TRANSCRIPTION. [Track 1 Starts] [Interview Begins]

Transcription

1 TRANSCRIPTION Interviewer: Nadia De Leon Interviewee: Leora Day Institution: Western Kentucky University Course: Folklore Fieldwork Professor: Dr. Erika Brady Term: Fall 2008 Interview Date: 11/908 and 11/29/08 Interview Location: Leora Day s home in Greyson County, KY Voice Recorder: Sony IC-P620 Transcriber: Nadia De Leon Note from Transcriber: ND is used to abbreviate Nadia De Leon and LD is used to abbreviate Leora Day. Ellipsis ( ) is used to indicate material not transcribed. Square brackets are used to indicate transcriber s notes and descriptions. Both the interviewer and the interviewee s vocalized pauses (such as those transcribed as uh and uhm ) are only transcribed in the first five minutes of the interviewee, and ignored afterwards to avoid repetition and improve legibility. Disclaimer: This transcription is as accurate and complete as possible. In any question of interpretation, the researcher is referred to the recording itself as the primary document representing this event. [Track 1 Starts] [Interview Begins] 0:00 ND: This is ND interviewing LD (for the second time) for the folklore fieldwork class at Western Kentucky University, and today is November LD: 29 ND: 29 th, The first note I have here (in my notes from last time): Uhm, when we were talking about the Arabesque magazines, I had just walked in and, you know, I was looking at all the stuff, and I remember that you were talking about the magazines and how they have a lot of historical information (very good, reliable information) and you were making some comments about that that I remember were interesting comments about how you feel about belly dancing and how important it is in your life and the role it has in your life. Uhm, do you wanna maybe [clears throat] talk to me about that a little. LD: Well, uhm, I found Arabesque magazine very early on in my belly dance studies and, uhm, was just really thrilled to be able to find so much authentic information that is specific to the dances of different countries, uhm, especially regarding costuming and historical, you know, notes of interest. Because, of course, dance has evolved, uhm, from its original forms and it s nice to be able to trace it and,

2 uhm, see how it got from there to here. And, uh, I love to be able to make my dancing as authentic as possible. Uh, just generalized belly dancing is wonderful just on its own right and it s been taken in modern times into some great directions. But to me, the most exciting stuff is to go back to the roots. Uh, and Arabesque is just a wonderful archive. They have research from some, uh, great, uh, not only historical notes on the development of belly dance, but, uhm, I guess you might call it ethnographic work that was done by, like, Aisha Ali, and, uhm, of course, naturally, other names escape me at the moment. But, uhm, uhm, Ibrahim Farrah, who published the magazine, was a Lebanese American. Of course, he would, uh, give a lot of stuff on his own, you know, the dance the way it was done by his mother and her mother, and the people in the area that they came from. And also he became friends with a lot of the, uh, stars of belly dance when it was first becoming so popular in the West. And, uh, gives a lot of notes, uh, stuff that he learned from some of those women, uh, who were sort of like modern pioneers of belly dance. And also even before his time, you know, he had a lot of information in the magazine about, uh, like, the beginnings of the Egyptian film industry, when belly dance stars were, uh, really getting known around the world, like Tahia Carioca, and Badia Massabni, who trained her, and, uh, Samia Gamal, and some of those figure who are sort of iconic. Uhm. And I m just so grateful that he had enough initiative to preserve all that stuff and put it down in black and white. And the magazine is printed in black and white instead of in color and I really appreciated that, which sounds strange to some people. But [short pause] there is something about the black and white photography that makes it the underlying structure clearer when you look at it. I don t really know. Professional photographers, filmmakers, would know what I was talking about, but I don t know how to, how to really translate that. ND: Ok LD: But, uh. [pause] Since you were telling me, uh, about the folklore department there at Western, you know that I told you I m gonna leave that collection somewhere. And that might be, you know, for future reference, that might be a good place to put it. ND: Yeah, in the library. LD: Yeah. 5:00 ND: What was the name of the girl that danced with you that interviewed you that went to my program too? LD: Mindy [no spelling for last name] ND: Mindy. LD: Mhm, mhm. ND: I know you said it last time but that is one of the names that escaped me. LD: Right, yeah, mhm. ND: The other thing I have LD: Oh, and I know who else you are thinking of! Two, though. The other one that

