Another advanced tribal fusion video, this one looks like the next step on from Anasma’s 2-dicc set. I’m not likely to be able to do any of it – I haven’t even worked on any of the combos from the beginner tribal videos, for that matter. But I do like looking at them and when possible, working with the isolations.
Rubylooks beautiful as she dances, and she also looks like she knows what she’s talking about. I’m not a hundred percent sure I can manage a lot of floorwork, but I like the look of her approach and conditioning.
By the time I finish experimenting with new workouts for the day, you can well understand that there’s no energy left for belly dancing. Well, today I decided to give the dancing first priority before I go and forget all the nice juicy moves altogether. I was seriously worried that with all the taut stretched out ballet moves and precision pilates, I’d get belly dance rigor mortis!
So I went back to Asharah’s warm up and did a few segments of that. And then a round of Bellydance Rhythms which has become a sort of fall back for me. And then… I decided I’d work with Sarah’s lovely Opulent Motion.
Now what I did absolutely not want to do is make a linear project of it. I really don’t want to start from the beginning and then inevitably keep losing track of it and scolding myself for neglecting it and adding another half-done project to my list. I also wanted whatever I learn from this video to be immediately “actionable”. I think I’m getting too corporatized. That should be danceable.
So I clicked anywhere to choose something and it turned out to be her breakdown of the L and S pose combination.
As it happens, I think this is a nice way to start working with the video for those of us who’ve been dancing for a while. There’s no move there that you don’t know how to do, it’s not layered with any jaw droppers that you’ll have to go back to the isolations for, and it’s got no rhythm counts to worry about. It’s just a set of beautiful poses, flowing into one another, usable for rhythmless taqsim.
I learnt the sequence in about one watch. And then I pulled out some taqsim music and for the next half an hour, went through this little sequence again and again. I stopped now and again to check some details on the video.
This was a lovely experience because trying it out immediately made me aware of all the details I had to get right. Was the inside arm or the outward one (facing the audience) that was to reach out? Was it the same arm that was high up in the L pose that later went into the “Liberty” pose? (Nope). Where was she looking, at each point? How do you get in and then out of this sequence?
I played around with this one sequence for a nice long while, finding the music that I thought went well with it, and slowly I managed to add a few moves to the beginning and end to make it fit the whole little taqsim piece I had found. It needs some polishing, but I do plan to write it out and put it away as a tiny choreographed chunk, just for practice. I also tried the same sequence with chiftetelli and loved the result.
Over the years, I’ve used this peculiar method of getting obsessed with one combo for the day as a way to really learn moves and file them right into my dance memory. When I look back, I find that the moves I know best are the ones I allowed myself to spend some hours on, doing them at random while going about other things, visualizing them, adding to them etc. I can think of many in that category including Sadie’s first long chifti combo on Slow and Sultry. I can’t forget it if I tried. I really recommend the choreography-challenged learners I know give this method a try. So many of you tell me you just never manage to get a whole choreography done or even a set of combos finished up. Hours and hours of muscle drills = but no free flowing dancing with the combinations you’ve got on videos. Well, try this out and see if it works for you too!
I don’t know what it is about this song, but it makes me cry.
Perhaps it’s taking me back to my school days – but which school, for heaven’s sake; I went to 9 of them! I don’t remember having an awfully good time at any in particular either, because I never stayed long enough. Ah well, maybe it isn’t that. Maybe I really loved my childhood, only I don’t know it.
Or maybe this song is taking me back to my years in college. Wonderful friends and classmates, amazingly interesting subject to study; psychology. And the most incredible teachers. If there are any teachers I would want to thank, it’s those that taught me at LSR.
When I first joined LSR, it was to study psychology and absolutely nothing else. But no one was letting me! Owing to my incorrectable weak eyesight, they just didn’t really want me in the psych department. Why didn’t I just take History? Or Philosophy? Or English? Anything! Problem is I really didn’t want anything else. I firmly believed I was a “natural” psychologist and that it was my calling in life and that was that.
I kept going back to the psychology lab and begging them to let me in, but they wouldn’t. To prove to me that I would have a really difficult time of it, I was asked to try a few psychology experiments; something that made you stare a long time at something and made your eyes water. I don’t understand why I would have a particularly tough time with that, but I was adequately spooked. Almost giving up, I listened to my father when he said “Go back and tell them there are blind surgeons in this world”. I don’t know where I got the courage to say that, but I held my chin up and said it.
