• www.percussions-orientales.com
• www.percussionsorientales.com
• darbouka.free.fr

IMPASSIONED BY THE RYTHM

The rythm attracts us with a magic force! Present around us, it is also part of us and at the same time, it let us understand it, control it, play it!

In the hands of Hassan, the rythms of Maghreb or the Eastern rythms live by multiple combinations of strike, slappings, keys and defined bearings, either as the low sounds (Doum) or like the acute sounds (Tak) and it breathes by the moments of silence. Awaked by an artist who improvises as soon as he follows orders of composition, the rythm vibrates on the percussion instruments like the req (tambourine), the bendir (dèfe or mazhar), the sagattes (cymbalettes of the fingers), the bongo, the tabl el beladi (el tabl el saïdi), and on the tabla (darbouka). The rythm is the heart of the Eastern orchestra (or Westerner), the rythm is the language of each people.

With all the rythmic instruments of the world, we travel from one country to the other.

Hassan Abdel Khalek, musician impassioned with the teaching experiment and the love of the rythm, make us enter in the world of the Eastern and Maghrebi rythms, this whole of sounds and silences of various durations, put in a certain order

Hassan has been practicing this art with a lot of engagement and heat since 1997 in his school: the Center of Eastern percussions. Hassan, born in Egypt, was formed in the school of percussions of the Egyptian Folk National Group `' El Ferka El Kaomeya' ' from1968 to 1975. With this experiment starts a long artistic way, marked out by the work of the percussionnist in the orchestras, with the most famous interpreters of the Eastern music like Warda, Hanni Chaker, Sabah, and the most known dancers like Tahia Carioca (Operetta - kahwet el all), Nagwa Fuad, Nahed Sabri, Fifi Abdou, Azza Cherif, Chouchou Amin.

Hassan Abdel Khalek played as Eastern musician percussionnist in the orchestra of famous artists, singers or dancers in spectacles in the best hotels of Cairo (Meridian, Sheraton, Hilton).

He took part in many world tours with famous soloists and legendary groups, and in 1978, he started to play in the cabarets of London and Frankfurt, in the Hilton Night club of Tokyo, and since 1980 in the Parisian cabarets: El Djazaïr, El Badiya, El Raousha, Palm plantation, Salammbô, Chalimar, El Dizlare, and the Sahara cabaret where he enchanted a public from the whole world with the rythms and the Eastern music. Always active, Hassan played in various concerts, spectacles (concerts of the Dunois Theatre in Paris in December 1992, in the Contemporary Theatre of the Dance in Paris in October 1993, at the Institute of the Arab World in Paris in November 1995) and in many festivals (the festival of Nantes, Almées of Cairo in October 1994, the festival of Avignon in July 1998).

Articles devoted to Hassan have been published in the press: Nova Magazine in November 1997, in the magazine Paris Mômes from April 27 to August 31 in 1998, in Télérama March 1989 following to series diffused on Radio France Culture reporting the life of the famous Egyptian writer Nagib Mahfouz, the Dead end of the miracles.

With his Eastern orchestra composed of 12 musicians, he collaborated to spectacles of Eastern songs and dance with the groups: Turquoise, Arabesque, Ocréambe.

With his group of Eastern percussion, he created and took part in spectacles of percussions.

He went on tour in Italy in 1992, in Tunisia in 1994, in the United States in 1996, in Norway in 1997.

He appeared in the movie Le Thé à la Menthe in 1983 and in the TV series Highlander III in 1995.

He took part in television broadcasts: Combien ça coûte (TF1 in June 1993), Une pêche d'enfer (France 2 in September 1994), Le Cercle de Minuit (France 2 in November 1994), Musique au Coeur (France 2 in November 1994 and December 1995). And Finally in June 2004, he gave a darbouka lesson on live in the very popular show of M6 Les Colocataires. In April 2007, he records for " PATHE FILMS " rhythmic sequences for the film 'WHATEVER LOLA WANTS' carried out by M. Nabil Ayouch (left on April 16-2008). Nowadays, he is dedicated to impart his knowledges and has produced a DVD titled 'Decomposed Dance and Rhythms" in collaboration with the dancer Nadia Messaï. This DVD aims to explain the basis ofthe rhythms illustrated by a series of oriental dance choreographies. Available on March 2009.
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After years of work as a player, he now transmits his knowledge and his experiment to his pupils. Its teaching is based on a simple and well structured method in which he integrates a rythmic writing by keeping a balance between notation and exercises of memory. Hassan connects innumerable rythmic variations the ones with the others.He breaks up the known rythms - always with the intention to develop intuition and artistic taste of his pupils. His great knowledge of the rythms of the various geographical areas transports us in the space of the Eastern culture. `' We travel with the rythm from one border to the other ` ' - says Hassan who always try to pass beyond his own limits.

Playing the Eastern traditional rythms make them live and permit to transmit them from generations to generations and to perpetuate the tradition, like a trip in the Time
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The learning is an infinite dynamics nourished by the enthusiasm of those who wish to learn.

Thanks to all.

Sagattes Workshop (Cymbalettes for fingers) for belly dancers. Beginner - Intermediate Level. Sat 27th and Sun 28th of March 2010 from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM CET. Location : 4, rue des Carmes Paris 5ème. For further informations, please contact 06 08 99 01 06.
Darbouka Workshop. Intermediate - Advanced Level. Sat 10th and Sun 11th of April 2010 from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM CET. Location: 4, rue des Carmes Paris 5ème. For further informations, please contact 06 08 99 01 06.