What to expect from my class

I have a new class starting next week and have had a lot of questions such as "what to wear" and "will I be able to do it with a bad back" etc so I thought I would write a blog explaining everything.

What to wear? the simple answer to this is wear whatever you like as long as it does not constrict your movement.  I find most ladies come in sports type gear to begin with but very soon they find themselves drawn to all things sparkly and feminine and the transformation is always lovely to observe.  You will need to bring something to tie around your hips such as a coin belt or scarf this will emphasise the movements.  I usually dance barefoot as belly dance is a very earthy kind of dance however you can wear soft soled dance shoes or socks with grips on the bottom.

The first thing you will do when attending my class for the first time is fill out a health questionnaire, I take your health and safety very seriously and have heard of so many people getting injured in other people's classes.  Belly dance is suitable for all however if you have certain health problems such as bad backs or joint problems then some of the moves will have to be adapted.  The form is a requirement of my insurance and is confidential between you and me, if anything about your health changes whilst attending my classes please always tell me so that I can tailor the moves to suit you.

The second thing we will do in class is warm up.  If you have attended classes before where the teacher did not warm you up properly (shame on them) you may find it odd.  Warming up is crucial to prevent injury and your body will perform better if the muscles are warm.

The third thing we will look at is posture, this bit may be boring however it is important.  Good posture is crucial again from a health and safety perspective - a lot of people have injured their backs belly dancing because they have not adopted the right posture plus the dance looks a hundred times better when performed in good posture.

Having got all the boring bits out of the way now its time to have fun, my classes are always 90 minutes long which gives me time to warm you up properly and check posture now we start to look at technique.  I will go through the basic movements explaining things, demonstrating things and checking to make sure you are doing it correctly.  I will then teach you a simple routine which will utilise all of the basic moves you have learnt.  Each week we will practise this routine plus you will learn more moves each week and as the weeks go by you will learn more and more routines.  To begin with the dances you will learn will be easy and fairly slow however as you become more proficient the movements will become more challenging and the choreographies will become faster and more challenging.  We will start off learning caberet style but during the course you will learn lots of different styles such as the folkloric Saiidi (dancing with a cane), Tribal style (dancing with zills) Egyptian caberet  (with a veil) Dunyarvi Gypsy style (with a big swishy skirt) plus you will learn lots of fun fusion dances incorporating Bollywood, Tango, Latin and Dark Caberet.

I am continuously updating my skills to learn the latest techniques so you will always be learning something new in my class.  A lot of teachers just concentrate on just one style but that can become quite boring as you are continuously re-hashing the same moves.  I have been teaching for over 8 years and all of my dances are different, fun and achievable.  I am a cuddly woman, in my 50's so if you are worried about your size or age then don't, my students range in age from 21 to 75 the routines are achievable by everyone.

The final thing you will do in my class is a cool down, you will have worked hard and your muscles will be full of lactic acid and if you cool down properly you won't hurt the next day please always stay for the cool down, it is important.

If you have any questions about my new class please contact me, it starts next Friday and is in the mirrored dance studio at Wombourne Leisure Centre 11.30-1.00.  I hope to see you there.

November update

Well December is almost out and I realised I have not blogged for ages - that can only be a good sign as it means I have been too busy to blog and busy is good.

November started with a lovely event at which I danced with my troupe in Lichfield.  It was one of those lovely old-fashioned haflas full of joyful women and I spent a very pleasant evening with friends.  The following weekend Shikidim were booked to dance at a wedding which is always nice, it was a pleasure to dance for Helen and her new husband and nice that it was in the village - a home fixture.  The weekend after that we danced at the Bamba charity hafla in Birmingham, we had a lovely evening, there were some greats acts performing.

