The longest journey ever between Cairo and Alexandria! -Cruise part 4

So, to recap the cruise story so far.

I flew to Rhodes, via Athens. I joined the ship MS Noordam... and then we promptly sailed directly back to Egypt.

When we did arrive at Alexandria one of the first things for me was the relief that my internet worked again.  Sad, but true. The day at sea was too far away from anywhere to pick up 3G, so I had been a day without internet. No facebook, no connecting with friends, no IMessage. If I had been ready for it, I suspect I would have dealt with it better, but I hadn’t thought about not being able to use my phone on ship at least and felt trapped. It is amazing isn’t it, how in the few years that wide use of the internet has developed our dependency on it has increased so dramatically. You can buy internet cards on the ship, but they are very expensive and the connection very slow. I have to admit- I did panic and buy a card. I think it would be healthy for me to try to go for longer periods of time offline. So as soon as I publish this blog and update my facebook, and check twitter for latest Egypt news, then that’s what I will do... for an hour or so at least!

I digress. So, the ship is in Alex. I plan to meet a friend who is from there for lunch. I walked from the ship to the corniche, though some of the most rubbish strewn streets I have seen for a while which really saddened me. When I walked from the ship to shore I met guests from the ship coming back saying to me- ‘don’t do it... it’s filthy, don’t go there! I laughed, thinking they were just comparing ‘normal Egypt with their spotless clean ship’. No. They were right.

   I know things are tough financially, politically, every which way really, but please- have some pride in your country, even just your little bit of it. Imagine how all these two thousand tourists, getting off their 5 star ship and stepping directly into that view you and your country. And their opinion should count, if you want Egypt to do well the tourist rates need to increase. Unfortunately, our two days docked at Alex made almost everyone on board totally confused as to why I would choose to live in a dump like Egypt. Their words, not mine. I found myself having to defend my chosen home over and over again, although with a lot of it, I unfortunately did agree with them. How much respect would it need to put your rubbish in your pocket until you get home instead of throwing in the street? To smile and welcome people to the country without the hard sell that actually most found aggressive and frightening (and didn’t result in sales?)? Come on Egyptians, I know you can do better than this. Please.

Actually, while I am on my rant, humour me please readers. On my way to the corniche the call to prayer was sounding. It was Friday. One man tried to walk up close to me, making sexual comments. I shouted at him, ‘shame on you, cant you hear the sound from the mosque?’ he looked mortified that I had pulled him up on what he was doing and apologised and ran away. Egypt needs more reminders about the respect involved in following Islam. For yourself and for women. It shouldn’t need the infidel bellydancer to remind a Muslim man that he should be paying attending to the prayer, not to my backside. And while I am on the subject. On the way back to the ship after drinking my fresh juice (lunch got cancelled so had a wander about Alex instead- which totally closes on a Friday- good to know if you ever want to do tourist stuff there- Not on a Friday!!) a man tried to do the usual, ‘hello... whats you name? Where you from?’. I answered him in Arabic asking him to leave me alone, he replied... ‘Ah you are Arab...are you from Syria? Do you think the way you are dressed is appropriate for an Arab?’ It is the first time someone has openly tried to control what I wear in this way, and if my Arabic had been better I would have told him exactly what I thought of him and his attitude. As it was I ignored him and kept walking and felt sorry, yet again for what Egypt is becoming. Alexandria, the ‘European city of the middle east’, yeah right. The next day I saw a much nicer side to the city and I'll show that to you in the next blog entry! It wasn't all disappointing!

I need to balance all the above with a positive, in case people reading this think I am just using it all as an excuse to bash Egypt. I love this country and I see it’s potential. I do see the positives too. The lovely place I had my juice at laid out a tray of juice and a box of oranges and were handing them out to people as they came out of the mosques and to the beggars in the street. The caring and sharing that Islam does preach in action. It was good to see.

OK. So, the surprise I was writing about my blog last time; usually when a ship is in port they contact the port agent who gets them a ‘local band’ to come and entertain them. I got very excited when Margo (Entertainment manager) said this... does this mean I get to dance with them? With a live band? She said yes. Then I told her it was a shame I hadn’t known about this, I could have brought my band up from Cairo. She asked me to quote a price. My band came back with a price, that to be honest I felt was way too expensive, and I told her just to get the Alex band. She however told me the port agent was asking for double what I had quoted! I couldn’t believe it. The amount of money that man must have been pocketing for himself was mammoth! She asked me to bring my band. Yippee. I was getting to dance in this huge theatre, with my own band. I was so excited!

The band arrived late. The port agent created problems because he was so angry at them and me since he lost out on the deal. He told security that they shouldn’t get into the port etc. It took about two hours to clear up. To see their faces when they saw the ship I was working on was worth every second. It didn’t harm that Margo is stunningly beautiful and they all though that a real life Barbie was greeting them! 

Most of the band haven’t been abroad at all. So, to come aboard and find this other world, full of different peoples and luxury and way of talking with each other, It blew their minds a bit! They all commented when Margo bent to pick up some nails that had dropped on the floor in the pools area, amazed that a manager would do that, not just stand and shout loudly for someone else to do it. They wanted her to come and take over the Pharaohs. I have to agree with them! Said, the tannoura when he was checking the stage before our show said,’ I can’t believe we are still in Egypt. I feel like I am abroad’. I felt proud I had been able to bring them this experience.

They played in the gazebo by the pool on top deck while everyone was eating their BBQ. It went well. I of course had been busy organising security clearance etc etc and was needed to translate everything for them, so hadn’t even gotten changed yet. I left them to what I knew they did best, and ran for my 20 minute shower, hair make up costume! It was all very stressful getting them from that stage, via a super fast food and cigarette break down to the main theatre on time. Herding cats might have been easier. We made it 2 minutes before curtain! I of course still hadn’t finished make up or gotten into costume so I told them to play a song before my entrance. It worked well.

The show went really well. I danced. The tannoura span, I took the mic and got everyone doing some audience participation from their seats. I love dancing, I love teaching and I love entertaining. This show combined all three and I felt totally at home. I just wish we had had longer. The hour was possibly the fastest in my life!

Everyone loved it, and Margo told me it was the best local entertainment they had ever had on any ship she had been on. What a relief! We went up to deck again for a cup of tea and relax before getting the band onto their bus and sending them back to Cairo. Oh and the photos.. Everyone was desperate to get a picture beside the beautiful Margo. It was very funny to watch!

And, the good news, the whole show was filmed... so watch this space until I manage to work out how to edit and upload it!!

What a day! I was totally drained, but happy, when I collapsed into bed!

Out at sea – cruise part 3

This was a big day for me; my first day waking up on board the ship, from a deep sleep in a very comfy bed, and my first day of ‘work’.

The days schedule (that was put in the little box outside everybody’s room on a daily basis) told us all that today would be an Arabic class, two bellydance classes and a bellydance performance. Busy Lorna!

So half an hour before the Arabic class was due to start I sat down to work out what I was going to teach. Not exactly a lot of preparation, but I already had a fair idea of what basics we would get through in the half hour I was allocated. If we got past ‘hello’,’ thank you’ and ‘yes and no’ I’d be lucky! I was pretty nervous though- I had a fear that someone who spoke Arabic would come along just to pick me up on something or make fun of my pronunciation. So the beginning of the lesson was a huge disclaimer that I was not a native speaker, but that I had lived there for seven years and had ‘got by’! 

