Joana Saahirah of Cairo tableau "maalema"

Here it is, the "maalema" side of me which has always been quite active due to my Life´s circumstances.

P.S. Notice how my "assaya" (stick) is too long for this stage hight so I break part of the big candelabrum above me with it. After that, I am dancing over many pieces of glass, not knowing if I will step on them, fall and get cut by them or be lucky and get way with it...
The dancers around me were going nuts with the subject and I had to give them subtle signs that everything was under control and I would not stop dancing just because of this incident.
Besides, I am a trained dancer/actress so NOTHING can make me stop on stage. No disaster, big or small, bra or skirt flying shame, falling flat on the floor or tantrums from musicians can stop me.

P.S.2
"Maalema" all the way. Notice how I orchestrate/correct the musicians WHILE on stage and give directions to the dancers so they move, act a bit and react accordingly to the music and situation...Only 5% of my attention and energy is, in fact, in my Dance. The rest of my energy is making sure that everybody else is doing their job.
LOL

Something's Got A Hold On Me

Ok, let´s try to get over the horrible blond acrylic wig, the dress and coat that look like drapes from a 70s curtain. I propose we focus on the TALENT. With capital letters. TALENT.
Dedicated to all my friends and fans!

"Oh, some time...I get a good feeling...yeah...I got a feeling that I never, never, ever had before...no,no...
And I just tell you right now that I...I believe, I really do believe that...
Something´s got a hold on to me...yeah...oh, it must be love!"

"Women of Egypt:

THIS is YOUR night: 5th February"

THE EVENT Cairo was waiting for a long time is, finally, arriving!

"Oriental Ladie´s Night" on the 5th February, at the Biancaffé (Mohandessin)

with JOANA SAAHIRAH OF CAIRO as your special hostessfor this UNIQUE

evening of Magic and Joy!!!

Here´s a little sneak peak of what you will find in this SPECIAL EVENT:

*** FREE CLASS (Oriental Dance Stravaganza by Joana Saahirah of Cairo) from 19.00h till 20.30h.

***"Oriental Ladie´s Night" with several activities JUST for WOMEN who enjoy themselves and LIFE from 21.00h till 24.00h!

***Oriental and World Dances Animation/Pratica to make us all move with Art and FUN.

***Special performance from Joana Saahirah of Cairo - Oriental and Egyptian Folclore - only for the ladies.

***Henna art available to make your hands and feet even more beautiful than they already are.

***Tarot cards reading - More than just "knowing what will come", the TAROT is an Iniciatic Art that combines Knowledge with deep intuition in order to help us deal with the past and the PRESENT in a CONSTRUCTIVE way so that our future is bright and HAPPY!

*** Cosy "souk" with selected items for WOMEN (jewelry, dance cloths, cds and dvds, etc).

***Many SURPRISES during the night.

********************************************************

Minimum charge for the night: 75 L.E.

Location: Biancaffé, Mohandessin (6 Gazayer St., beside Atlas Hotel & On the Run.)

Date: 5th February, Sunday night!

*********************

For further informations, please contact us through the mobile: 01066140001,

the Facebook (search for "Oriental Ladies Nights" or email: dancemagica@gmail.com

You can also find the event´s program and updates on Biancaffé´s page on the Facebook.

Very Happy to announce my participation in this new and high QUALITY World Festival happening in Cairo
next July: "Salamat Misr"

Many great artists to learn and share with, including me *(performing with my orchestra and teaching a SPECIAL workshop you will not want to miss!).

More detailed infos will be given in a short time. Meanwhile, check the website of the Festival and plan your trip to Egypt for July. It will be worth it!

"Salamat Misr" official website: www.salamat/misr.com

The beautiful cliché of the moment: 25th January!

Cairo woke up to a rather silent city, washed by the rare and beautiful rains that fell upon us yesterday night.

It is rare to experience a rainy evening in this city, as well as it was rare to see - as we saw one year ago - the EGYPTIAN PEOPLE united against the dictatorship of ex-President Hosny Mubarak.

Nothing is perfect and no JUSTICE is required without other powers which will do their best to STOP a positive CHANGE to happen. There is a Revolution and a COUNTER- Revolution. Not everyone has the goal of a POSITIVE change for egyptian people.

The tentacles of the octopuss are infinite and spread all over this country. To rip off the head of the octopuss doesn´t mean to kill all its membranes and yet one has to start from some point.

Time has flown, since a year ago...not much has changed, except a deterioration of an already weakened economy and the ever so precious gift of FREE SPEECH.

Despite all the negative consequences that came with the post-revolutionary period we are still living in, I keep my stance regarding the PRIDE I have on EGYPTIAN PEOPLE, the lives of the ones who gave them away in order to have a glimpse of the so long lost HOPE, the ones who gathered in "Tahrir Square" for one purpose: BEING FREE from a despotic Government that was sinking the country for around thirty years.