Somewhere along the line, the teachers at the psychology department got together and decided they hadn’t really seen that degree of interest and passion in a long time. What were they doing keeping me out? And the next thing I knew – I was in!
And I did have no end of trouble. I couldn’t see the blackboard, I couldn’t see my stopwatch, I sometimes even couldn’t see the class I had to sit in! Oh yes, I did once go in and sit in the wrong class. That was amusing. But that’s another story. I had a dreadful time making sense of physiology and statistics all over the board, but hey, I loved every minute of it. You see, from the day I joined their department, those teachers were on my side. They didn’t single me out for extra help; they didn’t call out stuff to me from the board, they didn’t let me take longer at things.
They just enveloped me with a wonderful unconditional warmth. A soothing balm of warmth that stays with me right into today.
That acceptance made everything safe and okay. I didn’t have to kill myself proving anything. I didn’t have to keep worrying about doing better than everyone else. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I could learn a subject I loved – with the nicest people.
And yes, that’s why this song makes me cry.
Or maybe it’s just a pretty song…
The time has come,
For closing books and long last looks must end,
And as I leave,
I know that I am leaving my best friend,
A friend who taught me right from wrong,
And weak from strong,
That’s a lot to learn,
What, what can I give you in return?
Like many other learners, I love Aradia’s dancing on her single (so far) DVD, Oriental Dance. Elegant, beautiful and a totally accomplished dancer, she also has a dazzling warm smile, in addition to looking so good. Unfortunately, I only get to see her on video. So that’s what I asked her about first:
Why did you decide to give a sampling of 3 different belly dance style rather than say, a choreography in one of the styles? Wouldn’t sticking to one style have made them more usable by learners?
I wanted to expose dancers to the different styles, because there are very few DVDs out that teach the various influences from the different regions of the Middle East. It began as more of a Turkish style dancer in 1977, that was our influence at that time, I studied Egyptian folklore, but was not familiar with Egyptian Oriental until later. As I was exposed to Egyptian and Lebanese dancers, I began to change my dance style and reinvent my dance.
In the future I will release other DVDs with choreographies, but I wanted my first DVD to reflect what I have always felt important as a Westerner doing Middle Eastern dance… that we should be well rounded in Oriental dance, and able to perform with an Egyptian band at one venue, and a Turkish band at another.
So, what will your forthcoming DVDs include? I plan to do a full series of DVD’s with a wide range of topics and choreographies and combinations.
Beginner Technique
Drum Solo/Shimmy Drills
Veil/double veil
Raqs Sharqi choreography
Vintage Turkish 1970’s era
Assaya
Taqsim
I totally look forward to that! For me, especially the Taqsim. Are you having fun with Combination Nation? What will be your contribution to that DVD? I am enjoying working with Michelle, she is so relaxed and easy! My contribution will be an “Aradia Stylized” combination incorporating some modern Egyptian moves, along with some more vintage Sohair Zaki moves I learned back in the early 80’s.
Why do you feel you need to make a basics DVD though? Isn’t the market absolutely saturated with beginner DVDs?
I‘m so often asked if I have a beginner video, I just feel that should be part of my series, something for everyone. Sometimes women want to study with you specifically, so it would be nice to have when I’m approached at Marrakech by customers!
Any upcoming TV or movie appearances? None scheduled at this time!
How did you happen to choose your stage name?
I started dancing when I was 7 years old, the girls I danced with in my class, we all chose names for each other… we changed mine 3x before we settled on Aradia
Looking back, would you have wanted to be anything other than a belly dancer? No, I put myself through college dancing, I received my BA in Pre Med Biology and English, and Masters studies in Nutritional Herbology, I was going to go to med school and become an MD, I changed my mind my senior year, I didn’t have the passion to see it through, all I wanted to do was dance, and college was interfering!
My Mom, Serene, is an Oriental dancer,which is how I got into this profession, I’m a 2nd generation belly dancer. My Mom
still teaches and performs, and we wear each others costumes, which is great!
What were some of the most important things to you when you were learning to dance? Learning to feel the music, and being able to improv were my most valuable tools. When I was old enough to work the nightclubs, we mainly had live music, so being flexible and able to adapt to the show for that night was very important!!
How important is authenticity to you? I am a traditional style dancer, so I prefer the authenticity, mainly because it’s what drew me to this dance, and I feel it’s important for us to retain the roots of this dance as it evolves and changes. I am a folklore geek, so I love seeing how the Sharqi style has evolved out of the folklore.
