Arabesque Dance Company

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Artistic Director and Choreographer
Yasmina Ramzy

Composer
Richard Feren

Sponsored by:
Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and Laidlaw Foundation

Member of:
Dance Ontario and the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists

Company History

Arabesque Dance Company has emerged as Canada's leading Middle Eastern dance ensemble, promoting an art form that is often misunderstood, and yet, has persevered through two thousand years of persecution. The company has performed across Canada, the United States and the Middle East, often performing for royalty and heads of state, winning over audiences and gaining critical acclaim throughout its travels.

Arabesque Dance Company has appeared at the 2nd International Conference of Middle Eastern Dance in California, Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York, the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts, the John Basset Theatre at the Toronto Convention Centre, Hart House Theatre, Dance Ontario's Dance Weekend at Premiere Dance Theatre from 1999 to 2004, fFIDA (fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists) in 1992, and from 1996 to 2004, Dusk Dances, the Niagara Folk Arts Festival, Harbourfront's Rhythms of the World and Hot & Spicy festivals, the Celebrate Toronto Street Festival, the Canadian National Exhibition, Metro International Caravan, the James Cowan Theatre in Vancouver, the Orpheus Theatre in Calgary and is looking forward to engagements at the Royal Ontario Museum, and Mondial des Cultures de Drummondville in July 2001. Overseas engagements have taken it to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Greece.

Heading the company of some 21 dancers and seven musicians is Artistic Director Yasmina Ramzy, widely regarded as a highly innovative choreographer who constantly strives to present original works. A characteristic of Arabesque Dance Company is the positioning on-stage of the musicians who play such ancient instruments as the 78-string qanoon (harp), the oude (lute), as well as rababa (one-stringed violin), and the dumbek (Middle Eastern drum). Leading them is Musical Director Dr. George Sawa, who heads the Centre for Studies in Middle Eastern Music, also based in Toronto.

In addition to its repertoire rich in Middle Eastern mystique and splendor, Arabesque Dance Company has established new dance horizons by incorporating contemporary dance styles and experimental innovations as in Nuit, Habibi Des Mis Amores, Didi, Descent of Ishtar (Dance of the Seven Veils) and most rescently, Isis. Unlike traditional Middle Eastern dances, Descent of Ishtar conveys a story. The seven veils refer to the seven stages the goddess Ishtar must pass through on a journey of inner wisdom. The award-winning Toronto composer, Richard Feren, sets Ramzy's inventive choreography to an original musical score. Isis is a group of small tableaus depicting the Goddess Isis, and the typical Egyptians, priests or priestesses who worshipped her in ancient Egypt. Original score was composed as a collaborative effort by Richard Feren and Dr. George Sawa.

Arabesque Academy offers classes in Middle Eastern dance and music seven days per week. Home to an educational staff of ten dance teachers and instruction in dance, Arabic drumming, singing and oude, as well as offering workshops with a host of International guest teachers.