My fears were justified. I had a woman from Iraq come along with her American husband (I presume for him to learn?). Every time I said something I would give a sideways look towards her, which she always caught, but thankfully she would also nod in approval! At the end she said I had done very well. Phew! Our half hour actually stretched to an hour because everyone was so interested and asking questions. There were at least 50 in the class! They liked it so much they all wanted handouts so they could practise. There was yet another thing to add into my day- I did type them up and I actually posted the lesson in this blog in case you missed it... http://bellylorna.blogspot.com/2013/06/basic-egyptian-words-to-use-on-your.html

Then, the bellydance class. I decided since there were only about 15 or so ladies I wouldn’t use the head mic, however, by the time we had finished the introduction I realised I probably should have, since I had nearly 60 people in the class! Great hilarity ensued and we were all shaking it to our hearts delight by the time the lesson was over. After nearly 17 years of teaching experience I still love that first class that people do. Their facial expressions when they are concentrating hard to move their hips in a figure of eight, their joy when they ‘get it’. It is a small scale version of having children for me- experiencing  elements  within the dance anew through their fresh eyes. I should do more teaching. I get so much out of it for me. When I moved to Cairo I decided to do very little teaching and focus on the performance. My thinking was that I could teach when I am 60 – but by then I wouldn’t be able to be performing on a stage in Cairo! Now however, looking back over my over 7 years here, I realise that actually teaching is important to me. To my own dance and development, but also on a psychological level, that interaction with women who want to learn. I plan to teach more from now on....

In the second dance class of the day I was impressed that yet again we had fairly high numbers and that many from the morning had come back for more! So I had to teach a class that was suitable for complete beginners, but also not a repeat of the one earlier- in fact that was the experience for the rest of the cruise. I taught 8 classes over the course of the 2 weeks, and in everyone I had the die hards that come to every class, and I also had total first time beginners too. I don’t know who people who plan their lessons allow for these things? I teach almost every class as I perform every show. Improvised. When I perform it allows me to gauge the audience reaction, to do more of this, less of that, depending on their response. In teaching, exactly the same. If I plan something too much then a lot of the joy goes out of the class for me, the interaction is lost, or at least greatly reduced. It becomes (read with a robot voice)’must teach x,y then z....’  rather than (normal voice!) ‘Oh let’s do x... oh that works well.. but maybe since that was hard we will do j and k, oh and then z and then c and ... ‘ well you get the idea. I end up doing a lot more usually, but it flows, there is reason to it. Not a logical one that I could have planned in advance. But one that organically grows within the class between my students and me. Whether it is a taster session beginner’s class or an advanced professional private one to one class.

Anyway- back to the ship.

My 3 classes of the day over with I had 45 minutes to get to my cabin, shower, dress, make up – AND sync my playlist onto my iPod. This last bit was my downfall. It always is. I can never decide which songs to dance to until the very last minute- which is why working with a talented band in Cairo is my ideal situation since almost always I turn to them after one song and say- oh do you guys know..... and usually they do and we perform it without any rehearsal. I guess I am addicted to the adrenaline! So- the iPod, of course, decides it doesn’t want to sync. No reason (ok, maybe in my time related stress there was a logical reason but I sure as heck couldn’t see it!). What to do?

Ah. IPhone... phew- thank god I have that. Ok- sync done tick... get to the crow’s nest (the bar I was to perform in at the very top of the ship, which is now FULL of people, literally a couple of hundred – let’s just say, most were standing because all the seats were taken!) 5 minutes before I was due to go on. Phew.

Now all I had to worry about was how much they would laugh at my bright pink skin that was clashing beautifully with my lime green costume. Yes I know- stupid stupid me!

Or at least that is all I ‘thought I had to worry about.

I haven’t had an iphone for long. I didn’t even know it had a shuffle option....

Oh yes, I found out the hard way. Tell me I am not the first bellydancer this has ever happened to please?

I spent the entire show (30 minutes and 7 tracks) praying that the next song wasn’t going to the ‘outro’ music!!!! The gods were on my side... every thing else was completely mixed up, but somehow worked anyway, and the outro was the outro! Yippee. My relief was tangible!

It went very well. I had people up dancing and everyone was very receptive and complimentary! A good job well done. Pat on the back for me, Ouch, No... Too much sunburn for that!

I am kicking myself now that I don’t have a single photo of any of the classes or the shows. I was too busy doing them. I am sure there will be photos kicking around facebook and YouTube... and if they ever appear I will attach them!

After I had finished I called Margo about something and she said, 'oh, I am up at the captains champagne meet and greet, come and join us....!' So I threw on a little black dress, as one does, and headed there. 3 glasses of free champagne later I still hadn’t met the captain who was too busy shaking hands with everyone but I had met and chatted with a great number of Dutch guests, who were a lot of fun!

After having responsible for the entertainment so far that day, I then decided to see what the ship had to offer in its own entertainment! After a huge dinner of course. I am lethal at a buffet. Maybe it’s my Scottishness but I want to try everything and end up with way too much food. Everytime. Ah well- to be honest- the food was so good, every meal, every single thing I tried, that it was impossible not to put on weight during this trip! It just had to be done!

That evening I watch Jodie and the Halcats in the ocean bar, Ben and the Halcats (a different band!) do the British Invasion night in the Queens lounge and the amazing full show, Aces High in the vista lounge. Lounge is the wrong word for the last of those venues. It is a full blown theatre. The Show was fabulous. Far better than anything I expected to see on a ship and far better than many things I have seen in actual theatres over the years! The voices were superb and the dancing was wonderfully choreographed and professionally performed. The stage setting and backdrops were impressive. The whole thing beautiful.

Everything on ship seemed to go to sleep about 11pm. I suspect due to the average age of the guests....! The staff bar however partied until 1am. I didn’t go there very often in my time aboard, mainly because you had to go through the bowels of the ship to get there and I could never remember how!

That day I received some wonderful news and did some organising to arrange a special treat. You however, will have to wait until my next blog entry to find out what that was!

Apologies for lack of photos in this entry- more tomorrow I promise!

Has the Egyptian Government made things difficult for their country's bellydancers?

People are always asking me this question- so I thought I would give you my viewpoint!

As far as I know, no legislation has been brought out against bellydance or anything of that ilk since the Muslim brotherhood came into power last summer in Egypt.  Thankfully!

However, work for dancers is down over all.

Partly due to the still very low numbers of tourists, both Western and Arab. This affects all the hotels and boats and cabarets that have dancers. The competition is high and it’s harder now for even Egyptian girls to get work, never mind for us foreigners! For new dancers starting out or coming to Cairo hoping to live their dream of being a dancer here it is near impossible.

The other thing which has lowered the amount of work available, and has affected me personally in recent months is the attitudes within some of the audiences.

I am really lucky to say that the vast majority of audiences I perform for have been fabulous. Mostly Egyptians, but a handful of tourists too. However, I have had two shows cancelled within the last two weeks because there were members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the audience and they didn’t want the bellydance to go ahead. The rest of the music program, fine, but no bellydance, because it is Haram (forbidden!).

In the seven years since I have been dancing at the Nile Pharaoh this has always happened from time to time. Usually because the entire deck on the boat has been booked for a corporate event and they want to do a speech or something instead of having the dancer. Fine. That’s work and I understand that.  Other times, it would just be one table perhaps, or a couple would leave when I started to dance and go outside while the dancing was on if they didn’t want to watch. That’s fine too. I do understand. It is not for everyone. 

