Leila

Articles on Gilded Serpent by or about Leila

• 7-16-14 Crossing the Chasm, Cultural Sensitivity and Bellydancing by Leila Farid
  So how do we start to change the consciousness of people who see our profession as base, both inside and outside of the Middle East? I think it must start with a good understanding of the culture behind the dance, by condemning the culture or completely disregarding it in our art form, we have lost touch with our artistic role in society and thus have lost the ability to alter it.
• 11-20-13 Cairo Now, The Post Revolution Entertainment Scene in Egypt by Leila Farid
  As I watched the gorgeous rendition of the old folk tale “Ayoub wa Nassa” by the Opera’s Forsen el Shar’a Ensemble, I couldn’t help but think of how close Egypt came to going down a road where dance, secular literature and film may have become dinosaurs of the past.
• 11-4-13 Exploring the Essence, Dancing to Live Music by Safaa Farid, Translated by Leila Farid,
  All the great dancers worked with live music because orchestras helped them reveal their deep-seated artistry.
• 9-20-12 Planting Flowers and Dodging Riots, Dancing in Cairo After the Revolution by Yasmin
  I left Cairo on September 9th, 2012, after a three-week visit to research the zar. I wrote the following article on my flight home – two days before the Libyan tragedy* and the violence outside Cairo’s US Embassy. As my plane circled the pyramids I had no idea Egypt would once again become the center of world attention.
• 1-19-12 Facing the Truth, Working as a Dancer in Egypt by Leila Farid
  Sometimes the dirty facts of dancing in Cairo can be more interesting than the pristine Oriental fantasy… at least, it is when you tell the story later! PHOTOS!
• 4-11-11 As the Music Fades, Egypt's January 25 Revolution's Impact on the Muscians and Dancers by Leila Farid
  We can't attain what they had in the past because we are not free. Our minds are full of work and what we should and shouldn't do. There's no time for good art. Politics mixed with religion does not make for an atmosphere where the arts can flourish.
• 2-3-11 Getting Home, Report from Cairo by Leila Farid
  As a new Egyptian national, I am proud that people are demanding their basic human rights, and at the same time, sorry for the economic hard times that have already begun here.
• 6-17-10 Leila Delivers Live Music Under the Stars, Camp Negum 2010 photo and video report by Yasmin Henkesh
  Camp Negum did indeed happen May 4-8, 2010. It was everything Leila promised and more – 5 days and nights of music and dance classes, almost all to live music.
• 12-16-10 Dance for Dancers by Leila Farid
  Art created for other artists will evolve differently from art created for the masses.
• 2-16-10 Hot Bellydance Event in Tijuana by Martha Duran
  Leila Farid from Cairo Egypt is a sweetheart! She is what many Mexican dancers aspire to look and dance like. Wow! She is gorgeous and mesmerizing - as well as extremely nice, polite and down to earth! My star struck students were amazed to catch her snacking on Mexican Rancheritos (chips) and eating breakfast like a Mexican, with tortillas! She’s so fit that we couldn’t imagine she snacked on chips tortillas like the rest of us. Her master class was magnificent.
• 10-14-08 Inside Peek at Making Music Videos: Hakim, Khalid Selim, Walid Toufic, Ali el Hagar, Elam, & Samira Said by Leila
  I was either crying or yelling at Hakim for most of the shoot and went home each day with a headache from it.
• 7-15-08 Egyptian Wedding Stories by Leila of Cairo
  All the guests were staring at us. The father of the bride demanded to know who ordered the bellydancer and it seemed a fight was going to break out between representatives of the brides’ family and the hotel organizer.
• 5-17-07 Interview with Kay Taylor by Leila of Cairo
  As Kay seemed a bit older and wiser to the ways of Cairo, many people assumed she was my manager. They would address their questions about my fee or my experience to Kay.
• 12-30-06 I Dance; You Follow by Leila
  As Westerners interested in an Eastern dance form, we might want to ask ourselves if we are missing certain critical aspects of Raqs Sharki because we are not open to Eastern teaching methods.
• 11-17-06 Interview with Safaa Farid by Leila
  These days there are times I feel I've seen everything an Egyptian dancer can do in the first five minutes of her show. She doesn't change. But foreigners study the dance very hard and they put much time into their show so that is it interesting for a whole hour.
• 8-16-07 What Middle Eastern Audiences Expect from a Belly Dancer by Leila
  Audiences in the Middle East, especially Egyptians, see bellydancing as something to be participated in, critiqued, and loved (or hated) with gusto.
• 5-17-06 An interview with Leila by Lynette
  "Turning tricks," or sleeping with nightclub or hotel owners, is not required to make it as a dancer in Egypt, but it is a complicated and questionable industry and there are many pressures.
• 7-21-04 Leila, An American Dancer in Cairo by Catherine Barros
  She would walk into these huge ballrooms filled with thousands of people with a huge stage in the middle of the room while television cameras on cranes are taking note of everything.
• 3-17-06 Photos of Friday Evening show from Aida Nour & Magdy El-Leisy Workshop 2006 Photos by Lynette Harris & staff
  sponsored by Little Egypt held on Feb 24, 2006 in Los Angeles, California,