Fame or Famine

Tonight my girlfriend and I had the pleasure of spending an evening at the Mediterranean Hookah Lounge, where a friend of mine who teaches Middle Eastern dance was performing. She was awesome (in my obviously unbiased opinion) but I was a little at a loss to figure out exactly how to express my appreciation for her art. It turned out that clapping was absolutely fine, but I talked to her afterwards to find out more culturally appropriate ways to applaud.

1. Yell “Ai-Wa!” (an Arabic term of appreciation, pronounced “Eye-Wah”)
2. Yell “Yallah!” (similar to above, but with the emphasis on the second syllable).
3. Yell “Oh-pah!” (the Greek phrase, familiar from weddings, especially appropriate, obviously, in Greek restaurants)
4. Yell a “zagrit”, a high-pitched ululation popularized by the Xena, Warrior Princess TV show.
5. Somewhat controversial is the practice of hissing – while it is a legitimate form of appreciation, it is also apparently used for summoning prostitutes as well in the red light district. Some dancers might not appreciate that…

And, where appropriate, monetary appreciation is usually welcome – either “costume tipping” (putting cash into whatever part of their costume they deem appropriate) or simply tossing the money up in the air and letting them dance through it.

There you go – next time you see a Middle Eastern Dancer, use one of these phrases and give them back a little of the cultural appreciation they’ve given you.

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