However, I get annoyed when the entire deck has been booked for a wedding and because one man creates a big fuss, I don’t dance. We get paid per show, so that means no money for me or my band. It also means all the other guests, who do want to see the dance, miss out.

This week I had a lovely old lady, a professor at Cairo University seemingly, who was with a group that had declared me ‘Haram’ so, ‘no bellydancers today please’. She was really upset not to see me dance and she was embarrassed by her colleagues’ decision to cancel that part of the entertainment. It was quite sweet really. I felt for her. As I always do when some people decide what is right and wrong for others. You don’t like dance, for whatever reason, you leave the room or just don’t watch, but don’t take away the opportunity for others to enjoy.

This is what I see as the real danger to bellydance in Egypt these days. Not that the government will stop us working (although of course, it is a possibility I won’t deny that) but that the general public will start changing their behaviours and attitudes just to fit in with what they are told is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. If it becomes ‘wrong’ in general public opinion, then there wouldn’t be a big fight if one day it was banned, would there?

Thankfully, I have also seen the opposite too. The attitudes of the Egyptian people are being polarised. There are those who are happy for it to become a more Islamist country and those who feel very strongly that it shouldn’t. Many of those that are against this are making sure that they partake of their freedoms as much as they possibly can. Those who drink, are drinking, those who like dance, are dancing and going to watch dance. I’ve even seen a few new venues that never used to have bellydance as part of their entertainment introducing it to their venues. This is the good news, but it always feels like there is an element of desperation in the air too.

It is almost though they fear that if they don’t use it, they will lose it.

I hope they don’t.

I hope I don’t. Bellydancing in Cairo is my life, and I love it. I would hate to lose it.

I hope that because of these people, and for these people, who really do love their cultural heritage, Cairo will continue to be the heart of bellydance in the world. 

Insecurity

I have decided to write this blog entry because I have a feeling it might help other dancers to feel less ‘alone’.

We live in a highly competitive world. I feel like professional artists (and I will talk about dancers specifically since that is what I really know about) have pressures seldom found in other work places. For example:

-We, dancers are rarely seen as having a ‘proper’ job.

-We, dancers are often expected to dance for very little money or sometimes invited along to places to dance for fun (i.e. for free!).

-We, dancers are judged on our age, looks and figure, our ability as teachers and performers as well as on our dance skills.

All of these things, and this list is by no means exclusive, make things hard when we are trying to make a living in an already competitive field. Bellydance especially is a field where you find many women who will happily dance for free or for cheap rates because dance is not their main source of income, therefore they can afford to, and do, without considering the effect that has on ‘the market’ for those of us for whom dance is our sole income.

All these points and many more like them are often the bulk of discussion forums and articles.

This is not however the main topic of my blog today.

What gets me the most is the self doubt, insecurity, feelings of being a fraud, feelings of inadequacy that I get as a dancer and I hear from other dancers time and time again. ‘I am stuck in a rut’; ‘no matter what I do my dancing doesn’t seem to improve’, ‘what’s the point? I’m never going to be x,y,z’.

The problem in art is that you are only a good artist if people ‘like’ your work. And what people like is guided by so many factors. Their personal artistic likes and dislikes, cultural awareness, their experiences, what the people around them are saying, reviews, their own insecurities and jealousies etc etc.

So yes, we get through this by dancing for ourselves- to be as good as we can be.

But, let’s be honest, this only really works as long as dance is your hobby i.e. you are not trying to earn your living by dancing in front of an audience.

As soon as an audience becomes involved the stakes get raised. We want the people we are dancing for to like us, to appreciate us, to rate us. That is human nature.  We get stage fright. Some get so scared they don’t even perform or they don’t perform to the level they feel they should or could.

That’s when the beatings start.

Beating yourself up that is! (Not some kind of S & M thing!!!)

I cannot count how many times I have come off stage so upset and angry at myself because I feel I have let myself down. It doesn’t matter what people say after a show like that. I wave away their compliments. I focus on anything and everything negative (usually exaggerating it way out of proportion). The people who are saying nice things are just saying that because they are my friend, or people they don’t know any better, or because they feel they ‘should’ say something, not because they really feel it.

I can’t count how many times in the years I have danced I have been in tears when I come off stage. Angry at myself for having, in my eyes, let the audience, and myself down. Of course, that is never what anyone ever says to me... but I feel it. And it burns.

Usually, when these attacks of insecurity hit, I feel what I did was ‘boring’. That I repeated the same move over and over again. In the past, when I have felt this on stage, I push myself to do more and more technique. To show off moves to ‘prove’ to the audience and myself that I CAN do this. Unfortunately that is the very thing that comes back to bite me. By trying so hard, I start thinking and stop feeling. When I stop feeling, I stop enjoying. If I am not enjoying my dance how can I expect anyone in my audience to enjoy it too? Then if I suddenly panic on stage that the audience are not enjoying it I try harder and fail more. See the problem? Of course, my friends would say that I am over exaggerating the problem, that my dancing is never boring etc. Bless them. They might even be right. But when you work yourself up into in insecure state like that it is hard to listen.

So, I am aware of it now... aware of the spiral I follow when I get myself into a state and I guess that is the main part of the battle.

Now, if I start to feel a little wobbly mid show, and it still happens, on a more often than I care to admit frequency, I am able to see what is happening and stop the descent into hysteria.

Nothing worse than a hysterical bellydancer!

So... what I do is I stop. Literally. I stop on stage... and do the most basic of moves.. Very concentrated and slow. Even if the music is fast, I find something in the music that is slower and I circle or figure 8 that ‘thing’ until I am breathing more normally again. I also force myself to look into the eyes of my audience and smile. A smile that says I am really happy I am here dancing for you and isn’t this music amazing? Not a smile that begs ‘like me like me like me’. A smile that connects with someone and says to them ‘isn’t this figure 8 just the most perfect thing to do to this music?!! It feels fantastic’.

It works every single time. I make eye contact, I connect with someone and instantly I am like Popeye after some spinach. I feel recharged and confident and all because I took it down a notch (ok- sometimes a LOT of notches). From then on I feel that at least one person in the audience is with me and already thinks I am good so I am dancing for them!

Often in class I ask people to think of a family party or wedding. Imagine everyone up on the dancefloor, after a few glasses. Do you watch the younger pretty girls who are self-conscious and doing pretty but ‘safe’ moves? or do you watch mad Uncle Albert who is being silly and having a wild time to himself? The uncle, right? Why? Because it makes us happy to watch people having a good time. It is really difficult not to smile if someone is so obviously happy. Even more so if they are smiling at you. Especially when you feel that smile is heartfelt. If you smile, even if you don’t feel happy at the time, just the act of smiling can make you happier. So if you feel like that when you are watching uncle Albert, why wouldn’t other people feel like that watching you, doing the thing you love more than anything else (dance!!!) ? Share with them how happy it makes you.

It works for me.

That’s how I do it on stage...........

Off stage is harder. All those times you question your own ability. Especially when you are home, having a fat day (we ALL have them!), in pain, and/or feeling that there just isn’t any point to it all. Believe it or not, almost every time the answer to this dilemma is DANCE. It often helps me to go out clubbing or salsa dancing... so I am dancing and getting my endorphins flowing again but without the stresses involved in practising ‘moves’ and ‘trying’ to get them right. That trying thing again, see?