I do believe that art must continue to grow or die, which is where fusion has come into the dance scene, I enjoy watching a lot of it, but other than veil and double veil, I haven’t felt the urge to fuse, this may change down the road. I love Flamenco and Indian dances, so who knows!!
You opted not to take up ballet or jazz because this would adulterate your belly dancing. In what way do you think that would have happened? Don’t these genres add rather than take away? At the time I was 7 years old, tried a 6 week session in ballet and did not like it one bit. Later I was thankful that I didn’t study heavily in western influenced dances for the simple reason that it’s hard to keep ballet or jazz training from showing through in the Oriental styles.
When I watch a dancer I don’t want the first thing that pops into my head to be, “Wow, she’s had a lot of ballet/jazz/hula” or whatever, I want to see the Middle Eastern flavors and movement vocabulary.
I’m not against studying other dance forms at all.
I studied Flamenco for a year, I had been an Oriental dancer for about 17 years by then, and I remember I couldn’t get the “Arabic” look out of my dancing to look like a real Flamenco dancer, I would have had to work very hard to separate the two, so I’m thankful that my only training is in Oriental and I don’t have that struggle.
I don’t think that you need other dance forms, like ballet or jazz to be a good at belly dance, you simply need more belly dance!! I wouldn’t tell a ballerina to study country/western line dancing to improve her ballet. All dance is good for coordination, balance etc, I just don’t think it’s a prerequisite to become a good Middle Eastern Dancer! This is just my opinion from observing belly dancers from all walks of life for the last 32 years.
Tell me something about your troupe.
Aradia and The Ra Dancers was formed in 2007, I wasn’t even looking to own a dance company, but it was requested that I provide 9 dancers with choreography for a show, it worked out so well that we decided to keep going. Since then we have been booked at Universities where I was lecturing, hotels in Vegas, shows all over the US, and the USO Tour wants us to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to perform for the troops!
I’m very proud of my girls, they are great dancers and work hard!
]What do you love doing to relax?
Most of my time is spent dancing, or working as the assistant in my boyfriends comedy hypnosis show. It’s great to get paid to laugh! My boyfriend is a licensed clinical hypnotherapist, but has worked as a Comedy Hypnotist for 13 years. He is part of a show Hypnosis Unleashed, that has been at Planet Hollywood for the past year. They have now signed a contract with the Tropicana Hotel in Vegas. Aside from his theater show, he goes on tour and performs at comedy clubs and casino’s around the country, that’s where I come in, I work in his road shows when I’m not on my own tour.
And I totally cannot resist putting in a photo of Aradia’s Border Collie, Amber. She also has a beautiful smile!
I have an entire arsenal of basics and isolations videos, some of which I hven’t even got to yet. So you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking I don’t need another. Not so. Like many dancers, I like to go through the basics with different instructors, in different styles, moods, formats and music. I chose to work with Belly by Sandra today – and loved every minute of it.
First things first: Sandra moves beautifully. So beautifully that when she shoes you something you should not do, even that looks good! She has lovely poise and form and frankly, the smallest movement looks great on her. Read the rest of this entry »
Right from the start of my short belly dance life, I’ve focused on Am Cab and tribal conditioning and practically ignored Egyptian style. But if anyone thinks that means I would resist Ranya’s fabulous new collection of instructional DVDs in Egyptian styling, they can think again. As a matter of fact, I can already perform the beginner choreography on Modern Oriental, Bellydance Egyptian Style.
Well can perform it because it’s not a difficult or complex choreo and it’s very tied into the music, so when you hear the accents, you can’t help remembering the moves you’re supposed to do. But whether I can perform the 2 minute choreography Egyptianly or not, is another matter. That nuancing is going to take awhile.
Modern Orietnal has two choreographies on it: a 2 minute beginner finale and a longer 7-minute embelished advanced choreography. The choreographies are set to Layalina and the Finale on Wash ya Wash Vol 4 by Yousry Sharif – who happens to be Ranya’s teacher.
In this preview, Ranya tells you about how Egyptian dancers have used and expressed themselves with Egyptian music. The clip may actually give the impression that the whole video is involved and complex and “talky”. Not so. This is really a big chunk of the introduction. When one third of the clip is left, Ranya tells you what you’ll find on the video. I’ll say this: she definitely delivers on what is promised.
To begin at the beginning, Ranya first takes you through a detailed instruction (about 10 minutes of it) on posture and alignment, obviously with special emphasis on Egyptian style. Then you have a warm up combined with technique review. It’s a warm up, not a hardcore conditioning workout. I’d recommend that anyone who’s using this DVD go through it because you will become accostomed to the way Ranya moves and the terminology she uses. Anyway, you need to warm up and this is a gentle stretchy session of about 15 minutes.
