Secrets from Habiba's Diary

Baladi Blues Band - Live Arabic Music in Edinburgh

2012-01-29T13:16:00.000Z

On Sunday 5th February 2012, I am hosting the Baladi Blues Ensemble, live in Edinburgh, for a day of Egyptian Dance.

Day of Dance Flyer

All the details, including bookings information, venue, directions and accommodation info are on my website.

The aim of this event is to bring live music and Egyptian Dance to communities that might not otherwise get the chance to experience it. That’s why we have arranged a free taster workshop as part of the day. And that’s also why we’ve kept the cost of participation very low – thanks to the generous sponsorship of NADA, the Northern Arabic Dance Association.

Baladi Blues Ensemble

The Baladi Blues Ensemble plays the urban Egyptian dance music known as Baladi. Skillful accordion and saxophone improvisations, energised by powerful Egyptian rhythms give the Baladi Blues Ensemble its distinctive sound. Their music reflects the sophisticated and fast paced, urban lifestyle of 1950’s Cairo - all offered with a charming and enigmatic stage presence.

Baladi Blues Ensemble

The group is led by renowned percussionist, Guy Schalom, and features legendary quarter-tone accordionist Sheik Taha (Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Ahmed Adaweya, Fifi Abdou, and Tahia Cariocca), saxophonist Ahmed El Saidi (Ali Hassan Kuban, Shams Hussein, Salamat) and master percussionist Hassan Reevis (Abdel Halim Hafez, Ahmed Adaweya). The band also features frame drum wizard Adam Warne.

Venue

The venue is the Forth View Suite at the David Lloyd Club, Edinburgh Newhaven Harbour, EH6 4LX. Venue details, map, transport etc. information is available here.

Day

The day will feature:

FREE Egyptian Belly Dance taster workshop (2:00pm till 3:00pm)
Live music workshop for Dancers (3:00pm till 5:00pm)
EVENING CONCERT and party with live music (starts 7:30pm)

Evening concert and party with the Baladi Blues Ensemble
Starts 7:30, cost: £5! (LAST FEW TICKETS)

This unmissable concert and party will feature authentic live music from the fabulous Baladi Blues Ensemble, along with dance performances and lots of time to boogie with the band!

A fantastic evening of live music, featuring performances from me, Lorne, Espeth, Kerimeh, Anna and Edinburgh's longest established Egyptian Dance troupe Daughters of Isis.

Tickets are selling very quickly for this event, advanced booking is advised.

FREE Egyptian Belly Dance taster workshop for Beginners
2:00 till 3:00, cost: FREE

A fun, free, accessible dance workshop suitable for all ages and abilities. This will be a fun filled introduction to Egyptian Dance for complete Beginners, brought to you by Dance Base's Elspeth SwishandHips.

To join the FREE workshop, either reserve your place in advance or simply turn up on the day,

The Spirit of Baladi - Live music workshop for Dancers
3:00 till 5:00 (SOLD OUT)

I am teaching a workshop for dancers on "the Spirit of Baladi", accompanied by Baladi Blues band leader Guy Schalom on Egyptian Tabla and master accordion player Sheikh Taha - an opportunity to learn to connect with and dance to traditional Egyptian music, melody and rhythm, and to explore moving the soulful sound of Baladi accordion - played by one of the leading musicians of this incredible art form.

Bookings

To book, go to bookings page on my website and follow the instructions.

For evening tickets, all reservations will only be held if secured by full payment (you can pay via PayPal) and the last date for Advanced Bookings and Payment is Friday 3rd February.

If any evening tickets remain after 3rd February than these will be sold on the day on a first come, first served basis.

2011 - 12 months in 12 sentences

2011-12-28T12:26:00.001Z

I've risen to the challenge to summarize my 2011 year in just 12 sentences, one per month. Thanks go to Claire (@StAndrewsLynx) for the inspiration to blog on the "12 in 12" theme. And to those reading this - Happy New Year! I hope that 2012 brings good things to you, and everyone.

In January, I found some mezze (I also survived my worst costume malfunction but quickly destroyed all evidence).

I had a Fifi February, dancing with melaya and white galabeya.

In March, I fed my fabric shopping habit during a trip to Paris, and Walked the Walk with a little bit of Aziza.

April was a JoY, and workshops with Eman Zaki had me dancing Samia style.

Jewel of Yorkshire with Khaled Mahmoud and Eman Zaki

In May, I had a Dorothy moment in the wrong dancers holiday in Marrakesh; and later danced the Zarr with Suraya accompanied by drumming from the father and son El Minyawis.

Marrakesh

In June, I taught and guest starred at the second Glasgow Festival of Arabic Dance.

Dancing at GFAD, by Milla

July was the Raqs Sharqi Society fundraiser in London, and the Foundation for Community Dance summer school - where I completed their certificate in Age Inclusive Practice.

August brought injury, which caused me to miss my guest star spot at Planet Egypt in London.

September, I had a really good time watching other dancers while I gradually got my body moving again.

October had me up, dancing again and joining Beatrice Grognard's workshops as part of the Songe d'une nuit en Egypte weekend.

November brought a thankfully snow free drive home from Northern Lights at Newport on Tay.

December meant lots of hours planning the Baladi Blues live Egyptian music event in Edinburgh next year - on 5th February 2012 - and I even sold out the live music dancers workshop that I'll be teaching then.

Baladi Blues day of dance

A little bit of something sweet

2011-12-27T00:46:00.000Z

Today I had a go at whipping up a batch of traditional Arabic sugaring wax.

Sugaring is a traditional method of hair removal using a sticky toffee like mixture. This is a common beauty treatment in Arab countries like Egypt and Lebanon and featured in the movie Caramel. This helps to ensure that Arab women have no unwanted body hair. This perfect clean look is also seen as very important quality in a dancer.

I've used hot wax with fabric strips as a home treatment in the past, but always went for a non sugar based hot wax. The results are very good, although admittedly a bit messy and time consuming. However, a good quality home wax is hard to find in the UK and can also be expensive. A while ago, I therefore switched to epilators. These are pretty convenient but on my skin type I find that these machines tend to become less effective over time.

My YouTube Arabic teacher Maha posted a video of her recipe for Arabic sugaring wax. I've never tried this before and thought I would give it a go. I knew it probably wouldn't be quite as easy as it looked in the video but at least the ingredients are pretty cheap and simple - sugar plus a small quantity of water, lemon juice and salt.

Here is the clip:

One of the comments under the video suggests the recipe is:

1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt

You could probably do some research of your own if you wanted to look up alternate recipes. It looks like the acidity in the lemon juice is the important ingredient as that that helps to get the mixture to go to that sticky and stretchy consistency. I'm not sure why the salt is there, perhaps someone can tell me? Maybe that's something that you just wouldn't leave out of Arabic cooking?

It took me 3 tries to get the mixture and the cooking method right. It was caster sugar I had in the larder, so this might have affected the quantities and the outcome. It turned out I had too much liquid in my mixture so although I could pick up the paste to knead and stretch it out, it ended up a little bit too soft and sticky to use, especially when it took on the heat from the body. The result were sticky clumps of toffee that refused to budge from my legs - I then had to improvise with hastily cut fabric strips in order to get this off. I reckon this kind of consistency would probably still work okay with the heated wax and fabric strip method - but this wasn't what I was going for.

In the third try, I reduced the liquid quantity down a touch from what I've given you above. I guess this is something that needed to work with my own cups and spoons. I don't have any marble in my kitchen - as used in the video - so I used a glass/Pyrex heat proof bowl to pour out the liquid. To get the cooling effect that marble would have provided, I sunk the bottom of my dish into another bowl of cold water. When I had something cool enough to touch and solid enough to pick up in my hands, I started to work it between my fingers to stretch it out. I ended up with the caramel coloured mixture you can see on the left of my photo below. This wasn't quite sticky enough to work, so I experimented with a small piece and stretched this between my fingers until it became stickier and lighter in colour - shown on the right.

Sugaring wax

I ended up with a small and pliable piece of toffee that could be pushed onto the skin and stay in one piece when I ripped it off. The same piece could then be pushed into the next bit of skin. It took quite a bit of effort to work it onto the skin into a thinnish layer and also to try and get a good pace to complete an area of the body.

My verdict? Well it does work and it doesn't risk burning the skin on application, like hot wax can (although does need caution when preparing it). It's also natural, cheap to make, and surprisingly clean to use - certainly once I got the third batch right - and any wax left e.g. on the bowl and work surface can be easily cleaned up with hot water. However, it does take time to get the preparation method right and to get the hang of an effective technique for quick hair removal. Perhaps I need to watch an expert at work. I also found I didn't always manage to pick up all the hair with the wax and frequently had to go over the same area again. I've still got some fresh balls of wax left over and I've popped them in the fridge to use next time. In my view it's definitely worth another try and I plan to continue to work on that technique.

A Taste of Morocco

2011-12-18T13:41:00.001Z

I've gathered together a few short dance and cultural video clips from my recent visit to Morocco, posted to my YouTube account.

Berber women traditional dancing and singing

This was taken in a restaurant in Marrakesh. The dance style is Berber from the Atlas Mountains and is characterised by earthy hip movements, twists and pelvic tilts. This is a huge amount of fun and the chemistry between the women combined with changes in pace - "dance for a bit...get tired...sing for a bit...dance for a bit" reminded me of the Ghawazee dancers from the South of Egypt.

The costume is Atlas Berber. The dress is in two parts. Firstly a high necked, long sleeved underdress worn to make sure that the whole body is covered. On top is a tunic with a very long and full skirt, tucked into the belt to give the hips extra volume to emphasise the movement. There are then two long lengths of rope like wool, decorated with big sequins. One is tied several times around the hips as a belt and the other in a sort criss-cross backpack style and around the bottom. These add back in the feminine shape to help exaggerate every movement. The look is topped off with a headdress and babouches (slippers).

Moroccan Horsemen perform the Fantasia at Chez Ali, Marrakesh

This is a very short clip of the dramatic charge and gunfire, "Fantasia", of the Moroccan horseman. This traditional art was showcased at Chez Ali - a sort of Moroccan Disneyland theme restaurant a few mile outside of Marrakesh. The night, also called Fantasia, is on a typical package type itinerary for many a tourist to Morocco. However, this doesn't detract away from the sheer skill involved in performing this manoeuvre.

