RaqsW3

I thought I would write a little review of Raqsw3.  The organising of this show has kept me pretty busy for months.  I have to confess I was worried about organising such a large scale event single handedly, particularly sorting out the music as my ex used to do that side of it, and it seemed a daunting task.  Organising the show was at times quite stressful particularly when I had to replace one of the big names in my show and the overheads this year were much, much higher as I had splashed out for 4 teachers to do workshops and perform and had booked a much more expensive venue and paid for a proper sound/lighting engineer and so I was worried as the date grew nearer and ticket sales were down, however I need not have worried, Raqsw3 was a big success!

Nawarra's Khaleegy Workshop

The weekend kicked off with 2 fabulous workshop, the first being Khaleegy with Nawarra. This workshop was great - Nawarra is a wonderful teacher and she taught us lots of traditional Moroccan moves and we were all tossing our heads around like mad things by the end of it.  Next we had Sunny Singh teach a Bollywood fusion workshop with a difference - heels.  Sunny taught a lovely funky choreography and then showed us how to strut our stuff in heels and the women in the class really learnt how to move confidently - he pushed a few of us out of our comfort zones but everyone had a lot of fun and everyone loved Sunny.

Following the workshops there was just about time to get home for a cup of tea, and then it was a quick change and then off to set up for the show, the excitement began to build as I started to greet all the amazing performers as they arrived.  Then 7.30 came and it was time to open the show - this bit was the most nerve wracking for me as I was dancing with my troupe - I had the full compliment of 8 Shikidim group members on stage which was a tight squeeze as we were performing a Saiidi Cane dance with lots of travelling patterns, I think we did well as there was a roar of applause.  I missed the next act which was Paula Pavlou as I had to get changed but again I heard the audience cheering this popular lady.  I caught the end of the 3rd performance which was Habibi who performed a graceful Silk Fan Veil dance.  Next up we had Nami - I watched with bated breath as Nami danced as she is very heavily pregnant and I prayed that we would not get out first Raqsw baby delivered, luckily all that Nami delivered was a stunning performance.  Following Nami we had Anna who is one of my students although I cannot take credit for her talents as she has danced extensively in the Ukraine and she performed a lovely cheeky dance.  Next on stage with a noisy flurry of skirts and lots of cheekiness was The Can-Can Collective and they went down a storm with the audience.  After all that cheeky raucousness we quietened things down a little with a very elegant performance from Tatianna Woolley which was followed by a fabulous performance from Khalgani.  Our 9th performance was Catherine Taylor who gave a haunting, beautiful performance to a gorgeous piece of music.  Next came a logistical nightmare for me which was trying to fit my students on stage to perform a Bollywood dance.  I had 24 ladies dancing and they all did me proud, coping well with the limited space as we took our bow to rapturous applause I knew I could relax and enjoy the rest of the show which was good as Nawarra was up next and she amazed everyone by dancing with a tray with candles on it - a truly amazing performance!  Next we had Abel and Chasheen who did a wonderful, lively dance and then came Sunny Singh - if you have never seen Sunny dance then you won't know what a great performer he is - funny, talented and a real showman - the audience loved him and the place was just full of noise as the zaghareeting resounded throughout the room.  In a wonderful contrast we finished the first half of the show with a beautiful, tranquil dance from Hannah Mi - this was just stunning.

Hannah Mi

We had a 20 minute interval where people could visit the souk and this year we had refreshments available which seemed to go down well.  Sadly I did not get much time to see the gorgeous wares from Everything Egyptian and the other traders as I had to get changed as Shikidim were first on in the 2nd half.  It is always nerve wracking performing a new dance for the first time but I needn't have worried - I think our new Silk Fan Veil dance went down really well.
 Maureen Pemberton followed us and performed a wonderfully spirited dance.  Alimah came next, led by Paula Pavlou and they performed a fabulous dance and then we were treated to a wonderful dance by Sarah Malik - full of emotion.  Next up the stage was filled with the gorgeous flying skirts of Affinity Tribal - I loved the music, costumes and dancing from this lovely group of ladies.  Following Affinity Tribal, Hannah Mi returned to the stage for another stunning performance - she is just so elegant!  The lights went down and then when they shone again Dhalal Banat were there in the most beautiful blue dresses - these ladies looked stunning and danced beautifully.  Following Dhahal Banat we were given a glimpse of an arm and then the rest of the beautiful creature that is Dawn O'Brien emerged.  Dawn never fails to impress and her dance was gorgeous and elegant.  As a complete contrast next we had Katana, a duet who delivered a lively dance to a great upbeat piece of music.  The following act, Tatianna Woolley provoked a gasp from the audience - I am not sure if it was the stunning Samba costume complete with feathered headress or the mega high shoes that Tati danced in but the crown loved her.  The applause had barely settled down before Sunny Singh burst onto the stage again.  This time Sunny performed a wonderfully spirited Bollywood dance, he caused much excitement as he climbed down off the stage and danced amongst the audience.

