Dancing wth a Gypsy Queen: An Interview with Litani

By R. Price

There is a major river in Lebanon. It is the source of hydro-power for many villages, a natural source of life and energy for those surrounding it. It is the Litani River. As such, it is also an appropriate name for Baltimore bellydancer, Litani. She gives life to the bellydance community and carries the culture that birthed the dance to all of her students.

Litani's love affair with dance began as a child. She studied ballet, tap, jazz and modern dance and attended the William Penn Performing Art Institute high school in York, PA. She dabbled in bellydance at the young age of 14.

"The first time I saw bellydancing was at the YWCA in York. They had an international day, I was 14 years old and saw the Ladies of the Nile perform. There were eight ladies on stage, dressed in exotic in coin costumes and colorful skirts and veils and I just fell in love with them. So I signed up for an eight week class at the Y", she said.

But it wasn't until she reached 19 that she realized the passion that she had for the dance and the lifelong commitment that she was about to make. She had gotten out of dance altogether at that point and was trying to get into aerobics at a health club.

"The health club scene just wasn't me. I knew I wanted to do something for exercise, though and the Y had another bellydance class. Two weeks into that, there was a workshop with Serena, a famous dancer from the sixties. That's where it all changed for me," Litani said

The pivotal point for her was meeting Samara, her teacher in Lancaster at the Serena workshop. Litani studied with Samara for 4 1/2 years, absorbing all the information she could about the many regions of the dance and styles that reflect those regions. Samara encouraged this promising student to attend any workshop and study with any dancer that she could. Litani took her teacher's advice and spent a considerable amount of time studying with Ibrahim "Bobby" Farrah in New York City.

One of Litani's greatest moments was a gift from her beloved teacher, Bobby, when he asked her to dance in the character of a Bedoin gypsy brought to the city to dance for a wedding.

"It was the very last workshop he taught before he passed away, he taught a character dance, a folk-style dance-- not a bellydancer in a bra and belt. He was teaching us the choreography, he walked through the aisles--said he 'We are very lucky to have with us a true gypsy, the queen of the gypsy' and he wanted me to go up to the front and do it by myself and there were famous dancers there. And he wanted me to stand in front of them and do this dance!" said Litani

Litani is known for her earthy style and not just by Bobby Farrah. Even Latifa of Millersville has commented that Litani's dancing has a home style nature, that it is the dancing of the real people, not a cabaret feel.

One of Litani's specialties is Saidi. Saidi is a style of dance that originated in central Egypt, along the Nile. It is a relaxed style of a dance with a low center, inspired by the horses which are so important in this agricultural region. While Litani was performing, she wasn't aware at first that she was instinctively using this style until Sahra Saeeda, an American dancer that spent 6 years performing in Cairo, brought it to her attention. Sahra Saeeda was teaching a workshop in Saidi and Litani was a natural. She even earned the nickname 'Sultana Saidi' from Sahra.

Although Litani is a teacher herself, she will always consider herself a student to the dance and take any opportunity to keep learning. She gains knowledge and inspiration from fellow dancers, but also from the land itself. She has travelled to Greece and Turkey, but spending time in Egypt was very important to her.

"Just walking down the street in Egypt is inspiration to your art, being with the people and hearing the noises--seeing real Egyptian women, carrying baskets on their heads, wearing the clothes--it's just being there. It's so inspiring," she said.

Litani prefers to choreograph and teach over performing, and finds joy in watching her students perform her choreographies. She believes that it is important for her students to learn about the rhythms of Middle Eastern Music and different dance styles.

"It's important to share and develop good technique in your students, but even more important is a sense of the cultural, background and history of the dance. I also love to cultivate in my students stage presence and performing skills. I often have seen a dancer with incredible technique but they have the presence of a door knob. You need to hold the attention of your audience. This dance is about being an entertainer," said Litani.

She is currently giving private lessons from her home in Brooklyn as well as teaching weekly lessons in York, PA and choreographing for her troupe, the Desert Rose Dancers and Latifa's troupe, 'Banat Al-Beled' in Millersville. Beginning this fall, she will be offering classes in Baltimore at a brand new studio where dancers can not only learn about bellydance, but take lessons in Arabic and drumming as well. She can be reached at 717-515-1745 or at litani@iwon.com