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Mona El Said
"A
star from the golden age to the present"
Mona Al Said is a star from the
golden age to the present; she started dancing professionally at 13
years old when her talent discovered early. Her passion for dancing
meant she had to flee Egypt for Lebanon in 1970 to escape the anger
of her conservative Bedouin father. She became a famous belly dancer
and she became the main show for some of the most elegant night
clubs in Beirut including Farid el Atresh’s night
club. Upon returning to Cairo in 1975, she was a star and became the
feature performance for many of the top hotels and night clubs such
as Cairo Meridian and Sheraton El Jazierra.
Mona was not influenced by
anyone and did not take her style from other dancers. She has her
own unique style; Mona El Said thinks it is more
important to dance with feeling then counting out steps. She focuses
on feeling and emotion, new, innovative movement and creates magic
on the stage with her energy.
Tahiya Carioca nicknamed her the
"Princess of Raks Sharki", the Egyptian magazines and
newspapers nicknamed her “Sa’mraa El Nile” which means
“The Bronze of the Nile”.
Mona El Said performances are
always accompanied by a large orchestra, as all great Egyptian
dancers. Mona believes that it must be a mutual
understanding between dancer and musicians. She hired the most
sophisticated musicians at that time for her band.
Mona El Said made a point of
never accelerating in momentum unless the music absolutely called
for it. Her choreographies were precise, full of emotion, and never
failed to correspond perfectly with the music. She used clean,
linear movements, embodying a sense of order and method, in direct
contrast to the bedlam that surrounded her. Mona is a
good example of an Egyptian dancer that is comfortable with herself
as a dancer and who radiates joy and passion during a performance.
Mona mostly performed between
London and Cairo. Her distinct style made her one of the belly dance
stars of the twentieth century. Her unique style, grace and elegance
inspired dancers throughout the globe and impacted the world of
belly dance in an enormous way. She is none other than, MONA
EL SAID.
Mona El Said starred in a number
of Egyptian films, as well as in seven films as a main
star.
She won the admiration of her audiences in
Egypt and abroad. Most Egyptian consider Mona
El Said to be one of the legends of oriental dance. When
people think of glamour, elegancy and fashion of famous belly
dancers, Mona El Said is one of the first to come to
mind.
Mona toured the world performing
and teaching workshops. She gave many workshops in the US and UK as
well as in other countries and trained many other dance stars.
Mona resides most of the year
in the resort town of Hurghada and she is available for providing
classes and workshops for both individual and groups.
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