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Read Article by Dunyah on "A Transforming Day of Music and Dance in Roseburg," published in Jareeda Magazine April/May
2005.
Read "Americanistan: A Look at a Middle Eastern Belly Dance Band in Eugene" by Aaron Rosenberg, ethnomusicology student.
Read "The Making of a Belly Dance CD" article by Dunyah for the Gilded Serpent website, 2004.
Read Articles on "Historical Perspectives on Andalusian Music" and "Flamenco, Art Without Borders," and more by Elena
Villa, Dancer and Instructor of Flamenco, Belly Dance, and Flamenco-Arab fusion.
My Approach to the Music of Americanistan
And How You Can Play It Too!
By Frederique Al-Bayyati (Frederick Wilson)
Welcome to my little corner of Americanistan.
I hope to provide you with some background on the music you hear me play, and some tips on how to play the traditional music
of Americanistan on your own instrument. By all means, do try this at home!!!
Of course, Americanistan is a pretty tongue-in-cheek
name. The band is made up of Americans, expressing in music what we know best: our own lives in Oregon, USA, not some far-off
place that we’ve perhaps only infrequently visited. Click here to read more. Click here to hear the oud.
Dancing to Live Music
By Dunyah
This article was published in
Discover Belly Dance Journal,
Vol.
26 #6, April 2004. Used by permission. Revised by the author on 5/26/04.
In 1976 I saw my first "belly
dance" performance. The show, at an outdoor festival in Southern California, included live music, and I was enchanted. It
was my first exposure to the Middle Eastern forms, and I fell in love, hard. I signed up for dance classes and have been hooked
ever since. My love affair with belly dance has been the longest-lasting love of my life.
Perhaps I became
"imprinted" with the live music idea through seeing that first performance. I have always preferred to dance to live music,
and I love shows with live music. It's just so, I don't know, ALIVE!
Likewise, my band, Americanistan, loves to play for dancers. That is our specialty. We have been developing
this for about thirteen years. For many years I danced in the shows and also played in the band. Along with the harmonium,
I play dumbek, frame drum, and arabic tambourine.
Troupe Americanistan Live at the WOW
reviewed by Taaj
This review was originally published in Zaghareet Magazine, March/April
2000.
Note: Since that time the group has changed its name to Americanistan.
Talk about a CD for everyone. Live at the WOW is it! It is a must-have
for lovers of the tribal style and also for people who prefer acoustic sounds over synthesized music.
The variety of instrumentation (ney, violin, kanoon, arghul, zurna,
flute, saz, and doumbek) allows for so much sound and music. The earthy sounds just fill the entire room and invite you to
dance.
There are old favorites like Habbena Habbena, Ay Ya Zein, and Aziza,
but there are also fresh new pieces you are sure to enjoy.
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| Click CD cover for music clips from Live at the WOW |
| Dunyah in Her Bargain Costume |
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| Photo by Traci Lea |
My Bargain Costume
by Dunyah
NEW photos added 8/5/04 (see next page).
Originally published in Jareeda Magazine, Jan/Feb
2002. Used by permission. revised by the author on 2/7/04. All rights reserved.
About the author: Dunyah, aka Denise Gilbertson, has been studying and
performing Middle Eastern dance for over 25 years.She hates to sew. She is the director of Americanistan.
Winter boredom can give way to creative obsession in a flash of insight! One cold, rainy afternoon the sight of scraps
of fabric and remnants of projects that had been long forgotten in the bottom of an old trunk suddenly gave birth
to visions of costume glory and drove away doldrums. The possibilities inherent in fragments of trim and
beads propelled this non-seamstress into a creative frenzy of costume-making, with interesting results. Doing it for the least
amount of money was part of the challenge...To read more, click here.
An Overview of Middle Eastern Instruments
by Dunyah
This article was originally published in Jareeda Magazine in 2001. Used by permission.
Revised by the author 2/7/04. All rights reserved.
About the Author: Dunyah, aka Denise Gilbertson, has studied and performed Middle
Eastern dance since 1976. Her musical studies began at an early age, with instruction in piano. She began drumming for other
dancers in the 80s, and has continued to learn and to play Middle Eastern music ever since. She is the director of Americanistan. I
am writing this to help dancers, in particular, and others interested in the subject of Middle Eastern Music. The purpose
of this article is to provide a general understanding of some of the most important instruments used in Middle Eastern music.
I am by no means an expert on the subject. For this article I have relied on reference books, particularly "Music of the Arabs"
by Habib H. Touma, as well as my own knowledge and experience gleaned through years of performing and studying, and several
trips to the Mendocino Middle Eastern Music Camp. I hope this information is useful in helping you understand the music you
are hearing, and, for dancers, to help you to craft your dance accordingly This article will discuss the oud, kanoon, ney,
mizwij, arghul, and darabukkah, or dumbek...To read more, click here.
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The Role of Intention in Artistic
Belly Dance
by Dunyah
This article was originally published in Harrakat, the newsletter of the
Middle Eastern Dance Guild of Eugene, and was reprinted in Caravan Trails, a Journal of Tribal Belly Dance. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
About the author: Dunyah, aka Denise Gilbertson, has over 25 years of experience
in Middle Eastern Dance, and is director of Americanistan, a world music group which performs music inspired by the Middle
East and Mediterranean
It can be said that there are three elements necessary for the creation of a work of art: 1) technique,
2) emotion, and 3) intellect. In this article I am engaged in an inquiry about how these ideas relate to the art of belly
dance performance, particularly the element of intellect. What does each of these mean to us as dancers, and how can we use
them to enhance our performance?
Each of the three categories is vast, and could encompass
many subcategories. Technique, for example, includes the actual mechanics of movement, learned from a teacher and then practiced
and perfected. Good technique in a dancer is instantly recognizable in the following qualities: ...To read more, click here.
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Drumming on the Edge of Magic:
Wayne "Omar" Gilbertson
by Pamela Smith Hill
This article was originally published in Caravan Trails: A Journal for
Tribal Bellydance, Issue 14, Fall 2001. Used by permission. Revised by the author 2/10/04. All rights reserved.
Wayne "Omar" Gilbertson has performed with Middle Eastern music and
dance groups since 1990. He currently plays with Americanistan, of which he is a founding member and co-producer. He performed
regularly with Gypsy Caravan from 2000-2002, and remains great friends with them.
"My passion," says musician Wayne Omar
Gilbertson, "equals drones and drums. Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm. A sruti box and drum awakens me, and rhythms draw me in." Yet
this gifted musician, who frequently performs with Gypsy Caravan, had no musical training when he was growing up. "I was a
sports guy," Wayne remembers. "But I could sing and dance..." To read more, click here.
| Wayne "Omar" Gilbertson |
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| Photo by Paulette Rees-Denis |
Click here to read an article by Wayne "Omar" Gilbertson titled "My Waking Dream Comes to Life," about the music, the dancers, and what
it means to him.
Click here to read an article by Dunyah about the Eugene Middle East Peace Group's 4th Annual Eid/Hannukah Festival of Lights held in
December of 2003. (See 2nd page of Articles)
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