construct developed from these dances.
I confess to not previously knowing of its existence. How such a vibrant group can have flown under my radar will forever remain a mystery to me. But I had the best time! I started the work with a smile on my face which never faded.
A serious side to this was that some or all of the proceeds went to Victim Services of Leeds & Grenville.
The styles of dance varied a lot, not all of it traditional belly-dancing. Some of the performers were recreational, some professionals. One of the dancers, Valizan, explained quite a bit about it to Bill and me privately, just fascinating (but please don't send out a post-test!), about the ancient roots, with many styles from different areas or cultures, all new to me.
Major sponsors were My Booking Web and Bredin Digital.
Karen, aka Na’ema
Raks Sharki
Shaniya – Brockville-based
Sri Lankan
Cathy
Tannoura
Angelina
American Cabaret
Angelina
Raks Sinniya (Platter dance)
Jocelyne – Duniya Studio (Ottawa)
Raks Baladi
Jocelyne
Raks Assaya
Ciara
Modern Dance
Silk Road Collective
Group Improvisational
Silk Road Collective
Idris
Modern Interpretive
Valizan Dance Project
Fat Chance Bellydance
Gwen
Raks Sharki
Stacey
Modern Dance
Namaah
Eleeza
Raks Sharki
You can see the joy and passion in the all of the dancers.
I will add that many of them have great photographs of themselves already, but Bill or I would love to photograph any of them who would like an update. See Portraiture. Non-dancers also feel free to inquire!
ctLow – Charles T. Low, photographer
Dance Photography
This was about as much fun as I've had in a long time. The audience loved it and the dancers' energy and skill impressed me all to bits!
Technical challenges melted away against that uplifting mood.
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Charles T. Low
Photographer
Blog #93
2023-06-06