{"id":124407,"date":"2023-09-19T11:06:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T09:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=124407"},"modified":"2023-10-06T16:03:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T14:03:29","slug":"jellyzone-egypt-experimental-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/jellyzone-egypt-experimental-party\/","title":{"rendered":"JellyZone: Egypt\u2019s experimental party series for the Cairo underground"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JellyZone<\/a>\u2019s founder, Donia Shohdy, completed a degree in editing at a film institute in Egypt and worked in the field for the majority of her twenties before moving on to engage with her affinity for music. Music was always a part of her childhood; Donia used to play the flute at the Cairo Opera House and went on to develop an interest in jazz during her teenage years. \u201cMy parents used to listen to a lot of music and all of it was very different and from across lots of different genres. They mostly listened to underground artists so I developed a love for all kinds of genres, including local music.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What started as Donia throwing house parties in her home back in 2015, simply so that people could dance, let loose and have a good time, turned into arguably one of Cairo\u2019s coolest and most accessible, experimental party series. \u201cWhen I first started throwing parties it was just about having a good time, until I realised that I enjoyed throwing them and was good at it. I knew how to plan a good line up and when to shift the energy.<\/em>\u201d One of Donia\u2019s main priorities in curating these spaces was to make sure that all kinds of different people, whether they ran in the same circles or not, could feel safe and enjoy themselves. \u201cI enjoyed being able to serve people in this way and found it fulfilling to create a good, safe time for them to party and feel happy.<\/em>\u201d As well as safety, it was important to Donia that JellyZone parties be financially accessible to more people. \u201cI used to go to parties around Cairo and I noticed that some were very expensive, and the ones that were affordable and played good music were rare.<\/em>\u201d Having pionpointed this gap in the market, JellyZone\u2019s party series was set up for success and was able to draw in an eclectic crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The party series has another clear goal: to prevent and protect against the occurrence of sexual harassment during any JellyZone events. 9 in 10 Egyptian women are survivors of sexual harassment. Unfortunately, parties are often a breeding ground for this behaviour. \u201cA lot of the parties end up being places where sexual harassment happens and I didn\u2019t feel that organisers were taking it seriously,<\/em>\u201d says Donia, while emphasising the importance of combatting this in the spaces she curates. Many of JellyZone\u2019s party goers have expressed feeling a sense of comfort and safety at JellyZone parties that they\u2019ve been to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Where a lot of Cairo\u2019s parties were filled with house and techno, Donia was more interested in bassier, tribal and reggaeton<\/a> music and more experimental forms of club and dance music that amalgamated genres and was less rigid and repetitive in its structure. “This is the kind of music that I delved into and started listening to a lot, where it was experimental and genre-defying. I listened until I found the sounds that I liked as a DJ.<\/em>\u201d Donia started DJing in 2017, around the same time as her first JellyZone party, which took place at a long gone venue called Underground. \u201cI felt like DJing came naturally to me, maybe because I had spent a lot of time listening to music, I had a huge bank to draw from.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n