It is good to doubt yourself from time to time. If you think you have reached the top, achieved perfection... then you never will. You stop learning. You stop pushing yourself.

Each time I have a big bout of self doubt it is ALWAYS followed with a Eureka moment about my dance and another step up on that every expanding ladder I am climbing in my head. It is hard to remember that at the time of course.... at the time I just want to crawl into a dark space and hide, make it all go away. Yet every time I do come out the other side having ‘realised’ something that helps me progress. It might be a tiny thing, or it might be a complete mental turnaround, but almost always it is something from inside of me. Nothing to do with ‘technique’ or ‘steps’. Yet often the blackness has been caused by worry about just those things!

I am sharing all this, because I know I am not alone in these fears... and I hope that if you are reading this and relating to any of it then maybe some of my experiences can help you get a little hope.

I’d love to be confident in life, and in dance. I’d love to really feel I was the ‘best’ at something. The thing is... I don’t actually believe such a thing exists. (Which is why I can never really get behind the concept of bellydance competitions- but that is a whole other can of worms I don’t want to get into here). I remember being at a salsa convention and one of my friends asking a stunning young Cuban girl ‘isn’t it difficult being so beautiful?’ she was of course being flippant, however the girl actually stopped and turned and thought and said, ‘yes, sometimes it is’. She had a sad look on her face at the time. We put ourselves down so much, all the time, sometimes we need to step back and accept the true level of things, without pushing ourselves up, or down... and wondering from there how we can improve how we feel about our level. Because it’s the happiness, contentedness, acceptance of who we are and why we love dance that counts.

Every single person who started to learn bellydance did it because music made them happy. Music made them want to move. Why when we get caught up into the ‘hows and whys’ do we lose that joy?

So, next time you are feeling a bellydance block, just do whatever you need to do to get that Joy back....... and everyone will stop and watch you dance. I promise. 

A bit of Bling....

A bellydancer's favourite pastime, after dancing.... costume shopping!

Yesterday I went to see my costume designer, Eman Zaki. I have been going there for as many years as she has been making costumes and love her work. She has a workshop off Sharia Mahatta and you can see everyone, men and women, working away on all the costumes when you go. Cutting and sewing. Most of them beading! The walls are stacked high with beautiful fabrics, crystals are on every surface. It’s like Aladdin’s cave (with a bit of Cairo ‘dust’ on top). Often you bump into other Cairo dancers while you are there. Sara Farouk is there to help with all the logistics of the order and Eman weaves her magic. When you say you’d like something specific Eman takes your suggestions and makes it come alive. She was the one who made my fabulous green and Tartan costume for me that I bring out every Burns night and St Andrews!

Since I perform Saaidi in most shows I do... I needed a new saaidi costume, so I went along to see what they had.

Oops....

Now I have 3 new costumes in the making! Two saaidi and one bedla.

How did that happen? I only went for one!

I am not going to tell you anything else about them... not yet... since I am getting them ready for my UK tour so I don’t want to spoil any surprises... but I am very happy so far!

Another fitting tomorrow afternoon... I’m excited!

Today I am going to go to the Khan. See what I can see. Sometimes there are some nice things there too (although usually not- hence my repeat visits to Eman and Amera, my two favourite designers – the extra expense is Always worth the extra quality!)

I have so many costumes now (no idea actually how many) that often I can rotate them and people think they are new, which is fabulous in times when there is not so much work to be had and belts have to be tightened. Financial belts that is- hip belts usually have to be loosened when there isn’t so much dancing going on! My trips to the UK are such a great excuse to HAVE to buy something new! Maybe this time I will sell off some of my old costumes while I am there. I hate parting with them though; they carry so many memories in every bit of bling!!!

Wishing you a day full of sparkle too...........

* Update- since writing this morning... my sparkle was dulled a bit by sitting in a taxi for half an hour just to go from one end of my street to the other... something I could have walked in less than 2 mins. The idea of another hour or two in the same horrific traffic was too much for me so I got out, walked home and went to bed to dream of the glitter instead! I will just have to do more bling another day....! 

Mercedes and Camelia

Today I was lucky enough to attend two workshops at the Nile Group Festival.

The first was with Mercedes, a very talented dancer from Hungary. She has a dynamic, move packed style and I guessed before going to her workshop that I would probably have a hard time keeping up. I have been a solo dancer and teacher for so many years now, that my skill for following other dancers is not strong anymore. I was right! She is a very good teacher and explained everything incredibly well. Breaking every move down and explaining why it follows the last one and what feeling you are aiming for and everything. She was giving so much information throughout the entire 3 hours that my head was hurting a long time before my body was! I mean that in a positive way! I hate doing choreography workshops normally, but she mentioned lots of ways you could adapt parts of the routine to suit your own style and was encouraging you do so even at the same time as learning it. It meant I could relax and dance the way I wanted to with the moves she was giving me which means that I am much more likely to immediately incorporate some of the stuff from today into my own dance. I would happily attend a lot more workshops with her. I felt she had a lot to give and was generous with it. Also her background in different dance styles means that she has a very good dance vocabulary so makes you think about aspects of the dance in a new way.

Camelia’s workshop needed more energy from me than I was able to give, being  5 minutes after the end of Mercedes one! She was doing a Shaabi choreography which was a song based on a woman teasing a man saying ‘come and get it’, then ‘no, you can’t have it’, but resulting in ‘yes, ok I am yours’. It is always a good idea to check out the lyrics in a shaabi song before you perform to it, was the main lesson reinforced in that class! The truth? I think I am too much of a prude to fully make use of what I learned in that workshop. As it was I was adapting a lot of moves so I didn’t have my crotch so far forward or was gyrating quite so wildly.  It was very much Camelia style. She was teaching the way she would dance. Which is great, it’s just not me! I did like the way she twisted normal oriental dances moves and made them shaabi (took them to street level). That was very useful and I am really glad I took the workshop. She was working really hard to help us understand the true nature of Egyptian shaabi and everyone was exhausted by the end of the 3 hours!

It was a good, useful and fun day. Now I am going out to a best of British Music night as sung by my flatmate, Ellie of London! Talk about a culture contrast! I wonder if any shaabi moves will come out on the dance floor tonight!

‘As Ma Han’, or Asmahan if you are not singing it!!

I was surprised to see in the Nile group festival only 3 classes on the program that were not teaching a choreography. It is always useful to learn someone else’s dance. That way you learn how they hear the music and gives you an idea of how to put steps together in a different way. However, I much prefer classes where you learn technique and information about how to interpret the music so you can make up your own dance.

This is what Asmahan was teaching this morning in her workshop. She gave (in English and Spanish) very clear guidelines on how to do technique and where the moves should come from and also one to one attention to check everyone had it right. She had fun music, blend of Arabic with salsa and with rap and had us do very simple routines to practise the technique she was going over. After all these years I didn’t think I could learn new things about even basics like the hip drop, but I did and feel inspired from it.

Asmahan had such a relaxed gentle, yet commanding attitude while teaching that everyone loved her. She made everyone look at their dancing anew and talked about ‘us’ as bellydancers, what ‘we’ should do and how. It was lovely. Like being part of a team.