3 had danced with us: Andrea Kitta. ND: Andrea! That s the one in the pictures in the board, right? LD: Yes ND: You talked about her smile. LD: Yes, yes. She was the Hungarian gypsy, who learned belly dance in the traditional way from her mother and her grandmother. And used to perform with her mother and her grandmother. So, and, and, [pause] she s gone on to do Master s work in Newfoundland. ND: Aha. LD: Folklore work. ND: I thought it was Andrea. LD: Yeah, yeah. ND: And then, I have: I remember how you were telling me about your father, and how he is a performer too (so maybe you have that inclination for performing there) LD: Yeah ND: But would you tell me again a little more about what he did in Nashville? LD: He was a stand-up comic. First on the radio, in, from Cincinnati, and from Illinois, then he got on the Grand Ole Opry. Lazy Jim Day was his stage name. And, his particular routine was that people would write to him, send him stories about what had happened in their family, or some weird little thing that had happened in their town, and he would make up, make it into a rhyme. And, so, the big deal was to listen to the Grand Ole Opry and see if he sang your news clip as part of, part of his singing news routine. ND: Aha. LD: So, one time, when I was really, really little, I remember standing off stage at the old Opry house, the Ryman auditorium, and looking through the, you know, the curtains at the side, and he made his entrance. His theme music was the Old Grey Mare, and he d kindda amble out there in his overalls, and the audience would go wild. Just, screaming, and laughing and applauding widely. And me, at this size, I guess I thought: I wanna do that. LD: This is cool! You know. So, that kindda got me into performing at an early age: community theatre, and high school, you know, and a teeny tiny bit of way, way, way, way off Broadway [laughs] type of theatre. ND: Aha. LD: And I did all that before I ever got into belly dance, that was thirty years ago I got into belly dance. ND: Ok. Going back to that picture of Andrea, I remember you were talking about how her expression was special to you, do you remember? LD: She just [pause] I think it went back to her having belly dance in her family tradition. It was just real natural to her. ND: Aha LD: Besides, she just had a beautiful temperament, and a beautiful face. And, put her in an Arabic style costume and she d just! Or, she d do a gypsy style dance in one of our shows, and it just seemed to fit her. It seemed to come from ND: within

4 LD: from within. ND: Mhm. Ok, and then what was the name of the studio where you started dancing in Orlando? LD: Ok. The first classes that I took in Orlando were a community education program, adult ed. So that was not at a studio. We met in the hallway of a school. After that, I started taking classes at The World of Middle Eastern Dance. And then, after a while I began teaching there for them, at their request. And began dancing in the, what I call, the Greek restaurant circuit around central Florida. ND: Mhm. LD: Started putting on shows of my own. [pauses] I was active with the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice, and we were always putting on events, workshops, and stuff. And they would often call on me to help provide entertainment. ND: Mhm. LD: And you don t have to twist my arm very hard to get me to dance. [laughs] 10:00 LD: So, [pause] then when I moved up here in 1995, I taught a few classes here in Grayson county and then I began teaching down in Bowling Green. Taught in Bowling Green for about eight years. [pauses] The first place I taught was in a tiny little backroom of a health food store, which is not there any more, it was called Whole Earth Market. And when I mean a tiny back room, it was like from here to the window [interviewer s note: about 3 feet] ND: wow! LD and about maybe ten feet long. I mean it was tiny! [pause] Then after that I started teaching for a short time at a, it was called Performing Arts, Dance, and Cheer Center ND: Mhm LD:... and that was for four, five months, six months maybe. Then, some friends of mine opened a metaphysical shop called The Dragon s Rainbow, and they very kindly allowed me to turn one room of that into a little dance studio. It was still little, but it was still bigger than the room at the Whole Earth Market. [laughs] Aha LD: And [pauses] we put on a couple of shows in that time period, between those last two places. And the first time we danced at Bowling Green International Festival I was lucky enough to be seen by Martha Madison ND: Mhm LD: of Dance Arts. ND: What year was the first time you danced at the festival? LD: That was [pauses] ND: Ok LD: Mhm. ND: And how long did you teach at The Dragon s Rainbow? LD: Eh a year and a half. Mhm.Yeah. A year and a half there, and it was a, kindda turned out to be a good, because when The Dragon s Rainbow closed, very shortly after that Martha invited me to come and teach at Dance Arts. She s

