After viewing the “Kaff” performed by the Aswan Saqafa I had many questions. The first question I asked several people was; is this Kaff Nubi or Kaff Sa’idi? All answered that it was “Kaff Ja’afari”.

This was a fun interview. We had had the good fortune of being in Aswan during “Journey through Egypt-4” study/tour on the dates that coincided with preparations for he Abu Simbel Sunrise Festival. We observed the Aswan Saqafa Troupe’s dress rehearsal and I was able to video-tape it. Of course it stimulated a landslide of questions. I had seen and enjoyed their choreography and performance of “Kaff” before, I was happy that it was included in the dress rehearsal. In Luxor JtE-4, we were introduced to the movement and history of the Sa’idi Kaff. I was looking towards learning about Kaff Nubi from our Nubian dance teacher, Ahmed Awedony. Unfortunately we did not have time for the interview until the last minutes. We were gathering in the hotel lobby for the transport to the train to depart Aswan. It was the end of the tour, we were tired and I was a bit sick. But I was happy that we were able to carve out a few minutes for questions.

One of the dances performed by the Aswan Saqafa / Aswan Culture Palace / Aswan Governorate Troupe is the “Kaff” (also can be spelled “Kaf”). Kaff refers to the palm of the hand, therefore referring to clapping as part of the dance. There are several regional and population based styles of Kaff this one, as we shall discover in the next Archive video entry, is “Kaff Ja’afary” of the El Ja’afra people. As in all the styles of Kaff I have observed, the men form lines, circles or other organized formations. The females (if included) dance more of a freestyle ovement and path and do not join the formations of the men. I filmed this in Aswan during our JtE-4 study tour in October 2019. We were lucky to be in Aswan during rehearsals for the sun-rise celebration to be held in Abu Simbel on Lake Nassar, south of Aswan.