Wednesday 29 December 2010

A night at Nur

It is always a pleasure to watch Lorna of Cairo dance. I think I might have mentioned this before (hang on, I'll just check... oh yeah, just all the time) but it's worth restating! For me, Lorna lights up the room when she starts to dance. She exudes joy, she gives so much to her audience, she is graceful, honed, and interprets music beautifully. Her performances at Glasgow's Nur restaurant last night was no exception. She also sported some awesome new costumes, adding even more excitement!


Sadly I have more complaints about the night than I have good things to say.

We arrived for a 7.30 start, and finally got our main courses at 10pm. We had some pretty stingy mezze at about 9pm, but it was served just as the dancing started, which meant that we couldn't do justice to either of our jobs as diners and an audience. By the time the main courses arrived most of us were so hungry we would have eaten anything! There really wasn't much food either - three tiny tagines of meat between 5 of us at the table, with 4 chunks of meat in each tagine - not enough for a piece each!  Plus two tagines of (frozen) vegetables in what tasted like a tinned soup; and rice - but when the rice eventually arrived (unannounced, 10 minutes after the meat and veg) we'd been so hungry we'd polished off most of the tagines.

The tables in Nur are the same height as the chairs, so you have to lean over the table, which is not good for the digestion and lead to more than a few sore tummies afterwards!

The sweet menu was really limited and some diners near us left when they were told that there was no vanilla ice cream left (surely the most basic of sweets??) - mind you, that was hardly an early exit, it was about 11pm by then!

The sweets (like the previous two courses) were served immediately before the dancing began, meaning that if we wanted to watch Lorna, which we came to do, we ended up with melted ice cream. At a restaurant which has regular belly dancers, I would have thought they would have known how to do justice to both the food and the dancer. The lighting and the music were also poor, which perhaps is more evidence that Nur isn't really bothered about dancing, only about getting bums on seats.

The staff were  in short supply, and when you have to pay for each drink you buy as you buy it, it's good to have plenty of people serving. The staff who were there were stressed, not particularly helpful and occasionally bordering on rude. They seemed to feel that the dancers were an inconvenience and didn't seem bothered whether, in going about their duties, they got in the way of the dance.

It was 11.30pm by the time we'd eaten.  A long night, and for those of us who'd travelled, a long drive in foggy conditions was still to come. If we'd come by train, we'd have missed Lorna's last set to catch the last train back.

I was told that the restaurant was closed between Christmas and New Year, apart from this night - so this night, effectively a private function, was giving them work they wouldn't have otherwise. I would have thought it was good to get the work, not an inconvenience. As one of the very few restaurants with belly dancers in Scotland, a night full of belly dancers should be a real showcase for Nur, a great opportunity to get a good reputation. An opportunity lost.

I love watching Lorna dance, I love a good night out with bellydancers. Sadly I can't recommend Nur. 

Which is why I'm so excited about Lorna's dinner night as part of the Middle Eastern Peace and Spirituality Festival on 3 March! More later - something to look forward to!!

Sunday 14 November 2010

How we shimmied by the Shore!


Leith (where I live) is a great place for bellydance. There are lots of dance classes here (including the one I teach!), many dancers, and some smashing teachers. Leith has lots of shimmies per capita. For a while I've wanted to have a bellydance event in Leith, and today it happened - welcome to Shimmy By The Shore.

      I wanted this to be a small, relaxed and informal event.  Haflas can sometimes be too big to know who’s watching you dance. To me, being able to get a good look at the audience adds to the enjoyment of dancing. When I introduced the afternoon, I asked the audience to remember that they are as much a part of the performance as the dancer. The relationship between the dancer and audience is such an important part of the performance, and I wanted it to be a two-way relationship for as many of the dances as possible.

      And as Lorna of Cairo told us last time she was here, Egyptian dancers like to be near their audience - maintaining your distance from the audience is often interpreted as the dancer being aloof and superior.  So a living room atmosphere was just what I was aiming for.

      The venue was the very lovely Red Room at The Constitution, a new bar on Leith's Constitution Street. It was nicely packed with 37 of us there. I was reminded of Leith's diversity when I was at the bar. A man sitting at the bar asked what we were up to, and when I told him, he took a wee piece of paper out of his wallet with a venue and date on it, and told me about a "wee lassie" he knows who's having an event for charity along the road. "You ladies might be interested in it. She's a lap dancer." When I tried to explain that belly dancing and lap dancing aren't similar (I was being gentle, because he genuinely seemed to think he was being helpful), he said he knew that belly dancing wasn't like lap dancing, but still, I should try to go along. Later on he came over to apologise. "I'm so sorry", he explained, "I goat it wrang. You shoulduh slapped meh, course you're no interestit in lap dancin, ah goat the name wrang. She's no' a lap dancer. She's a *pole* dancer." Which, *of course*, makes it all right... Ah, Leith.

