Suzy Khairy Dances with Shemaedan at Oxford University!

Kawakib Magazine May 25, 1971 Issue No. 1034 - price 50 milliem
[Transcription and translation by Shining Peacekeeper, editing and proofread assistance by Mariam and Alaa. Images provided by @dance_archivist]

“Despite the furor that appeared about the shemaedan over Nagwa Fouad’s head the truth is Suzy Khairy was the first to dance with it.”

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Suddenly the shemaedan (candelabra) appeared. Suddenly too did a quarrel over the shemaedan as if it were a tremendous discovery and raqs sharqi had not existed until it appeared and the art would have stopped if not for the innovation of the shemaedan!

A fight broke out between Nagwa Fouad and Nahid Sabry, Nagwa was going to dance with it in Iran but Nahid beat her to it so Nagwa postponed her contract. Shemaedan (the dance) [was such that] a dancer might put the shemaedan on the stage and stand next to it and the audience would applaud.

​In any case the quarrel over the shemaedan or the new discovery of it had no ground on which to stand. The one who brought it back was Suzy Khairy, not Nagwa or Nahid. Already in 1966 Suzy had been dancing with it for 5 years in Europe. She danced with it at Oxford University and later at Birmingham University. She thought it would be something new to westerners to grab their attention and it actually worked. When she returned the Beer Company in Cairo [Shirka elBir fi alQahira] requested to film an advertisement with her dancing with shemaedan and in the place of the candles she stacked bottles of beer. That was 1968.

400 Gineh

In the same year Suzy Khairy paid the musician Sayed Salama an amount of 400 gineh to create a piece of music for her to dance on and after its exhibition she was surprised to find a big name dancer using the same music even though it wasn’t hers. Suzy held her tongue.

Once again Suzy danced with the shemaedan, then suddenly Nagwa appeared and said she was reinstating the shemaedan again and that she was dancing with a historical shemaedan but this wasn’t true and Suzy couldn’t hold her silence. She was the one who brought back the shemaedan and what she danced with was the shemaedan of Nazla el-Adl, better than those who dance with the shemaedan and it was the very one Nazla el-Adl bought from a famous old dancer.

Suzy’s shemaedan weighs about 2.5 kilos and she paid a considerable sum for it to Nazla el-Adl to train her with it. Nazla says she bought the shemaedan from Zouba el Kloubatiyya, the old dancer who herself bought it from an old dancer. Suzy’s shemaedan is made from brass [or copper] with crystals and wax candles and has an expansive crown.
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​Raqs Hindi

Suzy wasn’t just the first in shemaedan but also first to present Indian dance. 12 years ago when she was taking her first steps in art she presented an Indian dance wearing the Indian sari. After that she danced with the asa [cane/stick] and was so unique with it that those who danced with the asa would imitate her when they presented what passed as a tableau or show of raqset el-asa [stick dance]. And Suzy is nearly the only dancer who dances in a “closed” dance suit after everyone opened their suits. In doing so she depends on her art as a dancer and nothing more. As the number of dancers dramatically increased the suit has receded piece by piece until dancers appear to be doing “striptease”. This goes back to just one thing: not a single one of them can present the art of dance itself. Since she began dancing Suzy didn’t open the suit once.

Suzy Khairy is considered a model of raqs sharqi. She is a university graduate, cultured, multi-lingual and this affords her the appearance of respectability and opportunity to represent Egyptian artists abroad in an excellent manner.

The latest news on Suzy is that she is currently preparing herself for a new dance titled “Alf Leyla w Leyla” [One Thousand and One Nights], she is considered one of the most innovative of the dancers, always showing new steps and new music.