Next thre’s a unique 2-minute section with lots of tips on working with the step combinations. Where should you focus, how do you use the beat and stay on it, how to get over getting confused with the left and right foot.
And this leads straight into an explanation of how we will work with the choreographies.
A demo (in training gear) begins our work with the Finale to Layalina. Ths is a charming and perky piece of music and I really like it. The instruction follows a familiar World Dance format – learn with explanations and then dance along twice with music.
Ranya is a good instructor. Just the right mix of everything,r eally. She is very thorough and tells you about all the details, particularly which muscles to use for this style and how to interpret the music. The detail would be a lot to take in if she weren’t so well-paced, so natural and vivacious. Even funny at various points. You instantly feel completely at ease with her. She has what I call good video presence: unself-conscious, relaxed and just like she’s talking to you and you only.
The Finale has 7 combinations. There are repeated patterns but the choreography doesn’t look repetitive. Can absolute beginners pick it up? Well, sure, probably. But it won’t look the same unless there’s been a few months of isolations. Nevertheless, no harm attempting it at all. If you need drills, there’s a segment of drills of movements from the choregraphy after the instruction. Recommended. If you’re not used to Egytpian, like me, you can do with repetitions of how to make circles and hip drops etc look way jucier and how to get the baladi bounce into it.
Ranya tells you all about the rhythms in the music as we go along and really makes it meaningful. Wonderful little choreography, in my opinion.
And then… we get to the meat of it all. The more advanced choreography. Same format, same detail. It’s just that this is a longer choreography and full of layers and detail and nuances. Ranya mentions that you can choose to develop your dance gradually with this choreography. It’s totally connected to the first choreography and some steps are the same but are made more complex now with decorations. Here you can see the inward moes and embellishments that make this dance different. After 14 combinations, we end up with the Finale, or the first choregraphy. But here the Finale is a little more layered and accented.
After the whole Layalina instruction, Ranya gives you an option for a veil entrance and she tells you how to modify movements to come in with the veil. Nice!
There are some tougher drills after this for the advanced learner. Six of the.
And finally, the Layalina performance in costume.
Ranya enjoys herself. And I think so will anyone who learns with her.
A few months ago, I quite by chance discovered an album titled Nekyia Vol 1. That was when I discovered the global fusion group, Drumspyder. A mix of Middle East, Indian, jazz, gypsy and other elements, it was great for tribal fusion – and it was just great listening. I was thrilled when Drumspyder recently came out with a a Nekyia Vol 2. The group’s “Slinky” and “Firebird” particularly got me. I caught up with drummer, Scott Sterling, to ask him about their unsuual music:
Scott, if you were to describe your music in one word, what would it be? It’s tough picking one word, because global fusion artists usually like to string words together, like “Middle-Eastern-breakbeat-Afro-dub, mixed with shades of gypsy jazz and the kitchen sink”. But I have to say one word, it would be “rhythm”. I have always been primarily interested in rhythm: its connection with dance, its energetic and trance-inducing properties. I have been a drummer for most of my life, much longer than I have been into Middle Eastern percussion or global fusion music. Rhythm, drumming, and dance are the reasons that I play music.
I don’t suppose artists like to be slotted into categories, but how would you describe the two Nekyia albums? They reflect the rhythms I was into at the time, Arabic but with a lot of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian influence, hence the two “Desert Sambas” and the clave-based rhythm of “El Gato Loco”. Also the inspiration of working with dancer Kristina Canizares (www.nekyiadance.com) who is accomplished at Samba and Cuban dance forms as well as bellydance, jazz and circus arts. It’s music that was meant primarily for choreography, composed with a stage show in mind, whereas the upcoming album will be more of an evenly split orientation between music for bellydance performance and tracks designed for DJs.
Do you mostly perform with the Nekyia dancers? Is your music exclusive to them?
The Nekyia isn’t active at the moment, but I still create music which Kristina and other former Nekyians, such as Summer Sahar, use in their performances. Some of these new pieces will be out on DVD in 2009, as well as last year’s Nekyia work on HMCs “Tales of Desire”. Although I don’t technically have a contract of exclusivity with Kristina, she somehow seems to get her hands on my new tracks first!
