(ENGLISH) Serena Ramzy - A little more of our artists

Today we know a little WONDERFUL dancer Serena Ramzy

1) How and when you entered the world of dance?

I entered the world of dance at about 5 or 6 years old when I started ballet and Jazz classes.

I then got introduced to belly dance at the age of 8 through my sister Karima, she was already a professional Belly dancer at the time and with that I had a very close contact with the Belly Dance World that was just starting in Sao Paulo.

I started to perform professionally in 1991 at the age of 15, and have not stopped till now, 20 years later.

2) What were the difficulties you had better at the beginning? Bethey financial or other movements.

I have never really felt I had difficulties because of the dance, I felt I was working towards a goal and that takes dedication and persistence and I have been many times challenged but it all, but it’s quite fun getting to the other side of it, sometimes more than just being at the other side of it.

The actual dancing is not too much of an effort to me. I think my Brazilian blood has played a good part in it as I have never had trouble with controlling and direction my body or just loosening up and let it move. I think is goes for many Brazilians too. Dance is genetic for us!

3) Now that you perform the dance?

The only think that is sometimes hard is to fit all in the frame of a day, month or year!! There is so much I want to do and so much I am doing that I would like to request a day of 75 hours and a month of 90 days and a year of 50 months!

Life is a constant game for me.

One must work towards goals and achieve then, leave then for a bit , then pick it up again , or whatever one wants to do.

Sometime I have to work harder, but normally the reward is bigger too so it is all worth it.

I think life as a dancer is tough and magical at the same time. I would not change for the world.

4) What is your biggest dream, professional and personal?

I have achieved many of my dreams and I am very pleased with it.

As a dancers I would like to see the world of belly dance become fully educated in their art and therefore we, belly dance artists could and would demand the same or higher level of respect for ourselves and our art in the same way the more established styles of dance have.

On a personal level.... it would take days!! I want to do absolutely everything.:)

But I the same time I feel very content with all I have and I do not really need anything else....

5) How do you see the weather often competitive, so common in the middle of the dance and as you seek to keep away from all this?

I am always away from all this competitions. I have my work with Hossam and my Dance Company and my students and in this group there is much respect for each member and for others outside of the group as well.

The competitiveness is present in all forms of art as it is present in most people, it is human nature.

It is a good thing if it is in the form of incentive for being better and excel yourself . But it is bad when it presents itself in the form of demising and destruction of others in order to be successful , which will eventually cause one’s own failure.

I have no competition and I am no competition to anyone. I run my own race.

6) What are your idols? Where do you get inspired?

I have many idols.

In the Egyptian Dance, Naima Akef is the most inspirational dancer I have ever seen.

She symbolizes all of what I believe that Egyptian dance is:

Class, elegance, knowledge, fun, technique, playfulness, aesthetic and musicality.

In Music, I am incredibly inspired by the talent and artistry of my husband, Hossam. He is the most amazing musician and his music has a class that does not exist anywhere else.

Other dancers that really inspire me are Samya Gamal, Suheir Zaki, Anna Pavlova, Margot Fonteyn, Ghislaine Themar to name a few. As for male dancers Nureyev & Michael Jackson are incredible.

They were and still are all super masters of their Art.

7) What do you think should change in the dance world?

I am not sure if the dance world that needs to change.

A world is composed of individuals, so the thing to do is to educate each individual and have a code of ethic between these individuals and the world they live if will be better. So we don’t change the world of dance, we work on the dancers that make the world of dance.

8) Tell us a little about yourself, your favorite color, movie, music,food, a desire.

Ok.... my favorite colors are orange, yellow, bronze and green. Though I always wear red and black!:)

My favorite foods are Chinese ( the real stuff), Pao de Queijo e Palmitos.

My favorite films are, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, La Vita e Bella, The Labirinth.

One of my favorite styles of music is Egyptian and inn this style my 3 favorites are Hossam Ramzy, Om Kolthoum and Ahmed Adaweyya. I also, love Heavy Rock, Alternative Rock , Classical Music and 70’s disco music and Samba.

I listen a lot to Muse, Pearl Jam, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Earth Wind And Fire, Cool and The Gang, Jovelina Perola Negra is also very cool.

One of the things I really would love to do is to learn Polynesian dance and learn how to surf.

9) Do you think major competition, stamps or patterns in dance?What is the real purpose of them?

I do not believe in competition in art. And that one person can say who is better than another. This does not exist in my world. People have opinions and have different taste in what they like or not. What one person thinks is good , another may dislike. So who is anyone to decide who is better than who. Dance is not a sport it’s ART. And everyone will be good in the eye of someone and this same person will not be good in the eye of another. So what is the point in competition? The winner is only the winner for the judges and then you have to see who is judging it?

Labels and all this in order to create an effect and positioning within the community of the dance is really a deviation of what the purpose of the dance is.

The dance is not about the people the dance is about the dance.

All these competitions, labels are a compensation for the lack of something else, and that is the dance itself.