Imagine a medieval manor hall, guarded by high battlements, surrounded by rolling hills and lush green fields. Imagine old stone work and oak panelling, high beamed ceilings and doors that creak and slam like Dracula’s coffin. Now imagine it packed to bursting point, with eighty women under one roof; women of all shapes, sizes and ages and several different nationalities, each one dressed and decorated in her own individual and colourful style, and all of them ready to teach and learn. Into this rich mix descended Hediya Tribe, six of us and our luggage packed - with some difficulty - into my faithful old Pajaro, and the tribes at Ford welcomed us with open arms.
I knew from my first glimpse of the list of workshops that I was out of my depth and swimming in strange waters. Much of it was entirely new to me, Suhaila drills, Blacksheep combos, Bollywood machismo to name but a few, and what, please, is a candelabra? There was only one thing to do: to plunge in, with enthusiasm.
A candelabra, in the context of Karen’s workshop, turned out to be a small round tray supporting three small candlesticks. The whole thing is, naturally, balanced on the dancer’s head. There are tricks of the trade, of course: wear a head cloth, use spray on glue, and cotton buds soaked in paraffin stay lit better than wax candles. This was my first taste of modern techno styling. The music was interesting, for want of a better word, but the movements were crisp and precise and not to hard to understand. The other two classes on offer were a medieval veil choreography and a zill dance. Some others of my group opted to do these. I got to see the results at the “Showback” in the Long Gallery later that evening. In spite of the short learning time both looked very impressive.
One disappointment: there was no performance slot at the Hafla for us to present the piece we had been practicing. After a moment’s reflection we decided this was a Good Thing; the pressure was off and now we could relax and enjoy ourselves.
It was rather late in the evening when six belly dancers made their way up to their impressively large room, where they sat up even later talking, discussing and comparing notes. So it was six very sleepy belly dancers who crawled out of their cosy beds in the morning and crept down the twisting staircase to where an excellent breakfast awaited them. Then it was decision time again.
My first choice that morning was Geneva’s Suhaila Drills class. I expected it to be a challenge. I was right. The workshop started with a number of yoga based exercises designed to increase strength and flexibility. They hurt. Then we started on the drills, learning the basic hip swing, using the muscles not the joints, and some of the walks and rhythms. I could have done with more time on it. Chrissy and Adrienne went to Gina’s Tribal Skirt class. They told me it certainly demonstrated why you need a skirt with a twelve yard hem, so you can swish it gracefully round your ankles, knees, hips, wrists, elbows and eyebrows. Well, maybe not the eyebrows. Jenny, Wendy and Julia opted for the ATS basics class, which they described as very good, and essential if you don’t know a lot about Tribal dance to start with. A select few of us proceeded on to learn floorwork with Dawn. This was good, too. In spite of suffering from a severe hangover, she showed us how to train ourselves to change levels smoothly and easily, and how to do the Berber floor walk. But I would like to know who thought to schedule a floorwork class in a room with a concrete floor!
So lunchtime. I will say once that the food, and the service, were excellent, and say no more. I will also mention the Souk, which was out back past the coal heap, where as usual we all spent far more than we intended on lots of lovely stuff.
The afternoon presented some difficult choices again, but I decided to learn how to use a double veil, with Heidi. She warned us we would all get dizzy, and we did. The two veils can be held together and used as one, then split apart and waved and swirled most effectively. It all involves lots of spins and takes up a great deal of space. This was followed by Michelle’s Sword workshop, where I learned that a sword can be balanced in a surprising number of places about the human body.
We all enjoyed the Hafla that evening. Even getting ready was fun, and Gina held a most useful class on how to put on makeup. The costumes were colourful, and the dances were inventive. The Scottish fusion dance was particularly striking, as was Dawn’s “Techno-mouse” costume. Doumba’s performance was most impressive. But a special mention must be made of Kay’s surprise partner, Deirdre the dancing horse, in full regalia. The soloists for the most part danced in modern fusion and techno styles, the traditional ATS only appeared when the tribes took to the floor. We all got to bed a bit late again.
I had already learned to take the word “easy” with a pinch of salt, but this time it was fairly accurate. Dawn’s easy combos next morning were quite straightforward and most conveniently, were just one level up from the ones she taught us on her visit to the island earlier this year. It was useful, enjoyable and somehow soothing. Wendy’s “Charmed Arms” class was just as good but totally different: all delicate mudras and graceful floreos, which I will need to practice when I get home.
Hediya tribe came together again for one final workshop: “Darkside” with Heidi. I loved it. It was dramatic, athletic and great fun, but some of the moves were only distantly related to belly dancing as we used to know it. We have moved on a long way.
So all in all, we learned a lot during the course of the weekend. We worked very hard, we had a considerable amount of fun, we met lots of nice people and made some useful contacts. I think that if I go back again next year, I will run a six to eight week preparation course for everyone who is coming too, to increase our flexibility and stamina, and to brush up on our ATS basics.
And so wedged ourselves back into the Pajaro and headed home. Two of our number were dropped off at Newcastle airport, Wendy to spend some time with her parents in Southampton, Jenny to return to her home in Ireland. The remaining four of us stopped overnight in a very comfortable B & B under Hadrian’s Wall, where we stayed up late (surprise surprise!) drinking red wine and watching Adrienne’s videos of the weekend. Then back to Heysham and on board the boat, where four very weary belly dancers put their heads down on the table and slept.
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