What would shopping in Cairo be without a visit to this shop? It offers dance accessories on FOUR floors!!!
The choice is accordingly large. Which leads however to the fact that in some corners you might find dust-covered old rags. Not everything is the latest design; a dress that I bought here 6 years ago, is still available in different colours. If you want a unique costume, you will have to take some time to search everything or go to an other shop.

However this is the best place for folklore costumes, especially if you have to dress a whole group. And there are carloads of hip scarves!

Furthermore you will find decoration, dance shoes in all colours, tambourines, cimbals in various sizes, fringing etc. etc. The pictures below were all taken on the same floor -  so just imagine what more is waiting on the other floors!

As you can guess I left this store with very heavy bags - I even had to go there several times!

If you buy several articles, you can get a small discount, but Mahmoud is not really into bargaining. On the other hand you can also pay by credit card.

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We'll stay in the Khan El Khalili and go over to Mustafa. As it is the case with most of the costume shops, you just ignore the goods in the basement and walk upstairs to discover the real treasures.
Here you will find beautiful costumes in original design at good prices. He even delivered my costume to my hotel, because I did not have enough cash with me to pay at once.

This is one of my personal favorites! On the first floor of Yasser's shop there are many beautiful costumes. Some are rather extravagant pieces, which show more or less skin (or net). I found many costumes that I really liked.

Yasser is friendly in an introvert way and constantly shows new treasures. He says that he can supply costumes in every desired style (Abla, Amira, Ghaffar...). Of course there are also simpler models. Anyhow, the costumes are not too expensive.

In the whole bazaar there are dozens of providers of dance costumes. Most of it is useless stuff and rather meant as a souvenir (instead of yet ANOTHER papyrus) than a dress for a serious dancer. Many of these shops can be found around the Café El Fishawi (sit down, drink some karkade, watch the people!).

The calculation is relatively simple: Cheap price = "cheap" costume. Especially the skirts are usually rather useless (too short, too transparent). And don't believe it if someone says that a model can only be found in one shop! If in doubt you can always come back. The costume on the right side can be bought in many shops for about 120 Egyptian pounds - depending on how good a bargainer you are!

The new star designer Amira lives in quite a different corner of Cairo. Unfortunately she was absent for a few days when I wanted to visit her. I had seen some of her costumes at Orienta fair. They are really very beautiful and have a unique style.

She sells ready-made costumes and also sews on demand.

Some pictures of Amira's costumes: Audrena

She's certainly the most famous costume designer in Cairo. (Unfortunately she passed away in December 2006 and I have to find out if somebody else is continuing her business.)

This is not the place to save money. But you will get some good advise and a beautiful costume. Madame Abla shows various models, afterwards you select colour and style - or bring along your own ideas. Various owners of Abla costumes told me about the good quality and fit.

During your first visit your measurments are taken. Then you have to return about 2 days later for the fitting.

Madame Hekmet

Only a few house numbers next to Mme Abla lives her cousin Hekmet. Here you can also buy ready-made costumes.

Now let's go to the famous Mohammed Ali street. Between the many shops which offer musical instruments and furniture you can also find a costume designer. Ahmed normally produces on demand (approx. 5 days for a costume) and has only few costumes in the shop. Here you can get custom-made costumes for a little less money than at the "big" names.

I also received a copy of the magazine "El Phan El Sharki" that is published by Ahmed. It is written in English and Arabic and features articles about dancers and other topics. However, some of the texts seemed quite familiar to me from the Internet...

What else is there to buy? Well, some costumes look even better with shoes. Especially with the kind of glittery pumps you can find in Cairo. My favourite is Abdo Saleh, with several shops around town. They offer glamurous shoes in every colour.

I bought a good riq (tambourine) here. For dancing and for decoration the tambourines from the bazaar are sufficient, but if you want to use it as musical instrument you will need something better.

If you are already there, why not take the opportunity to take lessons with one of the famous dancers? There is of course Raqia Hassan (call early enough). I decided to visit Yasmina, an Englishwoman who has been performing in Cairo for years. I found the lesson very interesting and inspiring.

In the same building, one floor up, there lives a costume designer (Hala) who I did not visit. But Yasmina showed me a very nice costume that she had produced. A visit to Hala could be worth the try.

Even dancers must eat from time to time... In Cairo you can eat for 50 cents or 50 dollars. The more expensive way is described further below...

The Egyptian specialtity Kushari looks as if one had composed it from the remains of the week - a mix of short maccaroni, rice, lentils, fried onions and tomatoe sauce. Go to one of the El Omda places to taste it. Very cheap and really fills your stomach (take a small one!).

For good Egyptian cuisine: Restaurant Felfela. There's one in Hoda Shaarawy St. (near Talaat Harb) and one on the Corniche in Maadi, open-air by the river. This restaurant is rather well known and mentioned in most guide books. And it's really good! Try an Oum Ali for desert.

One of the things I miss the most after coming back: the juice stores! A glass of fresh strawberry juice is just fantastic! And they have many other fruits...

So, we've been walking around all day... Time to sit down, relax and watch other people work! I went to see two dance shows. The good news first: You don't have to spend a fortune and wait until 4 o'clock in the morning to see a good dancer!
The following information is from February 2002. Dancers and venues can change.

There's also a Lebanese restaurant in the same hotel that features a Russian dancer.

A young Egyptian told me that at the moment, foreign dancers are very popular in Egypt.

Anyway, I really liked Soraya. During her 1-hour show she danced in three different costumes. Besides good technique and subtle hip- and belly accents she also had a good relation to the audience.

This is where we saw Randa who performs here every Tuesday and Saturday. During the rest of the week there are some other dancers.

Randa reminded me a lot of Dina. Not only because of her dance style but also because of her sometimes - well - interesting costumes.

By the way: On this evening there were also Raqia Hassan and some European dancers in the audience.