Mergance is the entrance piece for a dancer’s show and Asmahan talked about how  this is the only music actually composed for the dancer. She talked about the importance of not dancing everything in 4’s or 8’s rather to mix things up and make surprises for your audience. She had lots of fun, hard, ways to drill moves and i could feel how effective they were even though I had to run out half way through the workshop because I had a lunch sail on the Pharaoh.  I was very sorry to have to leave, but i did feel like I got a lot out of the class. I liked when she talked about attitude when you dance- but mispronounced it’ actitude’. I liked that- the idea of acting your way through it! Also she talked about ‘nefis’ (Arabic for  breath) being when a dancer is comfortable in her own skin and takes time within her dance to take a breath!

So much information generously given (I wish I’d been there for the whole 3 hours!). Well Done Asmahan. A very good teacher!

 (and a lovely person- she went out her way to introduce me to people as a professional dancer here in Cairo, which she didn’t need to mention at all)

Good news for people wanting to see her show is that Asmahan will be back performing on the Nile Maxim for this next month and then again in the summer.

Battle of wills... The ultimate Tabla solo

I have decided that the tabla solos i enjoy most are the ones where the Tabal is trying to push his rhythms, his ideas of what to do next, onto me, BUT is open minded enough to bend to my demands too. This creates a battle of the wills which gives the performance bite, I guess like a good Tango show!

I hate when a tabla solo becomes so rehearsed there is no room to break free. Even if i change my moves, often when you work with a drummer for a long time and usually they do the same drum solo over and over then they will go on and play the next rhythm in the 'routine' even if you try to dance something outwith the routine. I feel caged in when that happens...

I also get frustrated when the tabal, and this especially happens when you work with a new tabal, 'makes' you dance his music even when you try to suggest other things with your dance. I take it slow... building up the suspense then they get bored or something and just charge off into something fast that really wasn't needed at that moment in the show. Then I feel robbed.

The perfect combo... a strong, but interested tabal that actually wants to make you look good too... and isn't so narrow minded to think that he knows best in it all. Of course, I could never produce the music in the way he (usuallly all musicians in Egypt are male) does, but then I know the audience and my moves and how to pull that audience into the show in a way he doesn't. It must be a team effort.

The perfect conversation... when someone is able to listen and reply intelligently to what you say and then suggest ideas to take the conversation to the next level.

The tabla solo in my opinion should be exactly that! It is the most amazing feeling when it happens...... The adrenaline is at an all time high. 'Flying by the seat of your pants'.  I hope all dancers reading this have experienced this feeling... or get to experience it at some point in their life!

August memories...

I had some really lovely times when i was home in UK this trip.

One of those was the Belly on the Beach day. (Thanks to the Dalriada for allowing us the use of their changing facilities and power point- not to mention the bar!)
 I invited my friends and family, students and other teachers along with their students and we had Egyptian music blasting out over the promenade and beach at Portobello, Edinburgh for the afternoon.

Here's the family....

and a fellow Scottish dancer who now lives in Egypt too, Sarannah....

and of course the lovely Eleanor Keen (also now a Cairo inhabitant!)  came up North to join us in some fun..... In this photo we are demonstrating Stacey's 'clubby book pose'. Some fabulous fife dancers are relaxing on the wall behind us enjoying the sunshine....

some of the top Scottsh dancers were there;
 Elspeth who brought along some of her students and lead a few dances....

......  Natalie....

... and Dawn.... to name but a few....



oh and the Tribal girls turned up too.............

and the girls, Isla and Mara, I used to dance with in the African dance group Afridonia way back when i first started to dance also joined in the fun with their kids too.....



 It was fabulous fun and the sun even came out to join us for most of it! It was such a luxury to be able to wear costume in public and dance outside without a single rude or sexual comment. Lots of smiles and lots of people joining in and enjoying the day. How dance is supposed to be. Friendly and fun!

and then- just in case you were thinking this couldn't have been Scotland..... it doesn't get much more Scottish than this, the dinner...... reduced and everything!!!!..............

Moving and shaking

well- the earth moved for me yesterday. In many ways!

In the afternoon I was in my dance studio doing some stretching since tonight would be the 1st night back to work in a week and I was feeling a bit stiff and sore from lack of activity!!! Trying to reach that hard to stretch bit in my back... and then i could feel a gentle rocking motion helping me reaching it... the rocking got stronger and then i realised that the chandilers were swinging too... an Earthquake! A friend called  in panic, 'Lorna, we're having an earthtremor' I replied' I know - it's lovely isn't it?' Have to say it was not the response she expected!!! However it really was a lovely moment in my life feeling as if the earth was with me trying to help me stretch... and esp lovely since it measured 5.9 seemingly and no damage occurred. Made me think more how it must have felt to be in Japan recently- but i still can't imagine it. My heart goes out to them!

More moving and shaking went on last night when i went to work. I was so excited because BOTH boats (Nile and Golden Pharaoh ) sailed last night- and the golden had a late sail too- business is picking up!!! I was especially excited to see that my boat had 2 decks on it... not had that since january! Then it got even better because it was Nadi Zamalek, and the Tunisian football team had fully booked out one deck- We had a LOT of fun! I dont think i have danced so well, and so della'a (cute/flirty) maybe ever. It was so nice to hear so much appreciation.. without any sleezy comments at all which often accompany an almost all male audience. They were commenting and joining in- but in a fun, respectful way. There were lots of the teams pro-photographers there too- wonder where those pics will end up- maybe some team magazine or something.. wish i could see that! I'll be dancing on the Golden Pharaoh 8th- 11th April and really looking forward to more work (not many people can say that can they?!!!)

Then- the night was still young... so my friends and i moved onto Mandarin, at the Armada boat on the Maadi corniche for a friends birthday party- that was an all night event! Well- you could of course leave before 2am which is when the curfew is from these days- but if you chose to stay after 2- then you were chosing to stay til 5am when curfew was lifted! An enforced party! I loved it! A good crowd, mix of music ( although more house music than i could fully enjoy) and if it got too much at any point they have a sheesha cafe just outside the club area which is right on the Nile.

A complete day, and night, of moving and shaking! 

 I feel alive! 

 I LOVE CAIRO.

A man’s role in dance.

I went to part of the Nile group competition night last night. Of the dancers I saw (and we only stayed a couple of hours) there were three performances that really stood out for me personally. Athena, from Greece. An elegant graceful dancer who looked stunning in a beautiful Hallah costume and carried herself with a lovely calm confidence which did create to her simple and effective choreography. I like it when a dancer’s personality comes across on stage. When i look and think, yes, i’d like to be her as a friend! Too many dancers can put on a personality for dance. Pretend to be something that they think a dancer’s should be. If it’s not you though, it just doesn’t work. All it does is create a barrier and show the audience that you don’t want them to know the real you.
A group, i think from Korea who looked absolutely amazing. Full glitter drag queen eye make-up, stunning , matching, black and white costumes and multi coloured fans. It wasn’t bellydance by any stretch of the imagination... but it was by far the slickest, tightest, most beautiful group dance performance I have ever seen on that stage. I was speaking to Aleya about it, and she promised to upload the film she took of it onto youtube soon, so watch this space.

The third performance that really captured me, also surprised me. I have to admit that i personally, do not enjoy watching men perform bellydance. Sorry. I know i may upset people by saying that. I am all for male teachers. Often a man does totally know what a woman should do to make the most of herself. And I like watching a man dance folk, or even oriental, when he is dancing as a man. Not as a man trying to be a woman. When a man starts dressing like a woman, and doing hair flicks and cute hand covering the mouth coquettish moves etc, I just switch off. I can learn from it, yes. I can appreciate the technique, yes, but for me the mood is ruined because I feel they are trying to be something they are not.

