The Big 5: Khaleegy

 
This post is part of my series on “The Big 5”. Those are the genres that an educated audience would recognize, and expect certain dance stylizations.

(i.e., the genres for which just listening to the music isn’t enough.)
 
 
To read more about this idea, or to find links to the other articles in the series, check out the first article in the series, The Big 5.
 

Khaleegy

 

What it is:

A musical style from Gulf region (“the Khaleej”), generally featuring the Khaleegy rhythm (D–D–T-). (But it’s not limited to that rhythm; 6/8s are also common.)

Both men and women dance to this music, but what we usually think of as “Khaleegy” is a style of women’s group social dancing.

This is not “belly dance” per se, but many Egyptian dancers incorporated a Khaleegy number in their shows (fancified for the stage) as a nod to the wealthy Gulf Arabs in their audiences.

So an educated belly dance audience is likely to be familiar with Khaleegy, particularly Arabs.
 

Relevant styles:

Highly recommended for Egyptian-style dancers.

Not a standard part of Vintage Orientale (aka AmCab), but it makes a fun “specialty”.

Not traditionally included in a Turkish show.
 

Aesthetics:

Traditionally danced in a loose, richly-embroidered dress called a thobe nashal. (Although I’m told that the thobe is being used less and less in the social context.)

Since the thobe obscures the belly and hips, there isn’t much hipwork, but sometimes hip moves are done with hands resting on the hips to emphasize the movement.

Khaleegy style emphasizes footwork, shoulder articulations, hand gestures, and hair tosses, as well as swishing and framing movements with the thobe.

The social dance is usually done in groups, and the participants often interact with each other. Many performers adapt it as a solo piece in their shows.

Khaleegy is about having fun. It’s a social dance that people do at parties, in company of their friends. This is not the place for “sharqi princess anguish face”.
 

Resources:

There is a well-regarded instructional DVD by Amerah Eid in Australia, although I believe it’s only available in PAL format. (Somebody correct me if I’m wrong.)

Karim Nagi’s Arab Folk Dance DVD* has a segment on Khaleegy.

Kay Hardy Campbell (whose workshops I highly recommend) has some video clips of the dance in a social context on her web site at:
http://www.kayhardycampbell.com/blog.htm#Videos

Lauren Haas has an excellent article, including many video clips, at:
http://www.bellydancestuff.com/style-khaleegy.html
 

Songs to know:

Aba’ad* aka Leyla Leyla* is the only must-know song I’m aware of. (There are many other wonderful songs in the genre, of course, but Aba’ad is the only one I know of that your audience would reliably recognize.)

Anything labeled “Khaleegy”, “Khaliji”, “Saudi”, or “Saoudi” is worth investigating.
 

Tips:

As Lauren pointed out in her article, Khaleegy varies from region to region. The Khaleej includes several distinct countries. The styling of Iraqi Khaleegy can be pretty different from Saudi Khaleegy.
 
 
Stay tuned for the next article: Lyrical Veil Music
 

Your Turn

Are you a fan of Khaleegy?

Can you think of any other must-know songs?

What are your favorite Khaleegy songs, even if they aren’t must-know music?

Do you know of any other resources for learning about Khaleegy?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

 
 

* Note: links marked with a * are Amazon affiliate links, meaning that I will get a small commission (typically a few cents) if you make a purchase through them.

If you’d prefer that I not get that commission, just search Amazon directly for the title you’re looking for. That’s 100% okay by me.

I have NOT personally used all of the items featured on this page; they are just resources I found that might be helpful based on their descriptions and reviews.
 
 

The fabulous photo on this page is by Stereovision Photography, and features Suzana Nour of the DC area.