What are your own favorite tracks on Nekyia 1 and 2? “Pure Catnip” started it all; it was the first original track I gave to Kristina for group choreography, back in 2005. I still think of it as the “signature piece” for the Nekyia, and it was always part of our live performances right through the end of 2008. “Desert Samba 1″ and “Slinky” are my other favorites from Vol. 1, and since they were also a staple of so many live shows, I just had to put the final extended mixes on Vol. 2. On Vol. 2, a couple of pieces are associated with some very memorable shows. “Firebird” is a remix of a piece I did for the Crucible production of Stravinsky’s “Firebird” ballet in Oakland, CA. The track was originally at a moment when the firebird dancer rides on stage in an actual ‘79 Pontiac Firebird, complete with flames spewing out of the grill. “Desert Samba 2″ was one of the last Nekyia ensemble pieces, really hot choreography.For me, “Catnip”, “Slinky” and the two “Desert Sambas” are the tracks that sum up the Nekyia vibe.
What music bands do you admire a lot? Mainly I admire the great drummers/percussionists like Mahmoud Fadl (Drummers of the Nile, Salamat) and Adam Rudolph, who has done some great fusion work with Hassan Hakmoun and wrote a book (”Pure Rhythm”) which I practice with constantly. I’m actually not sure what category I’m in besides “drummers”. They have always been my musical heroes no matter what the style of music. Then there are fellow fusion producers/DJs such as Jef Stott and David Starfire, who I have had the pleasure of playing with and watching their work develop – a great inspiration to me.
What music do you listen to a lot?
Mostly old and traditional stuff; that’s where there is so much to learn from. Classical Arabic music from Syria and Egypt, Morrocan Gnawa Music, North african music i general, Medieval European troubador songs and religious choral music…those are some things that I have in rotation. I’ve been rediscovering Medieval music lately, something that I used to listen to a lot in years past.
Am I imagining things or are there Indian traces in your music?
Yes, there are samples and instruments in there from India, and one of my favorite instruments these days is the harmonium, which has become associated with India and Pakistan, although it was actually invented in Europe. I work primarily in Middle Eastern and early European (modal) scales, but there enough similarities between the styles that they can be mixed, maybe adjusting a note here and there.
Have you ever been to India?
No, but I would like to. I haven’t been off the North American continent in the past few years except to Japan for a tour, and I’m dying to go to the Middle East and North Africa to study. There is in particular a Moroccan percussionist (Ali Alaoui) that I’d love to get some lessons from, but I would have to step up my study of Arabic, or perhaps learn French, because he teaches in that language also. India would be a whole different trip, but maybe it will happen someday.
Do you think we’re in a real age of global fusion?
Yes. Music is global fusion now and I love it. Whenever and wherever a new style of music comes up, someone, perhaps halfway around the globe, is listening, downloading it, remixing it, mutating it into something new. The accessibility and connectivity between different musical cultures at this time is amazing. I am very happy to be a musician in the 21st century.
What is your next album like? It is going to be much more of a DJ album and music that I will be playing live solo (a combination of laptop beats and live percussion). But don’t worry, there is going to be plenty of material there for dancers– almost all of the tracks are going to be full of tabla breaks and rhythm changes, and there is going to be at least one new bellydance drum solo.
A few weeks ago, I spotted a new CD release on CDBaby. When I found it had two long chiftitellis on it, I couldn’t resist. Titled after the name of the group, Mayan Ruins, the CD turned out to be a very interesting fusion of styles. And very different from the usual belly dance music I’ve seen on CDBaby, where I’m a habitual downloader of the MP3 versions. I talked to Christian Hartman of Mayan Ruins on their particular style:
So who is Mayan Ruins?
Mayan Ruins are a collective of a dozen or more musicians who love both improvisational playing and playing for dancers (Tribal, Traditional and free-form trance). The lineup is constantly shifting from show to show and track to track on our albums.
Why did you choose a name like Mayan Ruins?
The name is meant as a poetic image attempting to describe our sound-moss covered pyramids amidst jungles teeming with life, as well as decay.
How did you guys happen to get together?
Derek, Denny and I played together previously in a band that grew out of a special project involving trance dancing to invoke one’s personal animal totem (the band was called ‘The Totems’). After that group dissolved I was determined to create a loose-knit group that would be entirely improvisational and not have a set line-up of players (so it wouldn’t raise the ego and scheduling issues common to a traditional ‘band’ set-up).
Is music a profession for you all or is this a hobby mostly?
SEMI-professional (we actually make some decent money from sales and performances) but we do it mainly for artistic enjoyment and the joy of interacting with dancers and audiences.