Cooperative Marjana, Essaouira, Morocco

This clip is the highlight of my recent visit to Morocco, taken at the argan oil women's beauty Cooperative Marjana, about 30 minutes from Essaouira.

These beauty cooperatives appear throughout the Moroccan countryside, providing employment for local women to prepare natural beauty products through traditional methods. Argan oil comes from a rich almond type nut grown on the Argan tree which is native to the region. It is a vitamin E rich oil used in luxury face creams and other beauty preparations. Again, these cooperatives are typical to a tourist itinerary.

Marjana, however, proved to be a little different and it was a joy to be welcomed by drumming, singing and dancing before the obligatory oil extraction demonstration and sales pitch got underway. And it was sheer magic when this worker who was in her 80s got up to dance for us.

My final clip is the same woman at work. This time, she is showing off her dexterity, sorting almonds. Although producers often now use machines for processing the oil, the traditional methods of argan and almond oil extraction are being kept alive.

Choosing Your Music - Advice for Students

2011-11-20T14:22:00.004Z

The first Arabic music CDs I bought were albums containing the tracks my teacher was using in class and for class choreographies. When I was starting out, I also frequently browsed the world music sections of the big music shops and came away with some good starter compilations including numerous titles containing a taster of music from a particular region or title, for example Rough Guide - which can often include a pretty decent selection of tracks. The good stores will also let you listen to the music before you buy.

I have to admit, I've not fully embraced the digital world when it comes to my music collection and I am very attached to owning the actual CD containing the tracks I am after. And yes, it's important that these are the originals.

Windows of l'Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris

From here I moved on to the independent stores and suppliers. These will often let you listen before you buy and often contain the more interesting international and independent labels. In Edinburgh, I will always drop into my favourite music shop, the traditional folk music store Coda whenever I am passing. They have a good world music section with a small rack of Arabic music and you can always find albums from the well known international artists featured there, and from the world or traditional music radio shows on Radio 2 and Radio Scotland. They also stock independent titles and I've frequently seen CDs from UK based Arabic music talent appear there. They will also let you listen to any CD before you buy and have a great sound system. Also if you're lucky, Coda sometimes has some great special offer prices and the sale rail can also turn up the odd gem. Hilary's Bazaar is another place worth browsing for CDs and definately worth a visit. This store doesn't tend to be as competitively priced as the online retailers. However, it has a big selection, including a number of rare titles, and you can ask for advice and listen too.

My other main trick for buying great Arabic music is browsing for my collection wherever I happen to be on holiday. This can often include the big chain music stores like fnac. Certainly different countries in Europe will often have various middle eastern communities in their midst, so browsing through a store catering for local tastes whilst abroad can open the doors to many new titles and lables. For example, on a trip to Paris a few months ago, I made a special trip to l'Institut du monde arabe, just to go to their bookstore and browse through a complete set of music titles from their own label.

This post responds to Emma Chapman's article on Choosing Your Music, a blog entry aimed at advising her students. Emma is a Cambridge based professional belly dancer and her handy guide contains some great tips on where to start and useful links. A nice little introduction for any student, particularly those accessing Arabic dance from a Modern Egyptian style perspective.

Emma Chapman

Breathing New Life into an Ancient Legend

2011-10-23T18:47:00.001+01:00

Dream of an Egyptian Night (Songe d'une Nuit d'Egypte) is a contemporary dance show; which takes its inspiration from the Egypt of the pharaohs, and the goddess Hathor.

The legend of the goddess Hathor has enabled Béatrice Grognard and her dancers to plunge into the dazzling artistic and intellectual richness of the Egypt of the pharaohs. Thanks to its musical excerpts drawn from numerous Egyptian repertoires and to the projection of paintings, sculptures, objects and antique sites, Dream of an Egyptian Night aims to celebrate an art which spans two millennia. The show combines both ancient Egyptian spirituality and sensual pleasure; reflecting Béatrice Grognard’s fifteen years of research and experience of creating performances.

“A celebration of the powerful femininity of the sun which is a mysterious expression of the beauty of the world and the magic beyond…”

When the show debuted in Brussels last year it drew critical acclaim and was even featured on Egyptian television’s “Good Morning Egypt” news programme (Sabah el kheir ya Masr) and the Belgian news on Télé Bruxelles. Here is a short clip from the original show.

Songe d'une nuit d'Egypte - Tarab / Béatrice... by tarabofegypt

You can watch further clips of extracts from the original show (Songe d’une nuit d’Egypte) on the Tarab video channel on Daily Motion.

The exciting news is that thanks to Ellie Atkinson of Zahira Dance and Raqs Sharqi Dorset, and after playing to audiences in Belgium, France and Italy, this amazing show is coming to UK this autumn – to theatres in Bristol in October and Leeds in November! And more good news, both shows will be followed by 2 days of workshops. Here are all the details.

Bristol show
Friday 28 October 2011, doors at 7.30pm.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Theatre, Berkley Place, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1JX.
Tickets are £16.50 including booking fee
To reserve go to www.bristolticketshop.co.uk.

Bristol workshops
Dance Space at the Island (Bridewell St entrance), Bristol, BS1 2PY
Saturday 29 October, 11:30-16:00 - Baladi
Sunday 30 October, 9:30-14:00 - Sha’abi (the rural style from Upper Egypt)
Each workshop costs £45
Bookings can be made by contacting Ellie Atkinson.

Leeds show
Friday 18 November, doors at 7.30pm.
Northern Ballet Theatre, Quarry Hill, Leeds, Yorkshire LS2 7PA.
Tickets are £16.00 including booking fee.
To reserve go to www.northernballet.com.

Leeds workshops
Northern Ballet at Quarry Hill, Leeds, Yorkshire, LS2 7PA
Saturday 19 November, 11:30-16:00 - Classical from the ottoman courts
Sunday 20 November, 9:30-14:00 - Sufi.
Each workshop costs £45
Bookings can be made by contacting Ellie Atkinson.

Béatrice is an inspirational and generous teacher of her own particular style of contemporary and theatrical Egyptian dance. I’m so excited by this that I’m even planning to travel from my home in Edinburgh to both Bristol and Leeds weekends so I can attend both workshop weekends and I’m even thinking of seeing the show twice. I’m particularly excited by the Sufi style, I’ve only done this a handful of times before with Béatrice and it is an incredible experience, not to be missed.

Béatrice Grognard is one of the foremost European teachers of contemporary Egyptian Dance. I first discovered Béatrice Grognard when I started attending her classes when I worked in Brussels for a spell in 2006. Attending her classes twice a week was a wonderful escape from what was a very busy but exciting period in my life. And since returning to the UK, I have continued to train, attending Béatrice’s occasional UK workshops and participating in two of her study trips to Egypt to work with live musicians.

At the end of last year, I attended an amazing weekend of workshops with Béatrice organised by Diane and Ellie of Raqs Sharqi Dorset. The learning was deep and amazing. The Baladi focused on the meeting between singer, musicians and dancer, melting together like hot chocolate into a single melody. The Ghawazee class helped us to explore strength, femininity and most of all fun, working with signature moves like throwing hips, twists, dynamic movements, wide shimmies, and rhythmic footwork. And the jewel in the crown of the workshop weekend was Sharqi, the modern and classical form of the dance, almost contemporary in its interpretation. Béatrice opened our eyes to challenging all our assumptions about how to interpret the music, unpicking many years of learning the “correct” way to dance.

About Béatrice Grognard

Béatrice Grognard divides her time between Europe, Cairo and Brussels where, in 1998, she founded the "Tarab”, School of Theatrical Dances of Egypt". She has dedicated the last 15 years to the study and research of Egyptian music and dance. Trained as an archaeologist, Béatrice has always had true passion about arts and dance. Since 1991, Béatrice has devoted herself exclusively to dance and choreography and, thanks to her tremendous enthusiasm, has dedicated herself to defending the beauty and the authenticity of traditional Egyptian dances. Her quest today is directly linked to her original interest in archaeology: to bring forward Egyptian dance and the music of the past, redefine their boundaries and breath new life into them with theatricality introduced on stage, therefore ensuring them new life and a future. For more information about Béatrice, see www.tarabofegypt.com.

www.habibadance.com

"Lauren of Arabia"

2011-09-06T18:07:00.003+01:00

Egyptian percussionist, musician and dancer Karim Nagi has posted this great clip of a lecture he gave from a panel discussion in the Diwan 2009 conference at the Arab American National Museum in Deerborn Michigan, USA. Karim discusses the Americanization of Arab dance in America, and how Arabs can reintegrate into the development of their own art forms.

This is an articulate and intelligent presentation of the issues around how dance originating from the Arab world has often been portrayed and mistranslated in the West and how important it is both for non-Arabs to understand properly the culture, form and origin behind Arabic dance and for Arabs themselves to embrace their own cultural wealth of dance.

I think this video is a must see for any Egyptian or Raqs Sharqi style dancer and for those with an interest in Arab culture.

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www.habibadance.com

An afternoon of Egyptian Dance

2011-07-26T19:43:00.001+01:00

Last week, Juliana Brustik together with dance troupe Chic Shake Shock presented a Sunday afternoon of Egyptian Dance and fundraiser for the Raqs Sharqi Society.

I regularly attended Juliana's workshops for a number of years and was previously a member of her Edinburgh performance group. Chic Shake Shock I know as a London based dance group that has entertained audiences for 10 years in a variety of arts and community settings. I have seen this lovely group dance and worked with several of their members at previous Society events and courses, so knew to expect a wonderful afternoon. Fortunately I had the chance to join them as I was also already down in London, for the Raqs Sharqi Society CPD event for Associate teacher members, which ran the day before.

Al Malikat

The result was a wonderful informal community showcase, bringing together dancers of all ages to showcase the different types of Egyptian Dance that form the Raqs Sharqi Society style. Set within the naturally lit space of the back room of the Earl of Chatham pub in South East London, we had cosy respite from the rain beating down outside and a warm crowd of dancers, friends and family across the generations, providing a supportive atmosphere to dance, watch, and be entertained.

