ISSN 1177-2808
MEDANZ News Middle Eastern Dance Association of New Zealand December 2010 / January 2011 Upon excitedly attending my first MEDANZ Festival back in 2001 my dance teacher suggested I focus on remembering two exceptional things from each workshop. Two exceptional things that I could bring to my dance.... and that anything else remembered would be a fabulous bonus (or words very loosely to that effect). I know this may sound like a costly way to learn our craft but it has helped me. It has taken the sweat and self-inflected stress out of attending workshops and allowed the pleasure of my movement, less concern about sloppy dance notes and trust of my dance growth through osmosis, body intelligence and my extra-ordinary mind. Ten years later on, and I still use this as my workshop guidance. Some workshops I surprise myself by retaining full choreography, many I have happily recalled two super-fabulous combinations, while others I’ve been simply reminded how to extend my arms beautifully. Each workshop I attend brings new dance information, exploration, and (fingers-crossed) dance intelligence. We all learn in different ways and an exceptional dance teacher will hit your heart, offer you many ways to explore your body and bring out your individual dance expression. The more dance stuff I think I know, SCREAMS and shouts how little I really know... This article is to offer you a few tips before you embark upon the glorious total immersion of belly dance that the MEDANZ Festival offers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
At least two weeks before Festival - eat well, sleep well and maintain a flexible strong body (if you aren’t already), Attend workshops with water, pens, paper, silent hip-scarves, strong legs and open hips, Choose workshops that challenge you, excite you and those you can’t obtain from your current dance community, Ensure you have rest-breaks between workshops to re-fuel and re3 President’ Report energise, 2 Inside Story If you are inclined to take notes – establish a dance short-hand. 4 Hudra at festival Take good notes or plan with a friend to take an hour of note-taking 5 Poem each. 6 Tribal Massive Know that you won’t retain everything. 7 Shimmies over Shakes Take video equipment – maybe your teacher will allow you to video 9 Workshop Review during class, if not video with a friend afterwards. 12 Lands of Contrast Paint your toes – I’m not joking. Looking at beautiful toes makes 14 Letter to Teachers 16 Whats On difficult moves more enjoyable. Use what you’ve learnt and excites you, in your next dance choreography. Continued on page 3...
Web Site
Committee Details
www.medanz.org.nz User Name: medanz
President - Amanda Bound Hm: (06) 758 1097 Cell: (027) 478 9029
Password: bellyroll
Vice President - Bronwyn Mohring Hm: (03) 471 0247 Cell (027) 234 1024 Secretary - Karen Walworth Hm: (07) 823 7232 Cell: (027) 448 9001
How to contact us MEDANZ
Treasurer & Membership - Lynley Murphy Hm: (07) 886 7742 Cell: (027) 454 0478
Suite 3051 P O Box 13-240 Johnsonville Wellington 6440
Linley Duncan Hm:: (07) 552 4352 Cell: (027) 286 3452
Committee : committee@medanz.org.nz
Maarie Hutana Hm: (03) 383 4942 Cell: (021) 261 4539
Librarian: library@medanz.org.nz
Sharnie Riley Hm: (07) 549 1017
Membership : membership@medanz.org.nz
Dianne Thompson Hm:: (07) 378 1127 Cell: (027) 471 7673
Newsletter : newsletter@medanz.org.nz Treasurer : treasurer@medanz.org.nz
Bank Account Details: 12-3011-0758507-
51
Include your name and reason (ie: sub / festival /DVD etc)
Contributions, including original articles, photos, reviews and letters are VERY welcome Email to: newsletter@medanz.org.nz All contributions will be deemed to be authorised to be reprinted on the website. Material does not necessarily represent the views of MEDANZ members, not those of the MEDANZ committee. The cut off date for the February/March newsletter is: 20 January 2011
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MEDANZ News
December 2010 / January 2011
