Back in the swing of things.

Well, teaching term is back in full swing and I'm really pleased about it! Dancebase have found another group of beginners for me to teach, the majority of whom have not bellydanced before - my favourite! - so it's my mission to make as many of them as I can fall in love with the dance! And it helps when there are so many good events to tell them about - this was a busy weekend!

Saturday night was a hafla organised by my friend Moyra Banks. Moyra is one of my favourite Edinburgh dancers, with musical interpretation I adore and a real passion for Egyptian-ness. Her hafla was wonderfully well organised - a real cut above many haflas with care and attention to details. She was hosting Washington D.C.-based teacher Artemis, who taught workshops over the weekend and performed at the hafla.

Moyra asked me to compere the hafla - a job which I enjoy [and people tell me that I do it well - blush - in a past life I did a lot of public speaking to audiences who were much less friendly than bellydancers!] It was great to get to introduce such a great line-up, not only the star guest Artemis, but 11 other performances, including Zafirah, who had come from London to close the show; the ever-gorgeous Sarasvati Tribal from Glasgow; Caroline Rose performing a spangly-gorgeous Randa Kamel choreography; and Moyra herself doing an amazingly beautiful baladi piece. It was a smashing night with a lovely, warm, friendly atmosphere, and Moyra deserves much credit for putting such a good event together.

Sunday was East Lothian Council's MultiCultural Day at Prestongrange Museum, and my Fisherrow dancers, the Helwa Hurdies, were peforming. It is an annual event, and this was the third time we have danced there. Last year the atmosphere was, well, somewhat lacking, and I had a bit of trepidation about it. The class had spent all of last term preparing a dance for the wedding of one of the Hurdies, and we'd put together a not-terribly-Middle Eastern piece for that occasion! I didn't want to dance to Akon at a Multi-Cultural event! So in the first three weeks of this term we worked on a khaleegy routine, to “Ahla Nazra” by The Miami Band.

In bellydance terms the word “khaleegy (khaliji, khallejy etc) refers to a style of dance and music from the Persian Gulf or Arabian Gulf region, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Real women dance this style in pairs or groups of for their own entertainment at celebrations like weddings.The dancers wear bright, oversized overdresses called the thobe or thobe nasha’ar, worn without a hip belt. The dress is used as a prop, as is a headful of long, glossy hair! 

While not all of us are blessed with long glossy hair, we know that when we need dresses, the woman to see is Celia Buchan, bellydance costumier to the finely attired East of Scotland bellydance community! Celia helped us with our costumes for the wedding, and was on hand to run up some thobes for the Hurdies too. Lovely!

Well, the atmosphere was much, much better this year. The tent filled up as we began our slot (and the rain helped us make sure people stayed till the end!) and we got a lovely reception. I danced the Hurdies duet to Aayshalak with Laura

and then filled some more of our 15-minute slot with an improvised baladi piece, using music from my favourite baladi album, Baladi W'Bas! by Yasmina of Cairo. I recommend the album for anyone looking to get their baladi groove on, it's great.

I haven't danced in this old beady dress for a long time. Back when I started bellydance, in 1997, the beady dress was a staple of the dancer's wardrobe. It weighs a tonne and stretches to fit just about anybody.  But I was looking for something appropriate for a multi-cultural event - less showy, more folky. And I feel great dancing baladi in this dress - it makes me feel modest, grounded and slinky!

We saved the best for last though - nine of us took to the stage for our khaleegy fabulousness. It went really well, even if the stage was a bit too wee for us all. Nobody lost any hair, nobody was injured by anyone else's hair, and nobody fell over their thobe. For three weeks practice, that's a result! I'm looking forward to seeing some footage.

It was a great event, with a nice audience and lot of other great performances. The group of Maasai tribesmen who took the stage shortly after us were amazing! How great to share a bill with them!

I'm looking forward to dancing with the Hurdies again soon.

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!

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.

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!!

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!