That brings me up to 24th November - the day of my Raqs Wombourne2 show.  I have to say the lead up to the show grew more and more stressful.  I like to plan things like this very carefully and was feeling very pleased with myself that we had got the programmes and music sorted so early.  The week before the show I was sent messages from 6 performers to say they were unable to dance - fortunately I had been inundated with requests for performance slots and had crammed too many into the show so it gave a little leeway with the timings but it meant the programmes were wrong and the music had to be re-done - Rob was re-doing the music an hour before the show.  The day of the show was pretty manic, we had Bex do a brilliant fun workshop - spooky, vampy and gothic and then Ozgen arrived and we did another fabulous workshop - Turkish Romany style, followed by a drumming workshop with the wonderful John Sleiman which sadly I had to miss as I had to get my hair done and get to the Civic Centre to set everything up.  The show was brilliant even if I do say so myself.  I think having been to many belly dance shows I am still capable of being critical/objective however I can honestly say that every performance was wonderful.  We had up and coming talent such as Hannah who was a very pleasant surprise for everyone, we had Rachelle (recent Miss Belly Dance Ireland winner) perform and wow everyone, we had big names such as Bex and Ozgen who always deliver a stunning performances and we had fabulous troupes displaying Saiidi, ATS, Bollywood, Circus, Thai fingers.  If I were to mention everyone personally here it would be a very long blog but I would like to say a huge thank you to each and every performer/troupe it really was a splendid showcase of the diversity of Belly Dance.  I do have to say a special thank you to my students who performed a Latin fusion dance - all my nagging and drilling paid off and they did me proud as did my troupe Shikidim who performed my new dark caberet dance and my tango fusion dance.

My fabulous students

 The following day we had more workshops with Ozgen, Turkish caberet being the first and it was just fabulous fun, lots of skirt swishing and attitude and then we had a drum solo workshop - I was feeling slightly brain dead by this time but nevertheless the workshop was excellent - very clever choreography.

Ozgen performing Turkish Romany style

 Plans are already underway for RaqsW 3.  I now have Christmas to celebrate so I shall cut this blog short.  Merry Christmas everyone.

October Update

Another great month has passed.  It started with a Saiidi workshop with Candi - I was really poorly so did not get as much out of this workshop as my head throbbed every time I moved, however I watched and made notes and picked up a couple of moves which I intend to use in my latest dance.  The dance is coming along nicely, I am pleased I decided to do a traditional style as we have spent the last year doing fusion style dances and its good to get back to your roots every now and then.  It is loads of fun to dance and the group look great doing it.

I performed with Shikidim at the Azhara Day of Dance event.  I have a lovely new dancer in my troupe and it was her first time dancing with us and she did really well.  I very much enjoyed the event as the Shropshire ladies always make us feel very welcome.

I also hosted the amazing Elis Pinheiro, wow! She taught us how to dance with a silk veil in the first workshop and it was just lovely and then we did arm/hips in the 2nd workshop - watching her arms made me really think about my own - making a big effort to use my arms more gracefully now.  She was a very patient and inspiring teacher.

Last weekend it was the Infusion Emporium show in Wolverhampton, this was fabulous.  Every act was awesome but I was utterly blown away by Illan Riviere.  He was the total package for me, he had grace, fluidity, sharpness of moves, stage presence, tons of sex appeal and danced to fabulous music - if you get chance go and see him.

This weekend I am doing a workshop with Anne White and dancing with Shikidim in Lichfield, I am really looking forward to this, the show promises to be great.  The following weekend we have a wedding booking, the weekend after that we have the Bamba charity hafla and the weekend after that is MY BIG EVENT.  I decided to take advantage of the fact that Lebanese drummer John Sleiman is coming to the show and have persuaded him to do a drumming workshop - there are a few places left if you would like to book (see my website www.raqswombourne.vpweb.co.uk).  The programme has been sent off to the printers, have nearly sold all the tickets so everything is in hand - I think this is going to be a brilliant evening.

In other news - I got a new kitten and lost 7 lbs with weight Watchers so all in all it has been a good month!

September Update - shows and workshops

The highlight of September has to be The Shimmy in the City event held in Croydon.  The sole reason for me booking it was to do Aziza's workshop as I have her veil dvd and think she is such a beautiful dancer.  I was not disappointed, her workshop was very challenging - but I learnt some really cool moves from her and she was a delight.  I also did a workshop with Prince Kayammer - he was not known to me and I confess I only did his workshop because it was cheaper than the others - wow what a fabulous dancer, lovely man and great teacher.  The final workshop was with Kazafy.  He taught a faced paced Saiidi routine, again I learnt a lot.  The show was great Aziza just wowed me with the best drum solo I have ever seen - it was innovative and very sassy.  The men all performed well - Prince again wowed me with his sharp/crisp moves - so precise.  I also got to see Dina dance, probably the most famous belly dancer in the world - she went down a storm with the audience.  I was a tad disappointed with her performance, there was no doubting she is a diva though.  The weekend was topped off by lovely a Thai meal where Rob and I celebrated our anniversary.