Egyptians deserve a fair opportunity to build honest, dignified, happy lives without having to escape from the country. They deserve to enjoy the fruits of their talents, work and creativity. They deserve to be treated like HUMAN BEINGS. For me, this is what the Egyptian Revolution was all about. It still IS.

Police forces have been reinforced today and lots of expectations are being fed towards this famous day. I just can honour the PEOPLE of EGYPT and feel proud of them, hoping that the Revolution will bring more LUMINOUS times to us all and not a regression to Medieval ages.

The eternal battle between Evil and Good is ON. As much as I would like to believe that JUSTICE always prevails in the end of every history, I´ve learnt that reality doesn´t work that way. Very often, the "bad guys" win over the "good guys" and, more importantly and disarming, the "good guys" are often THE "bad guys".

I will not go into political considerations as they will not serve any purpose right now.

Just wanted to POINT out THIS day as a SYMBOL of the POWER of EGYPTIAN PEOPLE and their born right to be HUMAN BEINGS with those famous smiles they carry for no apparent reason. Hoping for lots of reason to sustain those smiles.

The same I wish for me as I wish for all.

Love declaration to my HIPS.

Egypt has a hip oriented culture.

Yes, it does. Not even the "abbayas" or the "burqas" can make the hips disappear. If only imagination could be eliminated but no despotic powers can ever go so far. Imagination is a right no one can take away from you.

The generous hips are considered sexy because they mean "FERTILE WOMAN". Oriental Dance, the national dance (so denied and repressed) illustrates this HIP centered culture.

Yet this "hip" oriented culture relates EXCLUSIVELY to the symbolic and literal ability of female procreation. PROCREATION. Get married and give birth to muslim babies. That seems to be the only accepted function of women´s hips around here.

Women´s generous hips are valued BECAUSE they represent the ability to give birth to actual human babies. FULL STOP.

Besides that, there is only REPRESSION and a sense of shame that is instilled in girls/women everytime they dare to expose the contours of their hips and their FREE expression. In this controlled expression resides the POWER of female sexuality and all its explosive effects. No one seems to be brave enough to deal with such thing, do they?!

A woman who loves and assumes her hips as vital and precious is also a sexually active person, a strong individual with awareness of her own CREATIVE power. Nothing more dangerous than this to a society where Men wish to rule over women as the stronger sex over the weakest.

Allowing the female hips to be FREE would mean allowing the WOMEN to be free...who wants that, for God´s sake???

As an Oriental Dancer, I put my own hips on the highest throne. Although Oriental Dance is all about the entire BODY and SOUL expression -not just the hips - there s no denying that the center of it all is lovingly resident in those round, pink pillars of LIFE.

I can now see, very clearly, that a Woman who does not feel proud of her hips is a person with low self-esteem, weak and very limited creative resources.

As I write, I use my hips on the process. Their power, striking energy and urgence to SPEAK UP, the passion half sleeping inside them, the sweet juices and waters that exist in this boat shaped divine part of my body are all PRESENT. Each word, as each movement arrive from the depths of my HIPS, not my brain. Or is there a special kind of brain IN MY HIPS?

As I dance, I obviously use them too. Jewels and diamonds hanging from the invisible belt I wear around them, proud of who I am, the potential CREATOR of babies but, most of all, the ESSENCIAL CREATOR of MYSELF, my LIFE, my ART, my REALITIES, my CHOICES, my STRENGHT.

I admit my pride over my HIPS. More than my brain, more than my borrowed talents, more than the physical aspect many focus on. My HIPS are my biggest asset, source of pleasure and knowledge, creation and destruction, after all: LIFE.

If I could, I would write my HIPS a love declaration. They don´t need it though.

They know all too well how I hold them between my hands as if I was holding a precious World of its own, the reason why I insist on going forward, the reason I LOVE my men passionately the same way I let them go passionately when love is not around anymore. The same reason why I DANCE passionately. It is ALL in my HIPS.

No Love declarations are required, after all. The JOY I carry with me on a daily basis is there to speak for myself as that joy is a product of the sensuous, real pace of my heart so cleverly used by the Queens of this story, my story, the story of every Woman who knows what it means to be a WOMAN. It is all there, no words needed, in my HIPS. In OUR hips.

"Weekly Oriental and Egyptian folclore classes in CAIRO

by Joana Saahirah"

Here´s a luxury PLUS to be added to our first "Oriental Ladies Night" happening in Biancaffé (Mohandessin, 6, Gazayer Street, beside Atlas hotel & On the Run station) on the 5th February!

In this SPECIAL night dedicated to the WOMEN of Cairo, we will have a FREE Oriental Dance Class starting at 19.00h and then we will go on into an EVENING no one will forget!

Aside from the "Oriental Ladies Night", a New Course of Oriental and Folcloric Egyptian Dance will start from the 11th February on.

The course will happen every Saturday, from 17h until 19h at the Biancaffé.

Bring your energy and heart. We will do the rest!

