Twelve Months, Twelve Sentences

2012 was the most amazing bellydance year I've ever had. This year when I was lucky enough to be part of Club Bellydance and got the dance with the Baladi Blues Band, and entered my first ever bellydance competition. Can I summarise it in twelve sentences?! 

January didn’t bring any bellydance workshops my way, but I enjoyed going to my first ever hooping workshop, taught by the brilliant Ann McLaughlin; and I spent a LOT of time dancing to Alf Leyla Wa Leila, because in...

 

In February I was lucky enough to perform with the Baladi Blues Band, my first time ever dancing with a live band which I LOVED, as well as being invited to compere the Edinburgh University African and Arabic Dance Society’s hafla, and starting work with The Peacock Project.

I worked so hard for this performance and loved doing it!

In March, the wonderful Lorna of Cairo came to Scotland and I was to dance at her classes, organise a performance for her and generally hang out.

The Beautiful Lorna of Cairo, in Leith. With me.

 April brought another hooping workshop with Ann, and I had an excellent weekend of rehearsals with the Peacock Project, working towards and completing the choreography for our entry to this year’s Shimmy in The City competition.

May was amazing, when I rehearsed hard for and performed in Club Bellydance at The Pleasance, with the Bellydance Superstars, the biggest Bellydance gig I’ve ever been involved in, which was a brilliant experience for the dancing, the learning and the new friends I made. Oh and I ran the Edinburgh Marathon two days later! 

In June (deep breath) I taught 2 bellydance sessions for children at the PLU festival, which was really interesting and fun; I performed sha’abi style at the GFAD hafla and got a good response; organised  & performed at the rather splendid Leith Festival Hafla, which was very successful; and organised, ran and compered the Musselburgh Hafla, which was a really good event.

July brought the Big Dance weekend, which was also rehearsal weekend for The Peacock Project, and I organised an amazing flashmob in the National Museum of Scotland as well as preparing 3 of my 4 classes to perform. I also organised a performance night for Lorna of Cairo at Mimi’s bakehouse, where we all had cake for dinner!

In August I returned to full-time study after 16 years away, as I began to study for an HND in Fitness Health & Exercise at Edinburgh College. 

September was the culmination of the year’s work for the Peacock Project as we competed at Shimmy in the City, in London, which was an amazing, challenging, growing experience, and I survived the terrible disappointment of not winning.

By October I was back to teaching four wonderful classes, in Musselburgh and Dancebase, with lots of wonderful women and a lovely man. 

In November I danced with the Helwa Hurdies at a Halloween hafla and enjoyed expanding our repertoire; I compered and performed at a charity hafla at The Quay, organised by one of my students Sara Gollan, which was a brilliant night; and did lots of preparation with the Dancebase Improvers class for the Dancebase Christmas show, including extra rehearsals and costuming.

The Helwa Hurdies in Halloween dress, I Dream of Jeannie style! (if you're too young, Google!!)

December brought the brilliant Dancebase Christmas Show, where both of the classes I teach performed and did really, really well.

The lovely ladies of the Dancebase Improvers, just before taking the stage for their Golden Era tribute dance.

Wow. What with studying full time now, I don't expect to have a 2013 as jam-packed with bellydance goodies as 2012 was. But it was such an amazing year and I'm so thankful.

November Fun

There are so many bellydance events coming up in Edinburgh next month!

On the evening of Sunday 4th November, the lovely Pheonyx Dance is organising her second Masquarade Hafla at the Church of the Good Shepherd at Roseburn. We are to wear a mask and dress up for this halfa, because after all, it is Halloween!

The cause for the Pheonyx Masquarade Hafla will be orphans in Scotland and abroad. Proceeds will go to charities supporting orphans, including SOS Children's Villages and Mary's Meals. Donations of raffle prizes are welcome.

Bring your own food and drinks for this one, and there is also space for souks. More details are from neimahsafi@hotmail.com

 

The following week it's time for the Pyramid Awards 2012 at the Minto Hotel in Newington. As far as I know the Pyramid Awards have been the only bellydance competition in Scotland, and this is the third time they've taken place. The competition starts the evening at 8pm on Saturday 10th November, with competitors being asked to improvise to music of the judge's choice. Those who progress to round 2 then get to perform their own piece. There will also be a "star studded show, with International performers, selected dancers from Edinburgh and surrounding areas", and an Arabic Disco till 1am. 

 

There are also workshops the following day. You will find more details on Fereshteh's website.

The next weekend is even busier. On Friday 16th November the lovely Sara Gollan is organising a hafla to raise money for Alzheimers Scotland, as she will be taking part in a firewalk for that charity! The venue is The Quay in Musselburgh, and tickets are £8. I'll be compering the evening so come and give me big supportive zhagreets from the audience. You can get in touch with me for more details or if you want to dance!

Then you have the Saturday night to recover before the Edinburgh Egyptian Dancers Hafla on Sunday 18th November at Revolution nightclub on Chambers Street. This is Edinburgh's longest running hafla and is always smashing and recommended. Tickets are usually £10 and available on the door.

If you've never been to a hafla before, it's essentially where bellydancers go to dance and watch other dancers perform. They range in formality and variety but we usually wear lovely things, make lots noise and get a good party atmosphere going! You don't have to dance if you don't want to - it's fine to watch - but if you're having fun then clapping and cheering are compulsory.