      In keeping with the informal nature of the event, anybody could turn up on the day and dance if they felt like it. Dancers turned up with their iPods and we agreed the running order at the start of the afternoon. We had 11 performers, 5 of them were dancing their first solos! I am delighted that the beginners, Kim, Ruth, Jade, Claire and Amanda, made their first performances at Shimmy by the Shore, and from talking to them afterwards, they seemed pretty happy about it too. I will single out Kim for her energetic, well put-together performance - because she comes to my classes at Fisherrow. Well done Kim, you were great!

      Among the more experienced dancers who performed were Caroline Rose and Moyra Banks, fresh back from Shafeek's stage school in London, who did their beautiful meleya lef duet, full of charisma, confidence and joy.  Moira Berry was also freshly inspired, recently returned from Morrocco, she performed a joyful, exuberant Berber Morroccan dance with, as she put it, "plenty of  bum". Eleanor Trueman did a jazzy showstopper from Chicago and got the most awesome audience response of the afternoon! It was wonderful to see my friend and fellow Leither, The Exotic and Soulful Shelley, perform a very beautiful but all too short piece to an Ella Fitzgerald song - she was commanding, sensitive and very lovely indeed.

It was great to see Claire, new to Edinburgh but not to bellydance, performing too; and Basimah was kind enough to share a very lovely dance with us to start off the afternoon.

      Overall, it was a lovely afternoon of dancing. I'm so grateful to everyone for coming along to make it successful, and especially to the performers. Thank you all!

      I would love to Shimmy By The Shore again, and hope to organise another one early next year. I want to keep up the momentum for a community, friendly, informal event - hope you'll join me then!

Thursday 28 October 2010

To talk or not to talk?

I had a great experience teaching classes tonight!

I've had asthma for 8 years, usually very mild, but after some extended time with some dogs, I've been suffering miserably for the last week. Copious amounts of ventolin are being consumed and I've had some oral steroids too - not much good so far, sadly. So tonight I turned up at class feeling very sorry for myself, and for the first time that I can remember, wishing I'd asked someone else to teach the class for me.

Unable to dance and talk at the same time without fainting, I thought I'd try the dancing part, not the talking part. I've been a student in classes with visiting teachers whose English is limited, and still learned a lot by through the "follow the bouncing butt" technique (phrase coined by Zafirah!) so I knew it could be done.

What I didn't expect was how liberating it was! I realised that I was trusting my classes to follow me, having confidence in their ability to copy my body instead of listening to my voice. It also allow me to concentrate more on watching my students while they copied me - which was such a pleasure, noticing more than usual what moves they were excelling at! I guess I learned that I don't always need to give a bucketful - sometimes an eggcup is enough.

Sadly, when I tried the same technique in the later class, my iPod ran out of power! With no music I had no choice but to talk while it charged up again! But oddly, instead of being tireder after an hour of teaching, I found my lungs had opened up (especially through the arm and chest work) and I managed to get through an hour of mayas and tight, modern legs-together moves. Without feeling obliged to shout out moves or technical details while I danced, I felt much more able to concentrate on the music and the dancers in front of me.

As usual, I feel that there isn't a right or wrong way to teach (within reason!) - every lesson is different, every student takes something different out of the class. But it makes me happy when I try something new and, I hope, it works. Like a new pen in my pencil case!

I left the class feeling 20 times better than when I arrived. Hurray for the restorative power of dance! On Thursday evenings I almost always feel very, very lucky - I can go to work feeling dreadful and leave feeling great!

Monday 25 October 2010

Shimmy by the Shore!

I'm excited about an event I'm organising!

Shimmy by the Shore! 
Sunday 14th November, 4pm-6pm
The Red Room at The Constitution, Constitution Street, Leith
£5 entry

This is going to be a very friendly, very relaxed, very informal afternoon in a lovely venue. I want a happy environment for belly dancers to perform.

Performing can be nerve-wracking. Whether it's big audiences, stage lights, unknown crowds who might know nothing - or indeed, everything - about bellydance. That's why I'm organising this afternoon event in a small venue, and any dancer of any experience can turn up and dance. Dancers can even decide on the day whether they want to dance or not. No pressure, no stress, just dancing and enjoyment!

If you want to share a dance, or something you've been working on, or a work in progress, dance in your jeans or full costume, all of that is fine. Just come along with your tune on your iPod, be there for 4pm prompt, and we'll sort out the running order there and then.

Please note that the venue is carpeted, and very small, so it is NOT ideal for isis wings, swords, big groups, veils or fan!

I hope everybody who comes along will be friendly and kind to the performers, and tell the dancers what they enjoyed about their performance. Now, I wonder if this leaves me open to accusations of over-nice-ing. Well, in the long run, it doesn't do belly dance any good if we dancers think we're way better than we are. But equally, it doesn't do us any good to feel unconfident and inadequate when what we really need is performance practice, a bit of nurturing and some friendly words! I wouldn't want to tell a dancer that she was brilliant if I didn't think she was - but equally, I want to make sure that good performances get good feedback!

So, if you can come along - and I hope you can! - please remember that the audience is just as important a part of the performance as the dancer and the music!

