One of the largest and most renowned festivals of Middle-Eastern dance in Europe

The World of Orient (WoO) is one of the leading festivals for oriental dance and music in Europe. It will already take place for the eighth time from the 2nd to 4th of March 2007. The festival opens in early March every year. Due to this early date and the high quality of events, it is considered the most essential convention for the oriental dance scene. Among the attractions are the largest trade fair for oriental goods and accessories as well as exquisite shows. This makes the WoO an extraordinary event on the schedule of many artists, dancers, studio owners, presenters and organizers in Germany and Europe.

The Festival was initiated in the Millennium year of 2000. It was that period when the World's Fair (EXPO) was held in Germany from the June 1 to October 31. Nasra and Asmahan took this opportunity to create a similar international event, thereby giving Middle-Eastern dance in Europe a new platform.

Nasra and Arni

Jemenpavillon, Hannover, World Fair place 2000, foto: André Elbing

The festival's location was Hanover, which has built an international reputation for its fairs. The city provides excellent infrastructure and a population, which is well experienced in hosting guests from all over the world. The fairs most known international fairs are CeBit (computers, electronic articles) and the Industrie-Messe (industry fair), which covers all things used and produced in industrial processes.

One of Hanover's great advantages is being located very central. Geographically, it is situated right in the heart of Germany and well connected to all major national railway lines. Access from countries such as France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland is very good as well. Visitors only need five minutes by subway from the Hauptbahnhof (central station) to the venue, the Freizeitheim (FZH) Vahrenwald. A car or cab ride will take you to the international airport within about ten minutes. Therefore, visitors will easily find their way to the festival.

FZH Fahrenwald, Hannover

Although this is a big festival, the atmosphere is very relaxed and informal. The team members and assistants have proved themselves as important part of the event being successful for the last seven years. Everybody on the team has shown great commitment to serve for visitors' every need. Even what seems a catastrophe at first, was usually mended due to strong the team competence, flexibility and good ideas. In spite of often stressful moments, the pleasure they take in their work always prevails at the end.

kids from all over the world

The Concept
The actual focus of this festival is dance. Nevertheless, we integrated acts from related areas, such as music, literature, theatre or life-style as well. The WoO will usually last four days and is divided into five segments related to topics of interest.

The two-day trade fair featuring about 70 exhibitors' offers: the grand welcome party, a gala performance of Oriental Stars on Stage, extensive workshops and further cultural events, in which we cooperate with various partners. By putting all this into a tight four day schedule (weekend is always included), we try to make it easy for our guests to attend all performances. So that visitors are able to gain a good insight into today's world of Middle-Eastern dance.

Partynight at Fiesta Oriental

Backstage and behind the scene

On the Thursday preceding the official opening of the festival, there are already concerts and readings on a smaller and more intimate scale. This is accomplished through the cooperation of our partners and state institutions. Experiencing these first events, guests receive an opportunity to get to know each other. The pre-program's content will, of course, be closely linked to the festival's themes.

Traditionally, we start the festival on Friday with a grand welcome party, the Fiesta Oriental. This multicultural evening is packed with live Arab music and performances ranging from Salsa to Middle-Eastern Dance, as well as Irish Step and Oriental Disco. This usually brings everybody into the right mood for the following "exhausting" days.

The two-day fair forms the centre-piece of the festival. A gigantic bazaar spreads out over three storeys and conveys the impression of being in a dream of Thousand and One Nights.
Visitors can enjoy themselves at this fair, while hunting for precious textiles, jewellery, accessories, dancing-costumes and oriental furniture. Sultan André gives an introduction to the oriental water pipe in a relaxed atmosphere at the 'Oriental Lounge'. Middle-Eastern dancing, music, workshops and lectures are offered on both days.

Plenty of interesting topics from the Middle-Eastern dance world are taught in 26 workshops. All of those are being hosted by many famous teachers from Germany and abroad on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The grand gala show, including all Oriental Stars, makes Saturday evening unquestionably the best segment of the festival. This show has earned a lot of fame in- and outside of Germany. It is a definite must for every dancer. Many dancesr have the goal to perform here just once in their lifetime.