The showcase opened with Juliana's performance group Al Malikat, performing a skillful Baladi choreography with veil to the tune Gozy. The three young dancers dressed in eye catching block colours moved around the stage with beautiful patterns and shapes and proved a lovely opening to the show.

Next up, Maggie and Rebecca from Chic Shake Shock in a break from the Society's form, performed a fun Reda style duet. This was followed by Sara with her first ever solo, performing a gentle classical piece to Raqs El Gamal by Farid El Atrash.

Sara

Continuing the classical theme were duet Maggie and Sue performing a floaty veil duet to Mohammed Abdel Wahab's Nebtedi Menin el Hekaya (When did the Story Start). Then it was my turn to take to the stage with my crowd pleasing Baladi solo to Alla Warag El Foull (the Petals of Jasmine), which I have performed on a number of previous occasions. Then dancer Caterina followed this with her performance of a cheeky stick dance.

Maggie and Sue

Closing the first half were Pauline and Doreen with a mesmerizing Baladi accordion duet followed by drum solo. This was easily my favourite performance of the day, with two amazing women enjoying dancing together with their own unique blend of musicality, chemistry and comic timing.

Doreen and Pauline

The second half opened with a soulful solo from Pauline to a qanun piece by Imane Homsy, fusing together classical technique with her training in Hilal Dance. Then Doreen returned, this time for a veil duet with dance partner Brenda. By this point in the evening Doreen had also built up the biggest and loudest entourage of family, including her children and grandchildren to cheer her on. Al Malikat then returned to the stage and performed a Baladi piece and drum solo. After this was an incredibly poised and delicate classical performance by Carmen to Farid El Atrash's Zeina.

Pauline

The penultimate act was a solo from Juliana Brustik. Dressed in red with Baladi head veil, Juliana's dance was a sensitive and beautiful choreo-improvisation, using all parts of the dance floor, with soft shapes, different levels and poised arms. This was then fittingly followed by fellow organisers Chic Shake Shock closing the show with a lively Shaabi group piece to Music of the Ghawazee.

Juliana

I thoroughly enjoyed this colourful community showcase of Egyptian Dance and especially to see a whole afternoon dedicated to the Raqs Sharqi Society style. Key choreographic themes for the afternoon were connections between duets and groups, fluidity, and use of floor space, shapes and body direction. All the performers were also connected through their training, every one having at some point taken lessons with Juliana. But still, every individual found their own style within this and each stamped their own personalities onto their performances.

www.habibadance.com

Dancing to Sun, Sea and Sarasvati

2011-05-17T22:52:00.001+01:00

The wonderful Sarasvati girls held yet another fabulous event on Saturday night - their Sun, Sea and Sarasvati Hafla. This was a fun night out with a seaside twist which raised almost £200 for the Marine Conservation Society. This is a fantastic achievement, especially given numbers were slightly down after another dancer decided to organise a clashing hafla over in Edinburgh on the same night. Well done girls!

The Hafla was hosted at La Bodega Tapas Bar, part of Dance With Attitude Studios in Glasgow. It's a great venue for a party and the resident teachers Karen and Alexis even treated us to Tango and Salsa displays. There were a number of marine inspired acts through the night and delivered in style, including Dance with Attitude's own belly dance teacher Lorri resplendent with mask and snorkel, a pirate dance by Kaz of Hafla Karimah and Stef from Sarasvati doing the dance of the jellyfish.

Here's my dance from Saturday. My performance didn't quite follow the theme, but I did select what I think is an appropriate "seaweed coloured" dress, by Hanan from Farida Dance for the occasion.

Here are some of the photos I took at the event.

Lorri

Stef

Sarasvati

www.habibadance.com

Arabic Dance belongs to Glasgow

2011-04-17T03:17:00.005+01:00

I'm delighted that I am invited to teach at the 2nd Glasgow Festival of Arabic Dance on Saturday 18th June 2011.

Kay

The Festival, run by two local Glasgow Egyptian Belly Dance teachers, Sarah Pulman of Alchemy Egyptian Dance and Ann McLaughlin, features a day of exciting workshops from national and local teachers, topped off with an evening Hafla.

This year, I will be teaching a brand new workshop on the Secrets of Improvisation. Here are all the details:

3.30-5.00pm
Costs £12
Open level
Break free from the confines of choreography, feel the music, and tap into your instincts to take command of the stage with improvisational freedom. This workshop will help you to connect with and dance to some traditional Arabic music, melody and rhythm that form part of every dancer’s repertoire. Using movements you already know, you will learn techniques to identify your own personal interpretation and breathe life and emotion into your performances.

I'll be teaching alongside Kay Taylor of Farida Dance, Laura Monteith of Sarasvati Tribal, Christine aka Her Royal Hellness Lucretia, Joannie Ward of Mirage and Imman Mussa of IMMEDA.

Workshops take place at the 411 White Studios, 62 Templeton on the Green, Glasgow G40 1DA.

After the day of workshops, put on your sparklies and join us for the Hafla at 7.30pm, Woodside Halls, 60 Glenfarg St, Glasgow, Lanarkshire G20 7QU

I'll also be performing at the Hafla, together with the other teachers and other dancers and special guests - personally, I've got my fingers crossed that a certain very famous Arabian Horse called Dessie might make an appearance.

For bookings, full programme, biographies and everything else you need to know, visit: www.glasgowfad.com

www.habibadance.com

An interview with Om Kalthoum

2011-04-09T00:28:00.007+01:00

I've just come across this beautiful interview with Om Kalthoum, recorded just after her concert at the Olympia Théâtre in Paris, in November 1967. This was the one and only time in her career that she performed outside of the Arab world. It's a delightful, if short interview with questions asked by a star struck young interviewer. The Star of the East herself presents as stately, somewhat reserved, entirely modest, and of course overwhelmingly patriotic.

As for the impact of the concert, judge for yourself. Here is an extract of Om Kalthoum singing Enta Omri, "you are my whole life". This is also subtitled in English.

For any dancers new to Om Kalthoum who want to learn more, I should mention the lovely dancers resource complete with recommended listening and You Tube links on Candi's website.

www.habibadance.com

Profiting From Others

2011-02-21T22:39:00.003Z

Recently, I was offered for sale a homemade CD from a local belly dancer. It was a compilation featuring a variety of oriental music, sold in a plastic sleeve with a photo of the dancer, and with no track listing or other information.

At £10 a CD, it's obviously a nice way of supplementing a dancer's income, particularly at workshops where eager students can clamber to purchase the track used in the class. But this brings with it unfortunate consequences.

I can try to explain more about the implications of music piracy, but it's probably better to watch Beata Cifuentes, one of the victims of this type of crime, explaining for himself.

If you want to understand more about how much of the heart and soul of an artist goes into producing original oriental music, I would also recommend reading Yasmina of Cairo's article in this months NADA magazine.

Finally, this is one of my favourite CDs:

This music was produced by Jennifer Carmen of Layali El Sharq music. One of the tracks is a beautiful Baladi accordion progression, played by Sheikh Taha (for more about Sheikh Taha read the latest issue of Mosaic magazine). Last month, I watched an experienced professional performer dance a lovely rendition to this very piece. I approached the performer later that evening to speak to her about what is one of my favourite pieces of music. But I quickly discovered that she wasn't even aware of where the music had come from, let alone know the name of the artist. And she was far from understanding the story behind it (which you can read here).

In the Arabic Dance world, performers are increasingly conscious of finding out exactly what style they are dancing to, ensuring that they understand the lyrics and are sensitive to the culture which the music comes from. So why should so many of these same artists have no reservation about disrespecting the artistry and hard work that goes into producing the very recordings that they dance to?

www.habibadance.com

Learning Arabic Through Music and Song

2010-11-17T01:31:00.003Z

I've just discovered this interesting Arabic Language Learning Blog called The Arabic Student. It's a blog that teaches Arabic using video clips, TV shows and songs.

Everything is explained through the eyes of the native English speaker learning Arabic. I liked the useful collection of grammar points together with interesting explanations of the differences between main dialects. Mostly, this is about learning the useful stuff that you might see and hear when travelling in Arabic speaking countries.

Overall, it's the children's songs and video clips that have grabbed me. I really liked his post on the Egyptian Arabic version of the Little Mermaid, " 'Aroosat al baHr" which literally means Bride of the Sea. This entry comes complete with Arabic script, transliteration and translation. I could understand a little here and there using the bits of language I've learnt so far and think it is a great way of bringing the language to life. Follow this link to watch the video clip and read the lesson.

www.habibadance.com

Playing with Baladi

2010-11-07T00:35:00.005Z

Here's a new video that I've just posted of my performance at the Kinghorn Hafla last month. The song is "Alla Warag Il Foul", which can be translated as "The Petals of Jasmin", a very popular Baladi song sung by Fatme Serhan.

This was a piece I originally choreographed as a duet to dance with Simona. We haven't been able to practice together for a little while, so it brought back good memories to put on this song again and try it as a solo. This time, the performance was improvised, although I can see definate echoes of the original choreography here.

Thanks to Annette for organising the Hafla which raised over £300 for the charity CLIC Sargent. Thanks also for Stef for filming this.

www.habibadance.com

A little corner of Egypt comes to Dorset

2010-11-06T00:23:00.005Z

Early October, did not just bring an unseasonal return of summery weather to the South of England, the warm wind also brought with it a little bit of Egypt, in the form of Béatrice Grognard, one of the foremost European teachers of contemporary Egyptian Dance.

Béatrice Grognard is a Belgian dancer who originally trained with Suraya Hilal’s Raqs Sharqi School in the early 1990s and subsequently went on to found her own school of Egyptian dance, Tarab of Egypt, primarily based in Brussels. Through Tarab, Béatrice promotes what she defines as the Theatrical Dances of Egypt and has choreographed and produced several full shows, often resulting from groundbreaking collaborations with traditional Egyptian musicians. Inspired by her original training as an archaeologist, she is an artist who has developed a unique and new translation of Egyptian dance, both modern and expressive but connected to centuries old Egyptian music dance tradition. You can read Béatrice’s own carefully crafted description of her art on her website.

