Everyone Can Dance

Earlier this month, I thoroughly enjoyed watching an evening of ballet performances, at Edinburgh Ballet Circle’s annual showcase, at the St Bride’s Centre, Edinburgh. 

Edinburgh Ballet Circle

Edinburgh Ballet Circle is an entirely amateur ballet troupe, consisting of dancers who regularly attend one of the many adult ballet classes across the city.  This was set up in 2011 by director Jonathan Burnett and is the first entirely non-professional ballet company in Edinburgh for some 50 years.  I've been attending Jonathan's classes for a couple of years now and I went along to support some of the people from my class who were in the show. 

The production consisted of 3 ballets.  The first part was my favourite, Act 2 of The Nutcracker, featuring a fun circus themed twist together with some fine comedy touches.  I particularly loved the ‘sugar plum fairy tight rope dancers’, with brave tutu wearing amateur ballerinas, showing off pointe work skills.  There were also ‘chinese plate spinner dancers’ with their pirouette free for all.  And I can't omit to mention the small group of male ballerinos who appeared in almost every scene and were game for anything, even a tongue in cheek clown routine.  The second ballet was a dramatization of the Little Mermaid, with wistful and dramatic story telling, ably danced and very atmospheric.  The finale was the ‘Ballet of the Nuns’, a quirky show that lived up to its bizarre title.

Nuns in tutus

I absolutely loved the whole thing.  Overall, the night showcased everything I love about community dance, whatever the genre.  It’s fantastic to see dancers of every ability, age, shape and size giving it their all.  There was always something to look at, whether skill, drama and finesse, or smiles of joy coming from the corps de ballet for just being there. 

It really reminded me how great it is within the Egyptian Dance or Belly Dance community, to have performing opportunities for student dancers to express themselves, whether at a local hafla, festival or community show.  It is so important that these showcases continue, for dancers of every skill level to work hard for, enjoy, and share with friends and family. 

A Fabulous Bellydance Day Out

I'm so glad that the unseasonal snow and zero degree temperatures didn't keep me from attending the first ever Miss Fabulous Bellydance in Peebles in March. 

Oriental winners Tammy, Sarah and Beata

It was a lovely day out and a fabulous celebration of all those dancers who dance just for fun.  The one rule for the competition was that it was entirely amateur - in fact anyone who had ever been paid for performing or teaching any kind of dance was not allowed to take part.  Dancers came from near and far (well far meaning Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow) to show off their skills in 4 categories - groups, oriental, tribal and comedy.  There was plenty of glitter, beautiful costumes, big smiles and a few surprises.

Tribal winners Nihoma, Kaz and Aileen

Congratulations to all the winners, all their proud teachers, and a big thank you to Celia Buchan for putting on such a fabulous event!  And I'm already looking forward to next year! 

Aara

Kaz

Lene

The Helwa Hurdies, second place in the Groups

Louise

Winning comedy duo the Gummi Bears

Top 10 Ways to Market Your Belly Dance Event

After successfully organising and hosting the sell-out NADA/Baladi Blues event in Edinburgh last year, I had some nice comments about my positive approach to the marketing of the event.  I'd never done anything quite like this before – an afternoon of workshops, followed by evening concert and party with musicians – but I had the advantage of drawing on some related experience from the non-dancing part of my world. 


Daughters of Isis by James Campbell

At the time, NADA's convenor asked me to pass on some marketing advice to their members, so I wrote them an article for their magazine. 

Here are my 'Top 10 Tips' for marketing your dance event, first published by NADA:

1. Find the people that matter.  Word of mouth can mean a lot in our world and personal approaches count.  Your fellow teachers, friends and students can make a huge difference and an event that brings the dance community together is one which people will want to support.
2. Identify all the reasons why people might be interested in coming to your event, they are your unique selling points.  For example, what’s different about your event?  Is there something special about the teacher that students will learn from?  Is there something that isn’t on offer elsewhere? 
3. Use a range of tools that are at your disposal.  There are lots of ways to tell people about your event.  Take advantage of the internet, Facebook, classes, posters, flyers and anything else that captures your imagination.  These tools are usually cheap and often free – although you do need to invest your time to make them work for you. 
4. Create a timeline or countdown to the event.  Along with all the other stuff that needs to get done like organising the venue, programme and selling tickets, think about when you need to advertise your event.  Time your mail outs and other updates to fit with your plan.  Too few messages and people might miss the event entirely or just not get round to booking.  Too many and people get annoyed, unsubscribe or simply hit the delete button. 
5. Don’t sound like a stuck record.  If you are updating people about an event, do it in an interesting way so that your potential audience don’t lose interest.  Think about what you are saying and pick out different themes and messages to make it engaging.   
6. Put in a bit of personality into your campaign.  This one’s harder to convey, but what matters here is a friendly approach that makes others want to join you.  It’s about showing it’s real people that are behind the organisation of the event.   
7. Be honest about participation levels and ticket sales, and when it’s really time to book.  This helps people to plan when to book and pay for each part of the event.  And helps the organisers respond quickly if the numbers don’t pick up when they should. 
8. If there is one part of the event that isn’t selling so well, target some extra effort.  We had only had a few early registrations for our free beginners’ belly dance workshop.  In response, we targeted some Facebook activity at this part of the day, specifically to engage with non-dancers. 
9. Make it easy for people to participate.  A few extra touches can help someone decide to commit to the event.  The first question is often “where is the event, and how do I get there?”  Provide helpful information like maps and transport information and use a dedicated webpage if you can.   
10. Finally, create something that people want to be part of.  No matter how much muscle or self belief you put behind your campaign, it’s never going to work unless people are interested in what you are doing.  Our creation was an easy sell thanks to NADA – an amazing opportunity to learn with, listen to and dance to authentic live Egyptian music.  Or in the words of the Baladi Blues Ensemble band leader Guy Schalom, “spread the Baladi love!”

What do you think about this advice? 

I'd love to know, how do you spread the word about your belly dance events?

Baladi Blues Live - More photos from the NADA AGM

Here is a selection of my own photos I took at the NADA AGM in Lancashire, featuring Guy Schalom and the Baladi Blues Ensemble. You can also read my previous post with photos of my solo with the band.

Guy Schalom and the Baladi Blues Ensemble

Claire Novis and the band

The Baladi Blues ensemble is led by darabuka (Egyptian tabla) player Guy Schalom.  The regular line up includes Adam Warne on frame drum and riq, Ahmed El Saiidi on saxophone and Sheik Taha on accordion.  Guest artists were Ali El Minyawi on daholla and Abdul Salam Kheir on oud and vocals. 

Melody from Abdul Salam, Taha and Ahmed

Rhythm from Guy, Adam and Ali

All eyes are on...

...Katie Holland

Getting into the groove

Bellydancing and the Blues

If you haven't heard all about it yet, Guy Schalom - talented darabuka player, dancer and leader of the Baladi Blues Ensemble - recently recorded a programme for BBC Radio 4 all about traditional Baladi Egyptian music and dance.

Bellydancing and the Blues

Bellydancing and the Blues was broadcast on Boxing Day at the end of last year.  The good news for anyone who didn't manage to tune in on the day is that the programme is available to listen again on BBC iPlayer on a permanent basis.  

The is an insightful documentary about a traditional form of Egyptian music and dance and how both developed and grew through interplay between east and west.  There are some fascinating contributions from distinguished musicians and dancers from Germany, the UK and Egypt including Raqs Sharqi Society trained Jane Wass, music producer Jennifer Carmen and Egyptian accordion master Sheik Taha.  I particularly loved hearing a different spin presented to the history of belly dancing past and present.  And as a real bonus, the whole show is ornamented with musical excerpts of beautiful Egyptian music, including from Guy's own Baladi Blues series of CDs. 

Guy Schalom

Here's an extract from the blurb on the BBC website:

"Dancer and drummer Guy Schalom hunts out the spirit of the new Egypt in one of its biggest cultural exports. To our ears, Baladi is the music of the bellydancer - kitsch and mock-Arab. But in its true form it is the essence of Egypt, 'of the country', 'home' in the deepest sense..."

To listen to the programme in full go to BBC iPlayer. 

Miss "Fabulous Bellydance"

The very lovely belly dance teacher and costumier Celia Buchan of Borders Arabic Dance is organising a fantastic event for student dancers.  This fabulous event is coming soon to the small Borders town of Peebles on Saturday 23 March 2013.  