There is nothing on earth like leaving things to the last minute, as an example, we all know that Christmas is in December each year – why then do we have a mad rush in the week leading into Christmas shopping for gifts and food …. I guess it is called the “silly season” for a reason! The months and years just seem to be whizzing by so fast now – maybe it has something to do with my age, although others younger than me are commenting on it too. I must confess I am very guilty of leaving things to the last minute. One of our major events each year is the MEDANZ Festival, which will be upon us before we know it. The committee has worked really hard to put the Festival booklet together. We have an exciting range of workshops and tutors on offer to tempt us. Completing the booking form and sending it in is not a task to be left to the last minute. Workshops are going to be filling fast. You will see that the format has changed for April 2011. The main reason for this is because Easter is the middle weekend of the April school holidays, and we have had to go to the weekend before. As the school is still in session on the Friday, we are not able to “get in” until around 4.00 pm on that day. Thankfully belly dancers are very adaptable beings and we have adapted to the situation. This means that we will be hosting the Meet and Greet, and the AGM on Friday night. We also felt that in order to maximise the time available over the weekend, and to minimise the amount of time off work some people would otherwise have to take, we would start the workshops on Saturday morning. Those workshops will finish in time for everyone performing in the show to have a rehearsal before the event. Unfortunately, this meant that the workshops aimed at the tutors would end up being at the end of the festival – being Tuesday morning. We believed this was not going to work once all the tutors were tired from a weekend of teaching, so instead felt that a teachers forum over dinner on the Monday evening would be a good way to end the weekend. Hopefully this format is going to work for the majority and not cause too many problems. As it is, this is a one off situation that we have had to work around. Hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year. I look forward to seeing lots of you in Tauranga in April. Regards Aaminah
Continued from page 1...
As ever, Festival 2011 offers you a plethora of dance teachers with different teaching technique and dance emphasis. Choose those workshops that excite you. Choose to attend workshops where you can explore new styles or enhance your current dance. Choose to learn from teachers who will lift your spirit, technique and knowledge. Smiles and shimmies, Maarie Hutana December 2010 / January 2011
MEDANZ News
P age 3
Festival Hudra Dear Past, Present and Future Vendors at Festival The following is an invitation for you to join in the fun of vending at the MEDANZ Festival 2011 in Tauranga Below are some guidelines and helpful hints
The Hudra Room is where participants go to relax, eat and catch up with their friends. The concept of having the vendors in the Hudra room is a fairly recent event and has proven to be hugely successful. Vending is a Co-operative. There are no allocated sites, we squeeze up or spread out, as the demand requires. You can vend for an hour or the whole weekend. To support MEDANZ, each vendor gifts an item/s, which are then raffled at the Hafla. Each vendor supplies their own means of displaying their goods. (Often there are tables available, especially if Festival is held at a school, but it is not a guaranteed scenario) MEDANZ takes no responsibility for your goods.
Please contact me should you decide to vend as I get asked by past happy customers if you are coming. Also let me know what you are bringing as I would like to publish a list of Vendors and Goods to be at Festival. Should members wish to sell a pre-loved item, there will be a Members Table available. This is unattended so your item, needs to be packaged carefully with your name, mobile number, description of the item and the cost, clearly displayed. To ensure the smooth operation of the Members Table, there is a restriction of only 5 items, per person, at a time.. Looking forward to hearing from you all and do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Suezy
Suzanne (Suezy) Robertson CINCH DANCE UNLIMITED 12B Homestead Drive, St. Johns, Auckland 1072, New Zealand PH: (64 9) 5272350 MOBILE: (021) 1158548 E.MAIL: cinch@xtra.co.nz WEB ADDRESS: www.cinchdanceunlimited.com
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MEDANZ News
December 2010 / January 2011