I first discovered Béatrice’s classes when I worked in Brussels for a spell in 2006. Attending her classes twice a week was a wonderful escape from what was a very busy but exciting period in my life. And since returning to the UK, I have continued to train, attending Béatrice’s occasional UK workshops and participating in two of her study trips to Egypt to work with live musicians. When Diane and Ellie of Raqs Sharqi Dorset said they were arranging for Béatrice to come to their corner of England to teach, I jumped at the chance. And after over 7 hours of travel from Edinburgh, by planes trains and automobiles, we arrived at the sleepy Dorset village of Broadmayne for two intense days of workshops. And what an amazing weekend it was.

The first workshop on the Saturday morning was Baladi. As we worked with a Mawaal (vocal improvisation) sung by Ahmed Adeweia, the focus of the workshop wasn’t about learning sequences or technique, but explored tapping into the essence of Baladi, the Egyptian spirit; where the singer, musicians and dancer melt together like hot chocolate into a single melody. We were challenged to confront and break the boundaries or perceived rules of Baladi. To use placement of feet, fingers, changes in height and leans. To forget the single move to the music, the vertical eight, the camel…, but instead improvise through isolation focused on different parts of the body, the sacrum, the back, the neck to express the melody. And to intersperse all of this with elements of surprise.

Ghawazee-Sha'abi Workshop

Saturday afternoon, brought a change of pace, with an incredibly energetic and enjoyable afternoon focused on the Ghawazee style of the Sha’abi dance, an earthy yet feminine dance made famous by performer families like the “Banat Maazin”. This workshop was focused on feeling like a Ghawazee, the strength, femininity and most of all fun. We worked with some fantastic music to interpret the sound of the Sai’idi instruments, Sibs, Mizmar and drum. We learnt the signature moves like throwing hips, twists, walks and back leans. We also practised the dynamic movements, wide shimmies, and rhythmic footwork, all contrasted with stops and poses.

Classical Workshop

An early start, the following morning brought with it the third workshop of the weekend, classical. The classical form, sometimes known as Sharqi, is the most modern of the three main types of Raqs Sharqi Egyptian Dance that I study, and can even be considered contemporary in its interpretation. And wow, what a workshop. We introduced a new perspective on classical technique, revisiting the previous day’s focus on introducing flexibility in the sacrum, back, and neck. We used our fingers, hands and arms to pick up melody and add a touch of Egyptian humour. But most of all, during this final workshop, Béatrice opened our eyes to challenging all our assumptions about how to interpret the music, unpicking many years of learning the “correct” way to dance. Why should we be intent to always shimmy with the sound of the qanoun, to be expansive with the violin and to travel to the dynamic passages? Is this indeed the correct interpretation, or is this the predictable one, or could it even be considered comfortable in its interpretation? And when the tempo changes, do we have to suddenly react, or can we respond instead with subtlety, to explore an alternative layer in the music, to pause for breath before embracing the new rhythm?

In fact, this is the part of the weekend of learning that I have been mulling over in my mind ever since my return home. So many questions that I am now compelled to consider. How can I apply this to my own dance? What are my assumptions? What are my goals as a dancer? How can I learn to perfect my dance and find a place in this wider art? Can I continue to teach what I teach? How can I apply this to my own teaching? What an amazing lesson to be part of.

Thanks to Diane and Ellie for their fantastic organisation, help and support over the months leading up to the weekend and throughout the weekend itself.

www.habibadance.com

Gaslight Ghawazee

2010-10-23T00:34:00.003+01:00

Here's a short clip of my performance at Gaslight Faeries last week, which I've just uploaded. For more about my experience performing at Gaslight Faeries and my inspiration for my act L'Exposition Universelle, read my previous post. Thanks very much to Elaine for filming.

www.habibadance.com

The Challenge of Glasgow by Gaslight

2010-10-18T22:25:00.004+01:00

Saturday night I had the honour of making a guest appearance in Sarasvati Tribal's show the Gaslight Faeries at QMU, Glasgow University.

Gaslight Faeries was originally conceived for the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall - the oldest surviving music hall in the UK - as a show with a connected series of Fusion dance acts, each taking a little bit of inspiration from the era of the Panopticon itself (1857-1938). The first performance of Gaslight in August packed out the tiny auditorium of the Panopticon in the Trongate, Glasgow, with many people turned away. The show contained a mix of Tribal Fusion group and solo performances, with the addition of a sprinkling of comedy, burlesque and good old fashioned story telling that featured the Dragon Lady, Cleopatra, the Victorian Gent and Mata Hari amongst its characters.

About 2 weeks before the Panopticon show premiered in August, Laura from Sarasvati got in touch to say that one of her guest stars had pulled out and ask whether I was willing step in. The challenge was to create an act complete with music that would look and sound in keeping with the era that the music hall was open. I accepted. My first stop was Wendy Holyer of Wen-D Designs to set about creating a period costume. We settled on the design for a purple silk Ghawazee coat and while Wendy slaved over the dress, I put together a Courtly Classical dance to Farid El Atrache's Kharamana.

Following the sell-out Panopticon show, the Sarasvati girls decided to do the show all over again and I was asked back for another guest slot. With a little bit more time to prepare, I had the chance to rework my act. As I've been learning and teaching a lot of rural Sha'abi style Egyptian Dance, this was the style that I had really wanted to showcase and I thought it would provide a real contrast to the rest of the show. Also, whilst researching I found inspiration in a beautiful film from Serpentine video about the French World Fair in 1889 which described the first European appearance of the famous Ghawazee dancers. I have studied Ghawazee dance accompanied by Sai'idi muscians during recent study trips to Egypt and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to present a dance and music tradition that goes back centuries, but is still performed (albeit rarely) in Egypt today.

I settled on my act, "L'Exposition Universelle" (the world fair), to evoke a time when thousands flocked to Paris to visit La Rue du Caire and gain a glimpse of the most unusual dancing you have ever seen. But there was one further addition I felt I needed to add to the authenticity of the interpretation, sagat. Sagat, the "metal castanets" described in Serpentine's film are always used by the dancers from the Ghawazee tradition and this was a skill I've always wanted to learn. So I took the chance to practice and attempt to master the coordination of percussive fingers combined with strong hips. And, although I wasn't yet entirely proficient at both at the same time, I decided to go for it for my performance on Saturday, at least to try to give a taste of what it might have been like to watch this dance in reality.

The result, well it wasn't perfect, but the performance went down well and contrasted with the rest of the show. The Wen-D costume also worked well and characteristics of the dance, particularly the energy and strength in grounded movement were conveyed. Here is a photo of the end result.

A big thank you goes to Laura and Sarasvati Tribal for inviting me as a guest performer. It was really a pleasure to work with them. Sarasvati Tribal is a group of 4 dancers from across Scotland, led by the talented troupe leader Laura Monteith, a well respected Glasgow based Tribal Fusion dancer, teacher and choreographer. Gaslight Faeries is their second production, following Extraordinesque which debuted last year and played to audiences in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Peebles.

The photos are courtesy of Violet Shears.

Edinburgh Egyptian Dancers Annual Hafla, 21 November 2010

2010-10-17T22:38:00.002+01:00

"Hafla" is the Arabic word for party. This fabulous dance event, will feature the best of local talent and further afield.

This is the longest running Egyptian Dance event in Scotland and it's organised by our very own Edinburgh Egyptian Dancers.

The Hafla is at Revolution, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1HU.

Doors open at 7.30pm, show starts at 8.00pm and tickets cost £10 and are available on the door.

Here's a clip of Daughters of Isis (who run Edinburgh Egyptian Dancers) dancing at the EED Hafla at Revolution:

I'll be performing again this year, dancing both a solo and a group performance as a member of Juliana Brustik's performance group.

Edinburgh Egyptian Dancers also arrange regular workshops with visiting Master Teacher Juliana Brustik:
Juliana will be guest staring at the Hafla and will also be running dance workshops in Edinburgh over the Saturday and Sunday of the weekend:
Saturday 20th November, 1.00-5.30pm
Sunday 21st November, 1.00-5.00pm
At Granton Parish Church, Boswall Parkway (corner of Boswall Parkway and Wardieburn Drive), Edinburgh

Hope to see you there!

www.habibadance.com

Autumn 2010 - new term of weekly classes in the Dances of Egypt

2010-08-31T23:43:00.001+01:00

I'm really pleased to announce a new term of weekly classes in the Dances of Egypt at the Salisbury Centre, Edinburgh.

You will discover a beautiful, earthy and expressive form of Egyptian Dance. Raqs Sharqi, meaning “Dance of the East” is a blend of folk tradition and contemporary interpretation. You will experience the broad variety of music and dance associated with this beautiful form, from the Sha’abi folk dances of the South of Egypt, to the Baladi of Cairo.

Classes are Open level. We welcome both Beginners with little or no dance experience and Improvers who already have experience or knowledge of either Egyptian Dance or styles of belly dance.

Please wear clothes that allow you to move freely and if you want you can tie a scarf around your hips. We also dance in bare feet, although soft soled dance shoes are OK.

Here are all the details.
Thursday nights 7:30-8:45pm
Classes start on 30 September and will run until 16 December
This is a 12 week term with no break
Cost is £72 (or £60 for concessions)
Open level

In a class we start with a warm up and then explore the technique and music associated with a particular style of Egyptian Dance. We then use the technique we have learnt to dance together a short piece in this style. We end each class with a cool down with some gentle stretching. The length of each class is an hour and a quarter so that we have time to cover all of this.

I've had some really positive feedback about my classes and teaching style, and you can read some testimonials on my website.

Bookings
To book, visit the Salisbury Centre website where you can pay using PayPal.
You can also make your booking by contacting the Salisbury Centre:
2 Salisbury Road, Edinburgh, EH16 5AB
Telephone: 0131 667 5438
email: office@salisburycentre.orgBookings should be open within the next few days.

The Salisbury Centre
The Centre is the longest established holistic education centre in Edinburgh. It is based in a Georgian House in the Southside of Edinburgh and set within beautiful organic gardens. Here is the streetview. The studio is in fact an amazing first floor drawing room, with a clean floor and beautiful views. If you haven't been there before, I would thoroughly recommend going along to visit the Centre. You can sit in the garden, help yourself to tea and coffee, and explore the range of things on offer including meditation, yoga, pottery, therapies and treatments, and a whole range of different classes and workshops.