So, with that in mind, Hassan (i think his name was- I will get confirmation of this an add asap!) performance I expected I wouldn’t enjoy. He wore a turquoise catsuit, with pharaonic style gold belt and shoulder piece. His hair was in a pony tail and most bizarrely he carried his fairly ‘cuddly’ body in a strange manner which gave him a sway back, really thrusting his chest forward and his bum out. You couldn’t get more man trying to be woman. In fact, seeing a waiters shocked face I called him over to ask what he thought and he answered my question with a question, it that a man or a woman?

So with all my prejudices in mind, i should have hated him yes. No. He was amazing! His movements were soft, elegant, with the most amazing spins i have EVER seen on a dancer. His gentle shimmying figures of eight travelling across the stage were something that quite frankly samia gamal would have been proud of, and probably inspired. It was very golden era-esque and the timing and feel of the moves was just perfect with the music. I kept want to hate it, but i couldn’t. In fact, when i just persuaded myself not to look at his face I could kid myself that it really was a woman and possibly one of the most impressive dancers I have seen on that stage. Big statement eh?

When he came back to do a second dance wearing a black galabeya that was fitted on top but with a full circulur skirt and hip scarf, he lost me though. Physically he did everything right. However, in a song like ana fintizarek i wanted to connect with the soul of the dancer, and well, I just couldn’t. There was something about his facial expressions that pushed me away rather than drawing me in. A little too much effort there. Trying too hard. All in all. I’d love to watch him again, and I’d love to learn from him.

I know this blog entry will probably create some heated opposition, since it’s not very ‘pc’ to say outright that I don’t usually like watching male bellydancers. I have no issue at all with any man dancing...... like a man, Thats great!



But the truth is i don’t like any dancer who looks like he , or she, is trying to be something they are not.

I have no issue at all with any man dancing... like a man.

parties parties parties...

apologies to my blog readers...

Facebook has seriously taken over....

now whenever something happens in my life in Cairo - instead of tunring it into a blog article, with lots of relevent (well, sometimes relevent) info and stories, it becomes a one line status update. NOT good... especially as this blog is supposed to be my memory aid for when i am old and grey and come to write up the whole bellydancer in Cairo experience into a book... (that is , once I no longer live in Cairo and can actually dish the dirt hehe!!!)

anyway- whats been happening? 3 parties in 2 days... and all very diffferent!

I performed at a birthday party on Eid at a friends house... it was great. I danced to Enta Omri, which when i had 1st put it onto the cd had thought maybe this is too heavy for a party... but then I thought- why not, i love it and want to dance it. So i did... and the atmosphere in the room became electric once it started... at one point i started to sing outloud (it was an instrumental version of the song) and about 15 people, mainly egyptian women , all joined in the song... and i swear I nearly cried. I felt i had really, finally made it- I belonged. I fitted. I hope i never forget that feeling, it was so emotionally overwhelming!

after the party i went along to catch the end of the opening gala for the Nile Group festival. I had missed all the dancers, but the Saaidi band were still playing and my houseguests were all there dancing away as was my friend Aleya. So we all had a boogie together and Magdy el-Leisy dragged me up on stage to dance with him. We had a fabulous time! Just wish I could have been there for the whole thing... was nice to see and chat with Camelia at the end, but wish i could have seen her show too, not to mention Asmahan and Nour! ah well, next time!

Yesterday I went to another party, but not to watch or perform dance, for a change.  Through my writer friend Linda, I have met some swiss artists who are here in Cairo on a residency and they invited us to their studio for a party. The strange thing was that this studio is on an island, in the Nile, in the middle of Cairo (just near the pharonic village) and you have to access it via boat (which cost 25p each way, Egyptian piestres not pence that is !!). There are no roads on the island, and its all fields and palm trees. I really felt I was out of the city in the middle of the countryside. It was lovely and peaceful. Linda performed her poetry with 2 friends who are musicians backing her up. They performed in a 'cage' on the roof- a space designed to keep away mossies... and which was well lit so made a bizarre, but fabulous stage! at one point, to take a call, after the show, i wandered over to another place on the roof and found myself looking over the fields and trees and Nile, with complete silence around me, and started to dance, just for myself, no music, but I felt so free... I can see why they chose that spot for the residency studio- it was really inspiring!

Here's Linda in her cage stage' !!

a week at home...

This past week has been very strange for me. I am used to my Cairo life being packed with too many things to do... and this week has been the opposite.

We have too many dancers working at the pharoah boats just now... so with 5 dancers ( Me, Outi, Maya, Mona and Magda) that means we each only get 12-13 nights work a MONTH. Which is NOT enough to live on. hmmm. not great. Thankfully usually when this happens i can suppliment things by teaching (which I have done a little of this week) and renting out my spare rooms ( although this week was an empty house week too). Why do we have so many dancers?... business. If the boat emplys numerous dancers... if one of us were to be sick, travel or throw a diva tantrum, then they still have enough dancers to work. It makes business sense, I know. It's just hard when there isn't much work outside of the boat. Although its tough I shouldn't complain. i have also had times over the last 4 years when there were only 2 dancers working on the pharoahs which meant work EVERY night... and that is even tougher, especially if you get injured!

so i have had 5 days without 'work'...(with some assumptions!)

Day 1 without work was great...i caught up with 3 close girlfriends and had lovely quality time. Including an interesting and informative stretching session with a girl trained in ballet. She got me almost into the splits!!! was so impressed with myself! (this assumes that for a dancer stetching isn't 'work'?)

Day 2 was THE productive day. i had over 200 outstanding emails, some from as far back as early 2009!!!! I managed to get that list in one day down to less than 10. Also did a costume shop visit (always good, although often expensive!). The evening was spent as the day started... emails... (this assumes emails, mainly about dance from dancers, isn't work?)

Day 3 and spending the majority of the time at home alone is beginning to get to me. I get depressed if left to my own devices for too long, I think its about having too much time to think! Anyway... I was moping about then said to myself- STOP, snap out of it... how can i make myself happy again....? so i went to my studio and put my 'happy mood' playlist on the ipod up to full volume and washed dishes, scrubbed kitchen cupboards, emptied the through everything into it cupboards in the living room and sorted things out for throwing out etc etc  i even made a to do list and ticked some things off! It is amazing the power of happy music (mine includes Mr Boombastic!). I decided that i should keep up this energy level and went into the studio with a view to doing some stretches and thought- why not do an arabic lesson at the same time... THAT was my big mistake. I was lying on my mat, doing a glut stretch, listening to the michael thomas arabic course... and my knee hit the floor! I had fallen asleep mid stretch!!!!!! oops my energy had stopped. I planned to go out salsa dancing... but then i ordered Pizza... and that put an end to any form of movement as the evenings activety, so i slumped in front of the TV, which people who know me know is NOT a good sign! (this assumes stretching, arabic study and sorting bellydance photo cd's from music cd's isn't work?)



