Jewel of Yorkshire April 2008
by Trish Champion
Top teachers and friends old and new from far and wide, shiny clothes, sparkling jewellery, suberb organisation, a wonderful emotional show, marvellous atmosphere… I've run out of superlatives! It was huge amounts of fun, I learned so much. I laughed and cried. I did floor work (yes, me!) and I got a helper badge! Oh yes, its JoY time again!
After last time, when I wore myself out doing too much, I decided to pace myself. So my carefully chosen workshops for Saturday were: Egyptian style with Sara Farouk, Drumming with Woody, and Saiidi Stick with Aida Nour. Anyone who has seen Sara dance knows how emotional this dance can be. Sara taught us how to feel that emotion and express it in our dance. We started off with a bit of Nubian, to get us in the groove, then she helped us not to be afraid of not dancing, and letting the music speak while we just emphasise. The drumming workshop was good fun, and I got what I wanted from it. Aida's class was fantastic. She taught us a choreography with sticks and I can remember it! Well I wrote it down anyway! Just need the music now. Nothing flashy, but it looks great and is lots of fun. She was patient and thorough, making sure we all knew where we should be ready for the next bit. Khaled was there too to help with translating questions at the end, but her English was good. She also took us through another choreography, but it wasn't till we saw it in the show that we realised how much she had toned it down for us. Amazing.
And yes, I spent money. Cd's, skirt, tops, teaching trousers. I resisted another costume or two, but have some great ideas
The evening show was wonderful again. Leyla Jouvani and Roland were fantastic, Aida was amazing, like I said, not flashy, but sooo beautiful! Elegant and ladylike. Khaled was super again, we love him. Sara danced to Tetraga Feya,which many of us know, and filled it with emotion. I was filled right up by the end and I'm not sure I can ever warm my class up to it again. Foot stretches pale into insignificance compared to the depth of emotion displayed there. I filled up again when Khaled danced the second time. His second dance always starts in the audience, and he made Sara come up and dance with him. It was so much fun to watch them. Something else I enjoyed was Dawn O'Brien's CyberFusion piece. Not something I fancy trying, but who would have thought that bodypopping and bellydance could fit together so fluidly! That was fab. So was Michelle Pender, and Artemisia, and really everyone of the teachers who give their time in the day to teach us, and then put on this fabulous show in the evening.
And then… Sunday. Yes, your intrepid reporter stayed for both days this time, and I'm so glad I did. Many, many thanks to Siobhan again (and again) for driving and telling me about the Travelodge. Sunday was intended to be the easy day. One dance class, 3 talks. Bags of time I thought, but didn't realise till it was too late that I'd only left myself 15 minutes free time. Oh well never mind, I can eat when I get home. And get the other trousers and the DVD off the internet. First class: Khaleegi Tabla with Khaled. Siobhan and I LOVE khaleegi and now we know how to incorporate it, and what the hands mean, and we did floor work, and it's so much fun! We laughed all morning! Khaled is a great teacher and I wish I could study with him. Really.
Then Spoken Arabic. I learned 2 new words, thank you Kay. Stage Makeup, a few tips there, and Teaching Techniques with Sara. Then we went home. Tired but not exhausted, bags full of lovely stuff, and happy memories to tide us over till next time.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Mandy and Chris and all their helpers (and Stephen!) for making this weekend happen twice a year, with no visible hiccups. Thank you to the teachers. Thank you again to Siobhan for driving, and thank you to everyone who went and made the event so friendly. I cannot recommend this event highly enough. You NEED to go!
by Trish Champion
Top teachers and friends old and new from far and wide, shiny clothes, sparkling jewellery, suberb organisation, a wonderful emotional show, marvellous atmosphere… I've run out of superlatives! It was huge amounts of fun, I learned so much. I laughed and cried. I did floor work (yes, me!) and I got a helper badge! Oh yes, its JoY time again!
After last time, when I wore myself out doing too much, I decided to pace myself. So my carefully chosen workshops for Saturday were: Egyptian style with Sara Farouk, Drumming with Woody, and Saiidi Stick with Aida Nour. Anyone who has seen Sara dance knows how emotional this dance can be. Sara taught us how to feel that emotion and express it in our dance. We started off with a bit of Nubian, to get us in the groove, then she helped us not to be afraid of not dancing, and letting the music speak while we just emphasise. The drumming workshop was good fun, and I got what I wanted from it. Aida's class was fantastic. She taught us a choreography with sticks and I can remember it! Well I wrote it down anyway! Just need the music now. Nothing flashy, but it looks great and is lots of fun. She was patient and thorough, making sure we all knew where we should be ready for the next bit. Khaled was there too to help with translating questions at the end, but her English was good. She also took us through another choreography, but it wasn't till we saw it in the show that we realised how much she had toned it down for us. Amazing.
And yes, I spent money. Cd's, skirt, tops, teaching trousers. I resisted another costume or two, but have some great ideas
The evening show was wonderful again. Leyla Jouvani and Roland were fantastic, Aida was amazing, like I said, not flashy, but sooo beautiful! Elegant and ladylike. Khaled was super again, we love him. Sara danced to Tetraga Feya,which many of us know, and filled it with emotion. I was filled right up by the end and I'm not sure I can ever warm my class up to it again. Foot stretches pale into insignificance compared to the depth of emotion displayed there. I filled up again when Khaled danced the second time. His second dance always starts in the audience, and he made Sara come up and dance with him. It was so much fun to watch them. Something else I enjoyed was Dawn O'Brien's CyberFusion piece. Not something I fancy trying, but who would have thought that bodypopping and bellydance could fit together so fluidly! That was fab. So was Michelle Pender, and Artemisia, and really everyone of the teachers who give their time in the day to teach us, and then put on this fabulous show in the evening.
And then… Sunday. Yes, your intrepid reporter stayed for both days this time, and I'm so glad I did. Many, many thanks to Siobhan again (and again) for driving and telling me about the Travelodge. Sunday was intended to be the easy day. One dance class, 3 talks. Bags of time I thought, but didn't realise till it was too late that I'd only left myself 15 minutes free time. Oh well never mind, I can eat when I get home. And get the other trousers and the DVD off the internet. First class: Khaleegi Tabla with Khaled. Siobhan and I LOVE khaleegi and now we know how to incorporate it, and what the hands mean, and we did floor work, and it's so much fun! We laughed all morning! Khaled is a great teacher and I wish I could study with him. Really.
Then Spoken Arabic. I learned 2 new words, thank you Kay. Stage Makeup, a few tips there, and Teaching Techniques with Sara. Then we went home. Tired but not exhausted, bags full of lovely stuff, and happy memories to tide us over till next time.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Mandy and Chris and all their helpers (and Stephen!) for making this weekend happen twice a year, with no visible hiccups. Thank you to the teachers. Thank you again to Siobhan for driving, and thank you to everyone who went and made the event so friendly. I cannot recommend this event highly enough. You NEED to go!