Aziza!

The other event of note was The Tarab show in Birmingham.  It was  a lovely event, probably the most uncomfortable seats and tiniest stage but that did not detract from the dancers.  We had enthusiatic amateurs with big smiles, professional dancers such as Alexis and Donna both of whom I very much enjoyed watching, live music and a lovely flamenco dancer.  I think this is an event I shall dance at it the future as the audience seem very friendly.

Pedralta Dance

My Thursday night class started back a couple of weeks ago and I began teaching them my new Saiidi dance.  I have spent a lot of time researching the Saiidi style this summer.  Lorna of Cairo inspired me, I pinched a move from Aziza (the stirring the pot) and Kazafy filled in the gaps.  I had started work on a Saiidi routine but was not happy with the music.  I decided to use the track that Kazafy used - my dance is nothing like his - well he is Kazafy! but I am very pleased with how it is coming together.  I have not finished it yet as I have another Saiidi workshop coming up this weekend with Candi so I am hoping for inspiration for the end.

Its going to be a busy month again next month (happily I always seem to say that) I have the Azhara event hosted by my lovely friend Jude with workshops and a show in which I am dancing with some of my troupe.  Next day I am hosting Elis for 2 workshops which have been a sell out - I am so excited about this.  I also have Alexis's show to go to - this looks like it is going to be a fab night and I hope to meet up with lots of friends there. 

I am not sure if anyone actually reads my blog - its probably not of much interest to anyone else but its kind of like an online diary for me and when I am too old to dance I shall re-read it and think of all the lovely places I went to and the lovely people I have met thanks to Belly Dance.

Giving Thanks

Earlier this year I wrote a blog giving gratitude to the people who have shared their knowledge and inspired me in the belly dance world.  This blog is a thank you to the people who have supported me as a dancer.  My line manager, Tess deserves a mention first - I could not wish for a more supportive manager/friend.  From funding for courses to cups of coffee and long chats - she is great.  Next I have to thank my students.  This is my 8th year of teaching and some of my students have been with me all that time.  Some have moved onto other classes which is great, some have gone on to be very successful teachers and performers themselves and I watch their careers with interest.  Last year I had a lot of students return to my classes which is always lovely.  My students are all different, some are cuddly like me, some are fitness fanatics, some are young some are not so young, some come wanting a night out and a natter with friends, some come prepared to work hard but the thing they have in common is enthusiasm.  A lot of my students have become friends and I am so grateful to them for their support.

I would also like to thank all the other fabulous belly dance teachers who have given me friendship, transport, shared music, invited me to their events, supported my events, and supported me through difficult times.  A special thank you to Jude, Shirley and Neshe it is always lovely to connect with these ladies at events and on Facebook.  Maureen deserves a mention for rekindling my love of belly dance and for the feedback she gives me and Alexis deserves a mention for covering my classes when I was ill.   Finally I would like to thank all the people who support my events.  I have spent the last year working hard to bring quality teachers and performers to Wolverhampton without the support of the local Belly Dance community it would not be possible. Times are hard for everyone at the moment and I know how difficult it can be to find the money and so I am especially grateful that people come to my classes, workshops and show - I try to keep the prices as low as possible and provide good value for money and I have received such great feedback for everything I have organised.  I am so thrilled that so many fabulous dancers are coming to dance at my next show in November, many are travelling from all over the country and I am thanking them in advance.

