Isis

Choreographer's Notes

Exploring Egyptian's daily rites and their relationship with the gods, choreographer Yasmina Ramzy creates an intimate experience between the audience and the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis. Yasmina and Dr. George Sawa have unearthed dance forms and music along the Nile that have links to ancient Egypt. With this research and Yasmina's vocabulary of contemporary and traditional Egyptian dance, ISIS transcends the stereotypical static images of ancient Egypt to portray a more honest, living and breathing Egypt and its ancient gods and goddesses.

"Audiences will feel the power and inspiration of the goddess Isis while being transported to another time and place," says Ramzy. The tastes, smells and heat of the hot desert sun are tangible as the audience hears the sounds of the ancient sistrum, arghul, and harp performed by the Arabesque Orchestra, enhanced by the original music from the award-winning composer Richard Feren. Leaving the theatre, the audience feels that they have been in the presence of the most powerful and long living ancient goddess, who is the Nile and the source of all creation.

The mystery of ancient Egypt is often an issue when Egyptian dance is considered. Literature describing choreography does not exist, and there is no known direct lineage of teaching. Much of the choreography known to the Western world is derived from lines and body positions presented in ancient Egyptian art, and move within these forms. These ideas have been fully exploited and can sometimes seem redundant. Yasmina Ramzy searches for new ways to express the mystique and powerful imagery of ancient Egypt. Returning to the studies that led her to Middles Basten dance, she will explore the ancient Egyptian myths of Isis and Osiris, and the approach taken by Egyptians with their gods and goddesses. Yasmina will explore the ancient Egyptian view of, and approach to, the universe, as expressed in their way of identifying with different deities' characteristics. Using current Egyptian dance styles as a model for the expression of life's daily experience for the modern Egyptian, Yasmina Ramzy strives to find expression for the ancient Egyptian.

Credits