The Ghawazee Tradition

                   The Ghawazee in America

Alexandria and the Near Eastern Dance Company of California are the premiere ghawazee dance company in the United States.  Since 1976, the accurate reproduction of authentic Near Eastern folkloric dance forms has been the primary focus of the Company, with an emphasis on research and performance of the ghawazee tradition of Egypt.  All the principal members of the Near Eastern Dancers have traveled to Egypt to research Egyptian folklore and to study dance with the Banat Mazin, who are preeminent ghawazee performers in Egypt.
 

      The Ghawazee in Egypt

"The Ghawazi are the famed female dancers described so often in Western travelers' accounts of Egypt since the 18th century, and probably the major wellspring of Egyptian danse orientale. A hundred and fifty years ago, professional female dancers of both Cairo and the countryside were called "Ghawazi;" now the term Ghawazi is used in Egypt to describe the dancers of the countryside who still perform in the traditional manner, who have not added anything to their repertoire from ballet, Latin American or modern dance as have the "oriental dancers" of Egyptian city nightclubs. . . . "The Ghawazi of the higher reaches of Upper Egypt, unlike those of Lower Egypt, where the dancers of the countryside have influenced and been influenced by the more urbane styles of Cairo and Alexandria, have maintained distinctive regional and, possibly, ethnic styles of dance. Regional style is dictated, at least in part, by the requirements of the musical accompaniment which, at most Upper Egyptian dance parties, usually outdoor affairs, is provided by drums and mizmars (an oboe-like instrument with the volume of a trumpet). Each region of Upper Egypt has its favorite mizmar bands and its own style of music. Ghawazi of a given region work mostly with bands from their own area and claim that their dancing is neither "typical" or at its best when they have to work with a band from another region. Ethnic differences in dance style are harder to prove without much further research, but seem likely in view of the diverse ethnic origins of most Upper Egyptian Ghawazi, differences of which they themselves are still aware. Most of the Ghawazi of the Qena area, for example, belong to ethnic minorities known as Nawar (or Nawara), Halab and Bahlawan. The group with which the author is most familiar, the Nawar, who are ethnic Gypsies, still speak the Nawari language to some extent and claim that the Halab and Bahlawan have their own languages which are unrelated to Nawari. If, throughout their sojourn in Egypt, an Arabic-speaking country, these peoples have preserved something of their native languages, they may have preserved something of their native dance styles as well. Egypt's most famous family of Ghawazi, the Nawari Mazin family, seem to have a dance style somewhat different from that of other Ghawazi whom the author has seen, though whether the difference is Nawari or simply "Mazin" is difficult to determine on the available evidence."
--- Edwina Nearing (a.k.a. Qamar el-Mulouk)

The Ghawazee in Egypt
================
"The Ghawazi are the famed female dancers described so often in Western
travelers' accounts of Egypt since the 18th century, and probably the major
wellspring of Egyptian danse orientale.

A hundred and fifty years ago, professional female dancers of both Cairo and
the countryside were called "Ghawazi;" now the term Ghawazi is used in Egypt
to describe the dancers of the countryside who still perform in the
traditional manner, who have not added anything to their repertoire from
ballet, Latin American or modern dance as have the "oriental dancers" of
Egyptian city nightclubs. . . . "The Ghawazi of the higher reaches of Upper
Egypt, unlike those of Lower Egypt, where the dancers of the countryside
have influenced and been influenced by the more urbane styles of Cairo and
Alexandria, have maintained distinctive regional and, possibly, ethnic
styles of dance. Regional style is dictated, at least in part, by the
requirements of the musical accompaniment which, at most Upper Egyptian
dance parties, usually outdoor affairs, is provided by drums and mizmars (an
oboe-like instrument with the volume of a trumpet).

Each region of Upper Egypt has its favorite mizmar bands and its own style
of music.

Ghawazi of a given region work mostly with bands from their own area and
claim that their dancing is neither "typical" or at its best when they have
to work with a band from another region. Ethnic differences in dance style
are harder to prove without much further research, but seem likely in view
of the diverse ethnic origins of most Upper Egyptian Ghawazi, differences of
which they themselves are still aware. Most of the Ghawazi of the Qena area,
for example, belong to ethnic minorities known as Nawar (or Nawara), Halab
and Bahlawan.

The group with which the author is most familiar, the Nawar, who are ethnic
Gypsies, still speak the Nawari language to some extent and claim that the
Halab and Bahlawan have their own languages which are unrelated to Nawari.
If, throughout their sojourn in Egypt, an Arabic-speaking country, these
peoples have preserved something of their native languages, they may have
preserved something of their native dance styles as well. Egypt's most
famous family of Ghawazi, the Nawari Mazin family, seem to have a dance
style somewhat different from that of other Ghawazi whom the author has
seen, though whether the difference is Nawari or simply "Mazin" is difficult
to determine on the available evidence."