A Surprise Performance
by Leyla Najma · 5 Comments
I wanted to share an experience I had at a restaurant years ago with you all because I want to let you know that you never know what lady luck will toss your way.
One particular night I just happened to be performing at an Italian restaurant in the downtown area of Dallas. I was hired to perform for a large group of Doctors and their wives. Unfortunately I had to be at their beck and call the entire evening which meant performing at a moments notice or giving a lecture on the dance. Oddly enough I performed to a few songs from one of the Gypsy Kings cds since they were one of my favorite bands.
As it was getting very late, I was just about to fall over in my chair until the bartender started to yell telling everyone that the Gypsy Kings were coming to the restaurant to eat dinner. They had just finished their concert and wanted to eat Italian food. So the owner of the restaurant looked at me and asked if I had it in me to do one more show. Not only did I come back to life but I was jumping up and down because I couldn’t believe my luck. Thirty minutes went by that seemed to last an eternity and I had to remember to breathe so I wouldn’t pass out from the anticipation. With a yell the valet drivers let us know they had arrived. They drove up in their limo to the front doors and everybody started to clap. The entourage consisted of over twenty people and they all walked in with the Gypsy Kings laughing and singing as they were directed to their table.
I was introduced to everyone and I found them all to be gentlemen and very down to earth. After about an hour the owner finally signaled for me to get dressed. It was the first time I had butter fingers because it seemed to take me twice as long to get ready. As I came out of the bathroom I will never forget how amazing the feeling was to be performing for the Gypsy Kings. I pinched myself just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The bartender started to play my music and as you may have guessed it was to their music. All of a sudden they started to clap and sing along to their own music and as I walked out onto the middle of the restuarant I felt like I was the one being entertained. It was one big jam session with everyone singing and dancing together!
For me this is by far the best dance experience of my career and one I will always treasure!!
Sphere: Related ContentClimbing the Queens Pyramid and Missing Time
When I traveled to Egypt in 1991 it was definitely a calling from the Heavens. It never occurred to me that I was really going for dance; I was going because the temples, alters, and sacred burial grounds were my calling. My first walk off the plane and down multiple steps was not exactly my finest moment. The obvious dancer in me missed the first step and I went tumbling down a flight of stairs and landed on my suitcases. A dance friend that went with me started to yell my name and burst out laughing. Out of nowhere a myriad of people appeared to help me untangle my arms from my legs. I made an entrance I never planned on making and from that moment on the excitement and unexpected twists and turns never stopped.
I’ll tell you all a little secret that I have kept for a long time…..maybe I’m doing this out of guilt but I figure at this point I might as well let the cat out of the bag. I met wonderful people in Cairo and one friend in particular was a very adventurous fellow. We all called him Jimbo and true to form he was a great traveling companion. One night we were at a pub called Pub 13 in Maadi, a suburb on the outskirts of Cairo when he got this bright idea for us to go and climb one of the Queens pyramids. It was around 2:00am in the morning and by this point we had drunk quite a few beers, a brand called Stella. In my right state of mind I would have said no, but I was in a happy go lucky mood and just about every suggestion sounded good to me at that point. So with an Indiana Jones state of mind we took off in a cab with the full moon as our guide.
When we approached the pyramids the cab driver drove us to an area by a group of houses. He didn’t want to go any further and we ended up walking a ways before the Queens pyramids were within view. As we approached our destination I was past being light headed and really enjoying the sounds from the distant desert. The wind seemed different; you could almost feel a presence in her. I could hear light whispers from behind me but when I would turn around to see if anyone was there, all I would see was sand and stone. Jimbo heard the same whispers and we stopped for a moment because we both thought there were people in front of us. As we waited in the shadows, nothing came towards us. We were beginning to get spooked because it was evident we were not alone in the dark.
One look up the pyramid and it was evident that it was going to be one heck of a climb. So with a high five we started to climb looking for a path way up the giant stones. I could feel a presence all around me with each step and occasionally I felt as if someone was touching me as I was trying to keep up with Jimbo. We stopped a few times to catch our breath and I could tell that the higher we climbed the noisier it got with the whispers. I knew Jimbo was nervous and feeling uncomfortable and the thought crossed my mind that maybe we shouldn’t be doing this but at that point it was too late to stop. We had passed the point of no return and we knew we had to get to the top. The voices were egging us on and when the top stones could be seen an adrenalin rush came over me like nothing I had ever felt before. We both looked at each other and then everything went blank.