Sunday 10 October 2010

Theatres and Tents

Saturday 9th October was a hafla in Peebles organised by Borders Arabic Dance. They were celebrating a visit from Bellydance Superstar Samantha Emmanuel, who was teaching and performing. So there was a quality line-up for the hafla!

I admit my heart sank a little when I saw the programme featuring 25 - count 'em, 25! - performances. Ah well, at least the Eastgate Theatre has comfy seats! But the evening flew by - the dances were well-programmed to accentuate the variety of groups and soloists, tribal and oriental and everything in between. It was a really enjoyable night.

The Helwa Hurdies performed their latest routine, featuring veils and solos. We only started working on it 5 weeks ago, and I feel it was their best performance so far - what a great group of dancers they are!

The Hurdies also helped me out with the balady tableau I was performing - coming on-stage with me to act as my girlfriends, encouraging me to dance and cheering me on. Although I'd planned it for 'authenticity' and to give my dance more of a balady feel (balaldy being a style dance that egyptian women might do at a social occasion), it was a real treat to have the girls on stage with me! The Eastgate Theatre has proper stage lighting, so you can't see the audience at all when you're dancing, which I find quite nerve-wracking - so it was brilliant to have five cheerleaders in full view!

I enjoyed a lot of the other performances. Of the dances I didn't like so much, I really appreciated their technical merits and the standard of the dance! I liked watching Kate, who learned bellydance with Lorne McCall at the same time as I did (although Kate was in the improvers when I was a beginner!) Kate did a lovely traditional balady piece which I really liked. Celia and Cat did an amazing disco number with isis wings, which lit up the whole theatre, with the shimmering wings and the joyful dancing!

It seems like it's either feast or famine with performing, and the next day, we were dancing again at the East Lothian Multi Cultural Day at Prestongrange Industrial Museum. This time the venue was a marquee, with an audience of about 400! Thankfully it wasn't the coldest day of the year, and the reception was warm too.

The Hurdies gave 2 lovely performances, of their veil routine and their Spanish number
I repeated last night's balady dance (on my own this time, as they girls were off getting changed),
and then Laura, Lucy and I performed our sha'abi routine to El Enab by Saad, which is great fun!

Another busy bellydance weekend then, and now I'm off to have the cold in peace!!

Tuesday 21 September 2010

An Autobiography

Dancebase asked me to provide them with a 100-150 word autobiography for their website (the beginners bellydance class I'm teaching at Dancebase begins on 1st October). After a few hours of sweating  (in front of the computer!) I managed to come up with a leviathan of 85 words. Well, 86 if you count the blog address. Thought I'd share it here... all that work deserves a wider audience.

Elspeth SwishandHips has been teaching modern Egyptian Bellydance since 2006 and is a regular performer on the Scottish Bellydance scene. Her enthusiasm is for the expressive, less-is-more, contemporary Cairo style of Middle Eastern dance, using controlled, precise technique, passion, and a bit of humour. She also loves modern sha’abi, Egyptian pop music, and Saiidi style dance. Elspeth is an encouraging and enthusiastic teacher. In recent years Elspeth has taken workshops with Khaled Mahmoud, Aziza, and Yasmina of Cairo, and studies regularly with Lorna of Cairo.   

If you fancy dancing with me at the Thomas Morton Halls, the term of classes is bookable through Dancebase. It'd be great to see you!

Monday 13 September 2010

Beautiful dancer and/or beautiful dance

I was at a workshop a few weeks ago where I was lucky enough to be in the company of some very talented dancers, who were also beautiful and curvy.

I say 'lucky', but after 6 hours in front of the mirrors beside beautiful women, I didn't feel very lucky. In comparison, I felt curve-less and scruffy, in need of some new gel bras and a wig. In fact, just a makeover, please.

Later we had a discussion about a famous Cairo dancer, who was a judge in a recent UK bellydance competition, who said that the most important thing about a competitor was that she was 'clean' - that she looked as if she'd been in the beauty salon all day, nails and hair all perfect and no extra body hair. For her, this was more important that presence, costume, and technique.

I know 'the look' is important. I want to see well-presented dancers too. But for me, it's about making something beautiful, not only being something beautiful.

I am not implying for a second that any of the dancers I was with are not great dancers!! They are all brilliant!! It's only really my own insecurities talking, and I guess they're just shouting at me pretty loudly at the moment.

Which is why I thought I'd share with you a photo of myself that I like. Mainly to cheer myself up. Thanks to the smashing Kelly Archibald at Kalidescope Studios for taking it.

Monday 23 August 2010

Autumn Term 2010

Autumn term at The Fisherrow Centre, Musselburgh, starts on Thursday 2nd September (not 27th August as previously advertised - that's what I get for trying to be organised and tell you the dates before the end of last term!)

7.30pm- 8.30pm Beginners/open level.
This will be a moderately energetic class, teaching you the basic belly dance moves. We'll use lots of Egyptian pop music (funky, catchy and fun), there will be lots of dancing and not too much talking, with routines focussing on getting to grips with basic technique. If you've not danced before, it will give you detail on the moves. If you've done a term or two already, it will give you practice in the moves, help you listen to the music and get you moving, improving your muscle memory.

