Egyptian Dance Raks Shisha: by Tarik Sultan (belly dancer)#5

[ekaterinasmoroda]

i want have chat with Tarik Sultan

[glynnth]

And I thought there was no such thing as male belly dancers! That boy is quite good! Was dreamin about water pipes last nite...

[bonnydancer]

Tarik, you never cease to amaze me! Yalla!!

[Drefan333]

FUNtastic man! ;o))-

[pumatop]

I love this man!

[armagan48]

he's like ottoman harem boys...I love his dance...fantastic....

[armagan48]

he's like ottoman harem boys....super..I like it...

[ninakaygin]

Tariq, you are the most talented dancer I ever seen!!Excellent job!!Thanks!

[parveneh]

aiwa!!!!!!!!

[kelath5555]

So awesome.

[barro27]

I love it. Great dancer. Love Egypt ,and all arab music

[barro27]

I love it . Love Egypt .

[barro27]

Fantastic .I love it ! love Egypt

[croiretvaincre]

awesome!!! Fantastic!!! waaaow, excellent performance!!!

[KANTenKLAARmaaltijd]

Uhm, oke, ik zeg wel ff iets: Geweldig :O

[Bahar1090]

Unbelievable. I have no words. My jaw was no the floor the whole time while watching this. Amazing!

[loverplease]

fantastic, there i have no words

[arabique]

Tarik you are the bomb! lol such an enjoyable show!

[bellykbh21]

You are crazzzy talented sir!!!

[Cristylezo1o]

I can picture it now all my friends are over and I walk in from another room with a big ass bong on my hand dancin while my friends watch me intensely hahaha

[Cristylezo1o]

shit if I had a bong that big I'd do a little dance to LMAOOOOOOOOOOO

[3516mug]

Hes fantastic! And whats in that Hooka???

[GINNA67]

THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!

[54spiritedwill54]

awesome.

[krasiviiangelok]

so nice video

[refine7]

the waving lady in the audience is cracking me up ;) great job!

[6969aaaaa]

That's my baby sister! LOL

[bristolbellydance]

i love to see men dancing....probably as much as men love seeing women dancing.

keep on the good work

xx

[alonecinder]

I love how this dance brings in masculinity without being overpowering. It truly does show dexterity and balance. I always appreciate a good exhibition featuring zils as well. Nice job. Very festive!

[k0shari]

what happened to stick dancing :p

se3eediiii

[6969aaaaa]

Nothing.  Everybody and their uncle does Saidi Raks al Assaya. I wanted to do something different.

[k0shari]

where can i download the music. its amazing.

or buy, il be in Egypt in a couple weeks

[mshaalan2008]

thats our egyptian music or in egypt languge (mosika raks balade)

[xnnylxx]

Awesome!! Dancing, zill playing, everything!

[arabique]

Tarik... i have said this before and ill say it again... u are just brilliant! =o)

[dinavienna]

agreed :)))) (referring to "u are just brilliant!")

[ejsslt]

amazing!!

[hookahguru99]

Damn, that is crazy!!! I havent been this excited since I found hookahdomain. (check it out) Awesome video:)

[Han445]

Arabics fo life !

[powerhit2674]

good

[IOIcyprusgirlIOI]

it 's wonderful! In Cyprus we have dances like this, where the dancer dances having glasses on his head.

[6969aaaaa]

It's amazing how many similarities we find around the world isn't it?

[IOIcyprusgirlIOI]

Of course it is! We should not forget that Egypt lies near Cyprus, and because of that we have "affected" each other.

[almujtabah]

I think that trukish inspired of the egyptian dance, so I am not surprised of what you have said, this is surely possible that in your country there are those kind of dance

[summayyahha]

awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!

[elektrika1]

Tarik you are awesome, so clean your moves but with flow and feeling. Your style is outstanding! I was wondering if you could breakdown the movement you do at 46-56 seconds something like a 3/4 shimmy twist drop in a circle it is great I love to be able to get that one down. Any info would be appreciated. Elektrika

[beledigrrl]

Tarik, I'm always driven to look at your videos for inspiration...thank you for posting these :)

[bellyrockin]

Bravo!

Such skill and balance!

I agree with the others - your performance is very masculine, as is that of Tito. Of the other male bellydancers I have seen so far (sadly I've seen none perform live as yet), many of them do dance in a more feminine way, or maybe it's the costuming that makes it appear that way? I love your costume, by the way

[6969aaaaa]

Thank you for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope you'll look at the other videos I made in Egypt.

[syllahk]

Wonderful dancing Tariq. I have also watched your other videos in admiration of your strength, grace masculinity and yes, modesty while projecting strength. I cannot see how anybody could object to such art.  But then, many today in the Muslim world do not know at all the richness and diversity of their own artistic tradition! Keep up with the good work!