I looked at Jimbo again and noticed that the sun was coming up and he looked at me with a blank stare. I had to say his name a few times for him to respond to me. I was in the middle of a mosquito swarm and suggested that we start to climb down. Without a word he turned and we started to make our way down the pyramid in record speed. As we reached the road and started to walk toward the houses in the distance we could hear the Morning Prayer echoing through out the city. In moments like that it is as if time stands still.
We hailed a cab and went to one of the hotels to eat breakfast. Jimbo still wouldn’t talk to me and I finally broke the silence with a question. I asked, “What time did we leave the pub?” He said, “We left around 2:00am.” I then asked how long it took us to get to the pyramids. He said, “Thirty minutes max with no traffic on the roads. And I know what you’re next question is going to be. How long did it take us to climb the pyramid, right?” He knew I was asking because we had missing time that neither of us could account for. The Queens pyramids are smaller in stature so I figured it took maybe and hour or so to reach the top but once we reached the top, I don’t remember anything.
We looked at each other and realized that whoever was with us that night might have played a roll in our missing time. We couldn’t see anyone but we knew they were there. It was like we stepped into the twilight zone where the known becomes the unknown.
Climbing the pyramids is not permitted and if we would have gotten caught that night well my story would have had different ending. To this day I don’t know what happened in those few hours of missing time but knowing Isis and Hathor as I do, I feel they took me into their arms, embraced me and said, “Welcome!” I just hope it wasn’t Sekhmet that embraced Jimbo because we all know how cats love to play!
Sphere: Related Content“The Divine Unrest”©
by Leyla Najma · 7 Comments
For the most part of two years I have been typing away and writing my thoughts on dance. The words started to pour out of me and as the pages accumulated it became apparent that a book was eminent. So after all is said and done the long journey is finally over and my unexpected book “The Divine Unrest”© is finished.
The one thing that nobody told me was that the writing bug didn’t always bite me like I hoped it would and there were many times I had to drag myself in front of the computer. But it was therapeutic and healing for me and the best part is that I could read back to myself what I wrote and get a better grasp of things.
The reason for writing the book ended up being a multi-purpose response to a lifetime of experiences in this business, the reality of dance, relationships and healing. It includes all the above and more which surprised me because I really had no clue which direction the book was going. Daniel was another push in the book direction because he suggested to me that I should write one since a lot of what I wrote for the Chronicles belly dance magazine was based on experience. At first it didn’t feel like I was actually writing a book, it was more of a journal with insights and memories. And maybe that will be how it reads to people but what I am hoping for is that women will read into my words and see that this dance is just like life. No matter how magical belly dance can be it is still a part of life and with life comes issues of all shapes and sizes. I think the difference with this dance form is that sometimes situations can be magnified twice over what the normal person experiences. I say this because there is no exhaustion like what a belly dancer lives through with the postpartum production blues. Once you produce a show you will know what I mean!
I wrote “The Divine Unrest”© from a place of surrender. I realized that by surrendering to the Universe I had her infinite wisdom and humility as my compass. Hopefully down the line “The Divine Unrest”© will be a guide for dancers starting out on their journeys and a good laugh for those already on their path. Either way it was written from my heart to yours!
Sphere: Related ContentLeyla’s Updates
by Leyla Najma · 2 Comments
Hip Mastery 6 Video Series
This morning I was thinking about what I would write in my blog and I thought I would bring the subject up of my Hip Mastery videos only because I haven’t really mentioned them much. I tend to create videos and edit them, give them to Daniel and then move on to the next project. The funny thing is that if Daniel asks me a question regarding a video I usually have to go back and look at it because I have made so many besides my curriculum classes that I am not sure how to answer him sometimes.