 

What you waiting for? Find something to wear, bring a friend and get ready to dance or cheer!

Shimmy in the City - competition report

I have competed, I have survived, and I'm going to tell you all about it.

The second Shimmy in the City bellydance festival was on 20-22 September 2012 in Croydon, London. I went last year and had a great time. This year, I took part in the competition as part of The Peacock Project, a six-dancer troupe from all over the UK (Edinburgh, London, Cambridge and Exeter). We were Caroline the Peacock, Emma the Peacock, Hannah the Peacock, Moyra the Peacock, Zafirah the Peacock, and me.

And yes, we know that Peacocks are really male, but Peachicks are babies and Peahens are dowdy, so we're happy to be female Peacocks!

Emma the Peacock has blogged about the Project before - her article  sums it up. We decided a year ago to compete this year, and started working on our choreography in early 2012. So, for about nine whole months, the Peacock Project has been a big part of my life. The Edinburgh girls have been practicing weekly for about the last four months. The six of us have got together for five full days of practice, including one day spent at The Big Dance, where we had our first performance.

At first I felt overawed to be part of the Project - four of the girls are experienced in  bellydance competitions, and they include my most favourite dancers I know! I didn't feel remotely confident about my dance abilities or my choreographing. I was really nervous when we got together for the first time. But as the months went on, our choreography took shape and I felt better and better - about my own contribution and about what we were creating. It was such a luxury. By being a Peacock, I got to know friends even better, learning about them by learning how they work. I got to work with and learn from some brilliant dancers whose work I really enjoy and respect. And I got to dance, dance, dance, and get to a place where I was being the very best dancer that I could be.

By the time the competition came round, I was really, really excited. I've been taking on board a lot of NLP thinking recently, and I've been a fan of Paul McKenna since I prepared to dance with the Baladi Blues Band in January. I know it improves my performance, makes me feel better about myself and helps combat my nerves. I felt really positive about the competition, and wasn't letting any negative thoughts get into my head.

For me, walking on the the dancefloor thinking "well, we probably won't win but..." would have made entering the competition pointless. As far as I was concerned, we'd already won, and this was effectively a pressure-free performance to be enjoyed! It worked for me, I didn't feel nervous and I danced to the very best of my ability. I suspect that I was getting on the nerves of some of the other Peacocks with my relentless positivity!

Our day started with make-up and general Peacock Preening at 9.30am, and I have no idea where the next four hours went - before I knew it, we were dancing for the judges in our gorgeous peacock costumes and a haze of glitter spray. The judges were Kazafy, Orit and Aziza - three brilliant dancers and teachers. Still, nobody was going to faze that day! There was a small audience - I'm sure almost all of them were there to cheer on particular dancers or troupes, but there was still a good response.

Last year there were plenty of UK entries in both the solo and group competitions, but this year I was surprised that we were the only group from the UK. Emma the Peacock also entered the soloist competition, and was the only UK dancer.

I don't have a photo of the Peacocks in our costumes to share, sadly - we were too busy thinking about the dance to have our picture taken.

When the competition was over, we went to the pub. It was so lovely to be with the Peacocks, enjoying a Friday afternoon beer and chatting. I still felt upbeat and positive about a job well done, and relentlessly happy!

The results were announced at the hafla in the evening, about ten hours after the competition. I was so tired by then, all I wanted to do was go to bed! So when we weren't the winners or the runners up, I was disappointed but my first thought was "okay, time to get some sleep!".

The next morning was different. I was crying into my breakfast. I was so very, very disappointed, and just wanted to be at home with my family instead of in a hotel in Croydon. I really, really wanted to win - why else would I have entered a competition? - so losing was really tough. My mum texted me with a message which was the closest thing to a hug I've ever had from a mobile phone - she said "what you're experiencing is a reaction to having given your all." Spot on - there is no shame in being disappointed when I haven't got what I wanted. I sat and read the sections about failure from one of my favourite books, Unlimited by Jillian Michaels. Although I still felt miserable, I was proud of how I felt.

And frankly, having 12.5 hours of dance workshops over the next two days was a pretty excellent way to take my mind off it!

A week later and I still don't feel that I'm back to myself yet. It was such an emotional experience, and I feel pretty washed out, like I'm not feeling everything properly. I'm better than I was, and I'm not miserable, just off-kilter.

Would I do it again? I will jump at the chance to keep working with the Peacocks if I can. What a group of women, what a group of dancers! We've built lots of bonds and I don't want to lose that.

Would I compete again? Actually, yes I would. I'm a little surprised at myself but here's my logic. Despite the limitations of competitons - you don't necessarily get feedback; the judges can (and do) change the rules at their whim; and dance is making something personal and expressive, not something that anyone can judge for other people! - there is a positive. A competition is a reason to be the very best dancer that you can be. I realise that every day, every hafla, every dance should be a reason to be that dancer, but in reality, I know I can't be that focussed every single time. Having that one-off critique is an opportunity to be, as Cookie Monster says, "the best Cookie me can be." And maybe, with the right support and coaching and practice (lots and lots and lots of practice), I might be up for that in the future!