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Interview with Amel Tafsout by Nadia for Fatchance Belly Dance
During your workshop, why were you saying: The NAYLIYAT” used to do such and such?
Because they do not perform anymore.
What happened?
Their tradition was to learn the dance, as a child from their mother, to leave their home village at the onset of puberty, to make their way to other oases in order to start a new life while traveling and performing, to get paid with jewelry and to live as a courtesan. When they earned enough, they returned to their home oasis, looked for a husband, married and ended their professional career after which they handed down their skills to their own daughters. This tradition was misunderstood by French people.
Djelfa, the real Ouled Nayl (I mean the tribe) home oasis, became in 1852 a military station. A large number of French soldiers settled there. A railway was built, which enabled this area to become a commercial and entertainment centre, where tourists, searching for exotic places, arrived “en masse”, in order to relax in cafes and be entertained by the dance of the “enigmatic” Nayliyat dancers. In the oasis, Bou saada, the Nayliyat dancers withdrew greatly from their true traditions because the French authorities had made them into a big touristic attraction. Their dance changed and became more vulgar: They lost their dignity and became prostitutes. They were used for publicity and exploited. French soldiers required more “naked dance performances”. Tourists were invited to see the “fantastique danses des Ouled Nail” after the daily desert entertainment; and very late in the evening, they had the opportunity to watch a more exclusive “naked” dance performance from the Nayliyat.
This touristic vulgarization led to the degradation of the status of this dance, usually performed with amazing costumes. Around 1954 the Nayliyat lost respect from their own community. They, themselves, rejected the “Roumis”, the European clients. Many of them returned to their homes and stopped dancing .Nowadays men perform their dances.
How did you learn all the different dance styles you teach? the SHIKHAT, The NAYLIYAT?
I learned to dance in my natural environment and during weddings or other ceremonies. We always dance with each other. I was very interested in any kind of dance. In my childhood, I was surrounded by female dancers and singers who performed the Berber fertility dance, ’ABDAOUI”, and Oasis dances such as the NAYLY.
My mother’s family comes from an oasis near Bou saada, where one Ouled Nayl tribe used to live; and although I was little, when we used to visit the area, I still can remember the bright colors of the Nayliyat’s dresses, their fantastic jewelry and the smell of their strong perfume.
My family used to move to different parts of Algeria, because of my father’s job. This enabled me, already as a child, to play with children of other regions and be interested in their traditions, their dance and music styles. I used to go to weddings and copy the adults. Even at that age, I was not able to explain what I was doing, I was feeling the dance which was transmitted to me through an older woman. We never had dance school like you in the West.
I also have learned the other dance styles during my travels in specific areas. I love traveling and meeting people from different cultures. I often visited other Arab and non Arab countries in order to study. I studied with various Moroccan SHIKHAT and I have a friendship with some of them. 3 Years ago, in London, we had a Moroccan festival with 45 dancers, singers and musicians. I had the great opportunity, with my partner and drummer Salah, not only to be part of the festival but also to interview the artists, on stage, for the British audience.
I have learned a lot about North African religious music in attending ritual ceremonies. I also have been to Egypt. I performed, in Germany at the same festival as the MUSICIANS OF THE NIL, who became my friends. I have relatives in Tunisia where I have been many times. The Tunisian dance style is very similar to the East Algerian dances.
Apart from that I love not only reading, researching and writing about the history and the meaning of dances and their development, but also talking to normal simple people, who usually have a lot more knowledge about the meanings of dances than experts. When I was at High school, I had a Russian Math teacher, who was very difficult; but she was a dance teacher of European folk dances; and I used to go to all her classes in order to study Russian, Greek, Breton, Scottish folk dances. I really enjoyed every minute of it! My ever first performance, outside my traditional environment, was a Scottish folk dance performance with a beautiful Scottish costume and my thick plaits! I also was intrigued by Ballet dancers with their funny short skirts, but that was alien to me, as a child, it was something which belonged more to the French culture, whereas European folk dances had something in common with our traditional dances. I love it and still do!
Is the Algerian Ballet performing Algerian folk dances?
