COPYRIGHT 2005
Famous Egyptian pop singers often do shows in the summer at the
big 5-star hotels. Although most American and European tourists
rarely go to Egypt in summer because of the heat, Cairo is filled with
Arab tourists from different Gulf countries who are avoiding a
summer’s heat that’s even more extreme than Cairo’s. To
accommodate the Arabs, the belly dance clubs open and the famous
singers do “parties”. A party is what we would call a concert. It is a
giant event held in a huge auditorium to accommodate the masses or
big 5-star hotels. Although most American and European tourists
rarely go to Egypt in summer because of the heat, Cairo is filled with
Arab tourists from different Gulf countries who are avoiding a
summer’s heat that’s even more extreme than Cairo’s. To
accommodate the Arabs, the belly dance clubs open and the famous
singers do “parties”. A party is what we would call a concert. It is a
giant event held in a huge auditorium to accommodate the masses or
| Camelia of Egypt by Cheri Berens |
a smaller one held in the larger nightclubs at the big hotels to accommodate the more elite.
During summer I go around to all the major 5-star hotels to see where my favorite singers are performing. This time
as I did my rounds, I noticed that Camelia, who is considered to be the top dancer in Egypt at the moment, was
dancing at the Marriott in Zamelek three nights a week and at the Grand Hyatt in Garden City three nights a week. At
the Grand Hyatt she was also performing on their private cruise boat for an early dinner show seven nights a week.
Normally I don’t like dinner cruise boats, the buffet food is mundane, the opening band is always boring, the dancer’s
band is usually small and not very stimulating, and the dancer is always a disappointment. But this was the Grand
Hyatt, and if you’ve ever seen their new improved hotel on the Nile (connected to the old Meridian), you would be
impressed with the hotel’s offerings. They offer several 5-star ethnic restaurants plus a revolving roof top French
restaurant that turns 360 degrees in an hour and 15 minutes. It has the most spectacular view of all of Cairo. Their
cruise boat doesn’t limit itself to the regular dinner show. It also has an evening sunset cruise before the dinner show
and after the show, an all night Egyptian disco cruise.
I decided to take the dinner cruise. It was $30 for a dinner show. Alcoholic drinks were extra. A typical nightclub
usually starts at $50, but my experience at the better nightclubs is that they usually cost a lot more—up to $150. So
this was a bargain, especially considering I was going to see Camelia.
As expected, the first show and dinner were uninteresting, but when I heard Camelia’s band tune up behind the
curtain while we were having dinner, I could tell Camelia’s show would be a good one. I was hearing a very exciting
version of Lesa Feker, complete with heavy tabla accents. I was quite moved, so much so, that my hips were
twitching in my seat.
I had seen Camelia dance twice before. She is very fast, but hits every beat and nuance. Most Egyptian dancers on
the cruise boats do the slower style with frequent pauses to interact with audience members. There are lots of gaps
in actual dancing. Camelia is dynamic, and although rarely gets near an audience member in her 5-star hotel dancing,
she interacts with the audience from a distance. Some dancers interact too much and you don’t see much dancing. I
prefer interaction in a way that doesn’t take away from performing. Camelia’s style is Egyptian in movement, but
more continuous. She is fast, but she still incorporates the slow and medium tempo movements when appropriate.
She never bogs down a performance.
The last time I had seen Camelia was in March of 2003. She was young and I didn’t expect her to change much, so
when she entered to do her first number on the cruise, I was surprised to see a more mature looking Camelia. She
had been incredibly thin before, now she was more Egyptian-like in body style and her face had rounded out. To me
she looked better this way. She looked too Western when she was thin. The beauty of the Egyptian body is that it is
womanly and soft, with rounded curves. There are no hard bodies with defined muscles here in Egypt. Yet, this is not
to say Camelia was out of shape. Camelia’s dancing was more of a workout than anything I had ever seen. She had to
have rehearsed her show for months to be in shape for her fast, hit-every-beat dance style.
Camelia never stops. In fact, I found it hard to take a clear picture. Most of my pictures came out a blur. But her
fastness is not a negative thing. She is choreographed perfectly and her movements are clear and defined and 100%
Egyptian. She had graceful arm movements, at all the distinctly perfect Egyptian angles and positions. Her hip
accents were powerful, yet not obscene. Her shimmies were isolated and emotional, and her pelvic pop accents were
not overused. Her dance movements were varied, but with enough repetition to make the audience see and
remember what she was doing so that her movements made an impression. She used her eyes frequently to show
excitement and occasionally did small head slides.