I will shut up now as this is starting to sound like an Oscar winners speech - I just like people to know that I do appreciate them. xxxxxxx

August update - workshops mainly

Well I say this nearly everytime I come to reflect on the last month but yes.......another busy month.  This month I was mainly busy with workshops.  I am coming up to my 8th year of teaching so it is very important that I update my skills so that I have something new to teach.  This month I did 5 fabulous workshops:-

I travelled to Mancester to attend workshops with Lorna of Cairo.  I don't really like having to travel but she was worth the journey.  She taught us a new way of doing Saiidi - really funky and fun, and she shared some tips of how to dance like an Egyptian - basically don't over dance, listen to the music, and how to engage with the audience.  She also told funny little anecdotes about working in Cairo as a belly dancer - it was a joy to listen to her. 

I also did a tribal class with Donna Gardner - I have always loved to see ATS performed properly and I know how to do the moves but have never known how to do/follow the cues.  I found the class enjoyable but very hard - remembering where your arms should be for all of the moves is tricky when I usually chose my own arm positions - as for the zills....I am rubbish at these.  I know its just practise but I have to confess that I just don't like zills, playing them or hearing them.  Donna made them look very easy and I did enjoy her workshop and would like to explore this style more.

I also had the privilege to host Shafeek.  Oh boy! he was amazing.  He taught a lovely Oriental style workshop and this workshop reminded me of why I took up belly dance in the first place......it was just sheer joy to do.  Shafeek taught a lovely choreography, he was very encouraging and I have to say I have not enjoyed a workshop so much for years.  He then went on to teach a Shaabi workshop.  This was a sold out workshop and so the room was quite full but he made great use of the space available by having us all snake around the room to practise the moves (a useful tip that I shall use).  The choreography he taught was fast and fun and everyone had a great time.  I shall definitely get him back next year.

I was also very honoured to perform in Bex's Carpe Somnium show.  I was very nervous about performing at this show because I am not really a goth girl but I had put together a dark caberet dance and I thought Carpe Somnium would be the ideal place to perform it for the first time.  I invited one of my friends, Anne-Marie to dance it with me, we had to adapt it slightly to make it work for a duet and I spent hours sewing diamante onto my costume.  I am pleased to say the performance went well and we had a lot of positive feedback from some amazing people - its always so nice when people you admire/respect praise you! The rest of the show was great. I really enjoyed watching Bex, Alexis, Tasmin, Belly Fusion Dance Collective and Dawn O'Brien.

August was also the month of my birthday and I organised a meal out with my students.  15 of us went for a curry and it was just lovely sitting chatting to everyone.  When I teach I rarely get time to talk as I am busy, well, teaching! I was struck by how lovely the ladies are who come to my classes.  They currently range from 20 something to 70 something, some slim, some not-so-slim, some fit some with health problems, different ethnicity but all of them are lovely. 

I ended the month with a new venture.  A costuming workshop.  Despite my rather limited sewing skills I am often complimented for the bra's I have decorated and was persuaded to do a workshop.  It was just so nice sitting around a table with lovely ladies chatting as they created their own fabulous bra's.  I don't think it is something I shall repeat but I very much enjoyed doing this workshop - the best bit was shopping for all the fripperies for the goody bags!

I thought next month was going to be quiet but the diary is filling up.  I am working on a new stick dance as I think my old Saiidi dance looks very boring - I know I should not blow my own trumpet but my choreography skills have improved immensely in the last couple of years, I have finally got to grips with how to design a dance for a large group - before I used to just choreograph it as a solo and teach it to the group, but designing a dance for a group is very different.  You have to include lots of changing of positions to make it interesting which is hard to visualise sometimes.I am looking forward to teaching it when my Thursday class resumes on the 20th September.  I am also very excited to be going to a workshop with Aziza - she is one of my favourite dancers and when I heard she was coming to the uk I knew I had to seize the chance to train with her.  I also have tickets to 2 Belly Dance shows, one in Birmingham and one in London.  Exciting!

July Update - Hen Parties, haflas and more.

Again it has been a busy month which started with my summer student hafla.  I always love watching my students perform their own choreographies it is one of the most rewarding things about being a teacher.  This year I was not disappointed, we had some fabulous performances and I would like to thank the ladies who attended and especially the ones who performed their own dance.