Celia Buchan by stepharia.com

This is an entirely amateur competition and there are fabulous prizes to be won including cash prizes crystal tiaras, sashes, champagne and beautiful bouquets!

There are 3 categories: oriental; tribal; and for troupes of up to 6 dancers.  And after the competition everyone can celebrate a day filled with fabulousness at the after show party. 

Full details and an entry form can be downloaded from Borders Arabic Dance.

This will be an amazing day of dance, fun and prizes and I hope to see you there!

8 Belly Dance Gig Bag Essentials

I confess to being a secret fan of Gilded Serpent's online Gig Bag Check videos.  I so love nosing through the belongings of belly dance royalty and wannabes.  

Gig Bag Essentials

In the absence of a touring Lynette Serpent, I thought it might be interesting to share some of the things that I like to have with me when I'm performing.  So here is my pick of 8 gig bag essentials:

1. Nude ballet shoes.  Although I generally prefer dancing barefoot whenever possible I carry these with me everywhere I go as dodgy floors can appear in all sorts of venue, whether carpeted stages, nightclub dance floors, or uneven concrete...   
2. Mirror.  A small freestanding mirror is brilliant if there isn't a handy one at the venue or for occassions when there are other performers vying for the only one there.  Mine is an aluminium foldaway from Muji - it's big enough to see my whole face and with a bit of fidgeting, I can even check to see if all the bits of costume are where they should be. 
3. Leg warmers.  I'm very attached to mine as I like to keep heat in my muscles just before running on stage - essential when performing in a Scottish winter.  However this does mean I have a bad habit of leaving an unsightly heap of discarded belongings in the most convenient back stage area (next door bar, ladies loos, DJ booth...)
4. Cover up.  Essential for keeping your costume hidden, and generally keeping warm (do you see a theme emerging here..?) My favourite is a galabeya I bought in Egypt that my dressmaker Wendy converted to front fastening by sewing on a line of duvet poppers.  It's so simple and great for a quick change without risk of disturbing hair and makeup.  
5. Flip flops.  More footwear essentials, these are great for pottering round back stage and pretty silver sandals looks so much nicer poking out the bottom of your costume than clumpy boots or trainers.  And no chance of leaving any sock marks either... 
6. Eyelashes.  An artist from another performance style once commented how surprised she was when she saw a dancer performing at a party who just wore ordinary every day make up along with her professional costume.  Once you get the hang of them, I definitely think that falsies make a huge difference to your overall impression. 
7. Assorted pouches and bags.  I always use a variety of these to keep all the bits together.  There are ones that are see-through for jewellery and accessories and I love those canvas/jute reusable shopping bags are fantastic for keeping each entire outfit together - I avoid storing dance costumes in plastic and this also a good system to deploy for costume changes. 
8. Business cards.  I have these close to hand, especially if I have just come off stage, important for generating new leads and leaving a more lasting impression.  

Safely stowed shinies

What are your must have gig bag essentials?
 

More dancing with the Baladi Blues Ensemble

I want to share some good news about another fabulous event being organised by NADA with the Baladi Blues Ensemble.

It's on Saturday 16 February 2013 in Lancashire and the day features dance and music workshops, the NADA AGM, and a fabulous evening show with performances and a chance for everyone to boogie with the band.  The event features dance teacher Claire Novis (from the JWAAD belly dance school) and Guy Schalom - the fabulous tabla player and band leader - will also be teaching and of course leading the band.  Some of my all time favourite traditional Egyptian style musicians will be there including legendary accordion player Sheik Taha and the wonderful singer and oud player Abdel Salam Kheir.  There will also be lots of lovely guest dancers, and oh yes, I'll be performing too!

Guy Schalom by James Campbell

Claire Novis

Thanks to NADA's support, this event is amazing value for both NADA members and non-members alike.  And if you're not taking part in the workshop, you can still come along to enjoy the show.  Anyone who was at the NADA/Baladi Blues event I hosted in Edinburgh last year will know how great this group are.  And if you haven't heard them yet, what are you waiting for?