8.30pm - 9.30pm Improvers/performance level.
If you're ready to move on from the basic moves and want to get to grips with 'dancing' rather than 'practicing', this is the class for you. We'll learn combinations and put them together to music. We'll learn entire choreographies with a view to performing them, and we will polish choreographies the class has learned in previous terms. Nobody will ever be pressured to perform if they don't want to. This class is the home of the Helwa Hurdies.

  • All women are welcome to each of the classes. They are fun and friendly. 
  • Please wear something comfy (joggers and a t-shirt is fine, but please don't wear anything too baggy  - I want to be able to see your moves so I can help you improve - and or too tight - which might impair your movement or your breathing! 
  • We dance in bare feet or dance shoes, or else non-slip socks (like Toasties) if you feel the cold.
  • Autumn Term lasts for 14 weeks, with a holiday on Thursday 21 October, and the last class is on Thursday 9th December. 
  • The cost for the term is £63, or £53 concessionary rate (senior citizens, students and income support). 
  • If you've never come to the classes before, you can try before you buy, and pay for the term in week 2 instead of week 1 (ie, if you try it *in week 1* and don't like it, it was a free class).

Autumn Term at Dancebase, Leith
I will be teaching Bellydance for Beginners at the new Dancebase centre in Leith (formerly the Thomas Morton Halls), on Friday evenings, 5.30-6.30pm. This class has to be booked through Dancebase. All the details are in the Dancebase brochure. Classes start on Friday 1st October.

Sunday 22 August 2010

The Gaslight Faeries - a show at the Panopticon

It's very easy to think that a hafla is of the only home for bellydance performance - I guess I've been thinking that for a while. But last night I saw a beautiful, ambitious, clever, carefully constructed belly dance show and it blew me away.

Gaslight Faeries sounded like a bit of a gimmick. Presented  by Sarasvati Tribal, a group of 4 tribal fusion style Scottish belly dancers, in the Panopticon Theatre, the oldest music hall in the world, no ticket price, only donations. Well, that would be quite enough to get bums on seats, right? People would turn up just to see the amazing old theatre, and sit beside the dancers and musicians who are already fans of Sarasvati. It was a sure-fire success, right?

I confess that I was one of those who really wanted to see the Panopticon. And that I'm a Sarasvati fan, even if a lot of tribal fusion bellydance leaves me a bit cold. But Gaslight Faeries was also a beautifully put-together show. Most of the dancing was exceptional. It was clearly devised with love and attention to detail, cleverly planned and programmed. The music - oh, the music!! It was carefully chosen and researched, and for the most part, perfectly set the tone of the evening, and complimented the Panopticon. I would *love* a CD of the music that was used in the show! (HINT!)

A hafla this was not. At a hafla, we clap, shout and zhagreet. I can't help making lots of noise when I watch belly dancers (even tribal fusion dancers!) For most of the night, the audience was silent - rapt and attentive, yes, in a very British fashion. The woman in front of me scowled at me when I made the zhagreet. Which is a bit odd, since we *were* in Glasgow, after all!! So, I am guessing that this show pulled in an audience well outwith the belly dance community.

The Panopticon had asked that the show be as 'old' as possible. It's an old building full of history, and they like to put on olde-worlde shows - they have music hall afternoons and show back-to-back Laurel and Hardy films. So Gaslight Faeries, like a special Tardis for bellydancers, took us back in time to see some historical dancers. There was ancient Egpyt, a Victorian beach, the roaring twenties, the Casino Opera. I loved most of the performances. If you want to know about them all, you can take me out for a coffee! But my highlights are here.

The Sarasvati girls were great. When they dance, they work together as a team. They look like they really want to dance, and they really want to dance with each other. Their choreographies were great, really utilising their group dynamics. Each of them had lovely presence, but (a-hem!), through the strength of their common endevour, they achieve more than they achieve alone.

But lordy, did they achieve alone too!! Laura (who needs to be respected and thanked for having the vision, and for putting the whole show together) did a Mata Hari number. Laura admits she has not been seen dancing oriental style belly dance for quite a few years. I admit I was suprised when there was no sting in the tail - she didn't switch from graceful oriental to scary seductress tribal fusion. But she has clearly not lost the oriental magic! She was *amazing*. Seductive, captivating - you can read the dance through her eyes - with isolation and smooth moves to die for. There was *no* slack in her performance at all. Stunning.

Sarasvati's Ali danced "An Homage to to Loie Fuller", who was a pioneering dancer at the turn of the century. Ali wore a full length white dress (not bellydance style), and had 2 white fan veils. The way she moved the veils, the way she interprerted the music, the way she held the audience ab-so-lute-ly RAPT, was just *stunning*. I don't think anything I could say would do it justice.

