Egyptian Sets
Dancers today often don't use a formal set structure. For example, a dancer performing at a wedding in Cairo in 2024 might perform a solo to an entrance piece (Anywhere 4 and 20 minutes) and the rest of their performance would be dancing with the wedding guest all together on the dance floor. For a show in a 5 star hotel, on a boat, or in a night club, she might have a collection of songs and tableaus in any order the dancer curates for her (current Cairo laws do not license male bellydancers) audience.
For an American with no experience in MENAHT music watching an Egyptian set of the second half of the 20th century, they might have difficulty telling when one song ended and another started. Egyptian musicians often created smooth transitions, and Egyptian audiences' familiarity with the subject matter prevents their perceiving it as if it was all one long song.
In addition to an audience that can tell when "Ghanilly Shwaya" ends and "Salam Allay" starts, Egyptian sets of that era often used changing character references to add contrast. For example. the dancer might enter as a sort of magnanimous hostess, do a Tarab song where they get into the lyrics, followed by a folkloric archetype, then a bad-ass drum solo. This use of character is one way to create interest when the music has a similar tempo over several numbers.
Am-Cab Sets
A dancer in the US today might perform at a restaurant where the audience and owner want all fast music or all pop songs, or might be performing a "bellygram" where they dance for only 7 - 15 minutes, or a bridal shower where an entrance song serves as an introduction and the rest of the time is spent on a mini - lesson for the party goers. So, there isn't a set protocol for set structure today. Many gigging dancers do still use a version of the Am - Cab set structure, maybe shortened or punched up, or with Egyptian style entrance numbers, depending on the type of gig.
In the setting of MENAHT night clubs in the US during the second half of the 20th century, where the band members and audience might all have different backgrounds and the first song might be Persian, the second Greek, the third Egyptian, and so on; using a "fast - slow - fast - slow..." pattern helps anyone in the audience who is unfamiliar with the music keep up, and holds attention.
A predetermined set structure also allowed dancers to jump into a gig without having talked to the band and still manage the energy flow of their 20 - 40 minute show and create dramatic contrast without a choreography. They also knew the "must know songs" that they could expect the band to play, so while they wouldn't know what the set would be before starting, once the song started they would pretty much know how the rest would go (we can talk about following a band changing the arrangement of a song in another post), and they would know that the following song would fit within a certain tempo and vibe range.
Am Cab set structure
Imagine a scale that ranks the dancer's energy level from 1 to 10. A zero on this scale would be "someone poke the dancer, I think they fell asleep" and an 11 would be "this dancer drank all the coffee in Istanbul".
Entrance: this song would be in the energy range of 7 to 8. The dancer would enter wrapped in a veil with finger cymbals blazing. They would make the rounds of the stage and "mark their territory" or "cast their circle". Large sweeping moves that make use of full skirts and fringed hip belts are popular here, since intricate belly movements would be hidden by the veil wrap. One key here is to get the audience's attention and lift the energy of the room while still giving yourself room to finish the set on an even higher energy level and saving cool moves for later.
Veil would usually be the second song. A slower piece, often something to a rhumba rhythm, with an energy level in the range of 3 to 5. The dancer usually would take their time unwrapping the veil and creating flowing shapes with it. They would discard the veil after this song.
Middle Part: after the veil, the band picks up the pace. The dancer's energy is in the mid range as well: higher energy than the veil, but leaving room for the drum solo and finale to be higher energy. They might get the audience involved in some ways, and if they took a break from playing cymbals during veil, they are back on now. The dancer might finish this section with a Turkish drop or other dramatic descent, depending on the music and their athleticism.
Floorwork might be blended into the veil if a dancer is shortening the set, but otherwise the middle section creates a high that gives extra contrast to the lowest energy-point of the set: floorwork. This section can come across as sexy or spiritual, or both. Corey Zamora refers to it as the section where the dancer "nails their soul to the floor" for all to see. The energy level here is in the 1 - 3 range. That doesn't mean it is a break for the dancer, because floorwork requires a lot of strength. Props like sword or candle tray are often used to give added drama. The music here is often a chiftitelli or a taxeem without any rhythm.
The drum solo might also function as a finale, or a melodic finale might follow. Either way, the drum solo is the chance for the dancer to show off their technical skills and the energy level is HIGH! 9 - 10 if this is also the finale, but even with a finale song coming the drum solo will reach an 8. Drummers will ask that the dancer not go into the audience for tips during the drum solo, because if you're interacting with one table at a time, the rest of the audience is watching the band sit there while the drummer feels hung out to dry.
Karshlimah was a popular option for finales. The songs would be fast and the energy level at it's peak. 9/8 rhythms played for Roma dance are usually emphasized differently than how they would be played for an Am-Cab set, Artemis Mourat knows both. This would be more common in Turkish and Greek clubs than in Arabic or Persian ones.
Other popular final songs are things like Ah Ya Zein that can be played fast and high energy, this is the last chance to go into the audience for tips (the subject of a whole other post!) A finale might also be a fast reprise of the entrance number. The dancer might even come back on later for, or have fit folkloric numbers in earlier, especially as US based dancers knowledge of folklore grew into the 80s and 90s.
One thing that is common to both Egyptian and Am - Cab sets, and that you don't get to see demonstrated when a show is a lot of different dancers each performing one song at a time, is that the dancer should leave the stage with the music playing. During the finale, take a bow, "close the circle", strike a pose, and then the band plays you off with a repeat of the last few phrases of the song. Something I have heard called a "New York ending", a "Boston ending" and I'm sure goes by many other names, is to end with a series of turns or shimmies, a pause, and a final pose. This lets the dancer and band finish together in a dramatic flourish. Nany shows this ending and exiting to music in this retro Egyptian style set.
Take Aways
Whatever sort of style you go for, and even if you are only dancing one song, finding ways to amplify the contrast found in your music makes a performance more dynamic and interesting for you as the dancer as well as for an audience.
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