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.
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