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