I Want...... I want to learn to bellydance And wear all that cool gear Do the slinky 'ooh la' moves Wear jewellery in my hair Undulate my body Bend waaay back to there Dance to funky music Expose my tummy bare I could get some harem pants Some lovely gauzy wings Blingy stuff with sequins on Bangles, beads and rings Probably I'd need some zills And coin belts - three or four I'm making up a shopping list Before I hit the store Better check some websites too In case there's other stuff A belly dancer just must have (I want to have enough) Something purple, red and gold Black and silver too Ooh - just saw a hip scarf In a gorgeous shade of blue I know that it's not all about The costumes and the bling With heaps of moves and steps to learn And all that sort of thing.... As well I'll need a dancing 'name' Exotic and unique I'd better go get organised My classes start next week! Sharnie Riley Nov. 2010
December 2010 / January 2011
MEDANZ News
P age 5
Tribal Massive Tribal Massive is the biggest bang for your buck you can buy. 50 hours of training, a halfa and a Las Vegas Belly Dance Show, and thats just the professional track. 50 hours with Rachel Brice, Mira Betz, Zoe Jakes, Amy Sigil and Heather Stants, and if you don't know who they are; YouTube and Google them! Its a week long event with up seven hours of training a day, covering belly dance technique, yoga for dance, performance skills, dance composition and extension techniques. No other event in the world gives you as much belly dance training in a week; seriously, you find one and I'll go. Tori Haflon of The Daughters of Durga in Las Vegas, USA has been putting this event together since 2008 and it has grown from a single 50 hr professional track to three tracks of up to 50 hours covering professional and intermediate level dance. But what does this event cover, and what does professional level mean? I've attended two years running and will be returning in 2011, so I like to think I know what I talk about, from a 'been there, done that point of view'. Professional level means committing yourself to attending every moment and not giving up, it means spinning until you are sick, it means comparing yourself in the mirror with exceptional dancers and accepting you still have work to do, it means sore knees, sore legs, sore backs and knowing how to take care of yourself, it means writing and dancing at the same time to get the choreography down, it means accepting that sometimes you can't learn everything but trying anyway. It means cardio training so you can cope with 7 hours a day for a week. In 2010 we learned 3 choreographies, about 8 pages of combos, art theory for dance composition, how not to mimic but create, how to slide on our butt, partner dancing in a circle and got to have not only Rachel Brice but Zoe Jakes and Frank Farinaro as students in our classes. We often idolize our favourite dancers, and having them in our workshops just made us see how dam had they work, and how they don't stop trying. The workshops were limited to 30 students and 2010 50% of these students had travelled internationally to attend from Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Costa Rica and New Zealand. Can you imagine a workshop week that is so good, that 16 people fly across the world to attend? The first year I went, 2009, it Was Maarie Hutana and I, we shared accommodation in a vacation house with some girls from down Texas way and one from the UK, and then we stayed at the Casino for the last couple of nights. We danced at the Hafla, very low key, just attendees and teachers in a local studio. The formal Show of course blew us away, held at the Casino with the best lighting I've seen in a belly dance Show outside of The Loons. In 2010, it was A'mal, Tria and I. We went back to the same vacation house and hired a car for transport. We danced a prepared mashup of our favourite pieces at the Hafla which was a bit more upmarket, still in the studio, but with lighting and backup drop this time. But it was good enough to earn us an invite for the formal Show in 2011. The 2010 Show had us crying at several points with how incredible these performers are. And how much does this cost? For me to attend in 2011; $1400 for workshops, $1900 for the flights, $680 for accommodation, then add food, fun and shopping :) I put a savings plan in place in 2007 so I could afford to go to Tribal Fest in 2009 (yeap that was 2 years in advance) and by committing to the plan and sticking to it since then, I've been able to afford a seemingly unaffordable trip for three years. The thing I love about Tribal Massive is the leap it gives your dance, it motivates and revives you, and gives you a stronger platform of technique from which to launch yourself into performance. Pip E-Lysaah www.theredqueens.webs.com Tribal Massive website: http://www.thetribalmassive.com/ Page 6