 Sunny was a hard act to follow but we had a lovely performance from Al Bahiyya which was followed by a very elegant dance by Alexis Southall.  My favourite troupe Belly Fusion Dance Collective came next - they never fail to amaze me, such clever choreography and quirky characters and then it was time for our last act - Nawarra ended the show with a wonderful Shaiibi performance - the audience loved it and she got everyone to their feet for a bop at the end.  It was at this point I realised what a fab atmosphere this audience has provided - I don't think I have ever been to a show where the audience made so much noise in appreciation and many of them piled onto the stage for some impromptu dancing.

All in all I was overjoyed with the show not just with the wonderful performers but with the venue and lighting - it really looked the biz!

The following day (after about 3 hours sleep) we concluded the weekend with 2 more fabulous workshops, firstly Catherine Taylor taught a Gypsy Caravan Tribal workshop - I really enjoyed this and overcame my fright of taking over the lead when dancing ATS.  This was followed by a fab workshop with Hannah Mi in which we explored the Karshilama rhythm, I felt that Hannah taught me how to truly feel the music and loved the quirky moves she taught us.

In conclusion, I am feeling pretty proud of myself.  The feedback I have had has been wonderful and it made all the sleepless nights and worrying worth it and I cannot wait to do it all again - however I have to wait until 27th September 2014 for Raqsw4.

Time.............

Its true, time does fly when your having fun! I cannot believe it has been 3 months since I last blogged. I think the last time I blogged I was just getting ready to go to to Turkey - that was a fantastic holiday.  I can thoroughly recommend holidaying with someone much younger than yourself - you end up doing the wackiest things.  I adore Turkey and cannot wait to go back.

A brief round up of the events I have been involved in over the last few weeks:-

The Can-Can workshop with Samantha Hough - this was possibly the best fun I have ever had! everyone loved the workshop

My Shimmy n Shop event - another success.  Not only did I manage to sell a load of unwanted sparklies I also got to chat with lots of lovely people and we had some lovely performances on the open stage, it was all very relaxed and informal and I am now organising the next one which will be the Santa Shimmy n Shop on the 21st December.  Please put the date in your diary.

The Mad Hatters tea party - organised by the lovely Holly.  This was a lovely 'do' although I was very nervous as it was the first time we had performed our latest Saiidi Stick Dance in public plus we were all wearing hats which was an added thing to go wrong however I am pleased to say nobody lost their hats and the dance was well received.

Willenhall Carnival - I danced here with a group of my students and they did me proud.  The sun shone for us and it was lovely

Kinver carnival - Shikidim and I did 2 sets, again in the sunshine - it was a really good crowd and again a nice event to perform at.

Amanda Maloney's Hafla.  We were honoured to be invited to dance at this event, we shared the stage with some really great dancers and were treated to a fabulous performance by Elis Pinheiro.

The Whitehouse Charity event - There are certain charities that I very much like to support - Cancer Research, Compton Hospice and The Whitehouse being my chosen charities for reasons very close to my heart and so I was very pleased to be able to support this event with my troupe.  We dodged the rain, dealt with a dodgy PA system and had fun.

Chelmarsh Summer Fete - this was a very stressful event for me to organise because nearly all of my troupe were busy with holidays/weddings/life! Chelmarsh have asked us to dance for about 8 years now so I did not want to let them down, luckily I had a group of students who saved the day - we did 2 sets of 20 minutes each and it was blisteringly hot (we had decided to wear black long sleeve dresses - not a good idea) however my students once again did me proud and performed really well.