Workshops

If you can't make the weekly classes, or if you are already at an Intermediate or Advanced level, then you might be interested in coming to the next Habiba Dance workshop. The next workshop will be in the Sha'abi Rural Folkdance style on 23 October, from 1:30-3:30, also at the Salisbury Centre.

www.habibadance.com

Classical Music for Egyptian Dance

2010-08-04T00:07:00.004+01:00

Some of my students have been asking about which CDs I use in class and where to buy music.

So this blog entry is simply to highlight a handful of my favourite CDs focusing here on Classical Egyptian music, together with some handy links to where you might be able to purchase them from. I've picked Classical for this blog as I recently used some of the tracks from these albums in my Golden Age workshop.

One of my all time Classical favourites is the "Layali El Sharq Ensemble Live, Classical Egyptian Music for Raqs Sharqi".

This double CD consists of live recordings from the 1980s of the Layali El Sharq Ensemble, a group of Egyptian musicians based in London and brought together by producer Jennifer Carmen, to tour with Egyptian dancer Suraya Hilal. There are a beautiful selection of tracks to listen or perform to including beautiful songs like Raqs El Gamal, Tamra Henna, compositions by Mohammed Abdul Wahab, Farid El Atrash, and the Rahbani brothers, as well as taqsims and tabla solos.

I find that the beauty of these recordings is in the balance between the different musicians. This results in a production so very different from the more modern CDs made for Egyptian dancers which I find to often be overly dominated by percussion and keyboard. There is simply space to hear the purer melodies of classical instruments like Violin, Qanun, Nai to be heard.

You can order this CD direct from Layali El Sharq Music. You can also buy this from the Raqs Sharqi Society.

Another CD I use, which contains live recordings of Classical pieces is called "Jewels".

These tracks are also taken from productions of Suraya Hilal's work, although a slightly later period than the Layali El Sharq album. And, although there are a number tracks in common for both CDs I consider this to also be a worthy addition to the collection as I find the recordings to be slightly better quality. You can order this CD from Tanz Raum.

Hossam Ramzy has also produced some classical CDs. The version of the song "Aziza" which I used in my workshop comes from the CD "Best of Mohammed Abdul Wahab".

This is a useful CD for some timeless popular tracks which are a good length for performance. This can be purchased direct from the Hossam Ramzy online store and should be widely available from a number of other UK stockists, including as part of a double CD with the Best of Om Kolthoum, available from Aladdin's Cave.

Finally, one of my brand new purchases is a live recording from a concert and Dance performance in Paris by Raqs Sharqi dancers Anne Benveniste and Lillian Malki - un "hommage à Mohamed Abdel Wahab".

This is a box set containing a DVD and CD. I have listened to the CD over and over as it contains some beautiful versions of a number of classic tracks like Enta Omri and We Daret al Ayam. This production is available to purchase direct from Anne, although I bought my copy from the Raqs Sharqi Society.

Happy listening!

www.habibadance.com

Photogenic Cairo - Midan Hussain, Beit as-Suhaymi and the Nile

2010-06-20T17:30:00.001+01:00

The Friday was a day of tourist delights as we packed in as much as possible before our departure to Luxor the following morning.

We started at Midan Hussein where we listened to the call to prayer and watched the crowds heading to the Mosque of Sayyidna Al-Hussein to pray. Al-Hussein is the holiest site in Cairo and the most important mosque in Egypt, so sacred that only Muslims are allowed to enter. Hundreds come to pray every day, and on a Friday this can go up to several thousand - when large umbrella's are opened outside the mosque to provide shade to those who cannot be accommodated inside.

We then headed back to the streets of Islamic Cairo and Sharia Al-Muizz to see some of the sites in the daytime.

We visited the Madrassa and Mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun, dating from the 13th Century.

We then visited the beautifully restored Ottoman house, Beit As-Suhaymi. The most elegant remaining residence in Islamic Cairo, this was another clear highlight to our stay. We explored room after room filled with beautiful panelled and painted ceilings, delicate wooden screens and ironwork, tiled floors, colourful light filtering through countless stained glass windows, all overlooking lush green courtyards.

While we were looking round the house a lady with her daughter stopped to talk to us and ended up showing us all the things she learnt from the Arabic speaking tour - telling us something of the history of the place and pointing out the features in the rooms from the table 'just like her mother used to have' to the cupboards where the women used to store their things.

In the early evening, we went to meet Lorna and some of her friends for a sunset felucca ride on the Nile. It was a wonderful way to spend an hour or so relaxing on the water, having a drink and a chat with the girls.

After the felucca, we went off to the Grand Hyatt to take our third evening cruise of the holiday. The boat was pretty quiet and the first part of the entertainment was bizarrely 2 singers taking turns to sing along to their ipod, karaoke style. However, things picked up after that. First of all with a fantastic dinner - the Grand Hyatt boat surely should probably boast the best food of all the Nile cruises - here is my very photogenic plate of dessert.

And after that we were entertained by bellydancer Camelia. We were even dragged on stage at the end of the show to try some khaleegi style dance. Here is Camelia with her Shamadan.

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Khan, Mahmoud's (again!) and a Balcony party with Sara

2010-06-20T12:52:00.002+01:00

Day 6 of the tour took us on a return visit to the Khan el Khalili to take our shopping more seriously, taking in Mahmoud's again along with visiting many of the smaller outlets. This photo shows one of the many shops displaying their colourful wares in the Khan.

In Mahmoud's I took the opportunity to order a made to measure saiidi dress and we stocked up on a whole range of costume essentials including galabeyas, skirts, hip scarves, veils and jewellery.

The evening, Sara Farouk came over to Lorna's apartment for a class and a chance to spend the evening chatting on the balcony. A British dancer who moved to Egypt a few years back, Sara had plenty of stories to tell about the life there. Also, Sara works for Eman's which meant I finally got a chance to order that galabeya. Here is a photo of the view from Lorna's balcony.

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Night of the Zar - the best of traditional Egyptian music

2010-06-15T01:18:00.001+01:00

Makan, meaning the place in Arabic, is a small performance space in Downtown Cairo, by Saad Zaghloul metro, that holds regular concerts of live traditional music from the Egyptian Centre for Culture and Art (ECCA).

The ECCA seeks to safeguard Egypt's rich musical heritage and oral tradition, researching, documenting, preserving, showcasing and celebrating some of the increasingly rare musical forms - both returning them to the Egyptian people and sharing with the world.

One of the true highlights of my recent visit to Egypt, was a night at Makan to see the Mazaher ensemble, presenting the music of the Zar. In its original form, the Zar is a healing ritual, one of the few, ancient healing ceremonies performed mainly by women for women. Zar is meant to pacify spirits and to harmonize the inner lives of the participants. A small circle of women gather with the aim of communicating, through music, song and energetic movements, with unseen entities or spirits.

Zar is a part of the underground culture and the practice of Zar in Egypt has nearly vanished. In the whole of Egypt only around 25 people continue to practice this knowledge and this tradition. The musicians of the Mazaher ensemble, Umm Sameh, Umm Hassan, Nour el Sabah are among the last remaining Zar practitioners in Egypt and they perform regularly at weekly musical evenings hosted by Makan.

This was a small, and intimate setting, with great acoustics and space for an audience of perhaps 60 people, made up of young and old alike, both Egyptian and foreign. The show itself was an evening of stunning music with beautiful vocal melodies and energetic rhythms that could penetrate your entire being. The lead singer had amazing charisma and with a glint in her eye she wove an interplay of gentle humour and deep emotion, which was both captivating and incredibly moving.

Here is a small clip that, although cannot possibly do the music justice, at least shows you something of the atmosphere of the place. The song was one of the audience favourites - Banat el Madrassa.

This second very short clip, shows two musical instruments featured in the Zar - the tamboura (a six-string lyre) and the manjour (a leather belt sewn with many goat hooves).

We helped ourselves to a cup of traditional tea during the interval and spoke to the Egyptian girl sitting next to us. She had attended this concert for the first time only a week earlier, and already she had come back to hear more. I now feel I need to plan my next trip to Egypt, so that I can do the same.

Descriptions of the Zar ritual and Mazahar ensemble used in this blog entry are to be credited to the Egyptian Centre for Culture and Art.

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www.habibadance.com

Ateliers, metro, and a night time walk

2010-06-13T00:40:00.001+01:00

The next day, we wanted to step up our costume shopping and decided to hit some of the ateliers.

First stop was Amira el Kattan of Pharaonix, which happens to be in the same street as Lorna's apartment. The workshop was chock full of costumes all getting parcelled up for export to the United States, in every colour you could possibly imagine and each one carrying characteristic exquisite beading. We chatted and looked through the albums and my friend tried a stunning asuit galabeya. The photo is of Lorna being fitted by Amira - a fascinating process to watch.

Next stop was Eman Zaki, a short taxi ride away to Dokki. Turning up without an appointment caused a bit of confusion on arrival, but very soon we were busy trying on costume after costume in the workshop. That was until I found my perfect galabeya and then more confusion, with no one to explain to me how to actually order the exact dress that I wanted. Time seemed to disappear at Eman's and eventually we were left tired, hungry and exhausted and I still hadn't ordered my dress. That's when Ramy the tailor came to our rescue. He ended up taking me and my friend out to a place nearby to buy us some extremely welcome Tamiya and Foull (both Egyptian staples).

Once we had recovered enough, we took the Metro to head back to old Cairo to continue our shopping. The Metro in Cairo, is surprisingly clean, quick, efficient and incredibly cheap (12p per trip). It is also a great way to travel and avoid the traffic, fumes and heat. We opted to travel in the women's carriage and it was a lovely experience just to people watch and enjoy the journey.

When we got out, we headed to Mohammed Ali Street to buy some Sagat. Finding the place was also an adventure as when I asked for directions, several very helpful people then tried to do their best to direct us away as they couldn't understand any reason why tourists would want to come here.

For the evening we headed out to enjoy traditional music at the Egyptian Centre for Culture and Art at Makan (the place) to see the zar music performance.

At the end of the show there was another surprise treat in store for us. Lorna had just finished work, and came to pick us up with her friend Sherif so that we could enjoy a late night walk through Islamic Cairo. We walked along Sharia Al Muizz, a street with beautiful renovated buildings which are lit up at night.