Price per class: 50 LE with Pratica after class included.

For more informations, please contact Joana Saahirah of Cairo on the Facebook or through the email: dancemagica@gmail.com

Joana Saahirah Bellydancer in Nile Maxime - 2010

A little bit of Acting, a little bit of Dancing, a little bit of my SOUL on stage.

"You were born with potential

You were born with goodness and trust

You were born with ideals and dreams

You were born with greatness

You were born with wings

You are not meant for crawling, so don't

You have wings

Learn to use them and fly!"

- Rumi

(Via: Exceptional Living page on Facebook)

Of WOMEN and other delights.

If you are a regular reader of my Blog or one of my close friends, you know my world is mostly male. My most generous teachers and supporters were, almost all, men, my best friends are male, I perform with a male orchestra and deal with 99% of men and just 1% of women.

Daring to organize my FIRST "ORIENTAL LADIES NIGHT" is a way to balance this matter. Entering the FEMININE world of Cairo women is an enigmatic pleasure that I am willing to learn from with all my guts and passion. As usual.

I know, in advance, that I will GIVE a lot of me to these women (first night on the 5th February, Biancaffé, Mohandessin, starting at 19.00h until 24.00h) BUT they will also TEACH me a LOT about what it means BEING a WOMAN in a wide sense of the word. I know, FOR SURE, that we will enrich each other in unexpected, wonderful ways and for that I am so excited.

For being the Teacher but, mostly, the STUDENT. Of beautiful women whom, like me, reach for a JOYFUL way of BEING themselves at their BEST.

For all the WOMEN who will JOIN us on the first "Oriental Ladies Night", this 5th February, here it goes - in advance - all my LOVE and LIGHT!

See u all there, soon...For the PROGRAM of this MAGICAL NIGHT, please check anterior posts of this BLOG.

"Door men of Cairo: the moral gate keepers of a Nation"

You need a lot of waist work in order to circulate in this mad, fascinating city without going totally bananas! And I don´t mean waist work as in for "the stage" or for my work as a professional Dancer. I mean waist work to go around all the mentality issues I just can´t manage to accept because that would mean saying to my brain: "Hey, dude, just stop working for a while, will you?! Thank you."

The 25th of January is after tomorrow and the country is holding its breath towards what might happen as it will be a year after the FIRST STEP of the Egyptian Revolution. A year just flew by like a minute but ACTUAL changes did not come to the light of day yet. Sure there is, apparently, a FREEDOM of speech that was unthinkable before the Revolution yet the same corrupted system and the old prejudices and refusal to QUESTION illogical things still remain untouched.

Muslim brotherhood is on the horizon and, with it, LOTS of doubts and fears regarding the future of Egypt. I say nothing, see nothing. Just FEEL it and OBSERVE.

One of the things that DID NOT change with the FIRST STEP of the Egyptian Revolution was the mentality towards Oriental Dancers - who are seen, more and more, as prostitutes and cold blooded men eaters - and the way WOMEN are still perceived and controlled, even by strangers.

Examples of this are right here, in front of my eyes, on a daily basis.

One of my doormen has been in a spy mission to catch me with male visitors inside my home for quite a while. He waits up for me late at night to check with whom I arrive and if he goes up to my flat with me. He looks dirty at my two cups of cappuccino I buy in the morning, imagining for whom it is the second cup.

He knocks on my door and tries to sneak a peak inside of it every time I receive male friends, giving me that same "dirty" look that warns me : "You bitch, you better be careful about who you invite to your home ´cause I am watching you."

Then there are the less than sublet warnings from neighbours to whom the doorman relates my comings and goings. It seems they are all so worried about the salvation of my soul and the threats of contact of the male part of the population.

Being a FREE Woman, a Foreigner & a DANCER living in Cairo seems to offend lots of people who recognize for themselves the right to put their nose in my LIFE as if I was their possession.

Feels like grabbing a mircrophone and yelling to the building´s residents:

"You folks...GET a LIFE!!!"

Having gone through the start of the Revolution in Egypt and many other personal and professional trials that 2011 brought me, I cannot help but wonder WHERE is all this going.

Change never comes from imposing new LAWS but, first of all, from a shift of consciousness in each individual. That KIND of Revolution is still on the way with no previewed time of arrival.

Hope it will arrive soon. For the sake of Egypt and my mental sanity!

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. "
Mahatma Gandhi

Miss Representation 2011 - Full Documentary

Essential, Revolutionary messages in a great documentary.
Hands ON the DEEDS, making a change by myself, one step at a time.
WOMEN and MEN, wake up!!!

"Women of Egypt: THIS is YOUR night: 5th February"

THE EVENT Cairo was waiting for a long time is, finally, arriving!

"Oriental Ladie´s Night" on the 5th February, at the Biancafé (Mohandessin) with JOANA SAAHIRAH OF CAIRO as your special hostess
for this UNIQUE evening of Magic and Joy!!!