5 [pause] a wonderful woman who provided me with great opportunity. ND: How long did you teach at Dance Arts? LD: Uhm, let me see [pauses] I think six or seven years. I started out in her first location, I thought there for about a year, before she opened the new studio. Yeah. ND: And I know you taught at Preston at Western. LD: Yeah. ND: What year was that? LD: That was [pauses] I think that was about 2004, in the Fall. It was just a six weeks series. And boy! The hardest part about that was trying to condense enough into sex weeks to give somebody a good start. But it worked! Surprisingly, it worked well, and it was very well received. Picked up a few students out of there. I think some of them have continued dancing. I ve had a lot of girls who had talent and seemed to pick up well, and move to San Francisco, to Cleveland, various places, and what I always say is Whatever you do, keep dancing. Take as many classes as you can get from as many different teachers as you can get your hands on, because you can learn something from all of them. And, just keep doing it, keep it alive. 15:00 ND: Those pictures that we were looking at that were taken at Western s campus, at the Kissing Bridge, when were those taken? LD: Those were, I think about I m sure I have it written down somewhere [laughs] LD: I think it was around ND: Ok. And, do you know the name of the photographer? LD: [pause] I did until you asked me. LD: [pauses] I m sure I ll think of it in a minute. ND: Well, think about it, and meanwhile I ll make sure that this is recording. LD: Yes, Yes ND: and we ll come back. 15:28 [End of Track 1] [Track 2 Starts] 0:00 ND: So, I also have on my notes that I asked you about The World of Middle Eastern Dance, where you were first learning, and you said that you were lucky to learn both the Cabaret and the Folkloric Styles LD: Yes, yes ND: or at least, that s what we call them now LD: Right. ND: But, you have a preference, you lean towards the more folkloric LD: Right.

6 ND: Would you mind telling me again why you think that is and what s your preference? LD: [sighs] I feel that it suits my own style better, [pause] because I ve never felt very glamorous, and the cabaret style is a lot more glamorous [dog noises in the back], but also, because there is more variety in the folkloric styles. You can see more of the specifics of where it came from. A lot of them are connected to celebrations, specific celebrations and things like that. The costuming is just more ancient looking, which is intriguing to me, [pause] because I am also interested in archeology and ancient history, and that all kind of falls in together. ND: Mhm LD: The cabaret stuff is absolutely wonderful. But [pause] if you have five cabaret dancers in a row, they are all going to be doing the same dance, basically, even if they are wonderful. If you watch an audience at a belly dance show: four five cabaret belly dancers in a row, you know [claps] [interviewer s note: makes a facial expression that I interpret as smiling but slightly bored], and then a folkloric act comes on and people perk up! It s, it just has more variety, more layers to it. ND: Very true. Ok, so, I also have, in my notes, pictures of your pictures of that trip to Egypt. LD: Yeah! ND: You wanna tell me a little again,when was that and how you ended up going? LD: Ok. Well, through my study of belly dance, I began to study ancient Egypt, and felt it was so appealing to me [pauses], that, when it became possible to take a twoweek trip there [pauses] It was in November of 1992, my brother traveled with me. We flew from Orlando. You had to go to New York City and then to Paris. So, I have been in Paris, but only in the underground part of the airport! LD: Didn t see a thing! But I knew I was in Paris! LD: From there you fly into Cairo. [pauses] It was [pauses] one of probably the two happiest times in my life, up until I came up here to live on the farm. [pauses] I did a little research and found out about an Egyptian owned company, Nagar tours. I wanted my money to go to an Egyptian company, rather than to Hilton or something like that. I got their itinerary, and picked out the tour that had the most of the things that I wanted. The travel agent said she d never had a client before who knew so much exactly where she wanted to go and what she wanted to see. [laughs] LD: And, [pauses] we, it was mainly an archeological tour, but of course you have a chance to go to the zouks, and to some night clubs and stuff. One of the most currently famous dancers was the entertainer at our last night there, at Cairo. That was, Dinah... have no idea what her last name is. I have a little joke about the belly dance names. You know, a lot of the dancers, American dancers who might be named like Nancy, and Betty, and [pauses] Liz, and Becky, and things like that, will try to give themselves an exotic sounding name, you know: Badia, or Cassandra, or ND: Nadia! [laughs] LD: Nadia, exactly! That s perfect! [pauses] And in my case too! My name is Leora

