African Dance: Nubian

Workshop Summary

Discover Nubian dance, which comes from the Nubian people of southern Egypt and northern Sudan. In this workshop, Shira teaches Nubian dance technique and music, along with tips for how to develop it into a choreography for performing.

Detailed Description

The Nubian people are a distinct ethnic group who live in southern Egypt and northern Sudan along the Nile river. In this workshop, Shira introduces Nubian music and dance technique.

Depending on the length of time the sponsor has allowed for the class, topics will include:

• Nubian dance technique (arageed, negrashed, soki, ferry)
• Introduction to Nubian music
• Suggestions for costuming appropriate to Nubian dance
• Background about Nubian culture
• Ideas for creating choreography based on Nubian dance for the theatrical stage

Africa is an enormous continent, and Nubian dance is one of many styles of African dance.

About the Painting on the Flyer

The artist who created the painting that was used for the flyer for this workshop is Gamal Latif. He is a Nubian who lives in Luxor, Egypt, and he has painted many scenes celebrating Nubian culture. He granted me permission to use this one in my advertising for my Nubian workshops.

According to Gamal, he intended for this painting to show what a stage version of Nubian dance looks like (as opposed to social dance at a wedding). Behind the women the background shows a Nubian house and a palm tree. The women in the painting are carrying Nubian shewer, which is the Fadicca (one of the Nubian languages) word for "dish". In Arabic, it would be "tabaa". The plurals are shewerigo for Fadicca, and atbaa for Arabic. These dishes are sometimes used in stage dancing for theatrical effect, but wouldn't be used for social dancing.

Here are Gamal's comments about the painting:

There is a difference between Nubian dancing on the stage and traditional social dance at weddings. Stage dancing consists of a cocktail of all types of Nubian dance: Sukki, Ferry, and Nijdashad with some traditional props.

In contrast, dancing at weddings is an interaction between the people and the singer. I hope you like it.

If you have plans to visit Luxor, Egypt, I recommend connecting with Gamal to see which paintings he is offering to sell at that time. He's always creating new ones! He can roll up the canvases and put them in a mailing tube that will fit in your luggage. You can contact him through Facebook.