MEDANZ News
December 2010 / January 2011
Shimmies over Shakes: A Review A belly dance show by Desert Veils in Christchurch. As an arrogant, self-important belly dance performer and teacher I very rarely take the opportunity to sneak into a belly dance show I am not a part of, however on Saturday 21 November I did just that. The Desert Veils show in Christchurch was a breath of earthquake filled air. A genuinely fun, sweet and relaxed 90 mins of dance that finished with the surprise pleasure of live Arabic singing. Jan Grant aka Farida has been teaching in Christchurch since 1989 and her choreographies reflect her wealth of experience in belly dance. The beginner students perform pieces that are simple, but contain well-executed technique, while their faces show fun and laughter. Sitting at the back of the room and meeting new people allowed me to see their pleasure in the dance, to listen to them express how fun the dancing looked and to share the enjoyment of watching friends perform. The entire dance evening was just the right length; 2 x 25-30 min sets with a 20 min break. The program didn’t list how long each piece was and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of length, not every piece was 5 mins, some were short and others long, it made the evening varied and I liked it. Stand out pieces for me, Farida’s ode to Tribal Dance with a cabaret style piece to Tribal music by Issam Houshan, filled with formation changes, travelling and musical accents. Drum Solo by Sue, it was short, well executed, and she had a delightful engaging face. The ‘Rangiora Superstars’; a mother and daughter duet to Ice Queen, with typical Farida’s beautiful veil work and musicality. Farida both opened and closed the evening with oriental solos, and I liked the symmetry. Finally closing with live Arabic singing by “The Moustache Man” where Farida encouraged everybody to get up and dance. The Desert Veil dances have exceptional shimmies and as a teacher I appreciate that Farida lets beginners do the easy stuff before having her intermediate girls do the harder stuff. Things I will take away; to go home and practice my veil, that khaleegy lines work well for veil, matching costumes are essential and that sometimes going somewhere on your own is fun. There are always things we don’t like, and I’m not afraid to say ‘coin belts are not for stage’, but overall if that’s my biggest critique, it must have been a good evening, and once again, an extremely pleasant way to spend 90 mins. I would go to a Desert Veils Show again.
Pip E-Lysaah
December 2010 / January 2011
MEDANZ News
P age 7
Hey There Little Devil’s! Want To Be An Angel? Well here’s how you can get a halo for a couple of hours. We need some volunteers for the 2011 MEDANZ Tauranga Festival. Helpers are required for the Raqs Aotearoa show, the information booth and heaps of other bits and pieces that will help make the weekend run smoothly. Some of the teachers will require help with their workshops too. This entails amongst other things checking off the participants, making sure they have a name sticker and maybe helping with the sound system. As a reward for your input you will be allowed to sit in on the lesson as an observer. So if you are interested or want to know more please contact the Chief Angel Dianne Thompson angels@medanz.org.nz I will acknowledge you within a week. However as there have been some gremlins in cyber space of late if you haven’t heard from me in that time frame please try committee@medanz.org.nz Let me know what you would like to help with and when you could donate some spare time during the festival and I will liaise with you just as soon as I have a formulated plan.
DURRIYA BELLYDANCE COSTUMES Range of Bellydance costumes and other goodies available Outfits for practice and performance
SPECIALISE IN PLUS SIZE, TRIBAL FUSION & TRIBAL
I also order on request, so if you have something in mind, just let me know.
Contact louise on 021 256 4843 Or email costume@windblown.gen.nz Www.tribal.windblown.gen.nz
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MEDANZ News
December 2010 / January 2011
An review of
A Day of Dance with Suher Sunday 19th September 2010 in Hamilton.