Like Lucie and Dina, the most famous dancers of the last ten years, Camelia causes gossip in the Egyptian tabloids
because of her costuming. Lucie was famous for her outlandishness and Dina was famous for costumes focused on
sex. Some of Dina’s costumes looked like they would fall off, the bra top barely hanging on her breasts. Egyptians did
not like Dina because they felt that she focused on sex instead of good dancing. Most of Camelia’s costumes are
traditional and tasteful, but she often includes one costume that is innovatively modern or slightly shocking.
Camelia opened to the famous Um Kolsoum song Alf Leyla weh Leyla (composed by Mohammad Abdel Wahab). She
wore a black A-frame skirt with enormous sequined roses across the hem and around the hip of the skirt. The ones
across the hip made a ‘belt-like’ look to accent the hip movements. The bra top was black with a large rose on one bra
cup. It was elegant and sophisticated.
Camelia’s second performance was to the song I had heard the band tuning up to, the classic Kolsoum and Wahab
number, Lesa Feker. She wore a leopard bandeau bra top with a leopard bikini pant bottom. A transparent rectangular
scarf-like white cloth with leopard spots was wrapped around her hips at an angle. The angle created an off-the-hip
look that showed one side of the bikini underneath. The rectangular cloth was skirt length, above the knee. Basically
it looked like a sophisticated two-piece bikini bathing suit covered with a see through hip wrap.
The beauty of this costume, and the most entertaining part, was that she entered and started the performance wearing
a black non-transparent cloth draped in a way that made her look like a Saudi Arabian woman in full veil.Only her eyes
showed. It completely hid the daring costume underneath. When she removed the black Saudi-style covering, she
used it as a prop, holding it in positions while she posed. But she did use it for some twirling as we do in the west
with our veils, but not much. Camelia mostly used the cloth as an accent while she leaned back and did Egyptian
beledi style hip swings and one-sided hip drops.
In this second performance the music segued into a Kaleegi number in which Camelia did some Saudi steps. She
used her hair as the Saudi Arabian women do, bending her body at the waist and swinging her hair in large half circles
and full circles.
Camelia’s last performance was to exhilarating Egyptian beledi music. She entered playing the zils and wearing a
basic white two-piece costume complete with candelabra on her head. She danced the candelabra dance and then did
a basic cane dance. She did some wonderful big Egyptian hip circles—bending deep at the waist—and using her hair
to accentuate the drama of it. She interacted briefly with a couple that were at their wedding party and then ended the
show with more Egyptian movements and a good spin.
Camelia put on a perfect show. It was tasteful and polished. If you ever come to Egypt it is worth seeking her out.
She has an excellent reputation without any bad gossip or scandals like the one that Dina was involved in which
resulted in her exile from Egypt and ultimate tour to America.
Camelia’s good reputation will assist her in continuing to play the 5-star hotels and she should not be hard to find. She
is now a mature dancer, and in Egypt, maturity also keeps a dancer popular. Most importantly, you will not be
disappointed in Camelia’s dancing. Her dancing is powerful and professional and very entertaining. And you will
definitely go home breathless from watching her incredible energy and pace.
During summer I go around to all the major 5-star hotels to see where my favorite singers are performing. This time
as I did my rounds, I noticed that Camelia, who is considered to be the top dancer in Egypt at the moment, was
dancing at the Marriott in Zamelek three nights a week and at the Grand Hyatt in Garden City three nights a week. At
the Grand Hyatt she was also performing on their private cruise boat for an early dinner show seven nights a week.
Normally I don’t like dinner cruise boats, the buffet food is mundane, the opening band is always boring, the dancer’s
band is usually small and not very stimulating, and the dancer is always a disappointment. But this was the Grand
Hyatt, and if you’ve ever seen their new improved hotel on the Nile (connected to the old Meridian), you would be
impressed with the hotel’s offerings. They offer several 5-star ethnic restaurants plus a revolving roof top French
restaurant that turns 360 degrees in an hour and 15 minutes. It has the most spectacular view of all of Cairo. Their
cruise boat doesn’t limit itself to the regular dinner show. It also has an evening sunset cruise before the dinner show
and after the show, an all night Egyptian disco cruise.
I decided to take the dinner cruise. It was $30 for a dinner show. Alcoholic drinks were extra. A typical nightclub
usually starts at $50, but my experience at the better nightclubs is that they usually cost a lot more—up to $150. So
this was a bargain, especially considering I was going to see Camelia.
As expected, the first show and dinner were uninteresting, but when I heard Camelia’s band tune up behind the
curtain while we were having dinner, I could tell Camelia’s show would be a good one. I was hearing a very exciting
version of Lesa Feker, complete with heavy tabla accents. I was quite moved, so much so, that my hips were
twitching in my seat.
