Cairo, the 4th February, 2010

Dancing to my own music...what a luxury!

Oh...I ll not deliver too much details about this one until everything is over and done but...I just have to say it: I am so happy with my new music.

Simple infos that are making my day:

1. Majance is what musicians call to the dancer's signature entrance music on stage. In Egypt, each dancer owns a majance composed for her (although many of them dance to already existing majances which were not composed for them) and it's her presentation card, the sound that announces this specific dancer's coming on stage and what she repeats on every single show.


2. The wonderful egyptian composer Hossam Shaker built my own majance with me.
I was searching for someone who was an artist outside the small money making machine of musicians of the egyptian market. I didn't want something predictable and resembling stuff that were already done.
I wanted something DIFFERENT, UNIQUE, STRANGE, COMPLEX and FRESH! I needed someone with a head opened to the world and not a small minded composer and...tchan, tchan, tchan, tchan...I found him!
Side by side. Night by night. Beat by beat and emotion by emotion.
I was by the composer's side on every single step of the work, from the first glimpse of melody till the final mix in the recording studio. It was straining and hard, it literally took my breath away (along with my sleep and some mental sanity too).
I heard dancers don't usually do this: keep up with the composer's work at its every small step. They deliver the idea and the composer deliver them the music already done in the end. I could never let this happen, NEVER! Does this mean I am a control freak? Maybe... does this mean that I know very well what I want and what I DO NOT want and I actually know what I am doing? Maybe...Does this mean that I am a perfectionist and want to be fully understood? For sure.


3. The whole composition process was tiring but fascinating to me. The way the composers started to learn about my personality, tastes, feelings...soul! We even considered bringing my mom from Portugal to sit with him - having tea and egyptian sweets, obviously - and tell him all about me, from childhood until now.
My mom would have told him quite a few interesting goodies, that's for sure!
The composer came to see me perform twice and joined me in one rehearsal with my orchestra but the main infos came from many sleepless nights we spent in his office, working on the music and talking about life.
FASCINATING. REALLY.


4. I cannot tell that working with musicians in the recording studio was a pleasure because it wasn't. Most of them were a lazy, pain in the arse crowd who had no love for their work and just wanted to play whatever could be done fast, get their money and get out from there in a second!
5. The final result...well...
More details about the whole subject...well.
These will be delivered as soon as everything is on my head and unavailable to the famous evil eye.

Keep yourself updated.
This has been quite a journey!