I must admit to being quite gutted that Suher was unable to teach her Workshops at Festival this year (even though she had a valid excuse haha). I was however very glad to get the chance to talk with her and organise her to come to us later in the year. After much emailing we thought it a good idea to bring something of tradition to Hamilton and it worked out even better than expected. Certainly on the day we had a rough start with a major storm causing power outages and flooding (our house didn’t get full power and phone back from Friday night till Sunday morning so emails couldn’t be checked) but it didn’t stop everyone arriving and after getting the heater at full blast we were ready to go . . . What I really loved was the sit down time at the beginning of each Workshop where Suher gave us an overview of where the style of dance we were going to learn originated from with maps and visual aids including costuming. Even for those of us who have danced for a while there was something new to take in. Then on to a warm up and straight into it. We spent a while learning how to told and “twirl” our cane/stick correctly and then keep it going smoothly adding footwork and staying in time to the music. I enjoyed learning a choreography in two halves - not enough time to get sick of the beginning but enough to learn right to the end.. Certainly we weren’t rushed (it was nice to be told we were picking it up quickly) and be given loads of direction. Thanks Suher. Then on to a shared lunch which was yummy, yummy, yummy. After eating we had a real treat - First of all Christine from Taupo showcased a Bollywood choreo she learnt at Festival (isn’t it great to see Workshop lessons being used in real life) and then Suher in full costume danced her way in. I could have watched her all afternoon, not just for the flawless technique but the beautiful way she puts it together. Encore, encore. But we had more to learn and the Khaleegy which seems much maligned to me anyway is now better understood and even loved… I actually came home bought some music from ITunes and sewed up a Khaleegy Thobe (much easier to handle and looks better than our veil aprons lol) which has been much commented on. All in all I think the day flowed well. Thanks heaps to Angie and the girls coming down from Auckland to join us (it was great to catch up) and Christine from Taupo. Also Rebecca’s husband who took care of baby Marcus when needed and helped get lunch heated up and cleaned up. And to MEDANZ for the travel grant, thankyou. Now what next I wonder ????? Cheers, Shelley Dawson
December 2010 / January 2011
MEDANZ News
P age 9
CINCH DANCE UNLIMITED Offers a 10% discount for December 2010 And January 2011 * BINDIS $2 * BEGINNER ZILL SETS $15 * * ISIS WINGS WITH CARRY BAG $120 * * BEADED FRINGING FOR BRA & BELT $90 * COIN SCARVES $25 * * VELVET COINED BRA & BELT SETS $70 * BEADED BUTTERFLY TOPS $25* * STRETCH VELVET CHOLIS $20 * CHIFFON GOLD COIN BELTS $25 * *CHIFFON GOLD COINED & BEADED PAYETTE BELT $40 * * VELVET COINED BELT $50 * BEADED KURTI TOPS $60 * * EMBROIDERED KURTI TOPS $60 * COLOURFUL GOLD SHOT SCARVES $12 * * COLOURFUL CANES $20 * BEADED BEDLAH SETS $160 * Visit my webstore at www.cinchdanceunlimited.com Or come to the shop at 12B Homestead Drive, St. Johns, Auckland If you cannot come in person you can reach me by e.mail:cinch@xtra.co.nz Phone:(09)5272350 Mobile:0211158548
Oriental, Fusion and Cabaret Belly Dance Classes Did you know that A’mal is currently teaching Oriental and Cabaret belly dance classes in Christchurch? Thursdays, School of Contemporary Belly Dance (SCBD) L3 Oriental 6.30-7.30pm This class focuses on developing good base technique, understanding and interpreting ME rhythms and music, veil and zill work, and developing the inner goddess: transitions, performance and working towards your own/group choreographies. Mixed Level:7.30-8.30pm This is a revolving topic course, delving into some of the many luscious types of bellydance out there. Previous topics have included: Lebanese Belly Dance/Isis Wings Technique and Choreography and The Karsilama Rhythm Current Topic: Turkish Cabaret: Old School bellydance with spins, big hip articulation and heaps of energy (and zills ) Sundays, School of Contemporary Belly Dance-Starting end of May! Advanced Belly Dance and Technique. Time TBC (90 mins): 45 mins of A’mal drills & Technique, followed by some of ChCh’s finest bellydancers who will further work their class in a particular style/technique. A’mal also runs private lessons, workshops and performances to suit nationwide, as an Oriental and Fusion teacher and performer, and as part of the quirky Red Queens
CONTACT DETAILS A’mal - www.amal.co.nz (Txt: 027 301 5897)
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MEDANZ News
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S C B D - www.belly.co.nz
December 2010 / January 2011
Tribal Style, Tribal Fusion & Base Belly Dance Classes Have you ever wanted to try Tribal Fusion or American Tribal Style, but weren’t sure what classes were out and about? Well every week Pip E-Lysaah teaches classes in both styles in Wellington AND Christchurch. Every Saturday Pip E-Lysaah teaches Tribal Style Level 2, Level 3 and Mixed Level Tribal Fusion at the School of Contemporary Belly Dance in Christchurch.
Tribal Style Level 2 covers the essential cues, formations
and movements of American Tribal Style, Tribal Style Level 3 steps up the challenge by adding shimmies, levels and layers to the technique, advanced formations and props such as sword, veil and finger cymbals. Mixed Level Tribal Fusion takes students through an exciting 35 min belly drill section, which leaves you warmed and sweaty, and then into the combo-graphy portion of the class.
