Raqs Sharqi

 

 

 

The best teachers are the ones

 

                  who keep learning.

 

 

Instructor,

 

   Choreographer,

 

        Performer 

^{Badaweyah Kareem is no stranger to performing.}

 

^{Growing up in Middle America, she took her first steps on the stage at the age}

 

^{of 6 and has never stepped off.}

 

^{Spending her childhood through adulthood as a violinist, a stage actress and a}

 

^{nightclub blues singer, she naturally made her way to NYC.}

 

^{Her love for poetry and music paved a path to the sounds of the Middle East.}

 

 

^{It was during Badaweyah's research on her first love, the life of Bedouin and Berber}

 

^{Culture and rituals, that she was reintroduced to that essential Egyptian cultural artistic}

 

^{expression, Raqs Sharqi.}

 

 

^{Approaching Raqs Sharqy as an anthropologist, it was only fitting that she would learn}

 

^{from Middle Eastern dance legends here in the US and North Africa.The plethora of}

 

^{knowledge of Middle Eastern dance and culture iminating from these great minds only}

 

^{intensified Badaweyah's desire to assimilate a truly authentic understanding of Egyptian}

 

^folklore.

 

 

^{Immersed in the illustrious Middle Eastern muscial heritage, it is not surprising}

 

^{that the vocals and poetry of Umm Kulthum and other great classical Egyptian}

 

^{works of the 20th century defined Badaweyah's interpretation of this dance.}

 

 

^{It is these classical sounds that she longs to express, emote and teach which is}

 

^{what often lends the comparison to Egyptian Pioneer Performers from that}

 

^{crucial renaissance era.}

 

 

 

 

^{Badaweyah teaches weekly classes in NYC, focusing on}

 

^{technique and relating to the music lyrically.} 

 

^{Badaweyah was embraced on the stage of the Ahlan Wa}

 

^{Sahlan festival in Egypt and has performed at the Lincoln}

 

^{Center and performs regularly in NYC.} 

 

^{Her emotional connection and classical grace has continued}

 

^{to be sought out, requested and studied here in the US as well}

 

^{as internationally.}

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