I had seen Camelia dance twice before. She is very fast, but hits every beat and nuance. Most Egyptian dancers on
the cruise boats do the slower style with frequent pauses to interact with audience members. There are lots of gaps
in actual dancing. Camelia is dynamic, and although rarely gets near an audience member in her 5-star hotel dancing,
she interacts with the audience from a distance. Some dancers interact too much and you don’t see much dancing. I
prefer interaction in a way that doesn’t take away from performing. Camelia’s style is Egyptian in movement, but
more continuous. She is fast, but she still incorporates the slow and medium tempo movements when appropriate.
She never bogs down a performance.
The last time I had seen Camelia was in March of 2003. She was young and I didn’t expect her to change much, so
when she entered to do her first number on the cruise, I was surprised to see a more mature looking Camelia. She
had been incredibly thin before, now she was more Egyptian-like in body style and her face had rounded out. To me
she looked better this way. She looked too Western when she was thin. The beauty of the Egyptian body is that it is
womanly and soft, with rounded curves. There are no hard bodies with defined muscles here in Egypt. Yet, this is not
to say Camelia was out of shape. Camelia’s dancing was more of a workout than anything I had ever seen. She had to
have rehearsed her show for months to be in shape for her fast, hit-every-beat dance style.
Camelia never stops. In fact, I found it hard to take a clear picture. Most of my pictures came out a blur. But her
fastness is not a negative thing. She is choreographed perfectly and her movements are clear and defined and 100%
Egyptian. She had graceful arm movements, at all the distinctly perfect Egyptian angles and positions. Her hip
accents were powerful, yet not obscene. Her shimmies were isolated and emotional, and her pelvic pop accents were
not overused. Her dance movements were varied, but with enough repetition to make the audience see and
remember what she was doing so that her movements made an impression. She used her eyes frequently to show
excitement and occasionally did small head slides.
Like Lucie and Dina, the most famous dancers of the last ten years, Camelia causes gossip in the Egyptian tabloids
because of her costuming. Lucie was famous for her outlandishness and Dina was famous for costumes focused on
sex. Some of Dina’s costumes looked like they would fall off, the bra top barely hanging on her breasts. Egyptians did
not like Dina because they felt that she focused on sex instead of good dancing. Most of Camelia’s costumes are
traditional and tasteful, but she often includes one costume that is innovatively modern or slightly shocking.
Camelia opened to the famous Um Kolsoum song Alf Leyla weh Leyla (composed by Mohammad Abdel Wahab). She
wore a black A-frame skirt with enormous sequined roses across the hem and around the hip of the skirt. The ones
across the hip made a ‘belt-like’ look to accent the hip movements. The bra top was black with a large rose on one bra
cup. It was elegant and sophisticated.
Camelia’s second performance was to the song I had heard the band tuning up to, the classic Kolsoum and Wahab
number, Lesa Feker. She wore a leopard bandeau bra top with a leopard bikini pant bottom. A transparent rectangular
scarf-like white cloth with leopard spots was wrapped around her hips at an angle. The angle created an off-the-hip
look that showed one side of the bikini underneath. The rectangular cloth was skirt length, above the knee. Basically
it looked like a sophisticated two-piece bikini bathing suit covered with a see through hip wrap.
The beauty of this costume, and the most entertaining part, was that she entered and started the performance wearing
a black non-transparent cloth draped in a way that made her look like a Saudi Arabian woman in full veil.Only her eyes
showed. It completely hid the daring costume underneath. When she removed the black Saudi-style covering, she
used it as a prop, holding it in positions while she posed. But she did use it for some twirling as we do in the west
with our veils, but not much. Camelia mostly used the cloth as an accent while she leaned back and did Egyptian
beledi style hip swings and one-sided hip drops.
In this second performance the music segued into a Kaleegi number in which Camelia did some Saudi steps. She
used her hair as the Saudi Arabian women do, bending her body at the waist and swinging her hair in large half circles
and full circles.
Camelia’s last performance was to exhilarating Egyptian beledi music. She entered playing the zils and wearing a
basic white two-piece costume complete with candelabra on her head. She danced the candelabra dance and then did
a basic cane dance. She did some wonderful big Egyptian hip circles—bending deep at the waist—and using her hair
to accentuate the drama of it. She interacted briefly with a couple that were at their wedding party and then ended the
show with more Egyptian movements and a good spin.
Camelia put on a perfect show. It was tasteful and polished. If you ever come to Egypt it is worth seeking her out.
She has an excellent reputation without any bad gossip or scandals like the one that Dina was involved in which
resulted in her exile from Egypt and ultimate tour to America.
Camelia’s good reputation will assist her in continuing to play the 5-star hotels and she should not be hard to find. She
is now a mature dancer, and in Egypt, maturity also keeps a dancer popular. Most importantly, you will not be
disappointed in Camelia’s dancing. Her dancing is powerful and professional and very entertaining. And you will
definitely go home breathless from watching her incredible energy and pace.
