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!