Dancers in the UK - Page 6

belly taz · 12-07-2006, 11:38 PM

i wish chat was up and running again i engoyed that

Suheir · 12-07-2006, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by belly taz

is that right that at these big events you could end up in a class of about 80

International Bellydance Congress 2007

taheya · 12-08-2006, 09:52 PM

Hi Suheir and Bellytaz,
God 300 people it says on that page that can get in to the ones they call seminars.....i had made up my mind i was going but now am now having 2nd thoughts, probably will go though....cant resist it!!
I have heard that shafeek is good, i did try to get in to one of his at fantasia but it had sold out. I have done a workshop with jo wise too, she is good. I admire her for what she has done for middle eastern dance in this country. I have yet to try heather burby, i have heard from others she is good and hopefully will get to do aworkshop with her soon.
Bellytaz how far away are you from leicester? Maria de silva is there and i am thinking of starting classes with her next year. She is a wonderful dancer.
Suheir, the swedish teacher you mentioned, where is she based?

belly taz · 12-08-2006, 11:23 PM

hi taheya im about 30-40 min drive away from lesta.so not that far..i to am having 2nd toughts but i know i will go.lol

if you do start some classes that would be fab

Suheir · 12-09-2006, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taheya

Suheir, the swedish teacher you mentioned, where is she based?

Samasem's now back in Sweden but I think she worked in Cairo for about 20 years prior to that. I've also seen her perform and her style is very authentically Egyptian.

Sara Abou Farhat · 12-11-2006, 09:21 AM

Good morning ladies, (and gents??),
here's a "short" report about the Fantasia Festival at the weekend.

Alarm at 5am, rounded up my group at Düsseldorf airport. Flew, with a few bumps, into Heathrow on time and arrived happily at my favourite BnB guest house in Chiswick.

Friday afternoon/evening included doing typical tourist stuff like the sightseeing tour with The Big Bus Company, slight snow storm (artificial:-)) outside Hamleys, short boat trip on the Thames, dinner at a local pub etc.

After enjoying a delicious full english breakfast made by landlady Sheila, saturday had me ( and all the other hundreds there!!) doing a dance marathon.........

The Fantasia is actually - fantastically - organized through Josephine Wise (JWAAD - The Josephine Wise Academy of Arabic Dance) who does an amazing job of getting a weekend of approx. 30 workshops with english & international teachers together. It all takes place in the same building and is rounded off with a big Souk - this year with Eman Zaki as special tailor!

I started my first workshop at 10am, Nubian Choreography "Mambo Sudani", had participants from all over the place - Germany was also represented through Alexandra from Kaiserslauten. She said it was actually cheaper for her to take part in the Fantasia (including flights!!!) than to go to Duisburg for Leyla Jouvanas Festival

The ladies (level 3/4 "...dancing for more than 5 years") managed to learn the whole dance in 90 mins - I'm not saying it was perfect or ready for the stage but I think they went away with a good idea of how to dance this type of folklore & hopefully will work on it and use it. They were very good and we had fun.

My next class was "Drums & Shimies". This was enjoyable for me because I didnt have to teach any choreography and could concentrate on improvisation tips, pushing the students to find ideas for themselves with help from structure elements in the dance. They worked hard and it was great seeing the results at the end. I think the handouts were a help and hopefully they will be able to enhance their drum solos with these ideas.

My last class for the day was "Dabke". I had made up 8 combinations to two different rhythms (at 2am thursday night because I'd mislaid my notes from my last class - or put them "...somewhere safe" ) and we managed to go through these also within 90mins. This class was very nice, patient, relaxed because by then I think the concentration was slacking and we were all quite tired!!! Some of them had already participated in 3 classes!!!! I had students from Greece, Turkey and Lebanon in this class too. We sweated, stamped, laughed and danced a lot together....it was great fun!

All in all, I was very happy with my classes. My students were disciplined, enthusiastic, energetic, sociable, friendly and very appreciative.

After an hours break to get myself showered, made up, pack my bag and rush back to the theatre for the show which started at 6.30pm, I found backstage and changed for my performance.