I also did a stage make-up workshop.  This was just loads and loads of fun! we had a lovely group of ladies sitting around a table playing with make-up - it reminded me of when I was a kid and me and my friend would sneak into Mom's room and play with her make-up.  However I do think the ladies who attended found it useful and they all looked fabulous at the end.  I received a lot of positive feedback afterwards so I may well repeat this workshop.

The gorgeous make-up workshop attendees.

Shikidim danced at Chelmarsh, this is always a lovely event to dance at but it was marred by the weather this year.  Our first set went down well but the weather deteriorated for our second set but a big thank you to anyone who braved the elements to watch us, the new dances worked well - its always a little worrying performing new dances in public for the first time but luckily they are now embedded into our body memory.

I also updated my First Aid Certificate.  I am very lucky that in all my years of teaching the only thing I have ever had to do is issue a plaster.  I live in fear of having to use First Aid but I do take the health and safety of my students very seriously and I would urge anyone who attends classes to make sure their teacher has this qualification.

Following the success of the hen party last month I was offered another hen party booking.  I decided to rethink my hen party strategy and use what I had learnt from the first one.  This involved choreographing a new dance - something fun/lively/fastish but easy.  I have not choreographed a new beginners rouine for a few years because my students skills have advanced and so my choreography has become more challenging accordingly.  This hen party was fabulous, they loved the dance and whilst having fun they also worked hard at learning the dance - they loved my idea of dancing it at the wedding and worked with me to make subtle changes to the routine and I also sold some tickets for my show, it really was a lovely day and I even found time to visit the rag market to buy lots of sparkly trims.

My summer classes held at Wombourne Community Centre have been well attended - its nice for me to not have to think about teaching something new for a few weeks and try to iron out any problems people are having with technique or choreographies.  I really must start to think of new stuff for September though.  At the moment I am thinking of a burlesque style dance but I also have a beautiful piece of music which I would like to do a veil dance to.

The last week of July has been taken up with non dance things for a change including a trip to the seaside, a day at a spa and 21st Birthday celebrations wih my lovely daughter.

Next month I am hosting Shafeek, I am very excited about this.  I did a workshop with him a few years ago and I am very happy to be bringing him to The Midlands - the lucky ladies who snapped up the workshop places are in for a treat.

I am also doing a costuming workshop next month.  I have become a dab hand at decorating belly dance bras and always receive compliments on my designs so I decided to share the knowledge.  The workshop will be on the 30th August, at Wombourne Community Centre 7.00-9.00 and costs £20 however that does include a goody bag with everything you need to decorate your bra - I still have places left so if you would like to book on this workshop please get in touch.

I am also performing at Carpe Somnium - this is way out of my comfort zone as the show will be full of dark/goth young fabulous dancers but I wanted to perform my new dark caberet dance and this seemd like a good place to do it.  I am nervous though - I like having my troupe with me but one has to take on challenges and this is my challenge.

June update

June was such a busy and great month for me.  I danced with some of my students at a Bollywood event in Wolverhampton town center, I was a little worried about performing at this event as the dance we performed is a Bollywood/Bellydance fusion and the audience was predominantly Indian but everyone seemed to like us.  The next day I went to a workshop with Hilde Canoodt - this was fabulous.  She had with her a live band and taught us some very lively gypsy dancing, I loved it and also loved watching her dance with the band at The Chaos Charousal Show.

I also danced with my student group at Kinver carnival - this was a nice event to dance at - very well organised and well attended and my students all got over their nerves and danced well - I was a very proud lady.  The following weekend was Willenhall Carnival where I danced with just 2 of my students - its nerve wracking dancing in such a small group but Liz and Andrea again did me proud.  The next day I danced with my troupe Shikidim in West Park for the Compton Hospice fundraising event.  We were all trying out our new tango costume but unfortunately we got soaked dancing - my troupe all continued dancing in the pouring rain with a big smile on their faces - true professionals!

This month I also did my first hen party.  I was a little nervous about this but figured I should just do what I normally do when I teach a workshop.  I very quickly realised that the group were not really interested in perfecting technique and so I adapted my plan to simply provide a fun session where they learnt a very simple routine to dance at the wedding - they all seemed very happy with this and I will definitely take more hen party bookings.