The Presenters and their Cooperation Partners

Cooperating partners, sponsors, team and friends
Although Hanover's financial situation is just as dire as that of many other German cities, the town officials supply their share of moral and practical support. Furthermore, our friendly relationships with many famous oriental artists and stars open up doors that would otherwise remain shut, due to our financial limits. Dancer Said El Amir and photographer André Elbing have supplied us with their unswerving help, since day one of the festival. We also receive friendly support from other organizers and presenters of festivals such as Reyhan (Orienta), Nabila & Sabina of Bazar Berlin Team and many others. Klaus and Selina Schanze as well as Jo Schrader of Radio Flora have supported us time and again. Moreover, Angela-Xenia, Ulli LaBelle, Alexandra of Tanzraum and many colleagues came trough as loyal helpers. There are still so many to mention, but it's hard to list them all..
The festival has been run smoothly and professionally every year, and we owe a warm thank you to: our office-team - headed by Doro and Sabine, the box-office team - Dagmar and Heinz, stage managers - Anja and Alexander, stage assistants - Herr Deseke and Shehzad and to many other helpers. We hope it will remain this way.

Biography of Asmahan El Zein
Before turning to Middle-Eastern dance, Asmahan El Zein orginally studied interior and stage design in Hanover and at the Universidad de Bellas Artes in Madrid. She received an education in the art of painting from Ulrich Bähr (Hannover, Berlin) and from Argentinian artist Manuel Mampaso in Spain. Having taken the usual round of ballet lessons at 11 to 16 and without further serious ambitions, Asmahan focused on her studies in fine arts. She was looking for a profession in that area. After finishing her studies, Asmahan spent many years working as assistant set-designer for Wolf E. Lange at various theatres in Germany and Europe, as well as for Manuel Mampaso in Spain. Lange unfortunately died way too early, though.
One fellow actor at that time happened to be Antonio Banderas, with whom they did prep-work for a play by Garcia Lorca. Banderas was really unknown in Spain at that time, but later rose to world-wide fame.

Asmahan had inevitably made contact with the art of Flamenco during her time in Madrid. The fever of multicultural dances, including Spanish-oriental dancing had taken a hold of her. After a brief and passionate flirt with Flamenco dancing, Asmahan pursued her oriental dance challenge. A visit at a try-out lesson on belly-dancing laid the foundation for her career in oriental dance. Asmahan was determined to take lessons and pursued her goal of acquiring a well-founded knowledge of classic Raks Sharki and modern influences like Pop, Jazz and Salsa. Her passion for oriental dances grew day by day.

Rolf Irle, director of the museum for musical instruments, Wolfenbüttel

Asmahan has gathered fifteen years of experience in performing and lecturing. She shared her expansive knowledge in numerous workshops and lectures. Often, she cooperates with her father, Rolf Irle. He is an ethnologist specialized in the musical aspects of his profession. Also, he owns one of the largest collections of Oriental musical instruments in the world. Additionally, he performs with the Lebanese musician Mahmoud Ramadan during his workshops.

Biography of Nasra Eid
Nasra was born in Cairo, Egypt. She joined the Egyptian state television choir at the age of eight, and found an opening with Fathy Andraus' folklore band one year later. The following years were filled with school, singing, folklore and performances on TV. Nasra was accepted at the ballet academy of Cairo when she was eleven.

Nasra finished her education as a ballet dancer at the Corps de Ballet of Cairo in 1977, and also graduated from high-school. At that time, she met Hassan Afifi and became a member of his folklore ensemble. She single-performed and appeared in complete TV shows. All in all, she stayed with them until 1983. Nasra also studied education and ballet at the Cairo collegue of education from 1977 to 1983, in ordered to qualify as a certified ballet-master. She graduated in 1983 as a ballet-master and master of social pedagogic. Nasra came to Germany in 1983. She did not waste any time and started teaching Middle-Eastern dance in Hanover in 1985. At the same time, she held workshops and gave ballet lessons. She founded her famous folklore ensemble El Nil in 1991, which performed, and still performs, in numerous events. Her Egyptian temperament and her roots in dancing make Nasra's workshops very enriching. She teaches both, in Germany and abroad. She is always welcomed as a stage dancer throughout Europe. Her local performance group Almaseya has been put together from classes she taught. They are the life and soul of every show or function.