The show was performed twice because the theatre wasn't as big as the tickets sales.
I managed to see the first part of the show and then had to rush backstage during the tribal. After dancing my belady (with huge support, cheering & clapping from Khaled Mahmoud & Shafeek Ibrahim between the curtains) we had a 30 min break before the next show started.
The second performance was put under a bit of pressure because Randa Kamal was sitting in the front with her manager(?), drummer and Jo Wise. It was an amazing experience for me to dance in front of her. Thankfully, she applauded and beamed up to me at the end .....whew!
After quickly changing, I went to the front to enjoy the rest of the show & then to join my group & enjoy dancing to the live music in the other room.

We had a suprise later as Randa joined us and performed spontaniously to the band...it was fantastic! She has a wonderful style: bit of Dina, Raquia, Amani & of course her own spices and special technique....incredible and very sweet. Dancing in her ankle socks, especially for us

As I hadn't eaten anything all day, we had a late supper at the local lebanese restaurant. I enjoyed a long nightcap with my girls, lightened our cases ( emptied the sekt bottles) and chatted away until the early hours of the morning at a private pyjama party

Sunday morning had me up at 7am (4hrs sleep ), had a leisurely breakfast and battled the icey weather, off to the Arts School for Randa's class.

2 hrs of Randa pure.............fantastic!!!! She is an excellent teacher: thorough, exact, has a good way of breaking down her moves, corrects often & very smiley. She used CDs as well as her 2 drummers to teach us her style. We learnt about 4 different "Randa combinations".

Unfortunately I had to dash to the train station straight after class to go to the airport so I wasn't able to enjoy any more classes with her. Next time I'll defintely book a later flight!

Well, this has actually turned out to be longer than I intended

Anybody else willing to write about their experiences at the Fantasia?

(@Taheya..was lovely to meet you personally: short but sweet

)

happy dancing,

Sara abou Farhat

taheya · 12-11-2006, 07:36 PM

Hello there! I only went to Fantasia for the day due to having too much other stuff going on and unfortunately could not stay for the show this time either, but I had a wonderful day of workshops and looking around the souk.
Sara I thought your workshop was great you taught really well and I loved the relaxed style of the nubian dance. I definately got alot from it. The handouts and having the music available was really useful too. Many teachers now im finding do not provide any notes which can be a pain.
I did a ghawazee workshop with Khaled Mahmoud which was very good, he is an inspirational dancer and his workshops are always good fun.
Lastly I did a very informative workshop with Anne Kingston, on entrances and exits, she too is a very good teacher and i learnt many valuable tips from her.
You know the only problem with Fantasia is the venue. It is dreadful, falling down, rubbish catering facilities and hardly any toilets!! I love Fantasia, dont get me wrong but the venue leaves alot to be desired. The venue for Joy is much better I feel. However I agree that Jo Wise does a wonderful job of organising it and arranging the teachers/dancers so hats off to her!
Lovely to meet you Sara, nice to put a face to the name! Where are you based now and do you often come to the UK to run workshops?

Suheir · 12-11-2006, 08:28 PM

I totally agree with Taheya about the venue, especially the 'Black Hole' where they hold the largest classes. I live an 80p bus ride away from the Arts Ed but I stopped going because of the conditions there, I'd rather get a bus in the opposite direction and get on a plane to Stockholm for the festivals at the Royal Swedish Ballet School...

It costs me 100 times more in transport costs but if I'm shelling out all that money for workshops it's wasted if I'm in a cramped room (with no windows, let alone mirrors) where I can't see the teacher in a dilapidated building with minimal facilities.

Sara · 12-11-2006, 08:35 PM

Are they that bad?!

