Two of the CD's I ordered earlier this week have arrived, "Ruby" by Hossam Ramzy, and "The Dance of my Heart" by Saad. It turned out to be great timing, since I think I'll be dancing to a song from each of the two albums this weekend!

Diana's Danse Orientale is having a hafla on Saturday, and I only heard about it at the workshop last weekend. I talked to Diana, and have a spot in the lineup, and she asked me to add an audience participation song to my set.

How perfect is that? I have a new Golden-Age style costume that I have not debuted yet (in fact, I started altering it last night, the skirt needed shortening, the closures needed to be reinforced, and the top needed to have the hooks moved) and it really would only work for classical Egyptian music. I popped "Ruby" into my CD player last night - seriously everyone, it's a gorgeous album from beginning to end. Anybody who dances Egyptian style needs this album. Go order it right now, I'll wait. (Expect to see a track-by-track review from me just as soon as I finish writing up last weekend's workshop)

The new Saad album is great fun too! Egyptian sha'abi always gets people up and dancing, but the tracks on this album aren't as over-played and familiar as the ones on "Prince of Sha'abi". Any track off this album would be great for audience participation, and I love breaking out something new.