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Seeing more sides to the city

2010-06-10T08:30:00.003+01:00

To continue telling my tales of Cairo before the memory starts to fade, it took till day 4 of the trip for the temperature to drop far enough for us to visit el Haramat - the biggest tourist draw of all.

In typical Cairo fashion, the adventure again started with the taxi ride. Instead of taking us straight to Giza, our driver chose to head towards Downtown - he was going the wrong way. So we called our host to ask for help. It turned out that the driver didn't know the way to the pyramids and Lorna had to give him directions. Surely that would be the equivalent of an Edinburgh taxi driver not knowing where the castle is - it simply couldn't happen.

At the pyramids, after quite a bit of bargaining we went for a camel ride. This was a huge amount of fun. We rode out to take in the amazing view, far away from the tourists at the sphinx and at the great pyramid. I got to practice my Arabic, and we took all the touristy pictures.

The main tourist attraction over with for the day, it was back to Mohandiseen and the start of our next mission, shopping. Instead of exploring the famous shoe shops, we went mad in the 2.5 Egyptian Pound Shop (25p) buying up so many different things, from presents to a rather nice selection of flowery hair ties - perfect for performing.

Then it was back to the Khan el Khalili, to start the costume shopping at the famous Mahmoud's.

Exploring all four floors of costume heaven we piled up the costumes and tried on everything we could see - dresses, skirts, hip scarves... it went on forever. In fact we were there so long we became tired, hungry and exhausted. And that was exactly when we got rescued for the second time that day.

Lorna called at just the right moment, and she told us exactly what we had to do next.

So we went to Naguib Mahfouz Cafe in the Khan. We sat, enjoyed fantastic Mezze, and most enjoyable of all listened to some exquisitely played live music on qanun and reqq. And they even played Enta Omri.

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More Cairo adventures

2010-06-06T11:36:00.005+01:00

A lie in and then a bit too much time spent in BellyLorna's kitchen eating watermelon meant a pretty late start to Day 3 of our holiday. Undeterred, we set out in the late afternoon to El 'Ala'a, the Citadel.

This meant another taxi taking highlight of our holiday - laughing and joking with driver Ahmed who offered us a share in his packed lunch and drinks and a chance to practice my newly aquired arabic - to decline.

We headed straight for the Mohammed Ali Mosque, and what an amazing place. It was really something to leave the sunshine to enter the peace of the interior of the mosque, a huge space lit up by 100s of little lights hanging from tinkling chandeliers. My photos do not do this place justice.

After a hot and dusty walk along the main road by the City of the Dead, we then eventually made it to Al Azhar Park. There were plenty of Cairenes enjoying the park the late afternoon and we soon attracted a crowd of children come to stare and smile at us and practice their English - typically "Hello", "Welcome to Egypt" and "What is your name?"

After that it was a short taxi ride to the Khan al Khalili to enjoy the cooler evening in Midan Hussein, watching the locals come out to play. We then found our way across to the Wikala of al-Ghouri for the free Whirling Dervish show. This was a beautiful evening featuring an amazing singer, dancing drummers, beautiful music and of course the colourful spectacle of the Whirling Dervish dance. We had to resist the overwhelming urge to get up and join in - it looked like so much fun. I would have given anything for the chance to be one of the background dancers and attend a one of their training sessions.

Here is a very short video I took of the Sagat player and some photos of the Whirling.

Our last stop was the famous El Fishawi's coffee house for a chance to sit, watch people go by and engage in some amusing banter with some by passing vendors.

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www.habibadance.com

Welcome to Cairo!

2010-06-05T23:54:00.010+01:00

The taxi ride from the airport proved an exciting opening to my Cairo holiday. After a minor collision and the taxi driver needing to ask half the residents of Mohandiseen for directions, we eventually arrived at Lorna's to find that the lift up to her apartment wasn't working. Luckily for us the driver then proceeded to carry our suitcases up the 8 flights to her apartment. It was only once the driver descended again that Lorna told us "nothing wrong with the lift", pressed the call button and then opened the door.

BellyLorna is a professional dancer Edinburgh, working in Cairo. She also rents out rooms to visiting dancers to help make ends meet and we were lucky enough to have selected this as our accommodation of choice for the visit. After settling us into the apartment and giving us a good dose of tourist info, plenty of instructions and even a phone with an Egyptian Sim card, Lorna headed off to work her first sail.

That night, we went to join Lorna's boat, the Nile Pharaoh, for a dinner cruise and show and most of all to see Lorna herself, perform with her band. We got a bit of the VIP treatment there, what with being Lorna's guests and all.

It was a great show, including some beautiful Arabic music, the first Tanoura of the holiday, and of course 2 sets performed by the beautiful Lorna. Something I really enjoy about watching Lorna is the warmth and humour in her dancing, which I think is summed up in these pictures.

The food was pretty good too and there was even a Tabouli that I'm still thinking about. After her performance, Lorna hung out with us for the rest of the sail and then we returned to the flat to chill on her balcony. Unfortunately this was also my first introduction to the Cairo mosquito who seemed particularly drawn to limbs soaked in Superdrug repellent.

Day 2 proved too hot for the pyramids (Lorna went as far as checking the forecast and putting a note under the door to tell us so), so we went instead to Il Mathaf il Masri, the Egyptian Museum. It was a great day out and we took in pretty much everything in the Top 10 list, and along with eyeballing the great Egyptian Pharaohs we also saw enough jewellery to whet the appetite for the costume shopping later to come.

Night time came the chance to take the second of our Nile Cruises, this time the Nile Maxim to see Randa, a dancer I previously knew only by reputation, and You Tube of course. The show lived up to expectations and Randa was indeed amazing, although to reveal my guilty secret, I loved her band and her two singers even more - my heart does not lie with belly dance. Here is Randa, complete with Randa costumes and Randa band.

After the cruise, we were met by Lorna and her friends and whisked off to downtown bar called Arabesque of all places and a chance to let my hair town. Personally, I fell in love with the kitsch interior decor.

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Habiba Dance Edinburgh Festival Workshops

2010-05-14T22:12:00.001+01:00

Here are some dates for your diary.

I'll be running 2 brand new Egyptian Dance workshops at The Salisbury Centre during the Edinburgh Festival in August 2010

The Golden Age of Egyptian Cinema

Sunday 1 August, 1.00-3.00pm

Dance like the Stars of Egypt’s Golden Age in a workshop inspired by the stars of the 1940s and 1950s era Egyptian cinema – Samia Gamal, Tahia Carioca and Naima Akif.

Classical Egyptian Dance is a new contemporary art form with ancient roots. It draws on the imagery and music of the Ottoman courts, the storytelling of Egypt's Golden Age of cinema, and the music of the classical Egyptian orchestras and famous singers whose radio broadcasts captivated the Arab world. You will find new ways to express this beautiful music and explore the playful and sensual sides of the dance.

This is a General level workshop and is suitable for those who are already familiar with the posture and basic moves of Egyptian dance or belly dance whether Improvers, Intermediate or more advanced students. Bring a full skirt if you have one and a silent hip belt.

Interpreting the Human Voice

Sunday 29 August, 1.00-3.00pm

This workshop will help you to connect with and dance to some of the classic Arabic Baladi (traditional) songs that form part of every dancers’ repertoire. We will also explore movements to interpret the beautiful Mawaal, sometimes considered the Egyptian Blues, a soulful improvisation of the voice that expresses feeling and emotion.

You will learn to find your own personal interpretation of this beautiful music, building on the moves and technique you already know, whilst emphasising the importance of musicality, rhythm and responsiveness.

This is a General level workshop and is suitable for those who are already familiar with the posture and basic moves of Egyptian dance or belly dance whether Improvers, Intermediates or Advanced students.

Bookings

Both workshops each cost £12 full price or £10 concession.

To book contact the Salisbury Centre, 2 Salisbury Road, Edinburgh, EH16 5AB
Telephone: 0131 667 5438
email: office@salisburycentre.org

Bookings will open as soon as the Salisbury Centre Festival Programme is out.

I hope to see you there!

www.habibadance.com

Learning the Language

2010-05-05T23:43:00.002+01:00

It wasn't meant to be a New Year's Resolution, but since January I have been learning Arabic. And the whole experience has just been so rewarding I want to share something about what I have learned so far.

I had a pretty bad experience learning languages when I was at school and it's not something I ever thought I would be able to do. Several years later, as an adult, I faced my fear and started going to beginners French classes. I found it very motivating to learn at my own pace without the school environment and I stuck at it. We're not talking complete fluency, but after about 3-4 years of study I found that I could pass pretty well in France and Belgium using what I had learned. A little bit after that, I built on my knowledge of French and even managed to teach myself to speak a little Italian too. So why all those years spend thinking I couldn't do languages? Just like learning any new skill, whether languages, dance, or anything there simply isn't a good or bad at, there's only learning in the way that suits you.

So what about the Arabic? Well I like the sound of it, I love the music and the songs. And when I listened to the music and read song translations I found I could start picking out the words that I recognised and some of the basic patterns in the language. I thought about going one step further and learning it properly. Yes Arabic is very different, but could it really be so difficult?

Around the turn of the year I had some happy accidents. My friend posted a Facebook link to the You Tube channel Learn Arabic with Maha - containing a charming series of videos being made by an Arabic language teacher who had started teaching her Italian husband. At the same time, I spotted a set of Beginners Arabic Adult Evening Classes run by the local council, starting that very week. And all of this perfectly timed to happen right before the holiday to Egypt I had already booked. All the pieces fell into place at the same time. So with no reason to hold myself back I plunged in.

I want to say more about the different ways that I have been studying in a bit more detail, but I will have to come back to this at some point soon.

It has been over 3 months now and I've been studying hard. I won't be sure how much has actually sunk in till my plane actually lands in Cairo. But I am very hopeful and I really do think, Insha'allah, that I will have something to say.

www.habibadance.com

A spring in my step - inspired dancing to live musicians

2010-04-25T14:24:00.007+01:00

I'm just come back from Spring school, feeling inspired by the music and stars of the Golden Age.

Spring School is a course for Professional and Advanced dancers, run by Juliana Brustik and Judy Hammond, two of the senior teachers of the Raqs Sharqi Society.

