Raquy Danziger's Blog

The Concert!!!!!

Our concert was last night!

We had Aljezera and Orbit TV there, both of which interviewed us and filmed the concert.

The house was completely packed – The 200 seats were all full and there were about another hundred standing.

I was the only one not standing up on the stage because I’m really not comfortable playing while standing, but I must admit it does look great to have the whole group standing like that!
Rami was so cute. He fit in with Saiid’s troupe perfectly! I bet you can’t even tell which one is him!


Which One is Rami?

Six of Osama’s family came all the way from Damanhoor (3 hours away) to see the concert!

After the intermission I made a speech in Arabic. I introduced myself and then said “Said El Artist is a Hero of Tabla.” The crowd went wild. I thanked him and said what an honor it was for me to share the stage with him. Said told me afterwards that he wanted to make a speech but he was too emotional.


Dust


Bashira, Marjory, Me, Rami and Natalia




Omar and Hummus – They ROCKED!


The crowd was amazing – they were clapping and hooting and whistling throughout the show. There’s nothing like playing Maksum for an Egyptian audience.

I had a BLAST!

My favorite part was when the whole troupe played my piece (Nubian). Said didn’t play but he stayed on the stage to conduct.



Nubian


Saiid Playing His Face

The people from the American Embassy cultural affairs office were there, the same people that didn’t help us with this project one bit and wouldn’t even return my e-mails. After the show they were extremely gushy and said that the next time I come they’ll organize a concert tour all around Egypt for me!

Today Saiiid told me that all morning he was getting phone calls from people flipping out over the show.

He thinks this concert will lead to other things like maybe a concert tour of the Middle East! He really wants mo to come in the summer – I guess August is the time of year in Egypt where lots of stuff is going on.

Why do I feel like I’m going to wake up any minute and say “Wow – what a great dream!