Joana Saahirah: the Luso-Egyptian Mummy!

 

It´s strange how so many people are resistant to CHANGE and so eager to remain in their Comfort zone (wishing others would do the same). Lately I´ve been receiving comments and messages of dancers and "regular people" who ask: "why did you have to change? Why more, why different, why you don´t stay as you were? I saw you perform in Cairo and you were like that; I took a class with you in Cairo and you were like this...now you´re different. What happened?!"

 

I mean: really? Not even Pharaoh Tutankhamon stays the same and he´s a Mummy (ruled ca. 1332 BC – 1323 BC in the conventional chronology, according to Wikipedia).

 

Well: first of all, I don´t think I am THAT* different. The essence of what I do remains the same - if not sharper than it ever was. Sure it´s not the same to perform without my Egyptian orchestra; it´s also not the same to dance in big theatres (instead of the smaller venues or open space stages I mostly had in Egypt); sure it´s not exactly* the same to perform for foreigners or for Egyptian/Arab audiences. Sure. But the ESSENCE is there, the CORE of Egyptian Dance is more present in me (and in my work: one and the same thing) than in the past. Two years of travelling the world to teach and perform have filtered, distilled, polished and sharpened my Dance and THAT, darling readers, is the kind of CHANGE I dream of.

 

 

Second point: LIFE happens and people, hopefully, learn and GROW with it. My character is not the same it was two years ago; my hips have been shaped by divine hand into a rounder version of a caravel that sails ALL the Oceans with no fear; I´ve been teaching and performing in diferent countries and learning from each one of them, being influenced, taking their taste and keeping it on my skin; I´ve been loving other men, friends, strangers.
 

LIFE HAPPENS and I cannot separate who I am, as a person, from who I am as a dancer.

The day I stop being affected by LIFE is the day I claim myself  DEAD. Doubt the talent of a dancer who is always the same - she´s most probably NOT an Artist.

The day I stop GROWING and CHANGING into a more complete and bright version of who I already am, I will do something else. I´ll not be a dancer, a teacher, a choreographer or a show woman. Maybe a potato expert (yep: that sounds nice enough...).

Third point: I am a CHANGE-EVOLUTION freak. Restless, curious, addicted to challenges and out of my Comfort zone (jumping in the darkness marathons). It´s the CONQUEST that interest me, not sitting on my throne and feeling "DA BOSS" of the parade. Once I achieve something I dreamt of, I move on to a new challenge that allows me to EXPAND. No lying on the couch, sitting on my ass. Sorry!
 

Last but not the least: get a grip, will you? Only rocks remain the same.

Live and let live - one of my beloved "mottos".