Cover Story
Mary Ellen Donald
From
The Caravan 1997
San Francisco, California
by Sudan
Mary
Ellen has been involved in Middle Eastern
music as a dance student and a musician since
the late 1960s. Her interest in Middle
Eastern music and culture began when she found
belly dancing a creative outlet from her role
as a professional clinical social worker,
wife, and mother. Encouraged by her
husband, she began taking dance lessons with
Jamila Salimpour, who was teaching in San
Francisco and directing a troupe of dancers
and musicians called Bal Anat. Many
well known San Francisco area professional
dancers and teachers were once members of
this fabulous troupe. Jamila needed
a percussionist for the troupe, and she recruited
Mary Ellen in that role. Later, Mary
Ellen studied drum with Vince Delgado and
various Arab drummers, and currently studies
tambourine and drum with Tony Lammam.
So began Mary Ellens musical odyssey.
The drum and Middle Eastern rhythms have led
her on a continuous adventure that has evolved
for almost thirty years.
Mary Ellens artistic evolution is still unfolding
through the cycle of creative people who are
drawn to her and an ever flowing array of
opportunities that present themselves to her.
Mary Ellens openness for adventure and her
courageous spirit direct the artistic evolution.
She combines the wise savvy of a seasoned
veteran coupled with a youthful vitality and
enthusiasm for new challenges. Mary
Ellen has a remarkable highly developed sensitivity
to music that may be partially attributed
to her being legally blind.
Having studied piano and guitar in her early
years, Mary Ellen easily took to the doumbec
and other percussion instruments used in Middle
Eastern music. She fell in love with
the sensual and spiritual quality of this
music. Her early inspiration came from
listening to the Egyptian singers Warda and
Abdel Halim Hafex.
Mary Ellen has written, produced and published
several books and tapes on Middle Eastern
music. She is known by many as the Guru
of finger cymbal playing. Since the
1970s she has performed in numerous concerts
and productions, performed on many albums
with American and Middle Eastern musicians
including Magda Helmy, Gallal Kutub, Yusel
Mostafa, and Light Rain. She is also
on the soundtrack of several episodes of ABC-TV
series, the Young Indiana Jones.
In 1978, Mary Ellen and Bert Balladine organized
the first annual week-long workshop for belly
dancers from all over the country. Mary
Ellen taught percussion instruments and finger
cymbals, Bert taught belly dance, and they
sponsored prominent dancers to share their
skills. These pioneer productions served
as a model for many of the current events
and festivals that characterize todays belly
dance showcases.
Mary Ellen continues to be in high demand
as a musician, teacher, and organizer of events.
She now focuses her production skills on two
recitals and two drumming marathons each year.
Mary Ellens life is an inspirational beacon.
She is guided by a Buddhist principle that
the essential elements of a good life are:
Silence, Singing, Drumming, and Dancing.
She conducts her life by weaving a balance
of the elements into her day as she follows
the direction that her life path flows.
Excerpt from The Caravan, Vol. 13, #6, May/June 1997
Copyright 2009 Mary Ellen Donald - All
Rights Reserved
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Yolanda
- Last Revised:
12/09/08