Summer Classes - as the academic year came to an end we were faced with no Thursday class for quite a few weeks.  Following some badgering from my students I decided to put on an informal, drop in class.  It was really nice as the pressure to teach something new each week was off me and we were able to just dance and perfect the routines.  I think the students found it beneficial and I very much enjoyed it.  I have received some very positive feedback about my classes recently.  I work hard to make my classes enjoyable, I now how 3 thriving classes - it took the Friday class a little while to get off the ground but I now have a lovely group of friendly and fun ladies.  As anyone who knows me I am not the worlds most confident performer and I certainly don't rate myself as being a good solo performer, however my strength is in my teaching.  I adore passing on my knowledge, I love seeing the transformation in my students and I love putting together quirky dances for them to perform.  I count myself very lucky to be able to earn a living doing what I love and I thank all the ladies who attend my classes (I currently have about 50 so there are too many to mention)

Isis Wings workshop - I hosted Lindsey Salomon to teach us how to handle wings properly.  The workshop was great, Lindsey is a lovely teacher and I felt very inspired - my next choreography will be an Isis Wings one (once I find just the right music)

Stage Make Up workshop.  Following the success of last years workshop I decided to do it again - it sold out this time so I think I must be doing a good job of it.  All I can say is that we spend 2 hours eating cake, giggling, discussing products and applying them in exactly the right way to make us look 10 years younger and so that our features really stand out.  I could not believe the difference in the ladies who attended - they looked stunning.  I don't think I will leave it so long before repeating this workshop so if you would like to come along let me know and I will keep you posted.

In other news - I have lost quite a lot of weight (thanks weight watchers) and since I split with my husband a lot of stress has gone from my life and so I think I am actually looking quite a bit better than I did and so I decided to treat myself to some new professional photos.  This time I went to Aspire Studios in Birmingham.  They did my hair and make up and then I spent a very fun hour generally being a poser.  I was very pleased with the results and would recommend the studio.

All my energies at the moment are being concentrated on upcoming events - my annual show RaqsW3 is taking up all my time.  I am organising this single handedly, there have been some stressful things to have to deal with and I have a lot to do yet however I have sold over 100 tickets and we still have 3 weeks so I am expecting quite a good turn out.  I have 4 big names - Nawarra, Sunny Singh, Catherine Taylor and Hannah Mi but in addition to that I have loads of local (and not so local) performers.  We have a great venue, a bar, a souk, food and henna artist.  Plus there are 4 workshops to chose from with the stars of my show.  The aim of the show is to provide as much diversity as possible and this year we have Egyptian Cabaret, Saiidi, Bollywood, ATS, Tribal Fusion, Can-Can, Khaleegy and Shikidim will debut their latest Silk Fan Veil Dance.  If you would like to purchase a ticket please visit my website www.raqswombourne.vpweb.co.uk - I promise that each act will entertain you!

Now if that is not enough to organise I also have an Intensive Weekend with the wonderful masterclass teacher Ozgen.  As you all know I am a huge fan of Ozgen because not only is he one of the best dancers in the world he is also the nicest guy you will ever meet and a brilliant teacher.  I am very proud to be one of the first people to organise an Intensive Weekend whereby you will spend 8 hours working on your professional development as a dancer and earn a certificate of competence from Ozgen.  Not only that but there will also be a party with a 2 course meal and performance including the great man himself.  The Intensive is now sold out but I do have a waiting list so if you would like to be put on the list please contact me.  However there are still a few places for the evening do so again please visit my website to book.

I have a couple of performances coming up too - the most exciting one being at The Bridgnorth Music Festival - if the sun shines this is a lovely event!

Well enough of my ramblings - I hope to see you all at a belly dance event (preferably Rasqw3) soon. xxx

April, onward and upward.

So April came and went, my husband moved out and I can honestly say I have not missed him, I have had some fabulous events to focus on.

6th April - The Game of Thrones hafla in Shewsbury.  Having never watch Game of Thrones I did not know what to expect.  I dance with Liz and we performed Marco Polo which we have not performed for some time, I enjoyed the sensuality of this dance, it is slow and serious and seemed to suit the theme.  The Shrewsbury ladies know how to throw a hafla and they always make everyone welcome and there were some mighty fine performances.

11th April - The Colley Lane hafla, another fabulous and friendly group.  It was nice dancing with my students and seeing the dances other groups perform and just sitting and chatting with friends - I never seem to get chance to chat as I am always in teacher mode.

28th April - I hosted Raheesha for 2 workshops.  I knew she would go down well as she is a lovely warm and fun lady.  We learnt a variety of Gypsy styles and some fabulous double veil techniques which I am hoping to incorporate into a dance this autumn.

