TamraHenna

TamraHenna began her dancing career at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1992. A student of Alexandra King, she performed regularly with the Middle Eastern Ensemble as a soloist and as part of Alexandra's troupe (now troupe Seher). After graduating from the university, TamraHenna moved to Egypt to study Arabic dance,culture and language in its native land. She trained extensively with Nadia Hamdi (now her Egyptian "mother"), Raqia Hassan, and Ibrahim Akef, and soon afterwards began performing in Cairo. Within one year of receiving her dance license TamraHenna was contracted to replace Lucy at the Belvedere nightclub in the Nile Hilton Hotel and became one of the few foreigners in years to hold such a prestigious position in the Cairo dance circuit. Subsequently she was also featured at the Cairo Meridien, Cairo Sheraton, Cairo Marriott and Mena House Oberoi nightclubs. TamraHenna has also performed for private functions in every five star hotel in the greater Cairo area and opened for some of the most well known artists in the Middle East today such as Amar Diab and Dina.

For the past three years she has taken this experience to audiences throughout the Arab world, performing, traveling, and living in Lebanon, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen and Cyprus. After her extensive seven year sojourn to the Middle East, TamraHenna has recently returned to reacquaint herself with her native California. She currently makes her home in Los Angeles where she continues to perform and hopes to open an institute of Arabic Dance.

TamraHenna's interview
by Meissoun
and Jennifer James-Long

Meissoun:
When did you start to learn Oriental Dance, and since when do you perform regularly?

Tamra Henna:
I began learning Oriental Dance at the University of California at Santa Barbara with Alexandra King in January of 1991. By February of 1992 I was performing professionally in local restaurants and clubs.

Meissoun:
When did you start to dance in the Middle East and how did you find jobs?

Tamra Henna:
After I graduated from the University (my degree was not in dance) I wanted to do some traveling. I left America in early 1993 with a backpack, 3 dance costumes (one of which was only half finished!) and not too much money. My goal was to go to Europe, get to Egypt for a few months to study dance and experience the culture and use my dancing skills to make enough money to stay traveling as long as possible. As it turned out, with the exception of Greece and Cyprus , I bypassed Europe all together and ended up in the Middle East for 7 years.

I got jobs in different ways: sometimes agents, once a nightclub owner saw me dance in Cyprus and flew me to his club in Yemen (I was 23 years old then), in Egypt I was studying with Nadia Hamdi (we are very close now...she is my Egyptian mother!). She liked my dancing and introduced me to some people. That is how I got my manager and band. Everything started to fall into place from there.

Meissoun:
Was it hard to leave your "old life" behind you?

Tamra Henna:
It wasn't very difficult a change for me because I was right out of college and didn't really have an established life. Also, my first year away I was traveling every 3 months or so, so that kept things exciting. I didn't settle for a while until I was in Egypt where I remained for 3 and a half years. The call of adventure got to me though and although I was very successful in Cairo (I performed at many of the 5 star nightclubs) I left to be "on the road" again and traveled and performed in Lebanon, Emirates, Oman, Morocco, and Bahrain over the following few years.

Meissoun:
Was it easy to get started or did you struggle at first?

Tamra Henna:
I have danced in 7 different countries. Sometimes I struggled, sometimes not. In Cairo, it took me a while to get started but in less than a year of getting my license to dance I was taking over Lucy's contract at the Nile Hilton with my own orchestra. They liked me so much that they offered me my own contract shortly afterward. (An honor not easily given to foreign dancers)

Meissoun:
What about permissions/bureaucracy, did you have problems?

Tamra Henna:
I had no real problems with bureaucracy except that it wore on my patience! Everything in the Middle East takes a long time so you must be very patient and persistent and know what you want and how long you are willing to wait for it!

Meissoun:
Where do you prefer to dance (hotel, weddings etc...) and what country/audience is your favorite?

Tamra Henna:
In Cairo, I mostly danced at wedding parties because that is where most of the work is, but my favorite place I ever danced was at the Nile Hilton. The nightclub is on the top floor and behind the stage was a huge window overlooking the Nile River and the lights of Cairo at night. In front of me would be an audience of 200 people who were very appreciative of dance and when I did a turn and faced away from them I would see my own 15 piece orchestra silhouetted against the Cairo skyline! It was magical! Weddings and nightclubs both have their good points. Weddings are always a packed house of people in good spirits (you will never find yourself dancing for 3 or 4 tables!). Nightclubs as a rule have better sound systems, better lighting and better stage space. I also feel you can be more creative at nightclubs. At weddings you want to keep an atmosphere of celebration, so the music should normally remain relatively upbeat. You are also expected to dance with the bride and groom and perhaps some of the guests. In a night club you have more freedom to play with the mood, not to mention the fact that you don't have to dodge several video cables, toddlers and that woman who just came up behind you to help you shake your hips while you are balancing a 16 candle shamadan on your head! ...Yes that really happened! One time the video man yanked a cable around my feet while I was performing the shamadan dance. He wasn't looking and thought it had caught on a table or something...unfortunately it was my ankles! I didn't even see it coming because when you have the shamadan on your head you can't look down! Luckily I was able to untangle my feet and step over it before he pulled my feet out from under me...and I didn't even lose my balance!! I got a big round of applause for that!!

Meissoun:
How important is it for you to dance like a "real " Egyptian/Arab woman?