The evening was compered by The Ringmistress, jaw-droppingly and immaculately beautiful, in red bustier, fascinator top-hat, red tails, thigh-high boots and fishnets. There were Seaside Frolicks with Saucy Sal and Lord Trust-Me-Not - better known to the bellydancers in the audience as Irene and Margaret from the Daughters of Isis. Their burlesque Victorian beach skit had the audience in fits of laughter, performing, as always, with conviction, charisma and tongues in cheeks! I hope to see more of Margaret's moustache because it deserves a show of its own. Susie of Habiba Dance performed a majestic, elegant and beautiful dance to transport us back to the roots of Oriental belly dance, the 1920s Cairo nightclub, the Casino Opera. The amazing Nagwa was theatrically and elegantly revealed for the delight of the audience as Queen Cleopatra, presenting herself to Mark Anthony. Yes, we were entranced!

I went with my mum, who isn't a dancer, but is supportive of me - and thus a veteran of haflas. She loved the show too. In the end, we were both a bit disappointed by the Panopticon - let's just say, there's still rather a lot of restoration still to be done! - but delighted by the show.

Gaslight Faeries has been a bit of an epiphany for me. It's made me feel that I could do with much more creativity and imagination in my approach to belly dance.What usually pulls the rug out from under me is a dazzling Egyptian oriental style dancer whose technique and presence makes me feel like a perennial under-achiever who should give up and go home. But Gaslight Faeries, as well as being full of dazzling dancing, had as its strength a wonderful imagination and creativity. And I'd love to see it again!

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Workshops with Lorna of Cairo

Well, it's Ramadan and that means that the very wonderful, super-talented amazing dancer Lorna of Cairo is back in the UK for a few weeks!

Lorna has been working in Cairo as a bellydancer for a few years now, and before she went she was teaching hundreds of women from all across Scotland - including me - to bellydance. 

I have the pleasure of organising workshops for Lorna while she is here. She is on tour across the UK, teaching and dancing, and on Saturday 4 September she will be teaching in Edinburgh! If you're a dancer, do you best to get to these workshops - you'll learn a lot and have a great time.

Workshops with Lorna of Cairo in Edinburgh: Saturday 4th September 2010 at The Club, Jewel and Esk College, 24 Milton Road East, Edinburgh EH15 2PP
Both workshops are suitable for all levels, but not for complete beginners.

Noon – 2pm: Core Cairo

Five key moves to make you dance like an Egyptian – plus a few more tips to Egypt-ify your performance.

2.30pm – 4.30pm: Oum Kalthoum – what every dancer should know.

Oum Kaltoum has a unique place in the Egyptian heart. How can dancers make the most of her songs and reflect the reverence? Lorna will use Oum Kaltoum favourites to help you with expression and interpretation. This workshop will be dancing, not just talking – and afterwards you won’t go wrong!

Each workshop costs £22, or book both for £40. Numbers are limited. Please book your place before Friday 27 August.

Book Now!: To book your space send a cheque, made out to E Alexandra, to Elspeth Alexandra, 32 Claremont Road, Edinburgh EH6 7NH. Please be sure to include your email address and phone number.

Monday 9 August 2010

Summer holidays

After the Musselburgh Hafla I had a full month of no dancing at all. Instead I painted my kitchen, went on a family holiday, tried out Zumba, did a few races and generally did other stuff - it's good to have a holiday!

When August came around it was time to get dancing again, and when I put on Egyptian pop music and started to move my body again, it was a familiar and as comforting as putting on my favourite pyjamas. Feeling my muscles move was a great sensation, just out-of-practice enough to know that I've missed it, but so familiar that my reactions are instantly happy.

I'm working on my classes for next term, which starts at the end of August. I'm giving my classes more emphasis on moving to the music. It might sound strange for a dance class, but especially for beginners I often spend a lot of the time *without* music playing - breaking down moves, talking them over, explaining them with words. This term I'm going to try to talk less and boogie more!

So if you come to my classes this term you can expect it to be energetic and fun, with lots of poppy Egyptian music and easy-to-follow routines to learn.

Friday 2 July 2010

The Musselburgh Hafla 2010

What a fantastic hafla it was! There was a really excellent line-up with a really amazing diversity of styles of bellydance, and a lovely atmosphere. So many people commented on how relaxed and friendly it was - which, as far as I'm concerned, is exactly what a hafla is meant to be, so I'm really chuffed!

I seemed to spend the whole afternoon getting ready, packing the car with stuff, putting false eyelashes on and taking them off again, printing things and putting stuff in bags. I thoroughly ignored my kids and I'm very grateful to say there were not in fighting mood!

I had some fantastic help for the hafla, in advance and on the night. I was dancing and compereing as well as being general in-charge person, which is quite enough for anyone - so I needed lots of jobs done!

I am very, very grateful to Matthew Skipper for DJing. Most haflas feature a grumpy and stressed DJ, scribbling notes and juggling CDs and generally not boosting a dancer's confidence when she hands in her music! Matthew however was friendly and polite and fulfilled his cable plugging, play-pressing and timing duties admirably. I am shamed by the fact I failed to announce my thanks to him at the end of the night, and I hope this will help make up for it a bit! (that and a batch of chocolate cupcakes!)

