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Araf is well known for its publication of high quality audio and video field recordings collected from the Egyptian and North African countryside.

The video Dances of Egypt earned Aisha Ali a Lifetime Achievement award from the Giza Academy of Music and Legends of Dance in 1997; in the year 2000, Tunisian Rhythms and Raqs Shaabi, along with the documentary Dances of North Africa received the Best Instructional Video award.

Just Released

Volume I, Dances of North Africa: Tunisia and Morocco Folkloric music and dance collections filmed in Tunisia and Morocco between 1973 and 1982 (DVD).

Aisha Dances, Volume II: Dances of the Arab World (DVD)   The second of a two-volume series featuring Aisha Ali performing raqs sharqi, Ouled Naïl, Tunisian Shaabi, Moroccan Shikhat, Khaliji, and an awalem style cane dance.

Dances of Egypt on DVD with a 1977 bonus clip of the Banat Maazin performing with Aisha for the cast of "Death on the Nile."

Aisha Dances, Volume I: Egyptian Dances (DVD)   The first of a two-volume series featuring Aisha Ali performing her most popular repertoire. Volume I presents a variety of Egyptian dances that she learned in Egypt and has been performing in the United States and internationally for a number of years, including two classic raqs sharqi dances and six Ghawazee styles—Banat Maazin, Saidi, Awalem, Sumbati, Et Teit, a Fellahin cane dance and a 19th century Ghazeyeh sword dance.

In Work

  • Volume II, Dances of North Africa: Libya and Algeria.
  • Digitally taped Ghawazee music recently recorded in Upper Egypt. The musicians are the same Aisha Ali recorded 24 years earlier.
  • A DVD of Gypsy musicians and dancers performing at a Saidi wedding, taped in Egypt.

 

 

 
Music of the Ghawazee cover