Layla Taj

{{Short description|American-born belly dancer who promotes Egyptian culture}} {{Infobox dancer | name = Layla Taj | image = Photo by Amos Gvili Layla Taj -Cleopatra Vll- Gold Hall Theater.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Taj in an Ancient Egyptian ensemble performing at the Gold Hall Theater, New York | dances = Raqs al-sharqi<br>Egyptian folklore<br>Pharonic | height = 172.72 cm | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | othername = | years_active = 1999–present | resting_place = | occupation = Belly dancer, choreographer | spouse = | children = | relatives = | website = }} '''Layla Taj''' ({{langx|ar|ليلى تاج}}) is an American belly dancer in the classical Egyptian raqs al-sharqi style. The focus of her repertoire is to communicate facets of Egyptian culture.<ref name="Sommer Brokaw">{{cite news |last=Brokaw |first=Sommer |date=November 29, 2014 |title=Dancing queen: World-traveled Egyptian dancer to perform here |page = 2 |url=https://yoursun.newsbank.com/doc/news/151E699E298BD188?text=&pub%255B0%255D=CNCB&date_from=2014-11-29&pdate=2014-11-29 |url-access=subscription |access-date = November 19, 2018 |work=The Sun}}</ref>

==Early life and training== thumb|Egyptian Belly Dancer Layla Taj performs in Gala Show and studies with master teacher Mahmoud RedaTaj descends from a long line of aristocratic Greek Athenians and Egyptiotes ({{langx|el|Αιγυπτιώτες}}).<ref name="Sommer Brokaw" /> Her mother was a beauty queen who won the national pageant sponsored by the Greek-American Progressive Association (GAPA).<ref name=GAPA>{{Citation | url=https://flps.newberry.org/article/5422062_4_1166 | access-date=May 6, 2019 | title=Greek-American Progressive Association | work=Flps.newberry.org | archive-date=August 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809141443/https://flps.newberry.org/article/5422062_4_1166 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Taj initially trained in ballet. She was introduced to Middle Eastern dance in childhood.<ref name="Rusty Pray" />{{rp|B19}} Later, as she developed her professional career, Taj trained in belly dance in the United States and Germany, where she studied with Mahmoud Reda, Raqia Hassan and Mo Geddawi of the Reda Troup.<ref>{{cite web | last=Morocco | title = Gilded Serpent presents...Interview with Mahmoud Reda, Part I: The Beginning | url=http://www.gildedserpent.com/art32/rockyredainterviewp1.htm | access-date=November 22, 2018 | website=gildedserpent.com}}</ref><ref name="Gazette"/>