My friend Amanda Mutch has never been to a hafla before but wanted to do some work for charidee and volunteered to come along. She ran the bring & buy sale and was in charge of the video camera - what a star. Thanks Amanda!

The good ladies of the Helwa Hurdies ran about doing many tasks to keep the event smooth, and special thanks go to Yvonne Mireylees who rustled up an incredible raffle which raised a small fortune.

And the performances! The mix was just amazing. We had segats, sword, veil, fan veils, stick and meleya lef - what accessories could be left?! We had oriental with pop and classical, tribal and tribal fusion, and lots of the stuff in between. We had seasoned teachers, groups and classes, and new soloists. It was great!

I was so chuffed at the end when the Helwa Hurdies stopped me in my tracks at the end of the show and presented me with a card, a lovely big orchid and and a box of chocolates. They are such a pleasure to teach, teaching them is its own reward! But it is very lovely to be appreciated - thank you ladies.

More later when the money has been counted and the videos have been YouTubed!!

Sunday 27 June 2010

Preparing the Hafla programme

I have a fun job tonight - I'm busy with some paper and scissors trying to sort out the running order for this Thursday's Musselburgh Hafla! I'm trying to balance the oriental and the tribal, the solos and the groups, the mainstays and the show-stoppers to make the very best show. I have each name of a slip of paper, and I'm fiddling them around to get the best running order! It is truly exciting!!

We're also going to have a Bellydance Bring-and-Buy sale at the hafla, where dancers can sell their previously-loved items, be they costumes, coin belts or accessories. If you want to sell anything, you need to label it with your name and how much you'd like to get for it (and 'or nearest offer' if you're open to haggling!)

There will be a raffle too, hopefully raising more money for our chosen charity, Children 1st.

What's probably causing more stress is my own performances - making me wish it was a month away instead of just 4 days!!

I hope you can come along - this Thursday, 1st July, at Musselburgh Rugby Club, Stoneyhill Farm Road, Musselburgh. Doors open at 7.30pm, dancing to start at 8pm. All tickets are £5 on the door.

Thursday 24 June 2010

The Musselburgh Hafla - 1 July 2010

I am excited as it's only SEVEN DAYS till the Musselburgh Hafla!

Thursday 1st July
Musselburgh Rugby Club
Doors 7.30pm, dancing from 8pm (we hope to be finished before 10.30pm)
All tickets £5, raising money for Children 1st

We are going to have such a good line up. There's a terrific variety of oriental and various tribal styles, groups and solos. Last year we got a lot of feedback on how fun and friendly the hafla was, so we hope to be even more fun and even friendlier this year!

Please come along and bring your friends and family for an enjoyable, relaxed evening - it's not an expensive bar! Children are welcome to come along - after all it is the last day of term! - as long as they keep out the bar.
 
We will have a raffle and a Bring and Buy Bellydance sale. If you have any goodies to sell, label them up with your name and how much you want for them, and we'll display them for other dancers to peruse.

See you next Thursday!!

Bellydance Birthday Party!

Last weekend I had a lovely Sunday lunchtime teaching at a birthday party. It was an 11th birthday party!

I was really excited - although I've taught children before, I'd not taught this age group. I took top tips from my friend Celia, who teaches regular belly dance classes for girls. I was also warned that 11-year-old girls would be naturally good dancers, and it was true! Most of the girls at the party go to dance classes (not belly dance) and had lovely natural movements. They quickly look for the next challenge, and it was a lovely pace to teach at - I think I taught them in 1.5 hours what I'd teach a grown-up class in about 6 weeks!

There is something quite amazing about the sound of a collective gasp when you enter the room in full costume!! It was funny and lovely to see their eyes popping out at the sight of so many sequins! For the first half hour they were so quiet. The mum of the birthday girl assured me that they were just overwhelmed!

The girls enjoyed the veils especially and looked great when they finally performed the choreography (Egyptian pop style) I'd taught them. It was helpful to have mirrors, our venue was the creche at Gracemount Leisure Centre.

I was accompanied by Yvonne, one of my students, who'd put me in touch with the mum of the birthday girl. Yvonne had glitter tattoos for all the girls and they loved it! They were sparkling and shimmying and smiling all at the same time! (although the actual *movement* of the shimmy on an 11-year-old is quite different to that of the women I'm used to teaching!!)

One girl left saying to the hostess, "thank you for having me, that was the the best birthday party I've ever been to!". I can't ask for better than that!

Sunday 30 May 2010

The dances of Egypt - in a cold, cold climate!

Today I danced, along with the gorgeous Helwa Hurdies, at the Seafood Festival in Prestonpans. It's an annual event which is part of the Three Harbours festival, which has, as its tagline, "art in unusual places". Which I suppose is why we were bellydancing in a field in the shadow of Cockenzie Power Station, between a real ale tent and purveyors of prawns.

