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Upcoming Events
Raqs Shaabi: Upper Egyptian Ghawazi
$250.00
All levels 12 week course on Upper Egyptian "Ghawazi" history, technique, musicality and musical identification, solo and group improvisational skills and sagat skills. (The series will not include singing this time, but may feature guest musicians or native instructors near the end weeks if possible.)
Sundays 12-1:30pm [Central US Time]
Mar 1-May 10, 2026
Registration closes Feb 25, 2016
Zoom Recordings will be available for 1 week after each lesson.
Class Links will be e-mailed a day before the course begins so it doesn't get lost in your inbox.
Shining is an American performer, instructor and researcher of Egyptian traditional dances, whose work emphasizes the cultural and historical influences on the medium of dance in and from Egypt. She is know for her specialization in traditional Egyptian entertainment forms such as the candelabra balancing dance (raqs e-shemaedan), historical awalim (urban traditional singer-dancers) and ghawazi (rural singer-dancers) [particularly in the style of Banat Mazin].
Since 2005 she has been studying dances from the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Central Asia with a variety of instructors foreign and native to these cultures, but in order to gain a deeper understanding of dance in the context of Egyptian society and conduct research on traditional entertainment styles, she moved to Egypt in the summer of 2021.
Her first project in Egypt (BanatMazin.com) was founded the following spring, in cooperation with Khyria Mazin (from the Banat Mazin family of entertainers in Luxor) to create a website dedicated to the legacy of the Mazin family, which includes recorded lessons, interviews, song translations, family bios, streamable music and more; enabling the international dance community to learn directly from Khyria now and far into the future.
Her project "Queen of the Hips: Nabaweya Mustafa" is a passion project dedicated to a beloved yet under-recognized artist, in hopes to learn more about her life and lineage, and share that with other dancers and researchers. With the help of a few friends in Egypt from the community of Golden-Era-Cinema-lovers, she has been working to locate old advertisements, interviews, articles, photos and passing mentions of Nabaweya in order to create a profile of her life and work...
Recently she was featured in two Arabic publications about her interest with the Egyptian candelabra dance:
CNN Arabic Nov 29, 2024 "شاهد.. أمريكية تستعرض مهاراتها وتوازنها بأداء رقصة الشمعدان في مصر"
elMasry elYoum Feb 11, 2025 "«شاينينج بيسكيبر»... فنانة أمريكية تُعيد إحياء «رقصة الشمعدان»"
Since 2005 she has been studying dances from the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Central Asia with a variety of instructors foreign and native to these cultures, but in order to gain a deeper understanding of dance in the context of Egyptian society and conduct research on traditional entertainment styles, she moved to Egypt in the summer of 2021.
Her first project in Egypt (BanatMazin.com) was founded the following spring, in cooperation with Khyria Mazin (from the Banat Mazin family of entertainers in Luxor) to create a website dedicated to the legacy of the Mazin family, which includes recorded lessons, interviews, song translations, family bios, streamable music and more; enabling the international dance community to learn directly from Khyria now and far into the future.
Her project "Queen of the Hips: Nabaweya Mustafa" is a passion project dedicated to a beloved yet under-recognized artist, in hopes to learn more about her life and lineage, and share that with other dancers and researchers. With the help of a few friends in Egypt from the community of Golden-Era-Cinema-lovers, she has been working to locate old advertisements, interviews, articles, photos and passing mentions of Nabaweya in order to create a profile of her life and work...
Recently she was featured in two Arabic publications about her interest with the Egyptian candelabra dance:
CNN Arabic Nov 29, 2024 "شاهد.. أمريكية تستعرض مهاراتها وتوازنها بأداء رقصة الشمعدان في مصر"
elMasry elYoum Feb 11, 2025 "«شاينينج بيسكيبر»... فنانة أمريكية تُعيد إحياء «رقصة الشمعدان»"
Besides teaching online and abroad, performing, conducting occasional field research, and compiling clues about the lives of her favorite Egyptian dancers from her home in Cairo, Shining also enjoys creating historical dance costumes, historically-inspired clothing and improving her general textile skills (sewing, embroidery, weaving).
Check out videos and follow Shining on IG: www.instagram.com/shiningpeacekeeper
Check out videos and follow Shining on IG: www.instagram.com/shiningpeacekeeper