Day 4 i had a reason to get up... a class to teach. Yippee! I enjoyed it so much i continued for about an hour in the studio choreographing a dance for her next class! Then I tried to debug my plants on the balcony. They have mealyworm. Or at least thats the closest thing i could find online that looks like them. Internet said to dab them with rubbing alcohol and they would fall off. So i put some whiskey in a spray bottle and blasted them. ( it didn't in the end work, but it was a very bizarre experience, some from my country would say sacreligious!). Oh and I got a long outstanding job done. I have bought many lamps in my time here. i love them! But the wiring is not exactly what you would call safe, or often effective! So I gave 2 lamps to the bowab so he could take them somewhere to fix.. and within a couple of hours they were back with me- working. hurrah- success- tick off that list! Go out dancing... i could have... i had invites... but no- i sat in front of the TV, again. (this assumes teaching and making my spare rooms presentable to dancers who want to rent them isnt work?)

Day 5 my prayers were answered in the form of work. I was called into the Nile Maxim to cover a lunchtime sail. It was fun, despite having a new tabal and singer... i just loved being back doing what i am here to do!Plus , on the Maxim the program is different so i got to do almost a full hours show, rather than just 2x 15min sets as is usual on the pharoah. That was great. I felt awful though when i got an old man up to dance, cos he was dancing about by his table anyway.. he took the stick off me, and proceeded to try and dance... except he was really old and not steady on his feet and in trying to impress/imitate me he landed on the floor. It must have really hurt becuase the stage there is marble, not wood and it is hard enough on the soles of my feet, so i can only imagine what landing full onto it must have felt like. Anyway, there were no broken bones and he was still smiling at the show by the end of the sail. Thank god! (this assumes work that isn't my contracted work , isn;t work?)

Then- wow- paragraph 2- this was a busy day! I asked the bowab about a small glass top table, because i needed new glass for it. Within an hour a boy had come to measure it, phoned in to his boss with sizes and got price quote, gone, collected 'made to measure' glass, with bevelled edges, and returned it to me. all within an hour. In a country where it can take days to do easy things, somethings that you would think should take longer just happen. i can't believe i had been putting it off for years- literally! The glass broke in an interesting manner. The coffee table was beside a window. usually the shutter is left closed. The cleaner left it open. The sun shone through the window, magnifying as it did so, the beam of light hit the glass topped table and the until then perfect glass, cracked. One long wavy line of a crack that made a heck of a noise as it grew! So now, that shutter stays shut! That was nearly 4 years ago!

para 3- life is beginning to look up! - friends came over. A girl from Ireland and her Egyptian 'husband'. They are travelling  to hers for christmas and we spent a while going over the extensive list of everything you need to supply the British embassy with in order to get a visa. What a nightmare! With a UK passport i have to admit I have always taken it completely for granted that you want to travel, you buy your ticket, and you go. Often just buying a visa on arrival, if you need one at all! For egyptians to travel, especially to UK or USA, the requirements are massive, even with a letter of invitation! Oh and then we went out to eat mandy. No- not a person !!! Mandy is a yemen dish with basmati rice and sultanas toped with the meat of your choice, we had very fatty lamb- I will try chicken next time. Very tasty too- and the shop is walking distance from my place. Although the poor man in the shop got into an awful tiz when i wanted to take the number for deliveries finally admitting that no one in the shop could speak english so he was worried how could they take my order? when i told him not to worry it would be ok, in arabic, his relief and surprised smile were evident!

a good day.

Day 6 is today and I have all sorts of exciting things lined up for tonight and plans made with people i can't let down, so finally i will be 'doing something' with my time 'off work! The day started earlier than I would have liked since my cleaner insists on starting her day at 8am. Usually this involves me opening the door with my eyes still closed, then going straight back to bed and waking only to pay her before she leaves. Bliss. Today i had to play the ogre and go round the house with her pointing out all the things she hadn't been doing right, or at all, and that took 20 mins. It's a job i knew I had to doo for weeks, lets be accurate, months, but i could never bring myself to tell a grown woman how to clean a glass, or a window. so I had been ignoring the probelm and hoping she would improve on her own. In fact, she got worse, sloppier and sloppier. It seems that unless you are tough, and that means delivering a warning with not hit of smile or even what a brit would consider manners, is the only thing that works. I hate it.

So now i am wide awake, have done my emials, and this blog and its not even 10am. Hmm- how to fill my day.....?

tonight;
- i will go and see a circus performance (by someone who contacted me through my blog- ie work)
- then interview and my life here as a foreign dancer (ie work)
- then watch a film a friend bellydancing (ie work)
- then go out to some cabaret bars to watch lots of dancers (ie work)

amazing how little of my life isn't 'work'.... but also how much 'work' i love!!!!!!!!  I'd just like to make the point. Most 'normal' jobs you leave behind you when you leave your office, shop whatever. Your work seldom consumes EVERYTHING in your life.

When you are an artist, and in particular when you are self employed and have to promote yourself, then 'work' never stops. You don't want it to stop. It becomes you. Without bellydance my whole world would be completely different. I hope I never have to know just how different.

My 'boring' , 'work-free' week... hope it's been interesting for you!

Lorna does Luxor

I am back in Cairo now, after spending 3 fabulous days with a lovely group of women from all over Europe. The festival was run by Sara Farouk and Kay Taylor and was just perfect! The 3 main teachers for the week were myself, Khazafy and Eman Zaki.

 I also performed, with the orchestra they provided. I was given 3 hours on arrival the 1st day to rehearse- we only needed 2 hours to put together over an hours set! What a group of totally professional artists. It was bliss working with them. I also felt a real mutual respect between me and the musicians, possibly since the orchestra leader , Ahmed Mahrous (violin player) has spent many years in France and therefore doesn't have the usual Egyptian attitudes towards women and in particular bellydancers. I think the show I did on sunday night was possibly my best dancing to date. I am hoping that people have filmed parts of it at least (if you have; PLEASE add it to youtube- i want to know if it looks half as good as it felt!!!).

 I did a set in my 'Egyptian flag' costume, manmore than one person thought it was red, white and blue. I guess if you are not used the the Egyptian flag that makes more sense (since most of the people at the festival were British)- but still... i have looked again and it is DEFINITELY black, not blue! I figured the big Eagle necklace would have given the game away- but obviously not...

I was really sad to leave, the musicians, the new friends, the beautiful venue (5 star hotel with lovely large pool!), all of it in fact. There was a really nice balance of classes, talks, performances and chilling.... it felt like my idea of a perfect holiday- and I was working!!!

My first evening i joined the group outing to see the sound and light show at Karnak temple... you walk through the temple as it goes on... it was fabulous. Enjoyed it much more than the one at the Pyramids, although parts of it were just as corny!

I have to take my hat off to Sara and Kay- (and Sherif!!!) - you guys did a great job. Everything ran smoothly and the wonderful friendly atmosphere was largely down to the way you handled everything beautifully. well done.

Back to Cairo and awaiting a new house guest.... i have a packed home for the next 3 months... it's going to be lovely to be surrounded by all these dancers from all over the world! I've also been inspired to go on a search for more new music to dance to.... so i have been exploring my itunes all day today and discovered that I know an awful lot more Oum Kalsoum music than i know the names of!

organic choreographing and rocks

I really don't know what to write about, but feel i should write cos I haven't for ages and ages.............!

I have a day off. I feel like I haven't once stopped since long before Ramadan started... and its been over for 2 weeks now! I like working the lunch time sails, when its bus loads of tourists who get to see me as part of there 'total egyptian experience' after the pyramids and before the museam usually! It just gets difficult when you have 4 sails one day, then 3 the next etc etc (so thats anything between 1-8 shows in a day, varies per day!) Not complaining. Love the work... just that my body has stiffened up beyond belief. today, the 1st day off in ages has been spent in bed... and online... trying to catch up physically and mentally!!!!

anyway- enough moaning.