Here´s a little sneak peak of what you will find in this SPECIAL EVENT:

*** FREE CLASS (Oriental Dance Stravaganza by Joana Saahirah of Cairo) from 19.00h till 20.30h.

***"Oriental Ladie´s Night" with several activities JUST for WOMEN who enjoy themselves and LIFE from 21.00h till 24.00h!

***Oriental and World Dances Animation/Pratica to make us all move with Art and FUN.

***Special performance from Joana Saahirah of Cairo - Oriental and Egyptian Folclore - only for the ladies.

***Henna art available to make your hands and feet even more beautiful than they already are.

***Tarot cards reading - More than just "knowing what will come", the TAROT is an Iniciatic Art that combines Knowledge with deep intuition in order to help us deal with the past and the PRESENT in a CONSTRUCTIVE way so that our future is bright and HAPPY!

*** Cosy "souk" with selected items for WOMEN (jewelry, dance cloths, cds and dvds, etc).

*****Many SURPRISES during the night.

*******************************************************************

Minimum charge for the night: 75 L.E.

Venue: Biancaffé, Mohandessin (6 Gazayer St., beside Atlas Hotel & On the Run.)

Date: 5th February, Sunday night!

*********************

For further informations, please contact Joana Saahirah through the Facebook or email: dancemagica@gmail.com

You can also find the event´s program and updates on

Biancaffé´s page on the Facebook.

Blessed contrasts.

It is me, in these photos up here. I was very young but my tough side was already visible.

I was a smart kid with a taste for marginal people. My best friends were gipsies and africans from the portuguese ex-colonies. I was a favourite of the drug gangs of our neighburhood (cause I kicked the ass of boys if they ever messed with me, my sister or friends) but I was also the best student in my class.

No one knew WHERE to put me: the good girl or the bad girl?! Impossible to define.

Nature really knows what it does and so does God.

I was born with a water heart, extremely emotional to the point of melting at the slightest loving experience AND a mind of steel, tough as they come.

If my heart cries, my mind/head runs in its help, assisting it so that emotions don´t get me stuck in deep valleys of sorrow.

If my mind/head is interfering too much in the spaces of my Life when I am supposed to "just feel", then my heart rescues me, allowing me to LOVE with passion and total commitment.

This blessed contrast proved to be LIFE saving in Egypt. As a Dancer managing an orchestra and dealing with a hard, anti-human environment, I have to be tough most of the times, take care of the ones who I trust (or, simply, trusting no one) and keep my emotions to myself, hidden, sleeping, silent.

The moment I step on a stage there is an opposite side of me that is required: no more toughness, dry heart, authority. On stage, I have to be PURE emotion, PURE heart and those are the only authority tools I can use in this space.

The ones who only know my head, have no idea on how my heart is filled with honey. The ones who only know my heart, cannot imagine the tough cookie I transform myself into in order to survive in a male dominated work, society, mentality.

Kind of schizofrenic, I guess...but still great and useful.

I know wise people say the virtue is in the middle of reality but I never said I was wise. I am always between contrasts, blacks and whites, full YES or full NO.

I love or I hate. I don t please people. I give my smile to the ones I respect and appreciate and my "nothing" to the ones I don t respect.

I am not "nice" for the sake of being "nice", earning friends and enemies so very easily.

I cry while my head becomes stronger and pushes me forward.

I move on, while my heart is bleeding.

The sun and the moon are, permanently, dancing inside me. And I LOVE it...

Thanks, mother nature.

"Could you be the most handsome man in the world?"

A girl has the right to her space of superficiality, doesn´t she?

So here it is: my space of superficial thoughts.

Girlie stuff aside (can´t really manage to care about hair, make-up and gossip!), this is my shallow declaration, after admiting my assumed taste for beuatiful things, people, men!

Oh, yeah...and, who better than Paul Newman (the most gorgeous man ever lived PLUS talented), to give his face to this simple post?!

Women are not, usually, allowed to see men as sexual objects so here I am, once more, against the current. Sure enough, Paul Newman - or any other gorgeous man - is not an object but he does have the beauty of a cathedral or a flower.

A beautiful man is like a great painting that leaves you chocking on your own heart beats.

Gotta love it/him. Shallow side of me and all that jazz...

"Marriage proposal # 357 and some other booty calls"





If you´re an Oriental Dancer performing in Cairo you get, on a constant basis, at least, these kinds of proposals.





The marriage ones which can be divided into:


1. Naif, ultra-romantic, idealistic proposals from men who come to your shows, from your musicians and staff (the ones who are brave enough to aproach you that way) or fellow artists (singers, other dancers, people who see you around in this business). These men put you on a pedestal and IMAGINE who you are from there. They fall in love with the DANCER, not the person.


They also expect that this DIVA they "fell in love with" will stop dancing alltogether as soon as they marry you, turning you into a "respectable lady".