The event is taking place at the Ellel Village Hall, Galgate, Lancaster, LA2 0LQ.  The first workshop starts at 1:30pm and the evening show starts at 7:30pm (with doors from 7.00pm).  Oh, and for dancers staying for the whole day, you can even book a special 'dancer's tea'! 

For all the information, packages and bookings go to Desna Dances.

I hope to see you there, and for anyone coming along who also follows my blog please do come and say hello!

Kate's Baladi

Kate Deacon is a Scottish teacher of Raqs Sharqi style Egyptian Dance.  She runs several classes in the Borders and Lanarkshire.  She originally trained with my teacher Lorne McCall and I think she's a beautiful dancer.

Kate doesn't perform so often these days, but Susan Tonner of Katra and Twisted Tails posted this video of her dancing in Edinburgh a few weeks ago, in a special event featuring Carolena Nericcio of Fat Chance Belly Dance.  This is a lovely example of the Raqs Sharqi Society style of Baladi - simple, sweet and melodic; with patterns in space and geometric motifs. 

Big Dance Edinburgh and Bellydance Flashmob

I've had a fantastic dancey weekend.  I previously blogged about the Big Dance weekend of dance, in Edinburgh Saturday 30th June to Sunday 1st July, connected to the London 2012 festivities around the country.

After Saturday night's eventful gig, I felt spurred to head down to the National Museum of Scotland on Sunday to take part in the bellydance flashmob, organised by Elspeth Swishandhips, as part of Big Dance Edinburgh.  Months of careful and planning and organisation went into this and Elspeth even filmed and uploaded tutorials of all the choreography so that as many people as possible could take part. 

There were about 50 dancers, with Egyptian, ATS and Tribal Fusion styles all featuring.  With so many old and new faces, there was a fantastic buzz about the place and a huge crowd cheering us on - although I suspect not all of them were so unsuspecting.  Congratulations Elspeth, it was a fantastic event and thank you for all your hard work! And well done to all the dancers who took part!

Here we all are dancing in the Museum's spectacular surroundings (thanks to Norma for the photo): 

Big Dance events were taking place all over the city.  Here's my shot of Fife based ATS teacher Elaine giving a taster in the Museum, a bit later on:

And here's my shot of amazing double sword dancer Briar from Edinburgh troupe Twisted Tails under the shadow of Edinburgh castle.

At the end of the day, I even found myself chatting to someone in the crowd who felt inspired to start a new dance class.  Well how about that then for a successful way end to a weekend aimed at getting people dancing?

Here is Emma's video of the flashmob in all its glory:

Dancing down the farm

I had a gig with a difference on Saturday night.

A real first for me, teaching a taster hen party class in a farm shed.  The party was meant to be held in a gazebo outside - but the terrible rain at the weekend caused the roof to collapse - so the owners lent us these fine surroundings:

Where's the strangest place you've ever danced?

If you hear me walking down the street...

The finger cymbal playing is coming along, thanks to my new practise regime. 

The zills I recently purchased are of the professional variety.  They are big and loud and the sound will cut through noisy bars and open air fetes.  But loud also has a downside, when practising for any sustained period of time. 

My "studio" at home is the kitchen in my tenement flat, breakfast table pushed to the side.  It's got a laminate floor and I try to tell myself this offers some kind of sound insulation for my poor neighbours.  Well they haven't yet complained... My poor ears, however, are ringing along with my fingers - they are now starting to suffer.

I needed to find a solution to my problem.  What's that I *struggle to* hear other dancers shout? Zill mufflers?  Baby socks?  I say no crochet.  I want to hear what I am doing, to work on the difference between dums and taks, clicks and claps. 

I had to think out of the apartment, and move my practise to the great outdoors.  Well, the streets of Edinburgh to be more precise.  So I've taken to walking home at night, zills in hand, through the old town, up the royal mile, across the meadows.  And it works.  I can practise my drills, rhythms, variations, slowing down, speeding up, tones, trills and tricks.  All the while, I am walking home to a constant beat, thinking about my tea, looking at the Edinburgh skyline, and browsing in shop windows.  And it's the same kind of brain multi-tasking skill, that I can then apply to my dancing. 

I do pass plenty of people every day.  But there are lots of other city noises all around, sometimes so much that even my zills are drowned out.  And no one's really exposed to the sound for more than a moment.  If anyone notices, I have mostly just been politely ignored. 