==Career== thumb|left|upright=1.8|alt=Layla Taj dances at the Hyatt Regency Resort, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt|Taj performs at the Hyatt Regency Resort, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.Taj has been contracted as an in-house solo Egyptian belly dancer throughout the Middle East,<ref name="Zaghareet!">{{cite magazine |date = July–August 2005 |title=Belly Dancing in the Middle East |last=Phillips |first=Sophia |magazine=Zaghareet! |url=http://zaghareet.freeservers.com/back.html |url-access=subscription}}</ref> including Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, where cultural and legal norms have been selective regarding who is eligible to perform.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://kissesfromkairo.blogspot.com/2011/06/finding-work-in-cairo-naked-truth.html | title = Kisses from Kairo | last = Luna | date = June 2011 | website = kissesfromkairo.blogspot.com | access-date = November 5, 2018}} </ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Arvizu | first = Shannon | title = The Politics of Bellydancing in Cairo | journal = The Arab Studies Journal | volume = 12/13 | issue = 2/1 | pages = 165 | date = 2004 | jstor = 27933913}}</ref> In Egypt, Taj has been contracted as the principal belly dancer at venues in Sharm El Sheikh and Cairo.<ref name="Sommer Brokaw" /><ref name="Gazette">{{cite news |title=Taj Takes Belly Dancing to New Heights |date=June 8, 2005 |page=18 |work=The Queens Gazette |url=http://www.qgazette.com/news/2005-06-08/features/051.html |access-date=November 5, 2018}}</ref> Taj's audiences have included dignitaries such as politicians (including Egyptian Ambassador Youssef Zada)<ref name=story /> and Middle Eastern royalty.<ref name="Rusty Pray" /> Outside of the Middle East, she has been selected to perform at events sponsored by the United Nations and by the Egyptian Tourism Authority.<ref name="Rusty Pray">{{cite news |last=Pray |first=Rusty |date=November 27, 2014 |title=Worlds apart: Taj to present free Egyptian dance concert |url=https://charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com/pageview/viewer/2014-11-27#page=57 |access-date=November 19, 2018 |work=Florida Weekly}}</ref>{{rp|B18}}<ref name="Mike Russo">{{cite news |last=Russo |first=Mike |date=April 23, 2009 |title=She's the dancing queen |page=11 |url=http://liherald.com/stories/She146s-the-dancing-queen,2183 |work=Long Island Herald |access-date=November 21, 2018}}</ref> In 2009, Taj performed in New York City in an educational cultural program sponsored by the World Heritage Cultural Center.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mywhcc.org/category/previous-events/ |website=mywhcc.org |title=Global Beats Stage - October 2009 |last=World Heritage Cultural Center |date=June 12, 2013 |access-date=December 11, 2018}}</ref> Taj also performed at the high-profile wedding celebration<ref name="McDonald">{{cite web |last=McDonald |first=Megan |title=The Wedding of the Decade and a Baby Shower |work=Sarasota Magazine |url=https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2012/4/30/the-wedding-of-the-decade-and-a-baby-shower |date=April 30, 2012 |access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref> of Middle-Eastern author and publisher Yara Michaels<ref>{{cite web |last=Weingarten |first=Abby |title=Cooks at Home: Yara Shoemaker |work=Edible Sarasota |url=http://ediblesarasota.ediblecommunities.com/recipes/cooks-home-yara-shoemaker |date=November 1, 2012 |access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref> and ophthalmologist David W. Shoemaker<ref>{{cite episode | title = Michael Shoemaker's Wedding | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4R96NUKL-E | series = Jasmyne Salazar | airdate = June 20, 2012 | minutes = 5:02 | access-date=December 28, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="Video">{{cite episode | title = Sneak peek of Yara's wedding-Jackie Evancho | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMXBeocyJas | series = Femme Rouge Magazine | airdate = June 27, 2012 | minutes = 1:24 | access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref> that took place at Cà d’Zan at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.<ref>{{cite web | last = McDonald | first = Megan | title = Oh, Happy Day | website = Sarasotamagazine.com | url = https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2012/8/1/oh-happy-day | date = August 1, 2012 | access-date = February 11, 2019}}</ref>

Taj focuses on belly dance as being an artistic medium through which to communicate features of Egyptian culture. Taj rejects the floorwork that is common in other approaches (such as the Turkish style), believing the upright posture of the classical Egyptian genre to be more culturally representative.<ref name="Rusty Pray" /> Her interpretation of musical accompaniment is influenced by the vocal style of the late Egyptian singer and actress Umm Kulthum.<ref name="Rusty Pray" />{{rp|B19}}thumb|left|alt=Layla Taj Portrays Cleopatra|Taj portrays Cleopatra VII in ''Journey Down the Nile''

Taj performs through The Egyptian Cultural Performing Arts Society, whose mission is to educate the public about Egyptian culture.<ref name=story /> The mainstay of Taj's repertoire for the organization is ''Journey Down the Nile'',<ref name="Rusty Pray" />{{rp|B1}} a multi-media Egyptian cultural program which consists of regional dances of Egypt interspersed with film clips that explain them.<ref>{{cite web | title=Layla Taj -Egyptian Cultural Dance Program | url=http://danceofegypt.wixsite.com/egypt/about- | access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref> The program's primary dance is ''Wings of Isis'', in which Taj portrays Cleopatra and illustrates the queen's identification with the goddess Isis.<ref>{{cite web | last=Brown | first=Chris | title=The Search for Cleopatra | work=National Geographic | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2011/07/Cleopatra/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310120357/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2011/07/Cleopatra/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 10, 2018 | date=July 2011 | access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref> In her work, Taj also portrays Queen Nefertiti of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. In addition to performing the cultural program live, Taj also developed and performs in the educational short film, ''Ancient and Modern Dances of Egypt''.<ref>{{cite news | date=May 6, 2009 | title=Film by Egyptian Dancer to Air on QPTV | url=http://www.qgazette.com/news/2009-05-06/features/029.html | access-date=November 5, 2018 | pages=32 | work=The Queens Gazette}}</ref>

Taj's repertoire also includes a portrayal of another powerful woman, Salome. Taj performs Salome's Dance of the Seven Veils, described in Matthew 14 in the New Testament.

