Don’t quit your night job

Don’t quit your night job

Egypt turmoil hits Cairo nightlife as entertainers look for day jobs with work growing scarce even as party-goers ignore curfew to stay out all night

April 7, 2011 1:34 by Reuters

With fewer people to entertain, some in the industry are looking around for day jobs.

“To scrape a living, I am offering Afro braids, which is a rare service here, for both men and women,” said DJ Sugar.

Going West

A belly dancer who goes by the stage name Laila has seen 15 weddings cancelled.

“I don’t see any weddings coming until the curfew is lifted,” she said. “For now I have no back-up income so I’m travelling to the U.S. for a month to teach belly dancing.”

Some struggling entertainers have taken to negotiating with Egypt’s military rulers to allow customers to keep partying through the curfew.

“I had to present it as a tourism issue because I was broke and I needed cash,” said Kojak, who organises parties at one of a handful of night clubs allowed to stay open through the night.

“I had to be brave, and someone had to start it, so I built networks with the military to ensure my clients arrive home safely during the curfew,” he said.

Some night clubbers are defying the curfew, seeing the prospect of an evening indoors as too mournful to contemplate.

“I feel safe now because I know it’s calming down in the country,” said female club-goer Rony as she sipped a cocktail and bobbed her head to the beat of trance music.

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Tags: Cairo, cairo curfew, cairo jobs, Cairo nightlife, Egypt, Egypt curfew