Osama Kamal has a glimpse of the mediaeval poets in the music of a revolutionary new singer-songwriter There is a point to the singing of Dina . Twenty-four year old and a relative newcomer to the musical scene, she has a penchant for revolution, past and present, and for people who stand up for their beliefs. A few nights ago she took the stage in Al-Azhar Park and sang a dozen or so of the songs in her repertoire, some of which she wrote herself and some she borrowed from the peripatetic poets of the 14th century. Almost half her songs were from a recent workshop with a group of musicians and songwriters. So some of the magic she summoned on stage came from Mohamed El-Sawwah, Mohamed Saleh, Nancy Mounir, Hamid Sabri, Ayman Mabrouk, Mostafa Abbas and Wael El-Sayyed, all of whom also took part in the workshop. Wadidi, the consummate experimental artist, enjoyed working with the group of musicians, who came from a diverse background. Some were jazz or rock musicians, others played oriental music, and still others at fused classical with modern, or even Arabic and Latin. Throw all of these talents together and something is bound to happen, something old and new, something that Wadidi seeks but cannot find enough of. She takes to the stage with the natural facility of a seasoned entertainer. Although she has been singing only for three years, she has done a great deal of acting before that. She worked with two or three theatre groups in Egypt, has appeared on television dramas, and has cooperated with more than one musical band. A fast learner, Wadidi continues to add new skills to her repertoire. She had already written the music for some of her songs, and is now trying her hand at writing lyrics. As the soft light reflected off the dozens of minarets in the background of the Geneina Theatre, the amphitheatre of Al-Azhar Park, Wadidi serenaded her audience with an energetic yet melodious performance of "Ya Teir!" ("O Bird"), a new song she wrote with Hani Fouad. Most of her songs are about the quest for freedom and truth and the liberation from oppressors and liars. One of her songs challenges society's concept of haram, or sin. The lyrics run something like this: "Sins are not what you say is a sin, you who act so smart. Sin is not falling in love. Sin is saying lies, which you do." Wadidi started singing in 2008. "Three years ago I had nothing to do with singing or song writing. Then I met the oud (lyre) layer Maged Soliman , and he thought that my voice was rather interesting. We were working together in Al-Warsha, the experimental theatre group. Since then, music has been my life." As a member of Al-Warsha, Dina performed in several plays including Isis and Osiris by Saleh Saad in 2007 and Sher Torwada (Troy Poetry) by Hassan El-Gritli in 2009. She also appeared in Sahrawiya (Desert Tales) by Effat Yehia in 2010. In 2010 she had a major part in Khayri Beshara's television series Al-Horoub Men al-Gharb"(Fleeing the West). "After I discovered my abilities as a singer-songwriter, I did some work with the composer Fathi Salama and cooperated with the story teller Sheikh Zein Mahmoud, from whom I learnt to sing the Sira Helaliya." The audience loved her part in Sira Helaliya (the oral history of a legendary mediaeval knight named Abu Zeil Al-Helali), which she chose to perform this night. She had to repeat it twice at the end of the show. It is a revolutionary selection, for it talks about leaders who would rather die than abdicate their power. Describing the killing of Khafagi Amer, a major character in the Helaliya, seems to have touched a chord with the audience, mostly young people who shared Wadidi's appreciation of Sheikh Imam's songs of the 1970s. Wadidi has worked with Mohamed Mounir's band of as well as with the musical bands Habayebna (Our Dear Ones) and Masar Egbari (Detour). Her work with Habayebna seems to have affected her style, which tends to evoke the irreverent cheeriness of the songs of the early 20th century. "When I was with Habayebna, I sang the songs that were popular in the Cairo coffeehouses in the early 20th century These are songs by Saleh Abdel-Hay, Abdel Latif El-Banna, Ratiba Ahmed, Badiyaa Masabni and Naima El-Masria. I also sang the songs of Sheikh Imam, who blends the traditions of political cabaret with the drama of stage musicals." Wadidi worked with with Masar Egbari on "Khallina Nehlam" ("Let's Dream"), a song that gained much publicity after the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. "The song brought Masar Egbari into cooperation with fantastic Tunisian artists, people like Mahdi R2M, Anis Doreidi, Sofian Safta and Mohamed Ali Ben Jomaa." She then took part in Playing for Change, a musical project bringing together musicians from all over the world. Some of the songs Wadidi sang at Al-Azhar were the outcome of her contact with the Playing for Change artists: "Al-Haram" ("Sin"), "Ya Teir," (O Bird), "Al-Hal" (an Algerian folk song), "Ya Belad" ("O Country"), "Gara Eh" ("What happened?"), and "Yohaddethoni" ("He Talks to Me"). Wadidi says that her selection from the Helaliya stems from the similarity between what happened centuries ago and what is happening now. The world has changed, and yet the lust for power has remained. The peripatetic poets of the past, those who embellished the acts of Abu Zeid El-Helali, would have been just as happy to work with Dina as the many lyricists with whom she works now: Ibrahim Abdel-Fattah, Hana fouad, Islam Abdel-Moati, Iyad Abu Bakr, Girgis Shokri, Montasir Hegazi and Mido Zahir.
