JoY was a joy!

I have just come back from the Jewel of Yorkshire Bellydance festival in a lovely wee place called Saltaire near Leeds.

It was Fabulous. What a lovely , friendly, relaxed but still ultra-professional weekender.

I taught 4 workshops ( all of which had been sold out for ages.... very flattering!) and they went very well. My favourite was my 'Performance Punch' one- where we basically explored the physicology of performance and how to get your head round it. Bringing out the best in what people already had!
I loved teaching again, I learn so much from it- especially my 'golden oldies revisited and revived' where I was looking at the dance styes of the old greats such as samia and soheir and fifi etc etc and compared the technique and style with todays modern style. Modern versus vintage we called it. It was an interesting experience for me to really study the technique from these old greats- usually when I look at their films I just soak in the feeling... but I feel I have learned a lot just comparing now to then technically too.

The performance night at the fesitval was awesome....

what can I say... Lulu from Brazil blew everyone away- it was hard to even breath while she was dancing! Khaled was fun and technically fantastic as always. Fereshteh really impressed me with a very relaxed fun stick dance. I saw my teacher Sara Farouk perform for the 1st time ever... emotions ouzing out of her. Bollywood/ Bhangra ( not sure of the defination of each) by a dancer from switzerland was totally engaging and entertaining. A fun reggaton/belly fusion by the leeds girls had me desperate to join in. Oh- just too much good stuff to mention really............ inspirational.

Joy is held every April and October... a weekend WELL worth the trip in you can be in the UK at those times ( wish I could every year!)

Only a few more days now before I head back to Cairo. It's going to be hard to leave here. As always.