MED FOLK TOURS MIDDLE EASTERN CAMP FOR DANCERS AND MUSICIANS. By Zarqaa. Just close your eyes, and you know you must be in the Middle East. Nowhere else could possibly sound and feel like this. The passionate rhythms of karsilama and ciftetelli overlaid with intense melodies on the zurna, kanun, davul, ud, dumbek, ney and zils echoing through the woods and off the mountainside belie the truth. Look around and delight in the glory of the dancers and musicians. Dance. Welcome to Lancaster County, PA, host of the MED Folktours 2004 Middle Eastern and Balkan Music and Dance Camp, USA. And this was just the beginning – well, almost the beginning. Late on Friday afternoon, many months of planning and preparation by Tayyar Akdeniz and Artemis came to fruition as dancers and musicians from all over the U.S. and the Middle East converged at the campground on South Mountain for four intense days and nights of music and dance classes, performances, and a celebration of Middle Eastern and Balkan music, dance and culture. Oh yes, did I mention vendors? Sequins and beads enough to satisfy the greediest magpie, CDs, and those emergency must-have harem pants or cholis. The dance classes featured Nourhan Sharif, teaching Egyptian Oriental technique in her captivating and incredibly demanding style that inspired her students to drill various combinations of traveling hip locks and turns for hours without stopping or complaining (and Ms. Sharif never seemed to break a sweat as she led us through our paces), all of which flowed seamlessly into segments of the choreography she had selected to teach. Not a wasted move from warm up to cooldown, and nothing you could afford to forget. Elizabeth Artemis Mourat got down to brass tacks every evening in her “So You Want to Be a Star” workshop, which covered everything from putting together the right show for the gig, organizing and booking your performing engagements, working with musicians, negotiating prices, professional standards and etiquette and an insightful critique of each student’s performance in full costume and makeup in a non-threatening environment. Artemis also had afternoon classes in Turkish Oriental and Turkish Rom styles that featured a variety of combinations taught in both styles. Kajira, director of Black Sheep Belly Dance and author of The Tribal Bible, led her intrepid tribe gently and surely into the world of American Tribal Style improvisation. A nicely stylized move here, a cue there, and voila! We created our own “instant” ensemble performance. The theory was put to the test Monday in our camp recital, with Kajira fearlessly leading her budding tribe through a fast and a slow piece, with no major mishaps, and only a few beads of nervous sweat. Steve Kotansky’s Balkan folk dance classes vied with the Tayyar’s Turkish folk dance classes for the most aerobic (and foot challenging) dance classes. The exuberant hops, kicks, stomps, and leaps left students breathless, but hooked. One student advised after Saturday afternoon, “Don’t try to take them both back to back – there won’t be any of you left.” Then she smiled the slightly suspect smile of the addicted as she trailed off to dinner. Karim Nagi’s Arabic folk dance classes were a huge hit. His students found him to be charming and the dances were intoxicating. Meanwhile, the musicians were not being slighted. Davul, dumbek, def, zagat, and more as taught by Tayyar Akdeniz, Brad Sidwell, Karim Nagi Mohammed, Seido Salifoski, and Souren Baronian. The drums echoed through the woods as the heartbeat of the weekend from sunrise to sunrise, never missed a beat. And there were still more master musicians sharing their knowledge and skills on a variety of instruments in class – Omar Faruk Tekbilek (baglama, zurna and ney), Tamer Pinarbasi (kanun), Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), Hamit Golbasi (ney, zurna), Haig Manoukian (ud), and Steve Kotansky (singing), Ali Kahya (the ensemble music class), Soner Cicek (ud, baglama and the ensemble music class) and Naji Hilal (singing and ud). Winds and reeds layered their personae over the percussion from various points on the mountainside, blending with strings of all sorts, and voices soaring in song. The heartbeat found a body and face, and clothed itself in shimmering music. The mountain sang. And we were one. Over meals, dancers and musicians made new friends, shared their insights, and compared their experiences as they refreshed and regrouped. After dinner each evening, the entire camp assembled to enjoy a show featuring world class performances by the dance and music teachers as well as fellow students, with open floor dancing and two different combinations of musicians – one specializing in Turkish and one in Arabic styling. Henna artists plied their trade and massage therapists worked miracles. The music and dancing continued into the morning hours, and exhausted but inspired dancers and musicians began another day. And then came Monday afternoon, our recital, the rain, and time to go home…until we do it again in August in Turkey or next year, same time, same place in the US.

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