The Highlights so far
A vast array of stories, anecdotes and incidents occurred within the eight years of our festival. The World of Orient has hosted many international stars. Several dancers, formerly unknown to the festival crowd, utilized this stage to begin their national or international careers. Notable highlights have been: shows of Liza Laziza (England/Egypt) in 2004, workshops of Egyptian Raqia Hassan and the fantastic event featuring Prince Erkan (Turkey) in 2006. These have been magical and cherishable moments of dance, which still provide strengths to the festival's hosts and organizers Nasra and Asmahan.

Ercan Serce from Turkey

Nesrin Topkapi

One outstanding highlight is to see the festival gaining more and more resonance. This is the actual joy that lies in meeting the "aging veterans" and the "enthusiastic newcomers" . It is fantastic to offer a forum for Middle-Eastern dance that has an international reputation. Plus, it takes place right here in the middle of Germany and Europe on a yearly basis. The dance platform serves for amateurs and professionals, stars and starlets, musicians, dancers, artists and all kinds of people alike. We have given a theme to every festival, shifting the focal point yearly. The respective theme influences lectures, museum exhibitions, musical instruments at the fair and our choice of performing artists. For example, the theme for the 2006 festival was: Turkey. The most notable moments were supplied by Nesrin Topkapi and his workshops. He is a Turkish dancer and choreographer of international fame. The other highlight was an outstanding concert and performance of the singer and dancer Prince Erkan of Bodrum, Turkey. One of the focal points for 2007 will be Bollywood; a dance style that has recently acquired lots of popularity all over the world. Furthermore, it holds a growing influence on oriental dance. Further interesting topics are being prepared as well. Please, visit:
www.world-of-orient.de for further information.

Liza Laziza from Cairo

Sarah Saeeda from USA

On the Horizon
One of World of Orient's goals is to network oriental artists nationally and internationally. It should also open up a communication platform. Learners and teachers, stars and starlets, amateurs and visitors with a professional background are given an opportunity to meet and communicate at the WoO. Presenters, owners of studios and talent-scouts get the chance to see and make contact with dancers, musicians and new or upcoming talents. Where artists may present their work in shows and workshops to a larger audience and to qualified visitors.

The two-day fair may be used as an occasion to intensify these new contacts. There are all kinds of trends and fads available and DVDs, CDs. The newest costumes, made by designers from all over the world, are on display. This gives attendees a comprehensive overlook and keeps them up to date. Readings, exhibitions and concerts pose fruitful starting points for gaining further insight into oriental culture and Middle-Eastern dance. Another goal is to establish Middle-Eastern dance outside the world of insiders. We want to promote into a well respected form of art, just as jazz, ballet and flamenco.
In order to do so, we need high-level shows and artists, who work hard and take Middle-Eastern dance seriously. Eventually, the image of oriental dance ought to be improved drastically. The presenters and organizers of WoO, Nasra and Asmahan, are very much interested in meeting new talents or well-established artists from all over the world. Both desire to win candidates over for the festival.

Solo-artists, bands, dancers, musicians and top-of-the-line costume designers, who are interested in presenting themselves at WoO, are very welcome to contact us for show / workshop applications. Of course, there will be another festival in our eighth year of existence. The theme for the 2007 festival will be: "World of Orient goes Bollywood". It will be a very exciting and international festival once again. We are definitely looking forward to meet all the curious visitors and performers from all over the world.

Contact:

Festival-Management: Nasra Eid-Habib & Asmahan El Zein
Homepage: www.world-of-orient.de

Nasra Eid: Tel./Fax: +49.(0).511.87 35 65
E-mail: nasra.e@web.de
Nasra speaks: Arabic, German, some English

Asmahan El Zein: Tel.: +49.(0).511.394 77 77
asmahan@ponton-lab.de
Asmahan speaks: German, English, Spanish
Contact her concerning applications for the 2007 festival