The dancers of the Algerian Ballet have been trained by Russian choreographers. They perform Algerian folk dances combined with Ballet steps. Algerian choreographers are mostly men. They are very talented and very good. I have a great respect for their work. I just think, when a folk dance starts to be stylized, it loses its spirit and its strength.
Was dancing part of your daily life? Did you ever think of performing it?
Yes, it was part of our daily life, like singing. Every day was a ritual. We did not go to performances or theatres. As girls, we did not even think to ask our father about it. We always found ways to entertain ourselves. When the weather was nice, we used to sit in the courtyard, and enjoy the story tellers and the nice weather.
This was a family get-together.
We used to take card board boxes or even tins and use them as drums. I remember, we had a very nice tradition which consisted of making our first couscous pot with clay. When the making of this pot was a success, we had to cook our first couscous in it and invite our little friends. After the meal, we had a party: We put two spoons inside the bottle in order to have a percussive sound, the card board boxes were the drums, clapping and singing were part of it. We did not think or pretend to be great dancers, we just did it without thinking about it. It was part of growing up.
I never thought to perform. When I was living in Germany, I used to dance in friends parties for my own enjoyment. Some friends advised me to start a class, I never took it seriously. Women, who like my dancing, wanted to learn with me. They organized a space, and students.
It is how I started teaching. At that time I was missing my own culture and the dance brought me back to it. My idea was to perform as a group because every dancer was a soloist and that was a amazing experience. I am very grateful to those women who helped me to rediscover my own culture.
Where did you exactly grow up?
In the Aures mountains in the East of Algeria, not far from the Tunisian border. I grow up with snow. A region where the famous professional singer and dancers, called “‘AZRIYAT” (transl. The free women or Women without men) came from.
When you see Amel performing, you get a sense of incredible power, a real solid strengh,as well as grace and beauty.(to A.T.)you are incredibly stongand it’s really good to represent that Arabic women’s strength.
Thank you so much! that strength is the result of the suffering of many women of my family. There is also the struggle to find a way to be accepted and respected by the East and the West. When you arrive to that level of appreciation from different cultures then you belong to the Universe. I like to perform for different kinds of people, teaching Arab or European women is giving something special to both of them, something which was always inside themselves and has been lost.
When you perform, do you incorporate all the different dance styles you know into a fusion type of style, or do you remain pure to each one?
It depends if I am performing with a tape or with musicians.
And also on which occasion the dance is for.
Definitely. Tribal dances have a function inside the community, they lose their function on stage. In this case, the dancer should be more creative, or find a way to create an athmosphere for the dance in order to transmit the message to the audience. An Arabic audience might be able to understand the meaning of the dance but an European audience needs to be informed. On the other hand a dance performance is a show and not a lecture. I like to put my own experience and expression in my dance and develop it. A fusion is not something new. All cultures had their own fusion. I like combining dances which I know very well, where spirituality has a great part. I work with Salah and I learn a great deal from his amazing music experience.
Always perform as a soloist?
I used to have a troupe, called BANAT AS SAHRA (Daughter of the desert). It was a great experience. I used to perform all the time with them, we worked with a famous band called “Die DISSIDENTEN”, that was when I used to live in Germany in the 80s. I enjoyed it very much. I started being a soloist when I came to the U.K. It was not easy, but on the other hand I have more contact to the musicians and I understand more about music and I have more time to be more creative. I teach choreograpies to my students and I am pleased to see them performing together or as a soloist.
Do you think contemporary Belly dance has been influenced by these Maghrebi tribes?
It is difficult to define contemporary Belly dance. They are so many different styles and in every country it is different, some styles focuse more on the 1001 nights fantasy, on the cabaret style; and that is fine with me.Other dancers prefer to be more authentic and know more about the cultural background, some of them might have been influenced by the Maghreb dances, in France for sure, because of the big number of the Maghrebi community. I think nowadays there are more possibilities. Oriental dance mixed with Modern dance, flamenco, Indian, African, and it can only benefit from it. I like Carolena’s work, because she is creative. Helene is also a great artist who respects the cultural side of the dance. I am fascinated by the interaction in the dance between the East and the West. Every one can chose, and we can learn from each other.
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