Dancer Origin Stories – Maria Donya
This installment of Dancer Origin Stories features the lovely Maria Donya. She is a first generation American whose Egyptian roots are deep and strong. It’s a joy to share with you her journey and have this discussion about things that are important to her in this dance.
Let’s learn about Maria’s origin story!
Q. What is your first memory of dance?
I'm a first generation American. My parents are immigrants from Egypt. The Egyptian culture, and Middle Eastern culture altogether is very dance-oriented, especially in social settings. So, that was where I started seeing dance when I was really young. My parents used to watch some of the older films, especially when I was really young. They were really homesick. My dad, while we're driving to school, would play Egyptian music all the time.
My mom would always watch Arabic films. You can hear the orchestras play her favorite music. I was just always exposed to it. They were the first to leave Egypt in my entire family. My parents came to Cleveland, Ohio, which actually has a pretty strong Arabic-speaking community.
Q. Did you visit Egypt as a child?
Oh yes! It's always funny because when I say that my family's from Egypt, people assume Cairo, pyramids, but my family is not from Cairo. They're actually from Assuit, which is in upper Egypt, right along the Nile river. This area is associated with the dance of the cane or the stick, which is my favorite, absolutely.
Mostly because it's like my family lineage so, we're all about this dance. I’ll do the tourist thing sometimes, but 9 times out of 10, I'm in the village with my family in Assuit.
It feels like every weekend now there's a festival in Egypt and there's so much variety. But Cairo is not representative of the entire country.
Q. What’s the difference between experiencing dance in the United States and in your village of Assuit?
One thing that I've really seen in Egypt is, and through my parents too, is that there’s a lot of pride in literally everything you do. For example, Raqs Al Assaya, it's just a stick, it's just a cane. But to them, it's so much more. It's literally a piece of them. There's so much pride in the way it's made.
I also ask dancers to remember that a lot of the folkloric dances are inspired by what occurs at home. In reality when you put it on a stage, it becomes a theatrical exaggeration in some way.
I now teach primarily folklore dances. I actually started off in the belly dance world, but I've transitioned into folklore dance. I've become more vocal and open with folkloric dances, not just for Egypt, but also North Africa and the Middle East. Some of my dance training actually took me through Persian dance and also Bhangra from Punjab in Northern India. I just love folkloric dance, in general.
When I teach, I always give a lecture in the beginning. I talk about the dance itself, its origin, the people associated with the dance, and kind of give you that contextual framework.
Q. What led to you becoming serious about your dance studies on a more professional trajectory?
I kind of had two phases of my life in a way. One is the belly dance phase and the other is the folklore phase. I firmly believe that nobody is ever going to know everything, including those of the culture. I am not the authority just because I'm Egyptian. I think it’s important to remember that we are all human. And culture is dynamic.
As a first generation American, a child of immigrants, some may have identity troubles or go through an identity crisis. However you want to package it, because you're really stuck between two cultures and they can be very different. It was a bit like Tula from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I just wanted to be normal. I wanted to be like everybody else. But then you go home and you're Egyptian, there is a different set of rules and expectations. There is a love-hate relationship with belly dance. We love it, but there’s shame if your daughter becomes a belly dancer.
One thing that is very different about Egyptian culture and American culture is that American culture is very individualistic, but that's not the case in an Egyptian household. In an Egyptian household, the community is what matters. The family is the core.
In dance, if what you love is different than the expectation, do you fight for it? And, do you understand that if you do fight for it, you're going to be fighting for a very long time, probably your whole life.
Dance was a fight for me, and I stepped away for many years. I got tired. For five years, I didn't dance. I sold all my costumes except for a few of them. Then, in the past year or so, my folklore phase started. I became very curious about it, because one, it's a deficit in a lot of dance communities that I've experienced. Definitely in Ohio, we have Raqs Al Assaya, but if I talk about something called like Simsimiya and Bambouti, a lot of people might not know what I'm talking about.
