Best of both worlds! Nile group opening Gala

Yesterdays blog I mentioned that I was sad to be missing the opening of the Nile group festival... well... fortunatly for me- work finished by 12pm... so i was able to make it along to the opening from then til 3am!!!

I arrived too late to catch Nancy. Seemingly she did some lovely tableaux of saaidi and melaya etc and had fantastic backing dancers with her and stunning costumes. I missed it all.

I also unfortunalty missed the majority of Asmahan's show... caught the end though... a saaidi number with lilac galabeya then an entrance with wings wearing a red and silver galabeya with the wings attached to the back of the outfit which ripped open at the front to show a tiny mini skirt bedla in bright blue for the drum solo. I dont know how her neck can take all that hair flinging... it makes my neck ache to watch!!!

Next up there was the Hassan Hassan folklorique show, who normally perform in the Ramsis Hilton, and are great fun. The show has lots of humour and skill in it and is well worth a visit to the ramsis hilton to see it if you are in Cairo! Saaidi to die for... and performance skills that outrun all others.

Then there was the famous saaidi singer, Hegazy Metkal. He had a huge entourage with him and they got everyone up dancing. Fabulous. The way music should be... so powerful you can feel it not just hear it! I managed to get a wee dance with Asmahan- she is so generous with her energy and praise... A star who makes others feel good- the way it should be!

Leila brought the evening to a close with her show. In costumes by Aida Nour she danced 3 sets. Although I love the backing dancers, it was a nice change to see an entire show that didn't have any. My favourite piece she did was a cheeky number were she took the mic and sang bits of it! The 'teachers table' loved her even more for that and were jumping about and cheering. Fun entertainment watching her and them!!!

so............ not bad eh- when i thought I was going to miss the night altogether. So performing on the golden pharoah... 2 shows... with my band.... and then watching all this fantastic entertainment, surrounded by friends and fellow dancers. My life here really does have the best of both worlds!!!