This was set in the grounds of Haileybury College, a Hertfordshire boarding school with an uncanny resemblance to Hogwarts. I joined a group of 24 women for four days of intense training including body work, improvisation, performance skills, video, tabla and dancing to live music.

This year we explored classical Egyptian Dance, drawing heavy influence from the stars of Egypt; Samia Gamal, Tahia Carioca and Naima Akif, from 1940s and 1950s era of Egyptian cinema.

I arrived on the Wednesday evening, just in time for dinner in the College's vast dining room, and this was followed by a welcome and relaxation session led by Judy. This helped me to get into my body and spine, preparing it for the work to come.

Thursday morning was an early start. Thankfully after a cooked breakfast the first part of the warm up was mostly lying down - some relaxation followed by gentle movement to awaken mobility in the torso, joints and limbs. Following this, we broke into twos for a quick standing massage, which to helped me to feel tall whilst still connected to the earth. And after this we started to dance.

Juliana and Judy made an efficient teaching tag team with seamless handovers to take us through the morning workshop. We worked on steps to create flow in the classical dance, we moved around the room, weaving and allowing the spine to lead the movement in the upper body and arms. Samia Gamal leg lifts and turns were Incorporated to add drama to the dance, and then we focused on a single piece, the first part of Nebtedi Menen el Hakaya - a beautiful Abdel Halim Hafiz song by Mohammed Adel Wahab. The music was taken from the new live recording "Hommage a Mohamed Abdel Wahab".

In the afternoon, we were split into two groups. I went along for the workshop with Judy which was all about the spine. This is always the central theme in Judy's classes, a teacher with training both in Raqs Sharqi and Alexander Technique, with over 20 years experience. It was good to explore the movement coming from the centre, as we worked with the support of a partner to find the dance and express the music with upper body. The addition of small balloons, held in the palm of our hands for part of the workshop, made an interesting prop that reflects a somewhat experimental approach to teaching.

After dinner, I took the chance to go to a tabla (darabuka) class with Tim Garside, one of the foremost Arabic style percussionists in the UK. Tim taught with a great deal of patience and a touch of deadpan humour. With the din that we created, I couldn't even hear what I was playing (probably a good thing), but it was certainly amazing fun. After this, there were videos to watch in the common room and a chance to relax and have fun with the rest of the girls - and I even came away with some really handy tips from some of the other teachers on the course.

Friday took the same format as the previous day, but in the afternoon I attended Juliana's workshop. We started in the common room in small groups analysing and interpreting video footage of Samia, Tahia and Naima. Then inspired by the greats, we put on some more glamorous attire and went through to the dance hall to work on the playful and sensual side of the dance.

Friday night was party night, but before that was our second tabla class where we put together a short group performance for later on, we made quite a sound. Tim played Tabla for us at the party, and and a few of us took a turn to perform a piece. Highlights included a lovely duet between Kim Hall dancing to her 12 year old daughter Poppy playing tabla and a beautiful duet from Italian dancers Federica and Paolo. I also really enjoyed Lise Szwann's stick dance, Pauline Blackwood's classical piece, and a hilarious character piece by Maggie. I performed too and with no chance to practice beforehand, chose to improvise to Tahtill Shibbak - one of my favourite songs. I really enjoyed dancing to such a supportive audience.

Saturday morning we awoke in eager anticipation for the arrival of our musicians, Emile Bassili on violin, Gamal Awadi on keyboard, Abdul Sahklam on oud and Tim Garside on tabla and reqq. And with a bit of persuasion Gamal's son and Poppy also joined in the percussion. A six piece ensemble, playing just for us! The musician's played Nebtedi for us and we practiced the moves we learnt earlier in the week, with Juliana leading us through the dancing. We also danced to some out of this world violin and oud taqsims.

In the afternoon there were some solo opportunities and I took the chance to improvise a small solo. As I've never had the experience of dancing to live oud before, I selected to dance an oud taqsim. I let the gentle tones of the oud music inhabit my body and experienced the interaction between dancer and musician. Wow, what an incredible and exhilarating experience!

This video of Juliana leading the dancing shows a small window into the day:

www.habibadance.com

Shimmying with old and new

2010-04-22T22:46:00.003+01:00

I was really excited to start my new term of classes in Egyptian Dance tonight at The Salisbury Centre.

After a long wait for a slot to teach regular classes in the Centre, I've been offered a regular Thursday night slot for the summer term. It's my favourite venue to come and teach a class. The room is beautiful - it's a first floor drawing room with a smooth clean wooden floor and a lovely view over the Centre's organic garden. And I'm looking forward to teaching on warm summer evenings when it will be possible to relax in the garden before class.

It is a small group, but really nice to be teaching a combination of students who had been to my previous workshops and classes, those who were already familiar with the dance, and a few students who were entirely new to the dance.

We started with some walks, attitude and posture and then went through some basic moves including fluids, figures of 8, sharps, hits and of course some shimmies and variations - quite exciting as always when the students showed some real shimmy potential. In the last part of the class we put these moves together to explore a piece of Baladi music, "Jalilah's Balady", from Amar 14:

Places are still available on the course which runs on Thursday evenings from 8.00-9.15 at The Salisbury Centre, 2 Salisbury Road, Edinburgh, EH16 5AB. Cost for the full 10 week term is £60 full price and £50 for concessions. To book, call 0131 667 5438, or email office@salisburycentre.org

Image is from Piranha Musik.

www.habibadance.com

Summer term at the Salisbury Centre

2010-03-05T23:38:00.006Z

Good news!

The Salisbury Centre has found me a slot to teach regular weekly classes in Egyptian Dance next term.

Here are the details:

Every Thursday, 8.00-9.15pm
Starting on 22 April 2010
At The Salisbury Centre, 2 Salisbury Road, Edinburgh, EH16 5AB
Cost is £60 for the term of 10 classes, or £50 for concessions

I will be teaching the "Dances of Egypt". Each week we will introduce the music and dance associated with different styles of Egyptian Dance. It's a great way of learning about the background, history and development of this rich art form, whilst studying the different moves and technique, and exploring self expression to accompany the music.

The course will cover Sha'abi - the traditional Egyptian folk dance originating from Upper Egypt, Baladi - an expressive interpretation of "Egyptian Jazz", and Classical - a contemporary style with ancient roots. We will also explore the energies of the male and female style of dance, and if time allows the contemporary form inspired by Sufi tradition.

The course will be mixed level. It is suitable for Absolute Beginners and Improvers who want to revisit the basics and develop a deeper understanding of Egyptian dance would also be very welcome. This was a very popular format when I taught my Summer series of classes in 2009. You can read the testimonials on my website to hear what my students had to say.

The Salisbury Centre is the longest established holistic education centre in Edinburgh. It is based in a Georgian House in the Southside of Edinburgh and set within beautiful organic gardens. Here is the streetview. The studio is in fact an amazing first floor drawing room, with a clean floor and beautiful views. If you haven't been there before, I would thoroughly recommend going along to visit the Centre. You can sit in the garden, help yourself to tea and coffee, and explore the range of things on offer including meditation, yoga, pottery, therapies and treatments, and a whole range of different classes and workshops.

To book, contact The Salisbury Centre: 0131 667 5438, office@salisburycentre.org

And for further information, please feel free to contact me here.

I hope to see you there!

www.habibadance.com

Flirting with tradition

2010-02-14T00:21:00.022Z

I had a wonderful evening at the Filmhouse tonight, watching the Egyptian film Ghazal el Banat (The Flirtation of Girls). This is a 1940s Egyptian comedy musical with a story that could easily translate to a Hollywood setting - but with an emotional intensity in the acting and characterisation that could only be reflective of Egyptian cinema and culture.

The film features Leila Mourad, a hugely popular Egyptian singer who was of Jewish origin. A beautiful opening sequence features Leila (who happened to be playing a girl called Leila) riding through the forest with her friends singing Etmakhtari Ya Khail (Sing and Dance with the Horses).

Here it is:

It also starred the great comic actor Naguib el Rihani, who incidentally was married to Badia Masabny - the founder of the famous nightclub which featured dancers like Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca.

Comedy sequences, chorus girls that appear out of nowhere to tapdance in stilletos, the beautiful sound of Egyptian Arabic, music, poetry and song, all given a sensitive translation, made this film an utter delight.

There was also an appearance of Mohammed Abdel el Wahab who strangely happens to be rehearsing at two o' clock in the morning, along with his 100 piece orchestra complete with choir, inside the house of film director Youssef Wahbi.

You can read a particularly nice review of the film here.

Thanks to Neill Walker at the Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, and the Filmhouse for bringing this film to Edinburgh. Merci!

Photo shows Leila Mourad

www.habibadance.com

Hafla for Haiti

2010-02-10T23:04:00.008Z

Hafla for Haiti fundraiser event comes to Edinburgh on Sunday 21st February.

"Hafla" is the Arabic word for party. This fabulous dance event, will feature the best of local talent with a range of performances of many different styles of dance from Egyptian Dance to Burlesque.

The event has the support of Save the Children in support of the Disasters Emergency Committee Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

The Hafla is at Revolution, Chambers Street, Edinburgh.
Doors open at 7pm, tickets cost £10 and are available on the door.

I hope to see you there!

Update: Hafla for Haiti raised £845 for Save the Children's work in Haiti! A big thank you for Irene for organising everything, to all the perfomers who gave their time and to everyone who came along to support the event.

www.habibadance.com

Honesty is the best policy...

2010-02-07T02:39:00.021Z

Someone asked me today for some tips on how to market themselves as a dancer and instructor. My reply was simply to do this in a truthful and honest way.

Be clear about the extent of your training, your influences, why you dance, what this dance means to you. How you teach, what you think your students will learn, where you take inspiration, and how you convey this to your students. My friend Elspeth believes that teachers get the students who are right for them and vice versa. I think that an honest approach will only quicken this process, helping the right match to be made.

It saddens me too often to see and hear the exaggerated claims of other dancers in this domain. The claim of authenticity from one who learnt their craft on their home soil. Or those that seek to demeanour the work of other dancers, even as far as discrediting their own teachers' work - to whom they owe heavy dues for bringing the dancer inside, out. To talk about that tiny tots ballet class attended once, as the equivalent of a lifetime of intensive training. To spin tales of being taught by the top dancers of the world when referring to a single workshop shared with 50 other women.