Tamra Henna:
To me it's very important to dance like a "real" Egyptian. Of course, I may add things that are "me". Maybe a few moves that not everyone does or even something from modern dance, but dancing like an Arab woman isn't really about specific moves or "the latest steps from Cairo". The style of movement is important because it contains within it the essence of the Arab people. When I am dancing in the Middle East, no one can guess that I am a foreigner. To me that is the highest compliment because it means that I have captured the essence of their feelings. I have traveled in many countries and have spent time in many cultures (not just Arab ones) and have come to realize that although being familiar with a persons political and social history is definitely a compliment to them and they appreciate that...to understand their music and dance is to know something about their soul and their humanity. It isn't just about putting on a good show but about touching someone's heart. Arabic dance is about expression of the Arabic people and the Arabic music and as much as possible we need to emulate that. Now that doesn't mean that we have to copy move for move only Arabic dancers or only do an Egyptian teacher's choreography. It means that we have to discover the essence of the dance, which I feel is shown most purely by Arabic women, and then use our creativity and individuality to express that essence.

Meissoun:
Someone told me that, in the Middle East, a good dancer can get very rich within a few years. Is that realistic?

Tamra Henna:
It may have been realistic in the late eighties or early nineties to get fairly rich in a few years. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. Most clubs in the Gulf are turning to more of a "go-go" girls scene where they hire 4 or 5 girls to dance around in tight clothes. Of course all the girls together don't make as much as a good Arabic dancer would make. Night clubs in Egypt aren't doing so well either. I was the last dancer to ever appear at the Nile Hilton. It closed it's night club doors 3 years ago. Every year business gets worse and it is harder to make a living. That is one of the reasons I returned to the States. I was doing well but I didn't see progression in the future of dance there. I am a person who is always looking for the next level and the next achievement. The opportunities for that are going downhill in the Middle East.

Meissoun:
What do you like most about dancing in the Middle East?

Tamra Henna:
Definitely the best place to dance was Egypt and the reason why is simple. The music!!! There are no musicians as skilled and soulful as the average Egyptian musician. Oh, I am sure that each country has their virtuosos but they are probably not available always for dancers to work with. In Egypt it is very easy to find a large and talented group of musicians to work with and since the work for you they always are willing to adapt themselves to how you want things done. There was no greater creative joy in my life than when I was on stage with my band in Egypt!

Meissoun:
How do you work with your musicians?

Tamra Henna:
In Egypt, as I said before, I had my own 15 piece orchestra. I would call rehearsals and tell them new songs that I wanted to go over. Sometimes I would change the songs a bit by adding accents to accompany the moves I wanted to do, make it faster or slower or edit it a bit. My "mis en scene" (opening number) was composed especially for me so I worked with the composer to change parts I didn't like and request certain rhythms. Many times however someone in the audience would request a song that we had never done before. If the musicians knew it, we would play it anyway and just follow each other. This is pretty easy in Egypt because the musicians are very good.

In other countries I would dance with a house band. I usually arrived the day before I started work and had only a couple hours rest before the rehearsal. I would then write out a program and the musicians and I would go over all the songs and perform the next day!

Meissoun:
How do you create your shows? Do you do your own choreographies, those of a choreographer, or do you prefer to improvise?

Tamra Henna:
My shows are a mixture of improvisation and choreography. In the past I have used choreographies from Nadia Hamdi, Raqia Hassan and Ibrahim Akef, but in the past few years I do my own. Usually my "mis en scene" is choreographed and to or three songs are very loosely choreographed and the remaining are pure improvisation.

Meissoun:
How do you keep on learning when abroad? Do you have a personal teacher?

Tamra Henna:
When abroad I always try to take some classes. My teacher is Nadia Hamdi, but I have also worked extensively with Raqia Hassan as well as Ibrahim Akef.

Meissoun:
What about your social life; was it easy to find friends? Did local people accept you?

Tamra Henna:
My social life in Egypt was much better when I was there on vacation in between international contracts than when I was there working. When working , the hours I perform make it difficult to have a normal social life. When I stopped working however I had the time to cultivate many friendships and some of my best friends are there...Egyptian and foreign. I have many friends as well in Lebanon and Morocco. In the Gulf it was a little more difficult. Most of the people there are from out of the country and move around a lot. Every time I went I had to meet new people, and with the "dancer" stigma I had to be careful of who I spent my time with. Sometimes people can get the wrong idea about why you went to dance in their country. The "dancer" stigma exists in every country I went to. Unfortunately it was necessary to lie in some situations about my occupation. Day to day life is easier when the normal people you meet (i.e: taxi drivers, shopkeepers etc...) think you are there to teach English. Like I said, it is unfortunate but you get good at feeling out the situation and deciding who can accept you and who can't. You make friends with those who can accept you and those you can be honest with and learn how to deal with those who can't. Then there are always those people who find it fascinating that you love their art so much... but those don't come along every day.

Jennifer James-Long:
Where would you like Middle Eastern Arts to go and how do you think we can get it to this point?

Tamra Henna:
Wow! That's a big question. I would definitely love to to see Middle Eastern Arts become more respected throughout the world. I have many ideas on how this can be accomplished. I would like to go into some detail and would just like to say that my vision pertains mostly to Arabic DANCE in America and in the West. These suggestions may also apply to Arabic music and the Middle Eastern arts on other continents but that will be for those familiar with those aspects to decide. Since my experience at the moment is with Arabic dance in America. On that subject is what I feel most qualified to speak.

Jennifer James-Long:
This is a subject Bhuz.com is very interested in so I hope to see an article from you on this topic in the near future. It sounds like you have cultivated many ideas from your experiences. Thank you so much for your time in allowing Bhuz to feature you.


To read TamraHenna's article on the subject of the future of Middle Eastern dance, please go to her article "Middle Eastern Dance: A Cabaret Act or Fine Art?".

photos by William Conroy, Sherif Sonbol, Joseph Kerdahi