Endearing but often imature marriage proposals come from these men who hardly know you but claim that Love knows no reasons. It just happens!





2. Marriage proposals from rich guys who just want to buy your body for a while or permanently. No romantic idealistic strings attached. This is a pure sexual proposal, disguised by the safe pretext of marriage.


They wish to parade you in public, after marriage, as their own precious property. Thy also expect you to stop dancing after marrying them. Non-negotiable issue.





3. The so called empresarios and managers who are, in their majority, pimps who know whom to pay to get the jobs for their dancers. They also think that, by marrying them, they will get extra income, better control over the dancers and sex. It´s buying three packs of sugar for the price of one. Extra money, control, sex. Yuppieee!!!!


This is the ONLY situation when the dancer is not only allowed to dance after being married but even work her ass off much harder than before because now her husband is eating from the same cake. "Yalla, habibty... Wake up and dance, dance, dance...(and I cash it inside my pockets, thank you, darling!!!)".





4. The men who meet you outside your dance environment and really get the time to know you. It s refreshing for you not to deal with the kind of people of your working space and it is exciting for him to imagine you dancing on stage like a Diva.


They fall in love with you, see how "you´re not at all like other dancers", present you to their families (never mentioning what you do for a living) and assume you WILL stop dancing and get pregnant within five days after you´re married.

Then there are the "booty calls":

1. Men who just want to screw you. No marriage proposal in the deal.

Usually dancers from the same environment - most of them already married and with children, cocky musicians who see themselves in the mirror and find Marlon Brando instead of their REAL faces, empresarios and Club´s/hotel´s managers who think they can offer you a month of performances in their places in exchange for sex.

Exchange of services, I guess and plain dirtiness. Part of this world, unfortunately.

2. Strangers who go to your shows or have seen your photos somewhere. They reach you through the mobile phone, email, Facebook, hoping that you will go out and screw a total stranger in exchange for money. Pure prostitution.

I´ve got all of these proposals so far. And yet another one from a famous business man who tried to reach me in every way imagination can conceive.
Wondering WHY none of them seems atractive to me!


The price to pay for being a DANCER in Egypt and a FREE WOMAN is, so very often, a heavy burden to carry. But I say, hey, it is worth it. Until a REAL MAN comes along and takes the person WITH the dancer. The LOVE with the love making. The WHOLE real deal.
Allelujah!!!:))))))

Egyptian Belly Dancer

Video of me, hidden in the depths of Youtube.
Thanks, Paula Barbosa, for finding it and sending it to me.
A LOT of "face dancing" over here. God*s, I LOVE Dancing. It shows...
Also love the devotional face of my accordeonist while watching me dance.
Me and the accordeon have a VERY special relationship.
God bless Music, Musicians, Dancers, Artists...

P.S.:
Small correction:
This is not an egyptian bellydancer. It s me *(part portuguese, part spanish, part egyptian, part of the whole world)!!!

The Zar

Beautiful, nicely done short documentary about the marginal dance&music of "zaar", outlawed and ostracized in Egypt.
I call it the psychological clinic for the people.
Therapy through music and dance, a pure, primitive way to Re-CONNECT with oneself. It doesn t surprise me it is considered against the law over here.

I ve been and participated in several "zaar" sessions in Cairo and other villages around it. It always felt like home to me and none of the negative ideas associated with it *(exorcism, the devil s work and other such non sense) applies to reality.
Sure there are lots of intentions behind what s REALLY happening. The participants consider they are possessed by "djinns" that need to be released through the dance BUT what I really see is a group of hard working, exhausted, frustrated, sad women seraching for a healthy way to feel better.

Women play and dance for their own health, their own survival, their own soul s salvation. How can THAT be considered out lawed???

You know MUSIC and DANCE are part of who YOU ARE when...

When I am at the Opera of Cairo searching for specific musicians and accept an invitation to listen and watch a rehearsal which theme is Farid El Atrash.

When I start to listen to the first tunes of an old song and tears roll out of my eyes with no control from my part.

When I am sitting on a chair, trying to focus on "my own business" but all I can FEEL is the MUSIC. Not outside of me but DEEP inside, moving, me, lifting me up, elevating my heart, body and soul to unexpected places of ABSOLUTE LOVE.

When I get drunk from this music and remain in this altered, sacred state where nothing and no one else exist except the ME turned into a human MUSICAL PIECE.

If anyone would touch me during this rehearsal, it would be like waking me up from the most perfect of ALL dreams.

You know when YOU are MUSIC and DANCE when no separation stands between YOU and them. When you loose your breath and grab yourself to the chair but imagine yourself / myself - dancing in the middle of that orchestra, as usual.

When you smile and cry at the same time, thinking to yourself: This is IT. This is ME.

Image of my first professional job in Egypt!

Luxor, right in the kicking start of this whole adventure, in a time when a stupid law forbade foreigners to work as professional Oriental Dancers in Egypt (oh, yeah, it existed such a law." Banana Republic", my dears!).

