The Master of Egyptian tabla brought his magic to North Walsham this weekend, accompanied by his wife Serena, a jewel of a dancer, guaranteed to make all Hossam’s music sparkle.
Friday evening began with a drum masterclass and an opportunity for Egyptian tabla players to add finesse and refinement to their playing, from the wealth of the Master’s percussion experience, while Saturday morning hosted the open drumming class.
As the sun gleamed through the windows of the school hall, 14 aspiring but apprehensive drummers encircled Hossam, who began by explaining the magic of the tabla and unfolding its mysteries. There are just two basic notes, ‘dum’ and ‘tak’; “the rest is faff”. Settling the tabla on the knee for the air to pass freely for a full sound and then developing the correct technique to strike the instrument, guarantees, with practise, “a good ‘dum’ and ‘tak’”, the first essentials for any tabla player. Hossam spoke of the history of the drum, its forerunner having a fish skin as opposed to today’s plastic, and then the music began, beginning with the ‘dum’; ‘hitting out’ at the centre of the drum with the lower inside knuckle of the right hand, with the hand tight and the thumb open, using the forearm to produce a clear, resonant ‘dum’. Practise commenced and then on to ‘tak, tak’, using both hands, right, left, to produce a clear high pitched note. Acquiring the correct angle (45degrees) with the middle two fingers of the right hand, for the inside knuckle to strike and hit the edge of the rim (with an action produced from the wrist) and hitting with the heel of the palm of the left hand, while “holding a penny” between the fore finger and thumb and letting the fourth finger whiplash down to the skin, took an hour.
Hossam reiterated the importance of “a good ‘dum’ and ‘tak’”, before anyone should consider playing rhythms, establishing good foundations in the house of good drumming. However, before the essential break for tea and chocolate biscuits, the class began to drum simple rhythms, very slowly at first.
There is only one rhythm in Egyptian music, from which all the rest are sourced, Wahda Kebira, the Big One. It is counted as 8 beats to the bar and its skeleton reads ‘d, tt, dt, d, tt, dt’, played r, rl, rl, r, rl, rl. Over and over, the notes resounded around the hall, a tabla orchestra intent on producing the sounds of Egypt. This rhythm cut in half to 4 beats in a bar (d, tt, dt) becomes Maqsoum, played r, ll, rl and in half again to 2 beats in the bar and Fellahi, best explained as tt, d ttt, d tt.
The intervention for tea and biscuits, provided by Jane Barrett, the weekend’s organiser and the kindest human being on the planet, was welcomed by all drummers as they rubbed their aching hands and chattered about their morning’s work.
Though a strict and uncompromising teacher, Hossam is very approachable and passionate about his art so, he is more than happy to answer any questions, often embellishing the answer with true stories and the spice, colour and history of Egypt. Hossam believes both drummer and dancer should know the origins of the music, the original people who played and danced to it and the influences this music has absorbed over the centuries. This is where the magic is and with dedication, practice and a little madness, anyone can make the music come alive.
Saturday 12.30pm was the time for twenty-three ladies to begin the first dance workshop with Hossam and Serena. Hossam discussed the music first and we discovered that the music we were to dance to was fusion. Mohammed Abdel Wahab was one of the first Egyptian musicians to fuse music he had heard on his vast travels, into compositions in the Egyptian style. The music we were to dance to was Tool Omri Ba-Hebbak, from the album “El Sultaan”, EUCD1803. Hossam explained that the song, contained an Egyptianised cha cha cha, as well as Maqsoum, Masmoudi and Wahda Kebira. Serena taught us the steps while Hossam added tips, hints and his own inimitable singing, keeping us smiling as we learnt the dance. We were instructed to interpret the music with our bodies and emotions, not just perform the steps. Our mission was to listen to the music, the rhythms, instruments and lyrical solos, and dance it so an audience could visually see the music through our bodies.
After more tea and chocolate biscuits, the workshop resumed with Hossam instilling in us the need to understand the science of the dance; where it comes from, how it has progressed and its history. He shared his equation of the Science of the dance: E=E. The first E is the sound of the music and so the equal of it, is the movement of the dancer, the same in size and direction. The Art of the dance is, therefore, the translation of the music. We finished the workshop weary of limb and with minds bulging with the choreography but mostly the essence of the way to interpret the music and the science, art and knowledge that accompany it.
Sunday morning at 10am saw a similar hall full of dancers, awaiting the tabla solo dance workshop. The piece West Naima, from the album “Sabla Tolo”, EUCD1581, was based on a song style with an introduction, chorus and verses. We started with the rhythms, explained to us by Hossam; Saiidi, from Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt, the big Zaffa Kebira, played as a declaration of the marriage of the bride and groom, Fellahy, Masmoudi and a Moroccan Shaabi in 2/4. As we went through the choreography, the rhythms began to sink into my mind and, once the steps were learnt, it felt like the music began to flow through me, down to my fingers and toes. Dancing was interspersed with more lessons from the Master and the opportunity to view and learn from Tribal Bedouin, Hossam and Serena’s latest DVD. We also had the privilege to view the latest progress of Hossam and Serena’s Villa Ramzy, a purpose built complex in Egypt, for dancers and musicians to learn the Art of Egyptian music in its original setting. Once complete, Villa Ramzy will offer the opportunity to study all aspects of Egyptian dance and music in an all-inclusive package, as well as sampling the culture of the area. (You can view pictures of the “Villa Ramzy” and read Hossam’s Blog about it in his myspace page at www.myspace.com/hossamramzy) At 4.30pm, footsore and brain expanded to maximum, I dashed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.
At six o’clock, the community centre was packed and excited with tables of expectant dancers, friends and families, ready for the evening Hafla to begin. Solos and groups including North Walsham Dance, me (!), Eceni, Janai dancing a drum solo to Eshtar and Nicola Snow’s group, Light of the Nile performed for the crowded hall, to rapturous applause. A free dance session, warmed up by Pauline Shreeve, allowed all dancers to shimmy their stuff. Finally, it was time for the stars of the weekend. Hossam performed two alluring tabla pieces and a magical song on the tambourine and Serena danced three delicious solos. The ladies from the workshops then performed our tabla solo, West Naima, on the stage with Serena to thunderous applause. More free dance and a delicious buffet accompanied the performances. The evening continued with Faye Disley performing a drum solo, local drummers Jeff and Iestyn playing two pieces and Eceni performing an impromptu dance to their music. Free dance was the culmination of an exciting and diverse evening of Eastern music and dance.
The weekend ended with a final dance workshop on Monday evening, where dancers learnt a further choreography to “Sahret Ghawazy” from Hossam’s album “Flamenco Arabe 2”, EUCD2000, featuring Jose Luis Monton, one of Spain’s most prominent Flamenco guitarists.
The next North Walsham Dance event is on 15th/16th March 2008, where Maria D’Silva will be holding four 2-hour workshops over the weekend. For information about this and forthcoming events, please call Jane on 01692 409930.
Wendy Cook
December 2007