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Sausan System Method
&
Anthropological Approach

There are no isolations in Classic Egyptian-style belly dance, only a celabratory dance that is expressed through a language; its idioms, its nuances, and its  subtleties, unlike that of the West.

“They will never be up to the Egyptian standards, the Egyptian belly dancers’ standards,” [Zaki] says.  “They don’t have the lively spirit, they don’t have the sense of humour and they don’t have the musical ear.  They only perform steps that they learn - 1, 2, 3, 4.  But they don’t have the spirit.  They will never, never match us.”

--Suhair Zaki

 

Gardner, Frank. “BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Belly Dancing Goes Global”. News.Bbc.Co.Uk, 2001, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1373029.stm.

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SAED EDC Beats
SAED EDC System
SAED EDC Adjective Movements

The Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance (SAED) is a stand-alone, all-encompassing, one-of-a-kind  Egyptian belly dance academy, that also includes a performance venue; namely, the highly acclaimed San Francisco, California-based Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, offering weekly pre-recorded as well as live Middle Eastern music, and Egyptian dine-in evenings for its customers, dance students, and graduates.  Unique and separate from all other belly dance schools in its methods, technique, musical interpretation, and movement vocabulary, SAED is distinctive to its teachings and provides proven authentic dance movement combined with respective original dance vocabulary for specific movements while using the Egyptian Dance Code® (EDC®).   

 

The EDC® consists of two specific and opposing physical elements contained in the dance beats as illustrated in the first graphic on this page.  Born from and attributable to the Egyptian language, according to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, and fundamental to Egyptian-style belly dance or “Raqs Sharqi,” the EDC® is the underlying core torso rhythm to all Egyptian dance movements as well as the basis with which all dance movements originate and are performed.

 

Additional to these elements, Egyptian dance movement consists of two visible components -- a kind of binary system; namely, the AGITATION or shimmy, and the OSCILLATION or undulation.  All dance movements are made up of one or combinations of more than one of these two components; such as figure eights, body waves, shoulder rolls, hip circles, and shimmies; all while performed within the EDC®.   While this dance is suited for performance in small areas, extensive traveling to take advantage of a large space, although not necessary, is attainable; and specific travel steps are provided for this.  At length, the study of the Basic System (second graphic) and the Adjective Movements (third graphic), combined with the knowing of the music, the dancer will achieve the dance to her/his fullest capacity and will give it its visible authenticity and unique persona, special and specific to the dancer.


We, at SAED, do not use ballet dance terms or ballet dance positions.  Why?  It is antithetical to the movements of the Middle East.  Ballet dance, initially and mainly performed by men, was invented in the 15th Century in Italy and was made popular in the European French courts by the Sun King, King Louis the IX of France.  Belly dance, or “Raqs Sharqi,” has survived for hundreds if not thousands of years, originating in the streets and villages of the Middle East as a cultural celebratory form of expression and performed mainly by women.  It was later sought after, and, some would say exploited, by the British and its Victorian cultural attitudes as its

military forces comprising of men infiltrated and occupied Egypt in the early 1900s, thereby placing this new dance enterprise on a raised stage as intoxicating albeit illicit.   But there was money to be made by scrupulous club owners and the market was willing.  

 

So, why  “Oriental Dance?”  Great Britain, the superpower of that time and its location on the globe, considered any continent and its people east of Great Britain as the Orient, and any continent and its people west of Great Britain, the Occident.  Hence, the nonplussed name given to this dance is known today as “Oriental Dance.”  Consequently, all dances east of Great Britain are considered Oriental dances, which is confusing.  I prefer the generic term “Belly Dance,” the translation of the French term, “Dans du Ventre” or “Dance of the Abdomen.”  “Raqs Sharqi” is also germane, as it is the Arabic translation, meaning “Dance of the East.”

 

SAED welcomes all questions, comments, concerns, and criticisms with an open mind.

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Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance

4031 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA  94121-2516

415-867-6754 or TOLL FREE 844-841-4242

sausanacademy@gmail.com

Background photo by Andrew Owen. 

Home page photo by Carl Sermon  

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© 2023. Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance. All rights reserved.

EDC® - Registered Trademark - Registration No. 3665396.  Egyptian Dance Code® is a registered trademark of the Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance.

 

Egyptian Dance Code® registered trademark includes all copyrighted movement vocabulary material as stated in these website pages, as well as in all Sausan Academy of Egyptian dance classes, workshops, seminar, and lectures including but not limited to all class materials, posters, fliers, method descriptions, and movement breakdown associated or within all articles, blogs, and other visual or written media produced by Sausan of the Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance.

 

The marks and copyrights and their use are thereby duly governed by the respective owners, and any and all rights in connection with the same are entirely reserved.

 

Any use of the Egyptian Dance Code®, including the teaching of it in dance movement breakdown and execution in a class environment, private or otherwise, or on visual media, as well as its associated copyrighted vocabulary is strictly prohibited unless sanctioned or authorized by the Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance; specifically, under the certification authority of Level Three - Teacher Training 7-Day Intensive Seminar.  Use of the Egyptian Dance Code® and all or any part of copyrighted material or the teaching of it at any time shall  be used only under licensing agreements or contracts with the Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance.  Permission at any time from the Sausan Academy of Egyptian must be obtained before teaching and/or using any copyrighted material in whole or in part as it pertains to the Egyptian Dance Code® and the Sausan

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