There are 6 videos in the Hip Mastery series that focus just on the hips. But the best part is that each video connects to the next one. So I didn’t want students trying to figure out how to work in movement and combinations without a guide. It just seemed to me that most women who are passionate about this dance want instruction that will help them get results.
I realized that living the life style of a belly dancer day in and day out means that there is no rest for the choreographer. I constantly think of combinations and different choreographies to share with dancers, it’s almost like a calling. I would rather make videos for dancers or teach workshops then perform because seeing women in the glory of their movement is where the spirit of belly dance lives for me. It’s in the learning process of moving within our bodies where I see the epiphanies come alive for women. To me the stage is the end result of a beautiful journey but it is so much fun watching women learn and grow along their path before they achieve their goals.
Hip Mastery is my answer to the questions that women have asked me about thrusts, mayas and shimmies. Add in soft moves, traveling steps and you can see why this is a 6 video series. To me they make “Belly Dance sense”.
Here’s the website in case you want to check them out. www.hipmastery.com
Drum Solo Choreography”Jibber Jam”
The drum solo choreography “Jibber Jam” is coming along and I am almost finished with it. My daughters first day of school is coming up so I will be able to finish the choreography and get it videotaped. I have to laugh though because I put together what I thought was a simple drum solo choreography and it’s not as simple as I thought. I am excited to offer music never heard before, text and a step by step choreographed video in a way that will make it easy to learn. This will be so cool once I get it done but as with all my projects it is taking a little longer then I thought. Hopefully within the next two weeks it will be done and I can blare my bugle and sing a song but only in the shower!
Sphere: Related ContentWhat’s on Leyla’s Mind
by Leyla Najma · 6 Comments
Re: Exercise and Sexy for my Man
Lately I have been getting women coming in and taking my free classes who are looking at belly dance for various reasons. There are more women who are doing belly dancing for toning their stomachs, exercise or for their boyfriends and husbands. Another young gal said her father wanted her to learn belly dancing and of course I wrote and asked her to explain. But what I am finding is that with the changes in the modern world there aren’t as many women getting into dance to become performers or life long students of dance.
It didn’t occur to me to start belly dancing for my husband or boyfriend and I was in a state of total sell absorption meaning belly dance consumed me. What I’m really saying here is that it didn’t occur to me to do it for anybody else but myself. I feel the same way that famed actress Shohreh Aghdashloo does in regards to either being born an actress or being born a dancer. You don’t become a dancer you are born a dancer who listens to or understands her calling. Most dancers live their lives validating their calling which means a life time of training and dedication so they can transform into their divine inspiration. It’s a calling that takes women on the side paths of lessons, and experiences that make for great adventures. We become the Indiana Jones of our own lives because we search for teachers from far off lands and we travel in search for spiritual guidance and enlightenment. Basically what I am saying is for any woman who has the mark of the Goddess, they are born dancers and they die dancers.
The “sexy for my man” is understandable because we are empowered as belly dancers especially when we understand our bodies. But I think with the connection with belly dancing to stripping we need to explain what belly dancing really does for women. The sexual self is only one of the many aspects of who we are. There is sacred and spiritual meaning to dancing and in many ways when a woman understands herself in a sacred way she shows characteristics of the Goddess. I don’t mean this in a silly way that we are all Goddesses, I think for all of us we have become strangers to the Goddess concept. Belly dance makes the path going back to the Goddess fun but also we learn so much about who we are.
There were many Goddesses in Egypt that represented many things to many people. Hathor symbolized the vengeful eye of Ra, Bastet was the protective Goddesses who protected the Pharaoh in battle. Isis was the Goddess of rebirth and fertility and Sekhmet was the Goddess of war and chaos. I think each woman has a specific Goddess that she has an affinity with which makes belly dance different from all other dance forms. We dance in constant connection to the ancient beliefs of the Egyptians and other cultures. To understand the present sometimes we need to experience the past.
I can understand that belly dancing can be intriguing for many women who didn’t experience the drive to dance from a young age. But it’s important to look up the history of this dance form whether you’re a novice or someone experienced. Look up the different Goddesses the Egyptians gave offerings to and see who you have a connection to. If anything it’s fun and it will give you a different viewpoint of what you think belly dance is.
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