The solution was to create and perform as a GROUP of dancers (as the monkey law only forbade us to dance solo).

I went to Luxor with some colleagues I had met on my arrival to Egypt for some Oriental Shows which included the peculiar program:

1. Egyptian Oriental and folcloric dances;

2. Lebanese dabke;

3. Spanish fantasy (a little bit of flamenco, "sevillanas" and LOTS of non~sense);

4.Samba and modern dance.

5. A musical number from "Cabaret" where I had to sing and dance on a chair with a broken leg. The lyrics were given to me a few hours before the first show and I had to improvize it all on stage. Kamikaze, baby!

Right after that, I had sessions of dancing shooting in video-clips where I shook my generous hips and booty between arab and egyptian singers of doubtful talent.

Better than this, it would be finding the shooting of my "dabke" performance on the famous "Samir Sabri" show. I must have been out of my head, REALLY! Or just up for the adventure itself (prefer to believe the second reason).

Me, dressed in traditional lebanese folk cloths with a sensuous touch that left most of my legs showing like a streap~teaser. On Egyptian National Television. Outch.

If someone finds that recording, please forward it to me. A generous monetary compensation will be offered for the tape and for your silence.

Thank you.

It´s HAPPENING:

"Women´s Empowerment through Oriental Dance" in CAIRO!!!

I dream BIG. I DO even BIGGER. No matter how many mountains, mice and snakes get in my way!

After an loud conflict between me and a lady called "Bloom" (very suggestive name and I SAW the signs in it) during which I got to think about the ancient competition and evilness between Women, an idea was born: Instead of saying: "WOMEN, unite and learn from each other" I decided to DO SOMETHING.

Find a venue where I could teach Oriental Dance mixed with books (fun AND education) and open discussions about WOMEN´s Worlds and a "LADY´s NIGHT" where they could see me PERFORM (with a very special orchestra that you ll all know more about soon), dance together, have their own little "souk" for specially selected dance and beauty items, Tarot readings, etc. A women´s world with no comparing each other, no envy, no ancient irritating competition, no bad mouthing, no gossip. ONLY the BEST of WOMEN for WOMEN.

It is, finally, HAPPENING.

As in everything else that is done in this city, it took a LOT of effort, time and patience to see it all coming true but, thanks God, WE are doing IT.

First set of classes and "Women´s Night" starting from the end of January.

More details will follow!

Yeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.......................................

Political marketing in Cairo *(taken to an whole new level).

Damn, reality just blows my mind!

No imagination can surpass the extents of madness of everything I observe inside and outside myself.

As I was heading for my favourite coffee shop, early in the morning, to get my caffeine dose for yet another set of hours working on my BELOVED book, I noticed a political poster of a candidate for some Governmental elections.

The photo portrayed a man with a common face that could belong to any of my neighbours, the doorman, a doctor. What stroke me as weird was that the photographer or team which retouched the image on Photoshop inserted a dark spot on the man´s forehead, the same kind of the men who knock with their heads on the floor during the daily prayers.

The physical prostration required in the prayer rituals of Muslims leads to the head bumping or just touching the floor several times. The ones who show a callus on their foreheads are thought to be obeying followers of the daily prayers and, therefore, pious and a little bit sacred themselves.

The job was definitely badly done, otherwise I would not notice this was a digital adding and not an actual forehead callus that many exhibit as a proof of their religiosity (strangely associated with VIRTUOSITY and PURITY).

Since WHEN did religious clichés were used as a political marketing bonus?

Maybe I am the one who s been too busy with myself and not REALLY noticing what´s going on around me.

Why would a photographer add a callus to the forehead of a political candidate as a way to provide him with reliability?!

And, since when, did the so called "religious people" are, indeed, the most honest, hardworking, efective politicians?

Europe seemed to have learnt its lessons regarding to this dangerous mix between Politics and Religion but the Middle East is still on the way to this learning process.

The Christian Church, always associated with the political powers of each time, exploited, lied, manipulated, oppressed and killed billions of human beings. They created "Holly wars" (as if a war could EVER be "holly") and Inquisitions where anybody who disagreed with the religious/political authority or anyone who showed some knowledge (the witch hunt was all about eliminating "KNOWLEDGE" in the hands of Women) was burnt in the fire.

A scary amount of priests, nuns, popes were all discovered as sexual perverts, mad men and women who said something and DID its opposite. Secret passages, tunnels, caves were discovered in famous Convents all over Europe. What was found in these secret places was nothing short of a HELL landscape: instruments of torture and thousands of baby skeletons of abortions resulted from "religious people" intercourse covered in guilt.

No good ever came from associating Politics with Religion, this was a lesson learnt from Europe. It seems european History is not known in Egypt.:((

Knowledge is power, hence the pride Egyptian Governments seem to have on their poor, ignorant people.

The Egyptian Revolution was supposed to OPEN minds, not close them even further.