I notice a lot of different genres combining and fusing in your music…
We draw from lots of sources: Arabic, Persian and Indian classical and folk music, psychedelia from the late 60’s and early 70’s, traditional African and Gypsy music, shamanic chant and drumming as well as Mongolian style throat singing and Tibetan singing crystal bowls. We then mix it all into a purely improvisational piece that can transport us and the audience to another universe.
Yes, it’s very unusual – not your everyday stuff. What inspires your music?
When we work with Tribal dancers, we really interact closely-their movements sometimes dictate what we do and sometimes we lead them along. We all listen to what everyone is doing and there are never any musical egos trying to push to the front. Our ultimate inspiration comes from our diverse musical backgrounds and the chemistry between band members, dancers and audience.
Where did the belly dance connection come from?
We’ve all worked in various groups-tribal dance troupes, traditional world music as well as rock and pop and gothic bands. The bellydancers love us because we play for their enjoyment as well as ours.
Who is it that loves chiftitelli so much in your group? Like I do…We ALL love it! We have some great slow-move dancers and sword dancers who are always asking for a chifit!
Yeah, I would too! What plans do you have for albums in the future? And – anything specifically bellydancy?
Probably we’ll have another mostly live album out by this summer and yes, it’ll have some great bellydance beats as well as some relaxing ‘listening’ music. We’ve heard of a lot of massage therapists working with our latest studio album as well as a TaiChi school and several bellydance teachers use it in class.
We look forward to it! The core Mayan Ruins groupis Christian Hartman (bass and drums), Derek Garteiz (guitars, drums and percussion-he also does the recordings and mixdowns) and Denny Schoeny (drums and various percussion). We are often joined (live and on recordings) by Annette Christianson (violin), Paul Ravenscraft (conga, percussion), Zachary J. Mechlem (drums, ‘hindi style’ slide guitar), Rob Dorsey (drums, chant/vocals), Gregory Morris (violin, mandolin, guitars), Will Menton (electric guitar, drums) as well as several other like-minded and talented musicians.
Medwyn Goodall, English composer and multifaceted musician, has produced a zillion albums. They seem to qualify as New Age and are largely peaceful and calming. Of course, anyone who knows me will also know that I’m not into peaceful and calming. Frankly, I think peace is overrated! Well, in music anyway. I like my music to be intense – even tense, sometimes – and decidedly passionate.
That said, I discovered that one of Goodall’s albums has a pharaonic flavor and uses Middle East rhythms. It’s called Amun Ra and has 7 rather pretty tracks. Unfortunately, they’re rather simillar to one another. But fortuntely, they’re “zilly” and very listenable for anyone who likes Orientalesque music. It’s probably not high on the danceability index but would work nicely for warm ups and arm drills.
I got the album from eMusic, which is where you can also hear the samples even if you don’t have an account.
Languishing in a dark corner of payplay.fm, I found this album, Desert Startlight, with some very surprisingly beautiful pieces of music! I’ve never heard of it, or of the artist/group Ametrine, whose name frankly sounds a little pharmaceutical to me. How I discovered it was when I was encashing some of my “Karma Points” or free tracks that you get from PayPlay for basically doing nothing very much. The tracks are what artists have chosen to give away free and so they’re not always the cream of the album, but well, sometimes they work. I have a 187 of them right now and don’t know what to do with them.
But back to Desert Starlight. All the tracks have a pharonic strain to them and are quite interesting. One or two are annoying because of the over-fusionistic latin beat imposed on the melodies, and some because of the pop or disco kind of beat. But others are very beautiful, even delicate. I picked up about 7 of the 17 tracks on this album. The most beautiful is a piece called Isis Dance II (Isis Dance I is strictly annoying) and it’s lovely enough for me to want to choreograph to. I would dance soemthing like Neon’s Serpent from her Fantasy Bellydance Mystery video. It’s very soothing, delicate and pretty. Another pretty one is Valley of the Kings II (Valley of the Kings I is strictly annoying) which is a happy lilting but still pharonic piece. Just how it happened to be that happy if it’s insipired by the Valley of the Kings where everyone’s sorta dead now, I don’t know. And from what I know, I don’t think they ever did party much there even when its entombed inhabitants where alive.
Other pretty pieces are Ramayana (huh?), Amethyst, and Sands of Time. Storm and Waterfall aren’t too bad either. Give it a whirl — I think you can hear the samples without an account… at http://payplay.fm/ametrine . You know… I’d say they were a little Mosavo-like.
