ABOUT US

Awalem Khafeya is a Cairo-based contemporary balady dance troupe which draws its inspiration from the Egyptian divas of the 1940s-1960s. At the same time, it blends contemporary techniques into its choreography, costumes and music. The troupe consists of 12 dancers, all women. We represent diverse ages, colors, backgrounds and artistic skills. We are committed to our diversity and to breaking both derogatory representations of belly dancers and idealised images of female bodies. It is our fundamental belief that belly dancing is an artistic form of a rich artistic heritage. In many ways, our goal is to historicise belly dancing through the movements, style and techniques we employ and rich cultural and popular repertoire we draw from. Each one of our costumes is handmade, having first sourced their materials from the historical Egyptian market of al-‘Ataba. The troupe is also committed to providing economic and artistic opportunities for its members, all of whom come from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds. Theoretically, we draw on Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of carnivalesque artistic performances which challenge dominant styles and hegemonic social assumptions. In a nutshell, our goal is to provide a fine art which is altogether original yet historical, non-elitist, and ravishing.