There is definitly more confidence and strength in the May video. so you can see hard work is paying off.

The differences in AmCab and Egyptian are sometimes subtle as you dance but are very obvious when you look at the performance, Egyptian is very INWARD.. you draw the music in and feel it go into you soul.. then let the audiance see the translation in the movement.Amcab is POW.. did you see that!?
I did not know the differences when I started finding my style.. then more and more would comment.."that was a lovly classic Egyptian piece you just did".. so I started researching and trying to figure out how i was doing it because I intended amcab - that was what I was being taught.. so how did I travel away...? My training is hula.. that is a translation dance.. same as Egyptian. I pull the music in and let it drive me - so Classic Egyptian I am.. and I am ok with that.

So keep going, you are working toward it..

things to try.. whan you are walking, up on toes, soft knees and let you hips move with it. Also use the abs to pull inward to the spin and roll.. like the music entered you.. and.. Egyptians are known for being able to dance in small places.. so dance one side, move to the other then bring it back to center.

I hope all this makes sense [I just woke up from a nap =-} ]

Beautiful, Nepenthe!

I really enjoyed both clips, but being the Raks Sharki junkie that I am - I particularly enjoyed the May clip.

Couple things I noticed (however trivial) are... at the beginning - your top arm looks a bit out in space before bringing it down. At the beginning there are some 3/4 shimmies - for some reason I wanted to really slow things down and dance on the accent there. Not quite sure why, but it made me feel the 3/4 shimmies were out of place (though, I don't think they were, but perhaps this offers an alternative)? The little kick turn things at 3:12 and just before I wasn't too fond of - perhaps an arabesque with a lower undulation there? Personally, I wasn't a fan of the shoes and prefer barefeet or simple slippers where protection is necessary.

I felt you could use to relax your hands a bit more, and use your ribcage and neck/face more as extensions to your movements.

Other than that, I have nothing else to offer. I rarely watch dance clips all the way through and I did so quite happily with these. You're a very lovely dancer! Just loooooved your expression at 4:09 and your ending was very cute. I also really liked the little sequence of moves at 1:37. I'm not sure if this was a choreography or improv, but everything really flowed very nicely.

The little tidbits I have to offer are just my humble opinion. Hopefully it's food for thought, but I would hate to have you second guess yourself because of it. They're really trivial things... ;-)

Yalla!

I'll comment on technique & as a random audience member because I am NOT a knowledgeable Egyptian-style dancer. The physical intention and commitment to your performance is leaps and bounds ahead now of where you were in October. The few opening seconds of the May video with the arm gestures and veil were lovely & captivating - nice example of really dancing in the music. The moments of softer, rounder movement throughout the piece also had that quality of intention.

The more staccato movements (particularly the shimmy section as you mentioned) were less compelling to watch. I think if you are able to relax into those movements more you'll be able to better express your music in those sections. You have some extra tension in your neck and shoulders that keeps you from getting the "isolation" of your hips (which is really releasing your upper body so it doesn't have to go along with every tiny hip movement).