Time will tell, but these are the rules that I'm trying to live by with Habiba Dance. My organisation is now only a year old and the website, the videos, the words, the opinion presented here, they are all a part of myself, my own work and what I stand for.

Image Beth Rankin under Creative Commons.

www.habibadance.com

Imman Mussa - a workshop review

2010-01-30T20:47:00.032Z

Imman Mussa is still somewhat an enigma. A new dancer appears from nowhere in last 6 months in the Scottish, well UK, dance scene and people are talking about her. So I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. I have heard some positive things about her dancing and seen little snippets on You Tube and Facebook, but would she have something interesting to teach?

Imman originally comes from United Arab Emirates and has been dancing for many years. She moved to the UK a few years back and has recently been teaching some community belly dance classes, in Glasgow. She also had a popular You Tube presence for a while with her "Imman Bellysylin" brand (and although many of these videos were unfortunately taken down, the clips posted by her fans still get considerable traffic). However, in all this time, Imman and has never made any contact with the Scottish dance scene up until she performed at Belly Dance Congress in the South of England a few months back - a performance which was received well.

Since then, Imman has set up a new dance business, the Imman Mussa Middle Eastern Dance Academy (IMMEDA) to expand her work beyond her local belly dance classes in Glasgow. Today's workshop, in Edinburgh, was marketed specifically to Advanced or Professional level. There is something quite appealing about the idea of trying out a new dance teacher, especially one who comes from outside of the UK so I went along to give it a try.

It was a small class. There were only 5 other students - unfortunately the price of the workshop meant that a number of others who would have liked to have joined us were unable to come. For me, the workshop didn't start all that well. First there was improvised dancing before any warming up, and then the body conditioning billed as integral to the workshop turned out to be about 15 minutes of untutored stretching left to our own devices. An unusual opening.

Once this was over with, we got on with learning some different areas of technique. Interesting stuff. Some shimmies, focusing on the backs of the thighs and hamstrings, which we then layered into some travelling movements. A few fast spins. And there was an interesting version of a hagallah walk - a little bit soheir zaki with a little bit of a maya. Then in the final part of the workshop we learnt a short combination (about 16 bars).

The overall workshop, however, was a little bit disappointing for me. Probably more so, because Imman does have a lot of potential as a performer. And to her credit, as a teacher she is attentive and very observant, and able to see and correct, and she has some understanding of how to break down the movements. She is also a nice, sweet girl and wants to give what she can to all of her students.

My personal block to learning is a disconnected approach between move and music - the moves were demonstrated, practiced and delivered without the music they belonged to. As a result I was frustrated, I didn't feel I was really dancing, and had no sense of achievement of a new piece of technique first absorbed and then performed. Although a technical element is an important discipline, the whole picture - the dance to a piece of music, the art that we are all striving to achieve - was absent. I needed the energy, the beauty, the physical exhaustion and the joy that accompanies.

Despite limited experience, Imman is a skillful dancer and has an encouraging teaching manner. As a teacher, she would most likely benefit from some formal teacher training and I really hope that she pursues this at some point. She describes the way she teaches, as a little bit like how she practises in her front room, with friends. Meeting to dance, trying to get the hang of a few moves. I can see how this might work in the setting of a weekly class, but I'm not sure Imman is quite really to translate this approach to an advanced or professional level workshop. Would I go back? Well perhaps not, I guess I can probably stay at home and practise in my front room.

www.habibadance.com

Sirocco - a new direction in dance Festivals

2010-01-15T12:36:00.018Z

Celebrating the art of Middle Eastern dance with the meeting of East and West, the Sirocco Festival returns for its 3rd annual event in May.

This is a unique experience amongst dance festivals, introducing participants to new forms of Middle Eastern Dance, that evolve before your eyes. Sirocco artists are hand picked by dancer, choreographer and writer Wendy Buonaventura, each one chosen for their ability to "ignite the magic spark of inspiration" amongst Festival goers. Each of these artists is also given the opportunity to develop a new dance piece for theatre, which is showcased at the Festival's Friday night opening show.

I was lucky enough to have attended the first 2 Sirocco Festivals. The main reason I went was to attend the classes of the Belgian dancer Beatrice Grognard, for her only UK teaching dates. However, at Sirocco I found I really enjoyed the other elements of the Festival, the theatre show, discussions, the Hafla/party night, being in the company of an interesting group of women representing the many different facets of the dance community. And last year my personal insight from the weekend was the strong message of being true to my own self expression and my own interpretation of the dance.

This year's Festival returns to the market town of Frome in Somerset from 14th to 16th May. Artists include Wendy Buonaventura, Mira Betz and Beatrice Grognard (back by popular demand for the 3rd year in a row), together with a number of other teachers of national standing. The Friday night show is Wendy Buonaventura's "I Put a Spell on You", a show that I was lucky enough to see at the Edinburgh Festival a few years back - although this time featuring performances from Sirocco artists.

A Festival with personality and conviviality, I would thoroughly recommend Sirocco to anyone seeking out a dance weekend with a difference.

The photo shows participants performing at the Party night/hafla at the Rook Lane Arts Centre at last year's Festival.

www.habibadance.com

Dance Teachers in Edinburgh

2009-12-19T01:17:00.015Z

I've been speaking with a friend yesterday who told me she that she was studying with one teacher in Edinburgh for ages and for some reason that teacher never mentioned the whole time what an amazing, thriving dance community that Edinburgh has. It is a shame, because for me teaching is about opening your students eyes to all the world has to offer. And that means allowing them to spread their wings to discover the multitude of dance teachers, dance styles, and learning.

So here are the names of some teachers that I know, who teach Egyptian Dance, Middle Eastern Dance and Belly Dance around Edinburgh. They don't all have websites - but if you are interested and wanted to contact me through my website, I might be able to help. Happy Dancing.

Egyptian Dance - Raqs Sharqi style

This is the style of dance which I teach and perform, in keeping with the Raqs Sharqi Society style.

Lorne McCall (my teacher) is the only teacher in Scotland who has completed the Raqs Sharqi Society teacher training. She teaches at Dance for All Studios in Stockbridge, with Intermediate and Advanced classes on a Wednesday. She is also the only teacher I know who has sufficient ability and knowledge to teach those students who have several years dancing experience and I know many professional dancers who currently go or have been to her classes. Lorne is the teacher I always recommend to my own students.

Juliana Brustik (also my teacher) teaches workshops over 4 weekends a year in Edinburgh. She's great at teaching proper bodywork to support the foundations of the dance, and makes you think differently about improvisation and group choreograhy.

Belly Dance teachers

Belly Dancing Caroline teaches Modern Egyptian Style Belly Dance at Dance Base and at Edinburgh University
Elspeth Alexander teaches Modern Egyptian Style in Musselburgh - she has a lovely warm personality where the enthusiasm of her students says it all.
Fiona Grossart teaches Belly Dance for Mature women at Dance Base and teaches a number of community classes in different venues in Edinburgh
Hilary Thacker is a local trader who teaches a number of classes
Constantina Litsa, Greek belly dancer teaches in the Adult Education programme
Shelley Skipper teaches her own fusion style, and also offers mother and daughter classes
Susan Tonner teaches American Tribal Style (ATS) Belly Dance as part of the Adult Education Programme
Laura Monteith teaches Tribal Fusion Belly Dance at Edinburgh University

I know there are countless other teachers around, and I always seem to meet new ones I have never met before at Haflas. In any case, these are the teachers I would mention to beginners and those interested in learning about Egyptian Dance or Belly dance and exploring what each of these dance styles has to offer. And at least next time someone asks me about classes in Edinburgh - whether friend or student, I can say - "Have you looked at my Blog?"

Thanks to Shelley who posted something similar recently and made me think about writing this up.

www.habibadance.com

Raqs Sharqi Society welcomes new Associate

2009-12-18T09:52:00.008Z

I'm so excited!

Yesterday I got a letter from the Raqs Sharqi Society. They have accepted my application for Associate Membership of the Society.

The Rags Sharqi Society is an independent not for profit association that promotes, teaches and provides opportunities to study traditional and contemporary Egyptian Dance, in the UK and around the world. I have been taking lessons with teachers who are members of the society since it was first established 12 years ago. So I am really excited to now be accepted as a representative of the Society through my own teaching and performance work.

The Society promotes a particular style Egyptian Dance, that has emerged over the last 25 years. It's a little different to some of the other styles of Egyptian Dance and Middle Eastern Dance. It is based on the traditional roots of music and dances still found in some parts of Egypt today. But what makes this style different is the modern twist, that pays tribute to the ancient roots whilst finding a new contemporary interpretation, with a strength of discipline and performance adapted for stage equivalent to any of the contemporary dance arts.

That's a lot to live up to. My I only hope that through my work and the small contribution that it makes, I can help more people within the wider community discover the beauty and enjoyment of watching and learning this amazing dance.

www.habibadance.com

My biography

2009-11-28T02:16:00.003Z

I founded the dance company Habiba Dance to promote performance and teaching in traditional, expressive and theatrical forms of Egyptian Dance and make these forms accessible to new audiences. Under the Habiba Dance banner, I perform, teach community classes and workshops, and organise other workshops and events.

I first started Egyptian Dance classes in Edinburgh, over 10 years ago, with Lorne McCall. Inspired by her beautiful dance style and natural teaching ability, I went on to follow several years of study with Lorne. In recent years, I have specialised almost exclusively in traditional and contemporary forms of the Raqs Sharqi style. Key influencers in the direction of my training and artistic development are Juliana Brustik, Béatrice Grognard and Anne Ashcroft whose classes and workshops I have followed for a number of years across the UK, Belgium and Egypt.

As a performer, I bring exuberance, energy, humour musicality, connection to the audience and soulful interpretation of the different forms of Egyptian Dance.

As teacher, I am patient and giving, combining a strong grounding in technique with musical expression, and always bringing a sense of fun to my classes and workshops.

I am based in Scotland, I am a member of Northern Arabic Dance Association and I support Edinburgh Egyptian Dancers who organise local events and workshops.

www.habibadance.com