Taj is a contributor to ''Bennu,'' the publication of the Associated Artists of Middle Eastern Dance (ASAmed).<ref>{{Citation | last = Taj | first = Layla | title = Sukkah Ziyaeda, Coffee with Raquia Hassan, International Egyptian Master Teacher | journal = Bennu | volume = 3 | issue = 3 | pages = 10–12}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Taj | first = Layla | title = Put Your Best Face Forward | journal = Bennu | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages = 25–26}}</ref> She has written about her career experiences in Berlin<ref>{{Citation | last = Taj | first = Layla | title = Belly Dancing Berlin | journal = Bennu | volume = 1 | issue = 4 | pages = 8–9}}</ref> and Stockholm, including her contributions to the first Stockholm belly dance festival known as The Nile Group.<ref>{{Citation | last = Taj | first = Layla | title = Stockholm, Sweden Belly Dance Festival (The Nile Group) | journal = Bennu | volume = 2 | issue = 3 | pages = 27–28}}</ref> Her 2015 essay, ''The Difference Between Art and Entertainment'',<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/difference-between-art-entertainment-layla-taj/ | title = The Difference Between Art and Entertainment | last = Taj | first = Layla | date = June 29, 2015 | access-date = November 5, 2018 | website = Linkedin.com }}</ref> is a component of the dance curriculum at Brigham Young University.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://guides.lib.byu.edu/c.php?g=216613&p=3813668 |title=Subject Guides: Dance 261: Orientation to Dance: Art vs Entertainment |date=August 21, 2018 |website=Byu.edu |access-date=November 2, 2018}}</ref>

Before developing her dance career, Taj was a recording artist with a single that hit the Billboard charts.<ref name=story>{{cite web |url=https://www.laylataj.com/bio |title=Bio |website=Laylataj.com |access-date=November 6, 2018}}</ref> <!--=== Modern depictions of ancient legends === thumb|left|alt=Layla Taj Portrays Cleopatra|Taj portrays Cleopatra VII in ''Journey Down the Nile'' '''Cleopatra VII''' Cleopatra's visual aesthetic and Egyptian/Greek cultural specification has been the mainspring of Taj's career as a dancer.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Abdi |first1=Ferdosa |title=Thoughts on Casting of Cleopatra (Nov 17, 2020) |url=https://screen-queens.com/2020/11/17/thoughts-on-the-casting-of-cleopatra/ |website=screen Queens |publisher=screen-queens.com/ |access-date=August 10, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Brokaw |first1=Sommer |title=Dancing queen: World-Traveled Egyptian dancer to perform here (Nov 29, 2014)|publisher=The Sun p.2.}} Retrieved Aug 10, 2021</ref> Taj's multimedia cultural program ''Journey Down the Nile'' depicts Cleopatra as Isis.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pray |first1=Rusty (Nov 27, 2014) |title="Worlds apart:Taj to present free Egyptian Dance Concert ( |url=https://charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com/articles/worlds-apart-taj-to-present-free-egyptian-dance-concert/ |publisher=Florida Weekly. Retrieved Aug 10, 2021}}</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzeBddZRprI&t=8s {{Bare URL inline|date=May 2022}}</ref>

'''Nefertiti''' Taj's modern depiction of Nefertiti is postulated by native Egyptians. Photographers covet Taj's modeling skills for news publications.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Russo |first1=Mike |title=She's the Dancing queen (April 23, 2009) |url=https://www.liherald.com/stories/she146s-the-dancing-queen,2183 |publisher=The Herald. p. 11 Retrieved Aug 10, 2021}}</ref>-->

==See also== * List of dancers

==References== <references />{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taj, Layla}} Category:American people of Egyptian descent Category:American belly dancers Category:American performance artists Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American women performance artists Category:American people of Greek descent