7 which turns out to be in Hebrew and in Greek, so I never changed my name 5:00 ND: we didn t need to! LD: But my joke was, and I used to give out a list of names to the girls so they could get some ideas and pick out a name. And I always told them that, of course, over there, all the dancers who are already Nadia, and Leora, and you know, Badia and Azzurre, and all of those things, name themselves Vicky, and Betty, and that, cause that sounds exotic to them! LD: But the funny part of it, really, was that it turned out to be true, because at that time, the two biggest stars were Lucy and Dinah. ND: Yeah. [laughs] LD: And to them, that sounds exotic, I guess. ND: Aha. LD: You know. But it s fun, cause when you put on your costume you put on a person with it [pauses]. And the name is kind of a fun thing to add to that. [laughs] ND: It is [laughs] LD: [laughs] Well, so, anyway, the trip to Egypt. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel: the Ramses Hilton. Never would I be able to live that nicely in this country, but for two weeks, I was a queen [laughs]: one of the prettiest boats, five night Nile cruise, one of the best boats on the river. And I took care, I told the tour guide, this company had one boat that was all decorated Victorian style, and I told him I don t want that boat! I wanna feel like I m in Egypt not in Victorian England! And the boat they put us on was just gorgeous, it was just right. ND: And, you told me about I have a picture of you the picture of the statue of Ramses? LD: Yes ND: And you told me that you had seen the statue before at a museum and then you were staying at the Ramses hotel LD: Yes, and there it was! ND: What was that story? Where had you seen the? LD: Well, it was at an exhibition of artifacts from the time of King Ramses. It was in Jacksonville, FL. And that would have been Let s see, I started belly dance thirty years ago, so that would have been 78? Right. And it must have been around Because first the King Tut tour went around, then several years later it was the King Ramses tour. And that was the one that I saw. I got very emotional at that tour, at that exhibition. [pauses] Not because I was an Egyptian in a past life! [interviewer s note: she made a dramatic gesture with the back of her hand by her forehead] But because there is just something familiar about the faces. [pause] There is something so compelling about Egyptian art. That s why they use it to sell so much stuff. Put a picture of an Egyptian thing on the front of something and you can sell it. But at that exhibition there was this giant pink granite statue of Ramses, [pause] and, [pause] very compelling, very kind of a magical sense about it, and I don t really want to get into all the mystical aspects [laughs], but low and behold, in our Ramses Hilton Hotel in Cairo there stood that