I am also happy to report that my new class in Kingswinford is going very well, the class is pretty much full every week and they are a lovely group.  They have learnt so much so quickly.  I am very thankful that all 3 of my classes are very well attended and would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the ladies who turn up come rain or shine.

I was glad of a few days away in Somerset - although some sun would have been nice but I enjoyed resting my body and planing all the events for July which is promising to be yet another busy month.  I have my summer student hafla where I am hoping to see lots of my lovely students perform their own work.  I am also teaching a make-up workshop on the 12 July, I still have a couple of places available for this.  My troupe will be dancing at Chelmarsh summer fete on the 14th July - this is my favourite booking of the year and will be about my 7th year of dancing there.  We will be showcasing all the new fusion dances that we have learnt in the past year.  I am also teaching another hen party in Birmingham on the 21st which I am very excited about.  Also I am teaching a costuming workshop on the 30th August.  This is kind of ironic as my sewing skills are not that good but lots of people have been urging me to teach them how to decorate their own bras so I am going to give it a go.

When I do this little review of the past month I always think to myself how lucky I am.  I am kept very busy by belly dance - I often wonder if I am getting too old but I am happy to say I am offered more work belly dancing these days than I ever have.

How I choregraph - hints and tips for my students.

Its that time of year when we have an end of term hafla and I always ask my students to put together their own dance to perform.  This seems to strike terror in the hearts of a lot of students even though the environment is a friendly and supportive one.  I thought I would write about how I choreograph my own dances.  The single most important thing is to find a piece of music that you love - in my case I teach the finished dance to different groups of students for years and would get sick of the music if I did not love it.  Listen to the music constantly so that you know it back to front and simply imagine yourself dancing to it - I usually imagine my favourite belly dancer at this point.  Some ideas will formulate as you visualise the dance.  If nothing comes to mind try to find another dancer on youtube dancing to the same piece of music - not to copy but to inspire.

After listening to the music for a few days grab a pen and paper and start with the beginning of the song.  Put together a small sequence and write it down, practise that sequence to make sure it fits with the music and then move onto the next chunk.  I usually come up with about 30 seconds of choreography a day.  Sometimes when you revisit what you have done the next day you realise that it could have been done better so amend your notes.  Always try to include some travelling steps, and level changes as audiences get bored looking at you in one place all the time.  Try to add variety - some slower moves, some percussive moves, some fast bits.  Don't forget to include your face in the choreography - if the music is upbeat then add a smiley face whenever you can, if it is sad try to convey that in your face.

Occasionally you will get stuck at a particular point in the music - often it is coming up with a transition to get you from one move to the next, at this point I usually go back to youtube to see what another dancer does at that point in the dance.  I do not advocate stealing huge chunks of another dancers choreography (I hate it when anyone does that to me) but seeing how they have handled the bit you are struggling with is usually enough to get your creativity flowing again.  Be patient with yourself, it usually takes me at least 2 weeks to finish a choreography and as many of my students know, they often get adjusted when I come to teach them because some things to do not work well when you try to do them with a group.

When you have the finished dance practise it over and over again until you don't have to think about it.  It is useful to have it filmed as sometimes you think something looks good but when you see it on a dvd it does not look the way you think - ask for feedback if unsure.  I always like to be positive about my students dances but if you come and say Karen do you think this bit works? I will give you my honest opnion.

I am looking forward to seeing you all perform your own work soon.

May Update

Wow, its been a very busy few weeks since I last blogged.  I hosted Katie Holland for a Bellywood workshop which was loads of fun.  I attended a really useful training session in Bristol on Safety Awareness - I would recommend this to anybody who teaches.  I attended a make-up workshop with Karen Chesters - make-up artist for The Clothes Show, this was a real eye opener (literally).  I found out I have been using all the wrong make up and putting it in the wrong place all my adult life.  I now know how to create a dramatic look for performance and what brands to buy - invaluable!  I danced with my troupe at a charity event at the Whitehouse, Dudley - this was raising money for Skin Cancer awareness - a cause very close to my heart. 

