A LITTLE BIT OF STORY
Marhaba Rome Festival was born in 2006 from an idea of Maryem Bent Anis and Samira Zenati, founders of Centro Taus, a renowned restaurant and cultural center that since 1995 has contributed to the dissemination of arts, culture, music and dance of the Arab world. Centro Taus has always promoted Arab and Mediterranean culture through live performances of traditional dance and live music concerts, with the collaboration of leading international artists and researchers. Through weaving cross-cultural networks, Centro Taus has been able to bring to Rome great masters and choreographers who have trained hundreds of
dancers who still make the discipline of oriental dance alive in Italy today.
As a result of the vibrant artistic production that arose in the second decade of the 1990s, the Centro Taus school of Arab dance and Arab folklore was born, directed by teacher and choreographer Maryem Bent Anis, and consequently
the need to produce an International Festival of Oriental Dance in Rome.
Rome then becomes the center and crossroads of Oriental cultures, arts and dance from the Arab world.
Since its first edition, Marhaba Rome Festival has benefited from the collaboration of great dance-related and globally recognized entities. For the study and preservation of the authenticity of Arab and in particular Egyptian dance, Marhaba Rome Festival is proud of its twinning with Egypt's "Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival," the festival that has been gathering dancers from all over the world in Egypt since 2000, directed by Raqia Hassan, dancer and choreographer and former member of the Reda Troupe, the Egyptian National Folklore Troupe. For the study of the evolution of oriental dance and new techniques related to theatrical production and innovations, the Marhaba Rome Festival collaborates with U.S. choreographer Jillina Carlano, founding choreographer of the Bellydance Superstars Company and now producer of the "Bellydance Evolution" project. The Marhaba Rome Festival is now in its fourteenth edition and is ready to explode with its multitude of artists who follow this project intensively from all over Italy, Europe and beyond.
THE NEW 2023 EDITION
The goal of the new 2023 edition is to deliver an event that is rich in artistic content and talent, representing the revival of arts and creativity after the drowsiness of the Covid-19 period. The new edition will combine the focus on tradition that has always distinguished the Marhaba Masters with the creativity and innovations of Jillina's American Bellydance Evolution project. Artists beloved by the entire Bellydance and Oriental dance community will be landing in Rome. In particular, we will enjoy the artistic participation of internationally renowned Egyptian dancer OSAMA MIMI FARAG, who specializes in all representations of Egyptian Folklore, and who will teach the art of the SAIDI stick dance, originating in Upper Egypt, practiced since Pharaonic Ancient Egypt and formerly only by men. Now it is a joyful and energetic folk dance performed by so many both Egyptian and Western women. Master Osama will teach the movements and expressions of the Shaabi and Mahraganat dance, which is the dance of the people, the latter danced especially by young people in festivals in the streets of Egypt's crowded towns. We will also be able to admire Master Osama in magnificent performances such as Tannoura, a dance of Sufi origin, Saidi, Shaabi and Bambouty which is a joyful and lively dance representing the life of workers in Port Said (Suez Canal).
The highlight of the event is the "The Jungle Book" the show directed by JILLINA CARLANO, United States, who will bring to the stage of Teatro Italia in Rome the wonderful artistic work of the BELLYDANCE EVOLUTION Company, a monumental project that stages dozens of dancers from all over the world. JILLINA is a name and a guarantee in the international oriental dance scene; she was the lead choreographer and Art Director of the Bellydance Superstars company produced by Miles Copeland. She later produced her Bellydance Evolution project, giving consequentiality to her artistic vision of evolving bellydance to theatrical dance with the help of different types of dances.
For the edition of Marhaba 2023 we will have the honor of admiring Jillina herself on the stage of Teatro Italia and the first dancers and artists of her main cast who will play the fantastic characters of "The Jungle Book": - KAPUA - USA - LUNA POUMIAN - MEXICO - SHANNON D'SOUZA - USA - KHADER AHMAD - LEBANON. To conclude we will also see the hostess MARYEM BENT ANIS accompanied by her Egyptian percussionist ASHRAF SAID and the dancers of the MARYEM ORIENTAL DANCERS Company on stage, with performances of the most traditional, exciting and overwhelming Egyptian dance.
Dancers, or wannabes, students of all levels can be part of this extraordinary event by participating in the intensive workshops, performances and in the competition by contacting the event office in time.
The event in brief:
Friday, May 26, 2023 h 8:30 p.m.
THEATRE ITALY, Bari Street 18
"THE SHOW. BDE The Jungle Book & Marhaba Opening Gala.
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Mercure Roma West Hotel
h 10 am / 7 pm - Workshops with International Master Teachers
h 9:30 pm - International Marhaba Gala Show
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Mercure Roma West Hotel
h 10 am / 7 pm - Workshops with International Master Teachers
h 9.30 pm - Marhaba Closing Gala & Competition - MISS BELLY DANCE EURO 2023
For Info and Booking: www.marhabaevents.com
Article by Marhaba Press Office
Natascia and Romina Malizia
Translation by Giulia Mannarino
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