Sounds like the cinema I once went to. No floor in the toilets. I had to jump to the other side of the room. Quite a big hole n all.

taheya · 12-11-2006, 08:55 PM

Yes Sara the venue for Fantasia is rough!! I cant understand why Jo keeps having it there. It would be much more enjoyable held at a nicer venue. Suheir if you are keeping away and you only live down the road then probably other people are aswell

12-08-2006, 09:52 PM	#53 (permalink)
taheya Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: uk Posts: 618	Hi Suheir and Bellytaz, God 300 people it says on that page that can get in to the ones they call seminars.....i had made up my mind i was going but now am now having 2nd thoughts, probably will go though....cant resist it!! I have heard that shafeek is good, i did try to get in to one of his at fantasia but it had sold out. I have done a workshop with jo wise too, she is good. I admire her for what she has done for middle eastern dance in this country. I have yet to try heather burby, i have heard from others she is good and hopefully will get to do aworkshop with her soon. Bellytaz how far away are you from leicester? Maria de silva is there and i am thinking of starting classes with her next year. She is a wonderful dancer. Suheir, the swedish teacher you mentioned, where is she based? Last edited by taheya; 12-08-2006 at 09:53 PM.. Reason: typo

12-11-2006, 09:21 AM	#56 (permalink)
Sara Abou Farhat Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Huerth (near Cologne) Germany Posts: 70	Good morning ladies, (and gents??), here's a "short" report about the Fantasia Festival at the weekend. Alarm at 5am, rounded up my group at Düsseldorf airport. Flew, with a few bumps, into Heathrow on time and arrived happily at my favourite BnB guest house in Chiswick. Friday afternoon/evening included doing typical tourist stuff like the sightseeing tour with The Big Bus Company, slight snow storm (artificial:-)) outside Hamleys, short boat trip on the Thames, dinner at a local pub etc. After enjoying a delicious full english breakfast made by landlady Sheila, saturday had me ( and all the other hundreds there!!) doing a dance marathon......... The Fantasia is actually - fantastically - organized through Josephine Wise (JWAAD - The Josephine Wise Academy of Arabic Dance) who does an amazing job of getting a weekend of approx. 30 workshops with english & international teachers together. It all takes place in the same building and is rounded off with a big Souk - this year with Eman Zaki as special tailor! I started my first workshop at 10am, Nubian Choreography "Mambo Sudani", had participants from all over the place - Germany was also represented through Alexandra from Kaiserslauten. She said it was actually cheaper for her to take part in the Fantasia (including flights!!!) than to go to Duisburg for Leyla Jouvanas Festival The ladies (level 3/4 "...dancing for more than 5 years") managed to learn the whole dance in 90 mins - I'm not saying it was perfect or ready for the stage but I think they went away with a good idea of how to dance this type of folklore & hopefully will work on it and use it. They were very good and we had fun. My next class was "Drums & Shimies". This was enjoyable for me because I didnt have to teach any choreography and could concentrate on improvisation tips, pushing the students to find ideas for themselves with help from structure elements in the dance. They worked hard and it was great seeing the results at the end. I think the handouts were a help and hopefully they will be able to enhance their drum solos with these ideas. My last class for the day was "Dabke". I had made up 8 combinations to two different rhythms (at 2am thursday night because I'd mislaid my notes from my last class - or put them "...somewhere safe" ) and we managed to go through these also within 90mins. This class was very nice, patient, relaxed because by then I think the concentration was slacking and we were all quite tired!!! Some of them had already participated in 3 classes!!!! I had students from Greece, Turkey and Lebanon in this class too. We sweated, stamped, laughed and danced a lot together....it was great fun! All in all, I was very happy with my classes. My students were disciplined, enthusiastic, energetic, sociable, friendly and very appreciative. After an hours break to get myself showered, made up, pack my bag and rush back to the theatre for the show which started at 6.30pm, I found backstage and changed for my performance. The show was performed twice because the theatre wasn't as big as the tickets sales. I managed to see the first part of the show and then had to rush backstage during the tribal. After dancing my belady (with huge support, cheering & clapping from Khaled Mahmoud & Shafeek Ibrahim between the curtains) we had a 30 min break before the next show started. The second performance was put under a bit of pressure because Randa Kamal was sitting in the front with her manager(?), drummer and Jo Wise. It was an amazing experience for me to dance in front of her. Thankfully, she applauded and beamed up to me at the end .....whew! After quickly changing, I went to the front to enjoy the rest of the show & then to join my group & enjoy dancing to the live music in the other room. We had a suprise later as Randa joined us and performed spontaniously to the band...it was fantastic! She has a wonderful style: bit of Dina, Raquia, Amani & of course her own spices and special technique....incredible and very sweet. Dancing in her ankle socks, especially for us As I hadn't eaten anything all day, we had a late supper at the local lebanese restaurant. I enjoyed a long nightcap with my girls, lightened our cases ( emptied the sekt bottles) and chatted away until the early hours of the morning at a private pyjama party Sunday morning had me up at 7am (4hrs sleep ), had a leisurely breakfast and battled the icey weather, off to the Arts School for Randa's class. 2 hrs of Randa pure.............fantastic!!!! She is an excellent teacher: thorough, exact, has a good way of breaking down her moves, corrects often & very smiley. She used CDs as well as her 2 drummers to teach us her style. We learnt about 4 different "Randa combinations". Unfortunately I had to dash to the train station straight after class to go to the airport so I wasn't able to enjoy any more classes with her. Next time I'll defintely book a later flight! Well, this has actually turned out to be longer than I intended Anybody else willing to write about their experiences at the Fantasia? (@Taheya..was lovely to meet you personally: short but sweet ) happy dancing, Sara abou Farhat Last edited by Sara Abou Farhat; 12-11-2006 at 02:37 PM..

