Amani

Amani

Lebanon’s “Diva de la Danse Oriental”

by Nuria Tahan

I’ll admit to being nervous as I took the elevator up to Amani’s suite at the prestigious Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza in Dubai. I had seen her previously only on videos and in magazine spreads. Internationally known, she is one of the top dance stars of Lebanon, has appeared in all the major Arabic entertainment publications and on Lebanese TV numerous times. She is admired and respected by the Arab community worldwide, having performed recently in the United Arab Emirates, France, Italy, and Australia.

Amani

I was greeted at the door by a petite, warm and friendly young lady, clad in a casual pant suit. She is even prettier in person, and her freshly scrubbed face showed a rare natural beauty. There is nothing plastic or fake about Amani. We were soon chatting away over cappuccino like two old friends, completely at ease.

Amani comes from a small town midway between Beirut and Tripoli. Although her first language is Arabic, she is well educated in both French and English. As she grew up, she enjoyed the old black and white films starring Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca, but as a teenager she came to prefer American films. Lively and popular, she enjoyed going to parties with her friends and would often get up to dance just for fun. It was at one of these parties, when she was dancing in jeans and a T-shirt, that a Lebanese entertainment V.I.P. spotted her — and a star was born. Amani had never studied dance, or even thought about making a career of it. Her natural talent and flair for drama set her apart from the others.

She dances from her soul, taking the feeling she gets from the music and giving it back to the audience. Amani has a great depth of feeling for music and prefers the older classical styles for stage performances, although she enjoys dancing to popular Arabic songs for fun. She says that she can only dance to music she really loves, because if she doesn’t have genuine feeling for it, it’s like dancing a lie or presenting false feelings to the audience.

Amani gives herself completely to the music, whether it’s a joyful entrance with veils flying; or sad, melancholy music where the music is reflected both in her body and her very expressive face. She says that she has seen several foreign dancers (non-Arab), and they usually have excellent technique, but lack feeling; but she acknowledges that it is difficult to express feeling when the songs are in a foreign language and you don’t fully understand the culture you are trying to portray.

I asked her about one very unusual performance which I saw on video. It is set to the music of Ahmed Fuad Hassan and relates an old Arabic story. Amani plays the part of Abbassa (Haroun Al Rashid’s sister) and is carried on stage in a litter by four “slaves.” Abbassa, a Sunni Muslim, is in love with the minister who is Shi’ite Muslim. Such a mixed marriage was generally frowned on, so they married in secret. Haroun Al Rashid was the former caliph of Baghdad during the era of “1001 Arabian Nights.” When he discovered his sister’s illicit marriage, he had her husband executed. Amani’s dance portrays the inner conflict felt by Abbassa as she agonized over whether or not she should kill herself to be with her love. Unable to bear his death, she finally stabs herself to death, and the dance ends as Amani/Abbasa is carried up to heaven by angels to join her husband. Amani told me about other unusual story dances, including one set in India depicting various rituals. If Lebanon develops a film industry, she would like to try her hand as an actress, but she doesn’t want to go to Cairo where Arabic films are currently produced.

Amani has been a professional dancer for eight years and she says that she is constantly changing and growing. Lately, she has been inspired by Egyptian and Indian folklore. Her costuming reflects the mood she’s in, and whatever style of dance she is interested in at the time. This has led to a fabulous wardrobe containing everything from ultra-feminine, flowing chiffon to vibrant folkloric beledi dresses, to retro Samia Gamal-inspired costumes. She has her own costume designer in Lebanon, and they work together to plan her dance wardrobe.

Although some Lebanese dancers sign constraining contracts with Lebanese TV (LBC) or various impresarios, Amani has stayed away from this. She says once they sign you, they own you and treat you like a slave. They can either make or break you depending on their whims. Amani prefers to be in control of her own career. Sometimes her generous nature gets the better of her. Two years ago, she was scheduled to perform at the first annual Lebanese Dance Festival along with several other Lebanese dancers. Dancers are not paid for their performances, but do get a lot of publicity which leads to better contracts at nightclubs. This was not important to Amani, who was already famous, but the producers needed a big star to attract the crowds. The day of the show, Amani was feeling ill and wanted to cancel, but allowed the producer to talk her into it anyway. A few minutes into her show, she collapsed on stage. Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt; it was more a case of injured pride.

Lebanese dancers are luckier than Egyptians and other Arabs in that they are not automatically perceived as “fallen women.” If a dancer respects herself, and acts like a lady, she is treated as such. Nadia Gamal set the stage for future dancers by being respectable and giving danse orientale a good name. Her death several years ago was a great loss, though Amani continues to be inspired by her.

The future looks very bright for this brilliant, young star. She and her handsome fiancé, percussionist Bassam, have recently released a dance music cassette and plan to do a video also. Of course, they would like children; but they also want to continue their careers. Amani’s family is very supportive. They trust her and realize that she is a well-respected artist. When she becomes too old to dance on stage, Amani says she will probably teach. I’m sure that the dancers of the future will one day look to Amani with the same admiration and esteem as today’s dancers look to Nadia Gamal.

Nuria Tahan was born and raised in Southern California. She is an inveterate traveler, having traveled to every country in the world except Libya, Lebanon, Iran and North Korea. Currently, Nuria resides in Dubai where she owns and operates Gypsy Tailoring, and designs belly dance costumes. She performs frequently in Kuwait, and plans new and exotic adventures around the world. tara@emirates.net.ae