I finally got my finger out and choreographed a Romany Gypsy dance.  I wanted to make this dance as authentically Romany as I could and I have spent ages researching this style and working on a dance routine.  I am so pleased with the result, once again I have managed to come up with another totally different dance - sometimes I amaze myself!

I have many events in the pipeline, the admin work is now pretty much like a full time job, this Sunday I have a Can-Can workshop with Samantha Hough - this is going to be mega fun!  My annual show RaqsW3 is coming together nicely - lots of amazing performers have signed up and I am now selling places on the Ozgen Intensive weekend - I am very proud to be the first to bring him to the Midlands to do an intensive, there has been a lot of interest especially as Ozgen will be awarding certificates at the end of the weekend.

Next week I am taking a break - no dance classes until 23rd May - I don't take a lot of time off these days but feel I deserve a break and this is going to be one super dooper break!

Life event change and other stuff.

Good grief March is nearly out and I have not even written about February yet.  Life has been rather topsy turvy for me this last few weeks.  I decided to get a divorce.  I fell in love with a lovely man 26 years ago, for a long time he was everything to me, my best friend, companion and husband.  In the last few years we have both changed - I have become a lot stronger and know what I want out of life and he has become a stranger.  The decision has not been an easy one to make, I am scared about the future, at times I feel very lonely and I am worried about how this will affect our daughter. I have had a lot of sleepless nights and have felt very wretched.  The only thing's which has helped me through this dark time are the love and support of my daughter - when she gave me some money to book a holiday for the two of us I was so touched.  My friends have been a big support too, the ones offering practical help such as lifts to places I am especially grateful for.  I am also thankful that I have my bellydancing, I think that it quite literally keeps me sane.   I don't know if it's down to the release of endorphins which make you feel better, or putting on glitz and sparkly, or the lovely movements that feel so natural to me, or the massive boost to your self esteem when you see the audience enjoying your performance or seeing the joy on a students face when I share a new skill with her or maybe it is simply being with lovely women.  I think it is a combination of all of these things.  So it has been a godsend that I have had the following wonderful events to keep my mind off my troubles.

9th Feb, I did a hen party in Chester, I can't tell you how much fun this was, I do not advocate dancing whilst drinking but I do make an exception for champagne.  The hens did much giggling and even managed to learn a little dance routine and I had a rather lovely time afterwards in Chester.

The same evening I organised a night out with my students to Zendi restaurant, the service and food were pants but the company was good and we were entertained by Ozlem and got to spend some time in the company of Ozgen - which is always a pleasure.

16th February, I danced with my troupe at a private party in Swindon - it is always a pleasure to dance with my lovely Shikidim sisters and we went down very well.

1st March - this was the Majma weekend, it was a great privilege to attend workshops with Princess Farhanna, they were fun and informative.  It was lovely catching up with many friends from the belly dance world too.

9th March - we were invited to dance at a lovely event hosted by Fulya The DECO DANCE SHOWCASE, this was a great show featuring not just belly dance but also burlesque.  Shikidim performed our dark Caberet dance and it was simply a fabulous, fun night.

10th March I hosted Lorna of Cairo, she did 2 workshops for us and the feedback I received following them was excellent.  She is a very generous, warm teacher, and it is a real pleasure to listen to her talk.  In the evening we all had a meal at Tiffus restaurant where we were treated to entertainment with Lorna - she did 3 costume changes and her dancing was such a joy to watch.

I am very busy at the moment planing events.  I am hosting Ozgen for a weekend in September, it will be an intensive weekend with 8 hours of workshops and a party.  I have also bought the date of RaqsW3 forward as I needed to find a better venue.  The venue this year will be much better - it will be possible to make the show much more professional and I am busy gathering fabulous dancers to perform.  I also have the Raheesha workshops to organise, a fabulous Can-Can workshop with Horizon Hips and the summer shimmy and shop so I think there will be very little time to brood and I intend to face this challenging time ahead with confidence and determination.

January, show, shimmies and snow.

Well January has been a funny old month, it has had some high's and lows.  My new class is one of the high points.  I seem to have gathered a very lovely group of women, some that I knew from when I used to teach a daytime class and some new ladies.  I am very pleased with how they are working and also the friendships they are developing.