I was also extremely happy to see the Belly Dance Superstars in Bristol last weekend - I had thought that their scaled down show might have been a disappointment - having seen their show around 10 times already, I was vexed that so many of my favourite dancers were no longer performing with them, however the show completely blew me away - they have never failed to impress me and the dance that Petite Jamila performed was simply the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

This month I also started a brand new class.  I was approached by the owners of Sixes Indoor Football Club to see if I would be interested in putting on a class in their newly refurbished dance studio.  The class started last week, the poster I put up had generated quite a bit of interest and I am hoping they will all return (with a friend) this week.

After all that I decided it was time for a rest and Rob and I spent a few days in Wales.  Spent the time planning lots more exciting things and getting my diary in order - June is a very busy month for me and my troupe.

Raqs Wombourne 2

I do like a project to get my teeth into and Raqs Wombourne is my favourite project at the moment.  I have had these really cool posters printed - the design was curtesy of Beatrice Flowers.  If you have a noticeboard at work or know of one locally where I can display one please let me know.  Even though it is still 7 months away tickets for the workshops are selling very well - in fact there is just one place left on the Romany workshop.  Show tickets are starting to sell too and I am really excited about it all.

April Update

Feeling very happy today as I have finished my dark caberet choreography.  This dance has been 2 years in the planning! It has taken me that long to settle on the music.  I love the track that I found originally but I was hoping to find something similar but with a bit of a Middle Eastern vibe to it.  I searched long and hard but found nothing just right so settled for the track I found originally.  I have wanted to do a dark caberet dance ever since attending Merhahet's workshop on the subject at Fantasia 3 years ago.  I have long been a fan of the likes of Bex who dances wonderfully darkly but in a goth/tribal fusion style.  I came to the conclusion recently that Tribal Fusion just is not for me, I don't enjoy trying to dance it but I do adore watching my friends who can do it well.  Therefore I decided to do what I do well but add a dark flavour to it and have come up with what I think is a delightful dance.  It is caberet moves to very dark music, with steampunk costume, some burlesque touches and loads of drama.  It has taken me 2 weeks to complete the routine and I am extremely proud of it.

In other news I hosted the wonderful Galit Mersand last month.  This was a very happy day.  I think Galit is one of the best teachers in the UK and I wished she lived closer because I would love to attend her classes regularly.  She has a great formula for teaching because she teaches a workshop where she breaks down the moves and combo's and then she teaches a second workshop where she teaches the choreography using all the moves/combo's.  It takes 4 hours which I confess nearly killed me but I pretty much remembered all of the choreography by the end plus she sells the dvd so you can practise the dance back home.  The choreography was lovely, clever but achievable and it was loads of fun.  We had a lovely big group of ladies, including a lot of my belly dance friends, at one point we were all shoulder to shoulder doing choo choo shimmies, which was an awesome sight.  So a big thank you to Galit for travelling to Wombourne to teach us.









Lots of happy shimmiers.


I am very excited that Katie Holland is coming to teach us this weekend.  I attended a Bellybolly workshop with her 2 years ago and loved it.  It inspired me to put together my own Bollywood routine but I am looking forward to learning with her again.  Its always a worry when you commit to hosting someone for a workshop in case you don't sell enough places to cover the fee, travel expenses and room hire but I am pleased to say this workshop has sold out - I do have a lady who is looking to sell her place so if you are free this weekend and want to have some fun whilst learning a spicy dance then get in touch with me.

Next weekend I am going to the Safety Update day organised by Mosaic in Bristol.  I am looking forward to this and would urge any teachers who take the safety of their students seriously to go.  I have lots of plans for May, lots of performances for Shikidim and Raqs W2 show planning is keeping me busy too.  I am grateful that I have the good health to enjoy it all.

March update

Well, good news.....that annoying thing they cut out of my leg turned out to be non-malignant.  I can't fault Russels Hall hospital for their diligence even though it hurt and meant I could not dance for 2 weeks.  I have a bit of an infection in the wound (probably because I danced when I shouldn't) but it is healing ok now, hopefully just one more check up and I can forget about it.  It reminded me to take care in the sunshine, I had a wake up call about the danger of skin cancer 4 years ago and had become a tad complacent.  I would like to thank everyone who sent me good wishes, I have such a great support network around me.