The massive sky was grey and cloudy. Wonderful kites were continuously fluttering high in the sky - the wind didn't drop for a minute. And it was utterly, phenomenally, unbelievably COLD.

We had a very nice tent to change in. Sadly we didn't have a nice tent to perform in. We had thought our venue was the music tent. However, the music tent was very small, set up with amps and a drumkit for the bands who were also performing, open on one side to the rows of plastic chairs to seat the audience, who, on a finer day (like the previous day had been!) would be muncking paella and supping their microbrewery 80/-. No room for bellydancers in the tent - we were to dance on the grass. Fully exposed to the elements.

Now, I can easily find something cosy to dance in. I have a bacofoil style skirt. I have a veil which is reminiscent of a blanket runners get when they've finished a marathon. But I thought I was dancing in a tent and I was not prepared for how cold I would be!

We had to hang around for a long time before we performed. Some of us had dragged our families and children along, who were losing patience in the cold conditions. Bless the hardy souls who had the stamina to sit and watch us, and to clap - they deserve medals! It is hard to dance when you're freezing. It's also hard to dance on the grass - it is uneven, it makes it hard to balance for even the simplest moves. It was a really challenging performance and I'm not sure any of us would call it our finest hour.

Of course, as soon as I strode onto the 'stage' the wind whipped my veil out of my hand. I worked hard to make sure the wind didn't wrap it round my face!

I was dancing to "Nagwa", which is quite a big, oriental "magency" (opening number) usually with lots of travelling - but I wobbled with every step on the uneven ground! And my 'arm warmers' kept falling down because my skin was so cold and contracted - usually I have a nice layer of sweat that keeps them up!


There was a lot of lovely dancing in the set. Angie Morton did a gorgeous dance and her class did a really lovely group routine. The wonderful Helwa Hurdies performed their Spanish style routine to Elissas' Low Nerjaa Sawa and altho the cold had made them fairly miserable, they did very well.
Ruthie, Victoria, Margaret, Carol and Laura were troopers! Well done wonderful Hurdies.

Then I performed a stick dance. In my new mega-sparkly galabeya from the brilliant Farida Dance. I could do this with a lot less travelling, and felt much better about it. Despite my hands feeling like ice, I even managed to hold onto the stick - but balancing it on my head was out of the question!!

It was really, really good to get dressed again and finally have some hot food. My long-suffering husband and frozen children were also happy that it was over!
All in all, it was not the best gig ever. But it's all good experience - I won't be volunteering for grassy performances again any time soon!

Monday 24 May 2010

More Magic for Mums

I'm excited that finally I have been able to book a room for the rest of term - so I'm having a re-launch of these fun, friendly classes in Leith.

Wednesday mornings throughout June, 9.30-10.30am (so you can get this wee ones to school/nursery/playgroup first!)

Wear comfy clothes and bare feet or dance shoes.


Each class costs £4 or £3.50 concession (income support, jobseekers, senior citizen, student.)

This is a lovely, fun, morning class, mostly for mums but all women are welcome! Ideal for a little bit of active me-time when the wee ones are busy.

No experience necessary - just a love of music and the desire to dance and have fun. This is a drop-in, pay-on-the-day class so don't worry about not being there from the start of term.

Belly dancing is enjoyable exercise and in this class we dance mostly to egyptian pop music. You'll learn the basic belly dance moves and put them together in a modern Cairo style.

I hope to see you there soon!

Friday 21 May 2010

Space to dance

I want to dance. I want to respond to music, to put something of myself into what I do, to express myself in movement to music. I want to enjoy the creative side of dance, the part of it that stimulates the imagination and the creativity.

But at the moment it seems that whenever I have some *time*, I'm lacking the space -  either the headspace, or the energy, or I'm too likely to be interupted. Right now I have time to blog because I'm waiting for the mopped floors to dry - plus it's bedtime! I have no energy to dance, nothing left of myself to put into it.

Early mornings don't work for me, because altho my body is working, my brain isn't. In the evenings, once the kids are in bed, I am either teaching, preparing my classes or doing admin (room booking, publicity, event organising), or indeed running a house and trying to maintain a good relationship with my husband. If I do get some evening time I find it difficult to find a space to dance in - kitchen too wee, dining room too full of wobbly bookcases, living room too full of husband.

I wonder, if I got the chance to put aside some time each week to just dance, would I be able to? Would I just feel the pressure of that set time, do-it-quick-now-before-time-runs-out, and have a mental block?

I wish I had a Tardis. Sigh!

Wednesday 19 May 2010

Dancing in the sunshine!

I had a lovely afternoon dancing in Princes Street Gardens on Saturday!

I had been booked to perform and teach for a hen party - nothing new there. But this one was to take place in Princes Street Gardens (huge park in Edinburgh city centre, very busy!) on a Saturday afternoon. As a result I was quite nervous! I had a struggle finding something to wear that would be warm enough, and that I wouldn't be too upset if it ended up getting a bit damaged from being outside - and that fitted!!

