Last night I enjoyed watching a dozen or so belly dance performances, punctuated with a performance of the Arabic band with which my wife plays. This was not a "performance" as such, rather it is what is called a hafla - a party. As I told a friend who accompanied us, the primary goal of the hafla is for the dancers to have fun. If we, the "audience" also have fun, then that is a bonus. Everyone is encouraged to participate, cheering the dancers on by yelling encouragement and clapping with the music. After the "show" portion, the band kept playing and everyone was encouraged to get up and dance, and many did.
As is typical, I had a camera along. So you get to enjoy the show too, vicariously, through this SLIDE SHOW. See what you missed?
Note that the light was a bit dicey, so all of these were shot at ISO 1600 at f/1.8 or so in order to maintain an aperture priority of 1/100th second. With my 50 mm lens I found myself a bit too close to the action, and alas, I did not have along my 30 mm f/1.4. Who knew that I would want less reach?
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Dance Fabulous' Hafla
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You go to the coolest events! I have always wanted to belly dance. The only classes near Red Wing are either nights that I am working or an hour away.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are fantastic!
Dawn