Samia Gamal Dancing to Raqset el-Jamal
from the film "Habib el-Omr"
Watch for Samia's signature upper body moves - we'll do some arm work based on this. The notes in Arabic on this Youtube video indicate that this is the artist ("fannana") Samia Gamal, from the film "Habib el-Omr" (love of my life), which also starred composer/singer/oud virtuoso Farid el-Atrache.
أداء: الفنانة سامية جمال من فلم "حبيب العمر"
Note that the taqasim in the middle of the piece is a little different from recordings you may have heard. That's because the taqasim would not be played the same way twice. Funny story: I made the musicians in 2003 learn the taqasim from the recording I was using, because I had a group step to it... and they were ready to kill me, because no Arab musician can easily repeat someone else's taqasim :-D.
Technique reference: Naemet Mokhtar
from the film "Ibn Hamido"
In addition to Samia arms, we'll be working with tight little undulation technique, and Naemet is a really great model for that. Samia and Naemet have some similarities in their upper body carriage, but Naemet's hip work and especially undulations are a little more finely developed.
Habib el-Omr Film Clips
I thought you might enjoy this brief selection of clips from the same film as the Samia scene above. Check out Farid Al-Atrache's amazing oud playing at the beginning. Comedian Ismail Yassin (he's like Egypt's Jerry Lewis) is also in the film.
The two videos below are recent performances of Raqset al-Jamal by bands in the USA.