I set off for the bus stop in costume and full make-up (there's nowhere change in a park!) and got half way there when a genius thought occured to me - "why don't I get a taxi??" God I'm smart!!

There were about 30 lovely ladies there, getting ready for the wedding in July. They had been on a scavenger hunt and the bride had no idea what was coming! She was delighted to see me and was keen to boogie on the grass, even if nobody could hear the music (the hen's mum had assured me she had a very loud CD player - she didn't!!) They threw themselves into the warm-up, they were all so excited. After an hour of learning basic moves and a bit of fun choreography, in the sunshine, they were fading a little!

We did get some grief from the local wildlife (the baseball-capped variety) but we were having too much fun to bother. At one point someone ran into our circle with a camera, snapped a photo of the bride, said "thank you, good luck!" and ran away again - she was a total stranger to us all! The things that end up in some people's photo albums...

It was a lovely afternoon and everyone seemed very happy as they headed off to prepare for a few lemonades, no doubt just to re-hydrate after dancing in the sunshine. I am so lucky to have such a fun job!

Monday 19 April 2010

New term at the Fisherrow Centre, Musselburgh

SwishandHips bellydance classes summer term begins on Thursday 22 April. It will be great to see returning students and hopefully some new dancers too!

Beginners & open level class: 7.30-8.30pm
Improvers & performers class: 8.30-9.30pm

Improvers class is ideal for anyone who's done a few terms in the open level class and wants a new challenge. Nobody is pressurised to perform so don't worry, you won't be forced to go on stage if you don't want to! We spend more than half of the classes learning and working on choreographies, but also work on technique, music and rhythm, and combinations.

If you're not sure which class you'd like to take, try them both and then decide.

Classes are at the Fisherrow Centre, South Street, Musselburgh. This will be a 10-week term which costs £40 or £35 concessionary rate (jobseekers, senior citizens, students), payable at the start of term.

It would be great to see you there!

Magic for Mums bellydance class is back!

Magic for Mums belly dance classes at Leith Community Education Centre
Wednesday morning, 9.30-10.30am

Starts Wednesday 21 April. 

A fun, drop-in, pay-on-the-day class for all women, but especially good for mums looking for some me-time while the weans are at school, nursery or playgroup.

The classes cost £4 each, or £3.50 for jobseekers, senior citizens or students.

New students are welcome any time. We learn the basic moves of belly dance, putting them together to  Egyptian pop music. Wear comfy clothes are bare feet, or dance shoes if you prefer. 

I haven't yet been able to book the room for the whole term, so until the end of April this will be on a week-to-week basis. So if you're coming along please get in touch to check the class is going ahead! Hopefully by the end of April the Management Committee of the Community Centre will have met and decided whether or not I can book the room for the whole term.

Saturday 3 April 2010

What a great spring term!

Happy Easter! It's been such a busy term and I'm so glad it's the holidays! 

My Wednesday morning classes at Leith Community Centre have been lots of fun, with a lovely group of (mostly) mums getting to grips with belly dance moves for the first time (mostly!). I'm really pleased with the way it's worked and I really want to continue teaching next term. I will be asking the Community Centre if we can use the room again after Easter (it's great to have mirrors!) - fingers crossed they say yes.

The Fisherrow classes are as much fun as ever! The Helwa Hurdies have been amazing this term, working really hard to get the hang of a new choreography and performing it twice this term, at the Hafla for Haiti and the Lorna of Cairo hafla. The beginners/open level class has been great, lots of fun and brand-new beginners really developing well. Well done everyone!

So it's two weeks off, to eat chocolate and run around in the park in the sunshine (I hope) and then classes will resume, on Wednesday 21st (hopefully) and Thursday 22nd of April. The Leith class remains £4 per class, pay-on-the-day, and the Musselburgh classes are £45 for a 10-week term, or £35 for concessions.

And we'll be working towards the Musselburgh Hafla at Musselburgh Rugby Club on Thursday 1 July!

Monday 22 February 2010

New Daytime Classes in Leith

I'm really excited about some new classes I'll be teaching in March.

Magic for Mums!
SwishAndHips Belly Dance Classes

Every Wednesday in March
9.30-10.30am
at the Kirkgate Community Centre, Leith (with mirrors!)
All women welcome, although this class will be ideal for mums (like me) who want to have some fun me-time straight after dropping the weans at school!

First class (Wednesday 3 March) - only £2
All other classes £4

If you enjoy music, want to keep fit and have fun, try Egyptian belly dance. This class is ideal for all levels of fitness and all ages. We dance in bare feet (or slipper-socks or dance shoes if you feel the cold) and comfy clothes (joggers, leggings, t-shirt). It is not necessary to bare your belly!

The class uses mostly modern Egyptian pop music. You'll learn the basic belly dance moves, and how to put them together in combinations. You'll also learn about different styles of belly dance, and the sorts of music belly dance in performed to. Mostly I hope you'll have a good, fun, active time!

Give me a shout if you have any questions - otherwise please come along!