Cairo- crazy cairo- yes I still love it. Its strange to be away from my family when i know I could help them through difficult times... and seeing all my friends in UK again throughout Ramadan just reinforced how much i miss them.... but here is home. I just wish i could work out if i felt confident enough to buy a property here. Renting is stressful... and limiting. There is so much I'd love to do... but feel i couldn't in someone else's house - like building extra wardrobes before you get any other ideas!!!! I have totally run out of space for my own clothes- and thats before you even consider the 2 wardrobes of costumes!!! i need a 'sex in the city' style wardrobe!!!

Oh- and I am finally performing to my new entrance dance... it's still at the organic choreographing stage... ie I perform it every day.... up to 8 times in a day!!!....... but it changes everytime, unless i find something and think that really worked and then that gets added everytime... until i have partically choreographed it! I love working on a song like that, because it gives me new fresh ideas for interpretation and moves... and I can test them as I go along with the audiences reactions.... it's getting to the stage when i need to get it videod soon though so i can see if things look as good as they feel, or not!!!

I just realised that I haven't added the pics from the ramaden revellry tour.... heres a few pics from Northern Ireland- i was teaching in Dublin then we drove up to belfast and had a day in the North... and went to the giants causeway...

 Massive thanks to Adele and Nicola for being fabulous tour guides and showing me their windy countryside ( it reminded me a lot of Scotland!!!). I enjoyed the place and the company! Already looking forward to my next Belfast visit!

I'll get together some of the workshops pics from around the UK and add them in another blog soon! who knows... maybe some pics of my upcoming trip to Luxor to teach and perform at the Farha festival there.

review of one of my workshops

Here's a review of a recent workshop I taught in Edinburgh... an intense workshop which ended in a spontantious group hug!!!

http://tamsynbellydance.posterous.com/less-is-more-dancing-to-oum-kalthoum

Back into the swing of things...

So here I am back in Cairo... and you know what.... it really does feel like home!
As much as I love seeing my UK friends and family, driving my car, feeling comfortable doing stuff , like opening a bank account etc ... Cairo, and this flat I have lived in now for nearly 4 years, is home.

I’ve been back nearly 2 days, and not done a lot really, other than catch up with friends, do numerous loads of washing (glamorous huh), get house cleaned of a month’s build up of Cairo dust (which would be equivalent to about 6 months if not more back in Edinburgh!) That’s ‘get house cleaned- not clean house.... see how well I have slotted back into ‘normality’! oh and get eyebrows done and bag packed for work... that i have to tell you is no mean feat.

I guess it runs alongside the idea of what a woman keeps in her handbag... but, just so you can begin to understand why my work suitcase is heavy before i even enter any of the 4-5 costumes i usually take to work each night here’s a list of what I just put in there.....

- Melaya- in case I feel the urge to dance Iskandirani style
- Abaya- for covering up in between shows
- Towel- its hot work!
- Spare underwear -flesh colour of course for wearing under costumes
- Hairpiece
- Brush
- Hairspray
- Hair clips
- 2 Shebika’s ie body stockings –for wearing if the police ever come to check!
- Safety pins- of numerous sizes
- Cotton wool and make-up remover- for mistakes and running mascara!
- Facewipes- for feet after
- Deodorant
- Perfume- gets sprayed on every time i leave that changing room!!
- Body lotion -a bit of a sheen hides a multitude of sins!
- Accessories – lots of various bits of jewellery to match every possible costume
- Ibuprofen- in case I have to dance through back ache, headache, muscle ache etc
- Sewing kit- for last minute and emergency ‘make it fit and stay on’ moments.
- Scissors
- Tweezers
- Emery board
- False eyelashes and glue
- Make-up bag- that’s another massive list in itself!
- Book- in case there is time sitting about between shows
- Diary and pen- to take note of an ever changing rota

Hopefully that’s it... since that’s all i have in there at the moment! Most of it just lives in there... so I don’t have to remember it all everyday.

I am really excited about my first day back tomorrow. I missed dancing with my band, although I did get more live music to perform to in UK this time compared to previous visits, which did help to make things feel a bit more realistic for me there!

So, off to paint the nails before bed... have a nagging feeling i have forgotten to pack something important (yes I did put the costumes in there too!). I suspect however, that the thing i haven’t packed and am feeling i should is the CD to perform too..... and yippee , I don’t have to!!! Love dancing in Cairo.

Confused audience

My last blog (that wasn't advertising for my upcoming tour!) was all about unappreciative audiences.... I just realised that I should write also about the good stuff too- cos it is way too easy to focus on the negative!

Tonight I had three seperate tables of people all come up to speak to me after my show... all of them (mixed groups from Egypt, Lebanon and Dubai) all asking where i was from because by looking at my face they were sure I was foreign, but then watching my show they were convinced i was Egyptian. Thank God! I can't do much about my face, well, I could but frankly the 'lets all get so much plastic so we all look like Nancy Agram' doesn't really do it for me! So I will stay looking non-Egyptian and confusing people by dancing Egyptian!

I love my job. I love dancing, even when my body hurts and my brain can't string a sentence together because I am so tired from shows every day... I still, when I am up on that stage, love it.

days off

What do most normal people do when they have a day off work? thats right, do something different than their job. Me? well... I dance!!! Hmmm

yesterday I went to a Zouk class (at Stilleto) . It's the 1st class I have ever done for this dance form, but it won't be my last. I LOVE it. The music is what motivates me.. I'd love to get really good at this purely becuase of the music! It's amazing, like a mix of salsa and african and r&b. Music to feed your soul.

so between sitting on friends balconies chatting about what might be the outcome in the country after Mubarak dies... i was swishing my hair around zouk style ( as much work as a khaleegy workshop I tell you!!!)

then today... another day off... and I have 2 private classes. One is for a friend who is shocked that she has lived in Cairo so long and never learned the dance- a taster session of the basic moves- that will be fun.. especially after a little drink first to loosen us up!!!
I also had a class this afternoon with a group of girls from Ukraine. (They had booked my studio to use it for a class with Donia, who is the sister of Amani Zaki, and when they discovered they were coming to my house decided to have a class from me too)
Wow those girls can dance! They were so good at following. In fact, was a very strange class... what they wanted , and what they got, was me dancing for the whole hour and them copying! I loved it- they loved it- and are coming back later in the week for more. For me it was an intensive hour of performance practise in front of the mirror, which I am way too lazy to ever do without an audience. For them they got to see how I interpret the music and how I dance, not just how I teach dance. One girl named me the 'master of improvisation' I was pretty chuffed with that title!!!

Anyway... for anyone who ever wondered what I do with my life when I am not dancing... the answer is obvious- I dance!!!!

Saaidi

I am really loving performing saaidi just now... I think because I didn't have a stick for so long (mine was stolen from work). So now i can do it (bought new sticks!) , and i am loving it... esp in this costume by Amera el Kattan.... it just ripples with every movement!

Saaidi music works well with all the Arabs that have just suddenly appeared in Cairo too- this week. I guess they are making the most of the month before Ramadan, by the looks of it! Unfortunatly that means that a lot of Cairo's painted ladies have also become more apparent. It makes for a less than wholesome feel to a performance when you know who are in your audience! Ah well... there but for the grace of God and all that... Thank god i dance for the love of it, and not out of neccesity. The sights I see here! Scary!