Let's do a deep dive into a classic song you'll find in Raqs Sharqi, "Alf Leyla wa Leyla" (One Thousand and One Nights). Originally composed by Baligh Hamdi, with lyrics by Morsi Gamil Aziz, and sung by Oum Kalthoum, the version we will be listening and dancing to is by the Cairo Orchestra.

In Part 1 of this series, you'll focus on the first 2 minutes of the piece, working through some musicality exercises to get you playing with different aspects of the music.

We'll be doing active listening exercises, learning the lyrics, and dancing to this classic piece of music.

Chapters:

00:00 Waiting Room

02:04 Warm Up

06:03 Song Breakdown

18:15 Marking the Steps

25:15 Slow Maqsoum Section

33:50 Taqsim Instrumentation

45:38 Qanun Section

49:21 Run Through

57:19 Cool Down

Music:

• Alf Leyla wa Leyla by the Cairo Orchestra (Spotify)

• Alf Leyla wa Leyla by the Cairo Orchestra (Apple Music)