One day, there was a Persian wedding that was happening in Columbus, and they wanted Bandari. It was a folkloric dance from Iran, and I know Bandari, but I don't perform. I've been a kind of hidden person in the belly dance community who’s not a gigging dancer, but I agreed to do this gig with my friend. It was wonderful. And that was the moment I realized that I missed this so much. I decided that I'm going to fight for this one, consequences be damned, you know?
I started thinking about how these dances belong to a people and for me, it's really important to not just dance, but to also understand the people and cultures to the best of your ability. There's something about folkloric dance for me that feels more connected to people, which I think makes me love it even more.
Q. What’s a movement or technique that came easily for you?
When I first worked with drummers, even if I didn't know the name of a specific rhythm, in my body I knew what to do. I think the musicality came easier to me. I didn't really struggle with that. I also think improv came naturally to me, but choreography is a challenge.
Q. Is there anything that specifically relates to your non dance life or makes certain things easier?
I think coming back to dance has given me a lot of work life balance. Dance is not my primary job. I actually work for a university and in public health research. I absolutely love it but it is a demanding job. I was working disgusting hours, and being on call. I never really disconnected from my job.
When I stopped dancing, it was like something that was mine was taken away from me and I remember there was one point I was crying a lot because I felt like a piece of me was gone or stolen, essentially, that I can't dance anymore.
So I decided to just work, but it was detrimental. It taught me that taking breaks, taking time for yourself, and downtime was incredibly important for physical and mental health. And as much as I love my job, it's not dance. So that really pointed out how much dance is necessary for you.
Q. Are there things in your non-dance life that help with your dance life?
I am very academically-focused and research-driven, and that's how I think about folklore. When I create lectures for dancers, I’ll read, say, an article that came out of University of California, and take a very academic approach to it. I think that accessibility to information is very important, so I will do the background research. I will pull the papers, the books, anything that I have open access to, and I share it with them.
You gotta back up what you say. As a dancer that stopped dancing, it's hard to sit back and be silent. Learning to peel back those layers of the culture that you come from without realizing that those aren't just universal concepts is a really important part of the learning process.
Q. Do you have any offers coming up?
Since I work a lot on research grants, I have grant-writing experience. We have some art councils that are willing to fund artists, whether they're visual or performing artists, for different projects or cultural festivals. Columbus has a big refugee and immigrant population, and we have a great organization that helps new refugees and immigrants. I volunteered with this organization before and they're just absolutely wonderful. I think it's just important to highlight Columbus's diversity and really give a platform for people to speak and show who they are.
⬆️ Watch the full interview!
About Maria
Maria (Egypt/USA) is a performing dance artist based in Ohio with over 15 years of dance training that has taken her through the dances of Egypt, the Middle East, and beyond, from the classical and folkloric Iranian dances to the folkloric dances of India (Bhangra of Punjab). For all dance types and styles, she emphasizes teaching their unique movements, musicality, culture, language, and history.
With a strong academic background of over 10 years and a research driven approach, Maria tailors her specialty classes and workshops to include reviewed lectures on the dance itself, its country of origin, and its people. One of her greatest passions and messages is to honor the dances and cultures that you step into, and to support native artists in any way you can and as best as you can, such as studying with native teachers or sourcing your costuming from the countries of origin.
Born to Egyptian immigrants from Asyut (Upper Egypt; Sa'id Region), Egyptian Raqs Sharqi and the folkloric dances of the various regions of Egypt are the styles she is most passionate about, and she is always so excited to share her heritage, her knowledge, and her experiences as a first-generation American to Egyptian parents. She openly discusses navigating the challenges with studying dance and performing publicly, particularly for native dancers. In addition to research and dance, Maria is also passionate about mental health, and has openly discussed her mental health journey as a dancer and a child of Egyptian immigrants in all aspects of her life.
Maria is always happy to talk and connect with other dancers! Feel free to send her an email at mariadonyadance@gmail.com, or message her on Instagram @mariadonyadance
