Tannoura at Al-Ghouri & Al-Azhar Park (Egyptian Drums & Dance)

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Al Tannoura Troupe is one of the Egyptian folk troupe, established by the General Organization for Cultural Palaces at Egypts Ministry of Culture. The group is based on the capital at the old Fatmis Cairo, mainly at wekalet al ghoury . The Troupe was formed in 1988 at the Ghury Palace, which is specialized in reviving and renovating the inherited artistic and cultural themes that have been endangered or about to diminish.

Egypt's only Sufi dance troupe far more raucous and colourful than white-clad Turkish dervishes puts on a mesmerising performance at the Wikala of Al-Ghouri. It's a great opportunity to see one of the medieval spaces in use.

Popular and folk musical instruments usually accompany the troupes performance like Rababa, Salamia, flute, drums, tambourines and sanjes ). These instruments accelerate the dancers warm up and enlighten the colorful atmosphere of the stage performance.

This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

The Most Amazing Egyptian Drumming

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Astounding Egyptian drumming concert with whirling dervishes & Sufi dancers in Cairo.

This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

UCSB Middle East Ensemble Performes at Cairo University

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The University of California Santa Barbara Middle East Ensemble has been invited by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to perform a series of concerts in Cairo and beyond this July 2010.

On July 18th we performed in front of the Central Library of Cairo University to a huge crowd of students. This gig was so much fun and the crowd was one of the most energetic and enthusiastic that we performed for. In fact, the authorities asked us to not include our dancers in one of our last pieces as they thought the crowd might get too rowdy! This video is a section of our version of Ghawazi Dance which we played before the authorities began to get anxious.

This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

Belly Dancing on the Nile

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Both traditional and modern styles of dance and music are compiled in this arrangement from Cairo, Egypt.

This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

UCSB Middle East Ensemble - Welcome to Egypt!

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The University of California Santa Barbara Middle East Ensemble arriving to a warm, musical welcome upon arriving in Cairo, Egypt.

The University of California Santa Barbara Middle East Ensemble has been invited by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to perform a series of concerts in Cairo and beyond this July 2010.

We are now in Cairo! After a ten hour flight we were greeted at our hotel with mizmar, trumpets and drums. These guys played for about an hour and made us forget all about our jet lag! The director of our ensemble, Scott Marcus, had arranged for the mizmar player Kamil Mitwalli (featured in the above video) and his zaffa (wedding procession) band to greet us. Scott has worked with Kamil on previous research trips to Cairo and he has written about him in his book Music in Egypt.

This is a ZGraphix production.
Produced by Jeff Zavala.
http://zgraphix.org

Noam Chomsky - The Conscience of America

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For more than 30 years author, scholar, and political activist Noam Chomsky has been one of America's most outspoken critics. Some consider him the most important intellectual living today. Noam Chomsky joins Allan Gregg to discuss the conscience of America.

UCSB Middle East Ensemble Warm Welcome to Cairo Egypt

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The Univeristy of California Santa Barbara Middle East Ensemble arriving to a warm welcome upon arriving in Cairo, Egypt.

The University of California Santa Barbara Middle East Ensemble has been invited by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to perform a series of concerts in Cairo and beyond this July 2010.

We are now in Cairo! After a ten hour flight we were greeted at our hotel with mizmar, trumpets and drums. These guys played for about an hour and made us forget all about our jet lag! The director of our ensemble, Scott Marcus, had arranged for the mizmar player Kamil Mitwalli (featured in the above video) and his zaffa (wedding procession) band to greet us. Scott has worked with Kamil on previous research trips to Cairo and he has written about him in his book Music in Egypt