Other news, well my classes are going extremely well, last year numbers sucked but this year all my classes are very well attended - I think people are now bored with zumba and are returning to dance as an art instead of a work-out.  I need to do another class somewhere, I have promised lots of ladies in Wolverhampton that I would, but finding a suitable venue that is convenient for me to get to using public transport is tricky, all the good places are booked up.

My happy face

Bookings for Shikidim are starting to come in, the summer looks like it is going to be busy for us and sales for all the workshops I am organising are going well, in fact Ozgen is nearly sold out now even though it is still over 9 months away.  I am very much looking forward to workshops with Galit Mersand this month and Katie Holland next month.  All in all things are good.

Photo Shoot

I decided I needed some professional pics taken for publicity pictures and by coincidence Groupon had a deal going with a local professional photographer.  Last week I headed off with my trolley case packed with costume changes and props feeling very nervous.  I got changed and then the make-up artisit attacked my face, now I like to think after 50 years I have acquired a few skills when it comes to applying make-up but this lady completely transformed me.  I looked in the mirror and though OMG! to be honest it was a bit scary - lots of black eye shadow and huge red lips, it was very dramatic and I was not sure if I could carry off the look.  Alex (the photographer) put me at my ease, he asked me to dance and I felt a little self conscious however I eventually relaxed into it and struck some nice poses.  Yesterday I went to choose my pics.  Alex had over 50 for me to choose from and trying to decide on the final ones was so hard.  I can only think that guy is a miracle worker, I barely recognised myself and am now the proud owner of some rather sassy looking pics.

Karennshikidims thoughts: New Beginners Belly Dance Class

Karennshikidims thoughts: New Beginners Belly Dance Class: My belly dance class at The Station Hotel has proved to be very sucessful but I now have too many beginners in the class. I feel that I am ...

New Beginners Belly Dance Class

My belly dance class at The Station Hotel has proved to be very sucessful but I now have too many beginners in the class.  I feel that I am torn between giving the beginners the breakdown of technique needed and teaching the existing students new things.  I hate feeling like I have not done my best for ALL of my students so I have decided to split the group.  There will now be a beginners class from 8.30-9.30, we will go over technique and learn the routines from scratch, it will be a smaller group so you will get more individual attention.  The more advanced students will continue as normal 7.00-8.30.  Both classes are £5 each or you can do both for £7.50.  Once everyone is up to speed with the technique and routines it is my intention to move the beginners back up to the existing class, hopefully in about 4 weeks.

This is the ideal time to join my class so that you learn everything from scratch, bring a friend, mother,sister,daughter,grandmother.

My need to dance.

Not been able to dance for 2 weeks because I have stitches in my leg.  They are coming out on Thursday, still a bit worried about the results, if they say it is malignant I will be devastated.  Its kind of like reliving a nightmare I thought I had put behind me.  Whilst I have been off I spent a lot of time catching up on sewing jobs, costumes that I never quite finished are all now done so quite pleased about that.  It has however driven me mad not being able to dance.  Dancing is like a drug to me, I cannot begin to describe how miserable I feel if I can't dance.  I do worry how I will cope when I am too old to dance, a life without sequins and eyeliner and belly dance is just too awful to consider.  It has also been especially frustrating tuning down bookings whilst I have been off my feet.  However I have spent some of the time productively by planning classes, workshops and my next show. 

I decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to further my own development and take as many workshops as possible.  There are fab workshops listed all over the country but the cheapest workshop seems to go for £15 then there is the train fare plus a hotel, it works out to be very expensive so I decided to bring teachers here.  I intend to host good quality teachers that people in the Midlands don't normally get the chance to learn with.  I have mentioned previously that I have Galit Mersand coming in March (I have a couple of spaces left for her), Bex Priest and Ozgen will both be teaching as part of my Raqs Wombourne event and I am in negotiations to get Katie Holland in April.  I also have one or 2 other people who I have learnt with and who I would like to host around September so watch this space ladies/gents, no longer will us Midlanders have to trek off to London.  If there is anyone you would particularly like me to get please let me know, I prefer to get people that I know, who I can recommend but I am open to suggestions.