The snow has been a cause of much annoyance, events got cancelled as did quite a few of my classes.  It is always a tricky decision to cancel a class because I know my students look forward to coming and I don't like to let them down plus I earn nothing if I have to cancel but at the end of the day safety is the most important factor.  I am very pleased to see the back of the snow and that my classes are all well attended again.  I have started to teach a silk fan veil dance to a really fab piece of music, I could not wait to get to class to teach it as it looks so fierce and I am really excited about using this new prop.

Last weekend I danced at The Urban Tarab show at the Old Joint Stock Theatre in Birmingham with Shikidim.  I was a little nervous about this event as I did not have my usual troupe around me, I invited 2 of my students to join us, Bex and Lisa.  I knew they both knew the dances and perform well and they did not let me down, thanks ladies.  It is a tiny theatre and so you are very close to the audience which is a little nerve wracking and the lighting was such that you could not see the audience which made you wonder how you were being received but the applause and zaghareets seemed to suggest that Shikidim did well.

Urban Tarab Show.

I have lots of things coming up next month including a hen party and a birthday party booking and am busy organising lots of workshops for everyone.

December update and a little look back at 2012

So December started off with a new venture for me - a belly dance related table top sale.  This was a really lovely day.  Lots of fab ladies came over to Wombourne and it was lovely to have the time to have a natter with some of them, we had an open stage for anyone to perform and we had some great performances.  I have been persuaded to do a summer Shimmy and shop which will happen on 1st June.

A few days later I went to a hafa in Stourbridge where I danced with a very friendly group of ladies.  I am always keen to see other groups perform and the event had a lovely atmosphere.

On the 15th I attended the Fantasia festival in London.  This is my favourite festival and I always make the effort to go.  I feel as a teacher it is imperative to keep your skills up to date and Fantasia offers some very reasonably priced workshops with world class teachers.  I did a silk fan veil workshop with Fulya which I thouroughly enjoyed and then I did 2  Turkish Romany workshops.  This is a subject that I am very keen to learn more about - it is my chosen project at the moment.  The workshops I did were both fabulous but totaly different.  The first was with Helene, a teacher from Norway who was lovely - she explained a lot about the culture and we practised dancing to the 9/8 rhythm at ever increasing speeds.  The 2nd was with Hannah, ever since I saw her dance with Oojami years ago I have wanted to do a workshop with her - she showed us how to blend Tribal and Romany moves together.  I learnt so much and my head was buzzing with ideas and inspiration for dances.

Christmas Hafla 2012

On the 17th we had our Christmas hafla with my students at the Station Hotel, unfortunately the food was not good but the entertainment was - I am always thrilled to see my students get up and dance their own choreographies and it was a very pleasant last dance celebration of the year.

2012 was really an amazing year for me, my horizons have broadened considerably.  My work as a belly dance teacher has been very diverse this year - from restaurant bookings, a stage make up workshop, a costuming workshop, carnivals, hen parties, nursing homes, 3 weekly classes and organising events such as workshops with other dancers, a table top sale and my show.  I stepped out of my comfort zone a few times, taking on new challenges and each time it paid off.  My dance vocabulary has grown mainly due to the fabulous workshops I have attended this year - the best being  Bex whose Black Sheep Tribal classes I am attending, Galit, Katie Holland,  Hilde Canoodt, Shafeek, Aziza (of Canada), Prince Kayammer, Kazafy, Elis Pinheiro and Ozgen.  My continual professinal development is very important as I have been teaching for so long now and I have to keep things fresh for my students and there is just so much to learn still about this wonderful art form that I am blessed to teach.

Me with Ann-Marie and Carole

My troupe have also had a good year, we have had a few changes in the line up. I still have Mary and Max who have been with me for quite awhile now but I aso have Anne-Marie - who has the best arms of any dancer I have seen and the very elegant Carole and Liz who is relatively new to belly dancing but through hard work and a lovely smiley face has earned a place in the troupe.  I also have a number of reserves now too which is really good as trying to organise 6 ladies to dance can be a nightmare.  We have had some lovely bookings this year - we always support our fair share of charity events, especially the Compton Hospice ones so we did Compton in the park, we danced at a wedding, we returned to Chelmarsh for about the 7th year and danced at several haflas and at 3 fabulous shows.

2013 I feel is going to be another exciting year, my diary is filling up with bookings, new classes, workshops, haflas and shows it is a good job that belly dance is my career, my hobby and my social life.  Happy New year to all my fellow belly dancers and friends.