8 statue, and I just felt like [pause] it was saying to me Come here, Leora! Come to Egypt! Come and see me! [laughs] And I went and checked in at the hotel and there he was. [laughs] Yeah, waiting for you. [laughs] Well, let s see what else I have here. I know the first names of, I think, all the current Lotus Dancers, I don t know any last names, do you? LD: Uhm. ND: Or do you think I should use, for example, Inan instead of Gloria s full name? LD: Well, she doesn t really use Inan for a dance name. ND: Ok LD: She uses that for SCA. If she were pressed, she might use that. But, she just uses Gloria. Gloria Dockery. ND: Ok [typing noises] Do you know Robin s last name? LD: Uhm, Stout. 10:00 ND: Oh yeah. [typing noises] I have Lee Anne LD: Lee Anne uhm I m gonna have to look on my phone list. She hasn t been with us as long, about a year. Beautiful dancer! Beautiful girl! Beautiful dancer! ND: Yeah. LD: Well, of course I don t have it written here. Uhm ND: I can ask her. LD: Yeah, you ve got her probably, yeah. Julie Alexander. ND: [typing noises, clears throat] LD: And Jessica Gibbs, who is one of the producers and editors at the TV station now. ND: I don t think I ve met her. LD: No. She s been doing, working so much, that she hasn t been dancing. ND: Ok. And, when did you start dancing at Anna s? LD: Last New Year s eve [typing] ND: That was the first time? LD: Mhm. ND: Alright. And you were telling me that you are not currently dancing, because you are needing surgery in your right foot? LD: Correct. ND: See? I had right foot! I remembered exactly which foot! [laughs] LD: [laughs] Yep. ND: I had to make sure I had the right foot [laughs] down. LD:[laughs] Yeah, yeah. ND: Ok. So let me show you some of the pictures I have, so you can tell me about them. LD: Mhm. 11:22 LD: Do you want any more water for your tea? ND: Oh no, I m fine. LD: Ok. ND: Thank you. So I have this one. It was so hard to get those anhk earings!

9 LD: Oh yeah. ND: You wanna tell me about your headdress. LD: Oh, yeah. I call that my Isis veil because I purchased that at, on that tour, that [pauses] At all the archeological sites in Egypt, before you get into the site you have to run a boat dock of shops, of people selling you stuff which was perfectly fine, I didn t mind a bit (I don t like shopping as a rule, but I enjoyed shopping in Egypt!) And, I bought this at the little market place that led to the boat dock that takes you out to the Isis temple, in Philae, it s in southern Egypt. ND: [typing] How do you spell the name of that? LD: Uhm [sighs] Good question. ND: I can look it up online. LD: P, H, I, L, A, E? ND: Like that? LD: Yeah, I think that might be right. ND: I will look it up. LD: Yeah. I can show you pictures of it, but I can t spell it. [laughs] Ok. Here are your dogs! [laughs] LD: The dogs! There s the farm! ND: And here are some pictures of your pictures. [laughs] LD: Yes. ND: These were your tour guides? LD: That s my brother. ND: On the camel. LD: These are some of the guys, these guys will come when you get out of the bus at Giza plateau. These guys kind of swoop in on you. They make their living by posing for pictures. Sometimes they will give camel rides, and pictures are taken. And, so, they are there for local color. ND: Ok. LD: That s the picture that was missing, because it s on the poster board! ND: Mhm. Ok. LD: Aha. ND: Here we have this. LD: That s a galabeya. Don t ask me to spell it, I could look it up, but. And that was purchased in the holy city of Abydos. Abydos was like Mecca to the ancient Egyptians, because that s where most of the body parts of Osiris were supposed to have been buried by his wife, Isis. ND: Mhm. LD: So, uhm, big, gorgeous temple there that was built by Seti, the father of Ramses II. And, of course, the little market place all out there. And the galabeya set, as well as the dress that I had on, was purchased there at Abydos. And that is kind of in the middle of Egypt pretty much. ND: Ok. And that s the turquoise two piece galabeya. LD: Yeah. 14:43 [End of Transcription. Interview continues.]