[6969aaaaa]

Thank you and have a wonderfull New Year!

[Speezerina]

Hi Tarik--

I love your videos!

I agree with Sovnarkom. Your performance is both modest and masculine. You exhibit a lot of strength. As a woman, I find the masculinity of your performance very appealing.

Keep up the good work!

[6969aaaaa]

Thank you!

[Krasadiva]

lets be friends sweet :)

[Sovnarkom]

In Sana'a I've seen raks shisha done by performers from Masr but this is my first time seeing a male dancing in this style. Tariq and Tito ... you two are great dancers and because your dress is modest and masculine, I don't see any contradiction with Islam but I'm sure men in the audience have cursed you. Keep your head held high. This art is something to be proud of.

[6969aaaaa]

Wow that's interesting. I thought I invented it. Can you tell me more about what you saw? As for negative reactions, I've never had anyone say something nasty to me. Of course, not everyone loves every type of performance and I'm aware of that, but its never been anything extreemly negative.

[Sovnarkom]

I've seen many belly dancers balance objects on their head and a few Masri women use a shisha bottle during a performance in Sana'a. One dancer used a partially filled arabic coffee pot that she poured out for guests after her dance (the buna was fresh and hot) It was a wonderful show of theatrics but I think your balance is superior. I especially like the routine on the floor. Well done.

[6969aaaaa]

Wow, that's really interesting. Thanks for sharing that with me.

[bumbaclot77782]

thats cool it must be very hard because of the weight of the shisha

[6969aaaaa]

This was a small one. At the time I bought it, they were very rare in the US and hard to come by. The weight of the water helps to balance it because it grounds it better. I have a regular size one now. I can't get too big because my head is too small and pointy.

[IshtarBellydancer]

Tarik this was fantastic and original ! Great balance and sagat playing :-)

[6969aaaaa]

Thank you :-)

[Krasadiva]

its wonderful dance very cooll!!!! super! i like it

[jessyquedens]

Damn, he's good!

[P5sant2857]

He is the best male dancer I've been seen, best technique, concentration & balance.

[shakadakine]

I've always wondered if men dance too, i know that they do but i've never seen a guy dance before... this inspires meeh to learn more about the culture and its art/dance...

[6969aaaaa]

Take a look at all the rest of my videos, especially the last one. That interview gives a lot of information, as do most of my videos.

[stigmataTW]

i agree with CO48 maşallah masallah..perfect...

[CO48]

Masallah, Tarik Beg, Masallah

[arabithings]

awesome.

[Smokeheador]

Here you can get an authentic arabian shisha for free world-wide-shisha-sponsors(dot­)de(dot)vu

[SHISHAAAAAA]

check my rings !!!

[numofan]

Beautiful - and great zil work, too!

The funny thing - the first time I ever saw raks baladi, it was being performed by Saiidi guys. it certainly was both masculine - and graceful - so it *really* ticks me off to see that foolish people think men from the ME and North Africa don't (or "shouldn't") dance.

Kudos, Tarik! Hope to get to see you (and Tito) in person someday.

[6969aaaaa]

Most people are followers. They don't think for themselves or ask questions. They have only seen women doing it and because that's all they see in the media, they assume that's all there is to it. They develope a belief around it and often become defensive when presented with something that contradicts their belief.

[numofan]

That's true, for the most part, unfortunately. The funny thing is that most people from the MR (or from an ME background) are more than happy to see other folks develop an appreciation for their culture, including their music and dance. I've been a percussionist for a while (I'm female) and folks from ME cultural backgrounds have encouraged me to keep learning and playing. The hassles I've run into have come from *outside* that community. (am sure that's probably true for you as well, Tarik.)

[ldaimon82]

bravo. you touch my soul . tasos greece.

[OogaChaka]

This is wonderful, dear!!! The floor work is especially impressive! It has taken me a few months just to comfortably dance with a basket on my head, so I would like to express my joy as seeing you balance the hookah! :)

[scarpien]

Very nice. That took some real talent. But I'm wondering why you include the word "Oriental" in your titles? What does the Orient have to do with bellydancing? I always thought it was "Persian" in origination. Please enlighten me.

[6969aaaaa]

Oh, well the literal translation for the professional version of the dance is Raks Sharki Rak=dance Sharki=eastern or Oriental. They started calling it Oriental dance because in the nightclubs where the pro version was developed Western dances were also performed, so they wanted to make the distinction between wester and eastern dance.

[Sergio022s]

awesome , just great!

