Cairo, the 29th June, 2009

“Ahlan Wa Sahlan shows and the dark side of the Oriental Dance circuit”

*** Dina show: Disaster. Only one word: SAD.
Lots of publicity, marketing and expectations from thousands of dancers and students from around the world and the show was a disaster.
Dina walking around the stage with her signature hand on the nose and empty laughing and no dance.

*** Before Dina, a clone of Dina ( Dalila):
I will be succinct because I don´t want to be cruel.
I watched one of Dina´s clones. What I wrote about Dina´s shows applies , word by word, to this lady´s presentation.

*** My only question: Has Oriental Dance turned into a commercial product so strong that the actual ART/DANCE tends to disappear?!

*** I am confused and sad. I admired Raqia Hassan for her astute way of creating and managing a great event of which I was proud and that I recommended to my students and now there´s nothing left of the dignifying purpose I cherished so much in this festival.

Hope upcoming surprises will make me change my mind. Hoping…