12-11-2006, 08:35 PM	#59 (permalink)
Sara V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Wales/Yorkshire Posts: 1,165	Are they that bad?! Sounds like the cinema I once went to. No floor in the toilets. I had to jump to the other side of the room. Quite a big hole n all. __________________ With a little bit of this and a little bit of that, now shake your bum.... :P

12-07-2006, 11:38 PM	#51 (permalink)
belly taz Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: birmingham,England Posts: 463	i wish chat was up and running again i engoyed that

12-08-2006, 11:23 PM	#54 (permalink)
belly taz Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: birmingham,England Posts: 463	hi taheya im about 30-40 min drive away from lesta.so not that far..i to am having 2nd toughts but i know i will go.lol if you do start some classes that would be fab

12-11-2006, 07:36 PM	#57 (permalink)
taheya Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: uk Posts: 618	Hello there! I only went to Fantasia for the day due to having too much other stuff going on and unfortunately could not stay for the show this time either, but I had a wonderful day of workshops and looking around the souk. Sara I thought your workshop was great you taught really well and I loved the relaxed style of the nubian dance. I definately got alot from it. The handouts and having the music available was really useful too. Many teachers now im finding do not provide any notes which can be a pain. I did a ghawazee workshop with Khaled Mahmoud which was very good, he is an inspirational dancer and his workshops are always good fun. Lastly I did a very informative workshop with Anne Kingston, on entrances and exits, she too is a very good teacher and i learnt many valuable tips from her. You know the only problem with Fantasia is the venue. It is dreadful, falling down, rubbish catering facilities and hardly any toilets!! I love Fantasia, dont get me wrong but the venue leaves alot to be desired. The venue for Joy is much better I feel. However I agree that Jo Wise does a wonderful job of organising it and arranging the teachers/dancers so hats off to her! Lovely to meet you Sara, nice to put a face to the name! Where are you based now and do you often come to the UK to run workshops?

12-11-2006, 08:28 PM	#58 (permalink)
Suheir V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Europe - London Posts: 1,228	I totally agree with Taheya about the venue, especially the 'Black Hole' where they hold the largest classes. I live an 80p bus ride away from the Arts Ed but I stopped going because of the conditions there, I'd rather get a bus in the opposite direction and get on a plane to Stockholm for the festivals at the Royal Swedish Ballet School... It costs me 100 times more in transport costs but if I'm shelling out all that money for workshops it's wasted if I'm in a cramped room (with no windows, let alone mirrors) where I can't see the teacher in a dilapidated building with minimal facilities.

12-11-2006, 08:55 PM	#60 (permalink)
taheya Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: uk Posts: 618	Yes Sara the venue for Fantasia is rough!! I cant understand why Jo keeps having it there. It would be much more enjoyable held at a nicer venue. Suheir if you are keeping away and you only live down the road then probably other people are aswell