Hope the direction of this wind will change. Not only for my sake but for the sake of my BELOVED EGYPT.

Out of my comfort zone.

Every day.

With fierce determination and a faith that cientists can never and will never explain.

Seeing the MAGIC in LIFE and letting it soak my feet every single time I bath.

Walking the WALK, letting old baggage for the dogs to take in the middle of every street I pass by.

Receiving the SUN and the MOON, not afraid of the dark anymore as it is just the warning of BRIGHT new days to come...

Guilty as charged.

Of being ALIVE.

Of doing everything I dream of and want for myself, no matter how many obstacles get in the way.

Of watching the "Family Guy" series with the passion and delight of children.

Of choosing my lovers, friends, global family.

Of escaping to cinema sessions with a STARBUCKS moccha on my hands when things get really rough and my mind yells "give me silence for a while".

Of having fun with my mum, more than with anyone else I ever met in my Life.

Of fighting back, every time assholes try to cut my legs simply because I don t sleep with them, I don t throw myself at their feet, I bother them with my constructive PRESENCE.

Of reading as a compulsion and throwing away some literature master pieces which I find to be so damn boring.

Of LOVING with no games, no mixed messages, no lies or any kind of cheating. Just LOVING. And then, NOT, at all. This tendence for TOTALITY seems to be outrageous for a lot of people.

Of not bothering about what others think of me.

Of DANCING from my guts and soul, never from a point of vanity.

Of WORKING with dignity and respect for myself, no DIVA bullshit required.

Of not letting any great or umpleasant circumstances define me as they are always transitory and conditional as my SOUL is eternal and uncondicional.

Of writing, teaching, coreographing, performing as a way of BEING in the world with no models to follow, no dogmas to stick up to, no certainties.

Of BEING HAPPY, no matter what.

Guilty as charged of NEVER GIVING UP my Dreams!!!

Guilty of loving food, beach, travels, books, Oprah Magazine, Tango, Salsa, Flamenco and all the dances in the world, healthy and loving sex with the man of my choice, genuine and kind people, animals, fire, rain, sun and so many other things that turn me into something IMPOSSIBLE to define.

Guilty as charged from being MYSELF, no excuses, no fears...

“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”

Audrey Hepburn

In this apparent SILENCE I CREATE, I dance and write and re-learn that rare
ART of LOVING.

Eduardo Galeano - El Derecho al Delirio (Legend)

Food for the soul.
Spoken in spanish, with subtitles in portuguese and english.
Some things are just too amazing to keep them only to myself.
The poem recitated in this video translates an open, ALIVE heart and that is, according to my own taste and evaluation, priceless.
Enjoy.

Elvis Costello 'She'

Video kindly sent by a very special fan, Wail Abdel.
These are the gifts that need no words or compliments to go with it. The message is clear and the tenderness is so palpable that it brings tears to my eyes.
Thank you, Wail. For your loving presence, appreciation, support, kind way of stimulating the Artist and the Person that I am.

Eckhart Tolle recebe Neale Donald Walsch - legendas em português

Too Great to keep it only to myself. Enjoy!

Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet - On Love

Billie Holiday - All of me

My little own "see you later" elected song.
Who else, if not, Billie Holiday *(my daily musical pill)?!

"All of me, why not take all of me
Can´t you see I ´m no good without you.
Take my lips, I want to loose them.
Take my arms, I ll never use them.
Your goodbuy left me with eyes that cry,
How can I go on, dear, without you?
You took the part that once was my heart
So why not take all of me????"

Away for a while...

Wishing, once more, all my friends and fans a GREAT 2012 with conscious CHOICES, THOUGHTS. FEELINGS, ACTIONS that will CREATE a different, lighter, happier time.

As the day only has 24 hours and I am only one, some priorities have to be settled so my blogs and Facebook profiles will be left for a while so that I can commit myself with other important things from which lots of people will be able to taste a little bit later.

Writing my own book while performing, traveling, teaching is a monumental task. So a bigger focus and time should be devoted to that wonderful and challenging task.

Making sure that the BEST Oriental and Folcloric show will be, soon, available in Cairo for an audience who is READY for ART with love and courage also takes effort, burocratic work, proper time.

Planning events for 2012 and choosing where to go, with whom and doing what so that my 2012 will be as PRODUCTIVE and HAPPY as I wish it to be.

Till my return, you can be updated by joining me on my

Fan Page in Facebook *(search for "Joana Saahirah of Cairo Fan Page"),

check performance videos on the Youtube *(search for Joana Saahirah of Cairo) and ask for further infos about shows and workshops through the email: dancemagica@gmail.com

Bless you all and receive my warmest HUG.

Territory of the WARRIORS of Love and Truth, not the so called "good wishes" people who do not MOVE their hands and feet for an ACTUAL CHANGE.
Dream catcher I AM.
May 2012 be the YEAR of all DREAMS coming true. For me, for all.
Amen.

