Raqs Arabi Dance Performance With Karim Nagi & The Arab Dance Seminar

Nov. 1, 2010 - PRLog -- Alwan for the Arts presents an evening of Pan-Arab dance and live music held in conjunction with Karim Nagi's Arab Dance Seminar. The Seminar features instruction of dance and music from around the Arab world taught by master teachers of each genre.

Raqs Arabi performance features the work of these master dance instructors and select dance students, all performing to live music by versatile NY musicians.  Performances include Egyptian, Moroccan, Lebanese, and Saudi dance styles. The event concludes with an open floor dance party to live music, with participatory dances lead by instructors.

Featuring:
Karim Nagi - Percussionist and Folk Dancer

with
Rachid Halihal - Oud and Vocals
Amel Tafsout - North African Dance
Nourhan Sharif - Egyptian Dance
Sami Abu Shumays - Violin and Rababa
Taoufiq Ben Amor - Percussion and Vocals
Kay Hardy Campbell - Arabian Gulf Folklore

Including select dance students of the Arab Dance Seminar

Artist Bios:
Karim Nagi - Performer and Seminar Organizer
www.karimnagi.com

Karim Nagi is a native Egyptian drummer, DJ, and folk dancer. He is the creator of Turbo Tabla, and has released two internationally distributed CDs of this unique brand of Arab House/Electronica using acoustic instruments. Karim has authored instructional DVDs for the Tabla/Doumbek and Riqq tambourine, as well as two rhythm compilation CDs. He is also well versed in the ultra-traditional styles of music and dance as the leader of the Sharq Arabic Music Ensemble, and the Arab Dance Seminar. Karim performs and teaches tahteeb cane dance, dabka line dance, and zikr Sufi dance. He taught at the New England Conservatory of Music for 5 years, and has lectured and presented at Harvard, MIT, Yale, Bowdoin, Princeton, Stanford, William & Mary, and several Community Colleges. He has recorded music for Bellydance Superstars, Bellyqueen, and the Bellytwins, as well as mainstream artists like Alicia Keys, and The Urban Griot Project. His performances boast a dynamic concoction of live drumming and dance, done in unison. Because of his proficiency in both music and dance, his workshops deliver students to a new physical understanding of the connection between these two disciplines. As a dance and drum teacher, Karim has taught in nearly all major bellydance festivals in the United States and Cairo, as well as all major Arab Culture festivals in the USA. Karim Nagi is a true crossover artist, uniting the Cabaret and Tribal, Traditional and the Modern, the Ethnic and the Urban.

For more information about Arab Dance Seminar performers please visit their websites below:

Karim Nagi: www.karimnagi.com
Amel Tafsout: www.ameltafsout.com
Nourhan Sharif: www.nourhansharif.com
Rachid Halilah: www.rachidhalihalmusic.com
Sami Shumays: www.samimusicworld.com
Toufiq Ben Amor: www.taoufiqbenamor.com
Kay Hardy Campbell: www.kayhardycampbell.com

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Alwan for the Arts is a Middle Eastern cultural center serving the Arab community and educating the broader public by showcasing a range of cultural expression and genres including music, literature, film and dance. Alwan is committed to allowing for enriching cross- cultural and artistic encounters, to maintaining a space for reflection, dialogue, and growth in the arts and cultures of the peoples of the Middle East, North Africa, and the diaspora.

Since 1998, Alwan for the Arts has played a leading role in promoting the diverse cultures of the Arab countries in New York City. Alwan organizes film festivals and screenings, book/poetry readings and signings, lectures and conferences, art exhibits, musical and theatrical performances, and language and literature classes. In 2003, Alwan established a center in lower Manhattan which provides a physical base for its diverse cultural activities.