Sunday morning - up and about - a quick breakfast and I'm on my way again for final 3 workshops of the weekend. Aida Nour - Sha'abi with a 1990 Sha'abi Style She is wonderful! It was a joy to see her perform last night and the workshop is every bit as fantastic! She breaks down the choreography into components that can easily be followed and is a thorough teacher. I am overawed. Randa Kamel - Technique and short choreography No, one can never have enough of Randa - she is fabulous and delightful and her dancing is so inspiring that you just want to become a better dancer! She makes you feel this. It was also wonderful to see some of the dancers here that I know from the UK (Sarah, Farah, Fre
After a lovely Friday night at the Folkloric Show and a comfortable sleep in my luxurious room at the Jurys Inn Hotel, I make sure I have a plentiful breakfast from the smorgasboard on offer before setting off to start the day with Khaled and Kazafy's workshop. Combination Technique between Raqs Sharki Khaled Style and Folklore Kazafy Style I thoroughly enjoyed this - Khaled and Kazafy worked well together alternating during each combination to give a different perspective. This was cleverly done and was wonderful to see the two of them dance up close. What wonderful wonderful dancers they are :-) Tito - Saidi Song - Stick Technique with short choreography WOW! - He's got such energy and pre
OMG - Am I really going? Yes, I can make it!!! 3 days of workshops and shows in Croydon and I just happen to be in London!!! Of course I'm going - how could I not?! With a line up of Randa Kamel, Aida Nour, Tito, Virginia, Khaled, Kazafy, Yulia and Elena, this is one festival I wasn't going to miss!!! Friday afternoon - I make my way to the Jurys Inn hotel and unpack in my hotel room> Yes, yes, I know I have somewhere to stay in London, but the messing about with trains early morning and late nights for 3-4 days wasn't worth the hassle - it was much nicer to stay at a hotel and have a leisurely walk to the venues :-) After getting settled in my room, I take off for the afternoon Masterclass
In London! What a fantastic two days of workshops with Serena and Hossam. On Saturday we did the “TAK RAKA TAKOM” the latest choreography by Serena Ramzy to a Hossam and his drum group - it was energetic, catchy and I loved it! It was brilliant to have live drums - you could hear all the accents etc. On Sunday, we concentrated on how to improvise to a live sound as opposed to a pre-recorded improvisation. We learnt: "Basic Parts of Baladi, how they interact together. You will learn how to dance Musical Layers over the rhythm, which Rhythmic Combinations are used in Baladi and how to recognize the right parts of the music to pull back the energy and when to let it all come out in a flourish
A dazzling dance show put on by Paula Murray which saw me performing a solo and then joining with Suezy and her girls to perform 3 dances that I learnt in just a few weeks! Phew - no pressure! It was all worth the hard work as the dances all went off really well and the audience were a fantastic crowd who were were really appreciative. It was a really good night and great to see familiar faces and friends from the belly dance community there supporting us as well as the public.