Small pleasures...

Being received by a family of kittens whom I am feeding since they were born (except for the breast feeding part, sure enough, that I left to their mum).

Noticing how the ones who came to me for caresses, tenderness, talking, playing and tummy massages were the ones who grew bigger and faster.

Never underestimate the power of loving touch, eye contact, tender hugs, playfulness with pure care.

LOVE makes everyone and everything flourish, grow, shine.

P.S. Love the group purring (rrrrrrRRRRRRRRrrrrrrr.......RRRRrrrRRRrrrr.....RRRR.....)sound the kittens make around me. It s like being presented with an orchestra of sweet clouds entering my ears, my heart.

Sure

enough.

"Show girl with the best intentions for 2012"

Eremits of all religions and professions of faith have been living in a process of "enlightenment" inside caves, in monasteries, convents, all kinds of "caves" where direct contact with other human beings - holly imperfect beings - is minimized or even eliminated.

No disrespect intended but I may say that is easy to be peaceful, loving, compassionate and full of kindness in your heart when you re by yourself, meditating in any of the caves we find to protect ourselves from this jungle we call "exterior" world. Nothing and no one teases us in any way. No one touches or hurts our hearts in any way. Solitude is the easy way out, a shortcut to LIGHT inside of us but, probably, not an effective one.

Meditation is great, I ve been there often while dancing, practicing Yoga or making love with my man but it doesn t substitute the REAL thing and that is called LIFE.

Dancing professionally in Egypt, specially in the harsh conditions I had to face, has been a Great School in several matters and ways. I ve learnt it all about egyptian music, dance, culture yet no other treasure is more precious to me than the HUMAN lessons I gathered along the way.

Gods and goddesses bless all the eremits but I think TRUE enlightenment cannot come from reclusion and shell creating from the World. This material, chaotic, often cruel and absurd world of ours is made of Human Beings, so amazing and imperfect that your head will spin and fly out of your neck if you try to truly understand them. Then I don t. Not anymore.

After all, you re one of them *(except if you re an alien from Mars reading this blog, in that case you may be excused or not...here we go with my compulsive curiosity: are aliens as complex and prone to "f.....it up" as humans from Planet Earth? In case you re REALLY one of these aliens from Mars, kindly send a feed-back of my question to my email: dancemagica@gmail.com). Thanks.

Living between human beings, WITH them and not away from them is, I discovered, the BIGGEST and most challenging way of enlightenment. Dealing with other people s flaws is dealing with your own, feeling irritation for what others do to you is understanding that you re doing it to yourself, seeing people s imperfections and yet ability to GROW turns you into a mirror where you can see yourself reflected and say: I am imperfect too. I make mistakes too and fall every once in a while. I also have the option to LEARN, CHANGE my negative patterns and GROW.

So, why is it so difficult for me to keep calm in a lotus position or with a beautiful indian "mudra" laying upon my chest when the same asshole (sorry but there is no other word in the english language that can keep up with the person I am trying to speak about), a saudi arabian young guy sends me several messages asking for prostitution services, after I openly shamed him on my facebook profile?!

First there was another "lady" (whom, I discovered, is not a "lady" but a pimp trying to get prostitutes to other men who, for sure, will pay him for these dirty detective services) contacting me throught the FB asking about my "services rendered". The dark side of Fb!

I mean...I am a professional dancer and teacher. What kind of services do you expect from me? Peeling potatoes while painting landscapes with my foot toes? Doing the hawaian hula while doing bank account burocratic work?

What?

I perform (with my orchestra), specially if in small parties, and teach private and group lessons on Egyptian Oriental and Folcloric Dance. Anything besides that, you may hire your own mum for the job. That was my answer.

I blocked the pimp and the potential client from my account, mentioned the client´s name in public telling this story and still both of them tried to reach me again, this time offering a large sum of money so that I would, and I quote: "take him to town to have fun together."

Now...the potential client didn t even look like Frankenstein (he may have been using a false picture) but he surely WAS Frankenstein or worse. The disrespect for DANCERS and the way men use their power=money to buy WOMEN just makes want to scream and become a Frankenstein myself. WTF??? I know lots of dancers prostitute themselves but sure there are exceptions. Besides that, since when it is apropriate to propose prostitution to strange women?!

A little voice, saviour one, come to my head whispering: "Say OMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Joana. Relax. Breath deeply. Stretch. Think of birds and the sea on a sunny day.Quiet. Sit. (good dog!LOL).

It is hard to be good and compassionate with so much madness and disrespect around. I try. Still trying...

Starting the year with another, oh ANOTHER, test to my patience, compassion, ability to accept and understand other people´s faults.

Would this wonder be possible if I lived in a cave on the top of the Mount Sinai?! I don´t think so.

And then you learn, and grow stronger and become able to laugh even at the offenses others bestow upon you. And that´s LIFE, that´s LEARNING. And, hopefully, that´s LIGHT.