And the result?  Well, I think it's starting to work... In just a few weeks of practising a little bit every day, my fingers are getting used to playing.  And when I put on some music and start dancing zills in hand, I think I'm finally getting it!

Have you got a great practise trick for learning finger cymbals, zills or sagat?  I would love to hear it. 

In the meantime, here's a shot of that Edinburgh's skyline.  I hope this provides some nice distraction from playing the 200th repetition of Beledi rhythm.

Oh, by the way has anyone any advice for protecting zills from the rain...?

Out with the sagat, in with the zills

I've been trying to learn to dance with sagat for years.  It is a rare an interesting sight to see a dancer on stage who is proficient in playing finger cymbals, and as a former musician this instrument has always had a certain appeal.  I have also been impressed whenever I had a teacher who used her sagat in class to provide instant music to accompany the moves, and I wanted to do that too.

One of my dance specialities is Sha'abi style folk dance from the South of Egypt.  This looks and sounds great when danced live with sagat, as exemplified by the Ghawazee tribes of Upper Egypt.  I even performed my own tribute to the Ghawazee dancers a couple of years back in Sarasvati Tribal's Gaslight Faeries show.

However, I found it difficult to make progress in learning this instrument.  Mine are the heavy one-holed proper Egyptian sagat, imported from Mohammed Ali Street in Cairo.  And although I love the sound, the one-holed design means that although they are fine when played sitting down, when I dance, they wobble.  I have tried every manner of things to stop this happening, different sizes and thickness of elastic, even using bra elastic, but nothing really helped.

I had to find another solution to my finger cymbal problem.  So I turned to a different instrument altogether, the zill...

Finger cymbals are an ancient percussion instrument, still played by dancers in the middle east today.  In Egypt they are called sagat, in Turkey they are called zills and the instrument exists under different names and sometimes slightly different forms all over the middle east and North Africa.  Zills have a higher pitched, more ringing sound than sagat.  The slightly different sound means that they are not entirely authentic to Egyptian dance, however they are a reasonable substitute.  And due to their popularity amongst Stateside bellydancers, good quality zills are easier to find.  The best ones also have 2 parallel slits, which you string with thick flat elastic, and they don't wobble!

I did some research and discovered Saroyan, one of the manufacturers of quality zills popular with US dancers (other brands include Turquoise and Zildjian).  And more importantly, I found a supplier in the UK, Aladdin's cave, who carries this brand.  So here are my new zills, they are professional quality Saroyan Arabesque II.

I'm quite pleased with them so far.  They are heavy and loud and more tuneful sounding than my sagat.  They stay on my fingers too which helps me to hold my hands in a nicer more open position while dancing.  And more importantly, this has given me motivation to start practising more regularly again.

Thank you for the music!

Thank you Northern Arabic Dance Association for last night's fantastic live music event in Edinburgh with the Baladi Blues Ensemble!

Thanks to your support: 8 people got to dance in the evening show; another 8 led the musicians in the workshop; 21 in total enjoyed a workshop with live musicians; 1 person had her first experience teaching a live music workshop; 10 people went to their very first bellydance class; and over 115 people enjoyed our party and performances to fantastic live Egyptian music from the Baladi Blues Ensemble!

For many that were there this was their first experience of hearing or dancing to live Arabic music, for others this was the first time they had ever seen Arabic dance or belly dance. For all of us, this was a very special occasion, with a beautiful warm atmosphere and a fantastic finale for a whole weekend of amazing events like this around the country.

Thank you to everyone at NADA, all of its members, committee, to Coordinator Anna Bisco, to Elspeth SwishandHips, all the volunteers and helpers, the staff at the David Lloyd Newhaven, and to the incredible Baladi Blues Ensemble - Guy Schalom, Sheik Taha, Ahmed El Saidi and Adam Warne!

Thank you to all of you for spreading the Baladi Love!

Baladi Blues Band - Live Arabic Music in Edinburgh

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 (3:15pm till 5:15pm)
• 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

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

Choosing Your Music - Advice for Students

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

"Lauren of Arabia"

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. 




www.habibadance.com

Dancing to Sun, Sea and Sarasvati

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

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Arabic Dance belongs to Glasgow

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

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