[6969aaaaa]

As for the origin of the dance, its varied. The hand and arm movements are Persian and Central Asian in origin. However, the hip and torso movements are of African origin as can be seen by the fact that many of the movements we use are also found all over the African continent. Therefore, this dance is a blend of African, Asiatic and Mediterranian influences.

[morganlerat]

I was lucky enough to see him preform at the Lafayette grill Mothers Day 2006. All I can say is... Wow!!!!! He somehow found a way to make it look sexy and masculine at the same time, something pretty non- existant in male bellydancers. Yay Tarik!

[6969aaaaa]

Thank you that show was so much fun. As for the masculine energy in my dance, I'm just experssing the movements through my being. I look to express my beauty as a man just a s a woman expresses her beauty as a woman. My body is a man's body and my way of moving through the world is a man's. Therefore, I must be intouch with who I am and express the movements in a way that is visually and spiritually in harmony with my being.

[6969aaaaa]

I am predominantly of Afro-European descent, but I am also of Indo Caribbean heriatage. I have seen dances where they balance a bottle and do a lot of twisting, but that was an African based dance. Indo Caribbeans, we use the hips a lot, but mostly circular movements. In Rajistan they do some incredible balancing dances with pots. Any way, Indians Arabs and africans carry loads on their heads when tghey work, so its not surprising they would all have dances like this. Fascinating isn't it?

[outragedlyrics]

I'm wondering have you ever studied Indo-Caribbean dance? The reason why is becuase in indo-caribbean dances people also try to balance something on top of their head also mostly a bottle, and they also shake their hips and stuff.

[ravenselene]

You're awesome, Tarik. Good bellydancing always makes me smile.

[6969aaaaa]

Thank you :-)

[Dornfresser]

I´m just looking at the shisha all the time..but the guy isn´t bad at all

[Irina1402]

wow! the best male bellydance everrr!

[LenaMarie14]

simply AMAZING.

[NATALIEXX77]

Im so fasinated with this.. I LOVE THIS!! Tarik do you ever come to california? I would love to see you perform! Your so good!!

[6969aaaaa]

From time to time, but I don't have anything on my schedule. However, I am available for workshops, so if you know anyone who sponsers, I'm willing.

[waldcasa]

Tarik is good at what he does , I watched him perform in NYC "LE SOUK" That was my best new year's eve ever

He is a gentelman in person

[luciansultan]

wow!! my name??? i am from Turkey?? kidding... my origin is Turkish.. :P

[6969aaaaa]

So is my favorate costume! ;-)

[orquideadelaselva]

Tarik, you're amazing, why dont you upload some instructional videos about how play the cimbals? I have to recognize that for me is very difficult to do, and you make look very easy... greetings from mexico

[6969aaaaa]

Now there's an idea.

[BaaadRaven]

I love it!!!! :-D

Thanxxxx Tarik!!!!!!

[6969aaaaa]

Thank you Baaadraven. I really appreciate your comments

[BaaadRaven]

You are so welcome!!!! Do you have an instructional Dvd??:-D Your moves are so dynamic and powerful!!!

You are not missing a beat with your zills either!!! lol lol lol

[6969aaaaa]

Not yet. I have to figure a way around the music copy right situation first, but it is something I will eventually do.

[spankyraven]

Yep, you are AMAZING! I am speechless! WOW

[enig99]

He is wonderful.. And what a BABE in person :)

[ahsokka]

Thanks and bye bye Shakira.... Now Tarik rules!

[oualiart]

original!

[vienG1]

i just knew those moves from girls O.o

[autumnfireinme]

So smooth...perfect technique. Tarik is my favorite male bellydancer.

[tankgirl136]

Excellent Moves, very enjoyable to watch.

[anangelsmum1]

wow my knees went weak just watching him....shame none are here in australia to learn from eh

well done mate your breathtaking shaking u yummmyyyyyyy

[Eugenianubia]

I want to dance with that on my head too! gonna start practising!

[egyptiankitten]

Wow , He's greatand moves look manly still . He does n't look gay

[shaiajean]

The best of dancers, the best of teachers. And quite the shopper!

[LeighAngela]

I enjoyed this clip so much! He's a great dancer...so many times you see male dancers that are too feminine with the movement. I love how he is able to be such a proficient and interesting dancer and yet still be masculine at the same time. Sincere kudos!

[VeiledDancer]

He's a great teacher too!

[paisamacita]

exquisite!!

[Azhaar]

awesome! thanks for sharing ...

[utaka78]

He's cute and an excellent dancer!!!:o)

[GhostlyLadyOfShalott]

Great measure of professionalism in dancing and control not to get tripped up in the hip scarf as well. *applauds*

[GhostlyLadyOfShalott]

Enjoyable display of dexterity! ;-)