Combo-graphy is choreography by combination, learn a
combination and then add then together with a modern twist on musical stylings.
Classes at the School of Contemporary Belly Dance, Christchurch Tribal Style Level 2: Saturday 1.30 – 2.30 pm Tribal Style Level 3: Saturday 2.45 – 3.45 pm Tribal Fusion (hard): Saturday 4 - 5 pm Tribal Fusion (easy): Thursdays 5.30 - 6.30 pm Monday – Thursdays you can find Pip E-Lysaah in Wellington teaching where-ever there is a desire and studio space, please contact directly for class dates and times.
Pip loves travelling for workshops, so if you would like some belly dance workshops in your town, contact her for details; everything from drills, technique and choreography composition. Pip E-Lysaah http://www.hedonistacal.com; http://www.belly.co.nz; http:// www.theredqueens.webs.com/ text: 021 542 013 twitter: pipbellydance
December 2010 / January 2011
MEDANZ News
P age 11
Egypt and Middle East - Lands of contrast, ambiguity and irony. WARNING: This article covers some topics that may not be entirely dance related. Shock Horror! Well I can’t wait till I get the next phone call urging me to join Greenpeace – piling on the guilt about whatever we supposedly do wrong here. OSH, Greenpeace and many other organizations need to leave us alone and go and set up in Egypt – there is no end of opportunity for them there! Also – I don’t think I will take offers from strangers about how to spend my money personally any more—I am so good at brushing off hagglers and people intending to part me with my money, after my recent training at overseas markets... I found myself at the first dance class since my return waving and gesturing to some local kids who had invaded the dance room,( lured no doubt by the music) when I eventually realized that I was home and spoke English to them, I swear they understood less than street kids overseas to whom I had jabbered at! It was also my first instinct to give them some money to get rid of them – I wonder what reaction I would have received if I had given them a couple of Egyptian pounds? Everybody in Egypt seemed to have their hand out – whether they had done anything to help me or not… As for the United Arab Emirates – I found it most distasteful that they have built entire cities in the desert – totally environmentally unsustainable. They import EVERYTHING, except (amazingly) water – as they have de-salination plants that convert sea water to usable water in their taps. Everything that is growing has its own irrigation tube. If for some reason these don’t work – the plants die within a day or so. Everybody survives by use of air conditioning. When there have been power cuts, people have very nearly died. Many resort to getting in their air conditioned cars to survive power cuts, especially in summer. If you can get over some very major differences in culture, you may be lucky enough to discover some dancing. However – there are a lot of aspects of everyday life that you will have to contend with during your visit. For instance you have to be prepared to not react when you see a woman beaten in the street by her husband. If you interfere – in the UAE you can be jailed and probably thrown out of the country. Egypt is a police state – many people have been jailed, tortured and never tried. There is an attitude (supported by law) that women should be covered completely in black in public in UAE or covered if in Egypt – black if married. You must also disguise your horror at people dumping rubbish in the street – not just dropping a piece of litter – but gathering up all the rubbish from their houses and throwing it into the street just a metre from their houses. Or farmers throwing rubbish into the canal or river across the road from their properties. People then fish in these waterways – and eat the fish that they catch, despite dead things floating in it. The same people that have polluted the waterways also rely on it for their household water and irrigation for their fields. There are many stray cats – and dogs that survive by scavenging on rubbish – oh well, at least they have their own form of recycling! We went on a lovely sunset camel ride into the desert – I must have had my rose-tinted glasses on. I did notice quite a smell and a lot of rubbish. Sadly there was a dead horse at the side of the path. My husband informed me later that there were in fact a pile of about 10 dead horses and several dead dogs in one area – I must have been mesmerized by the pyramids!
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MEDANZ News
December 2010 / January 2011
So back to the dancing…my most favourite dancer was Camillia on the Nile cruise boat of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. She was very flirty and cheeky, funny and totally gorgeous. She had an amazing amount of cleavage on show – and yet wore a body stocking (although very seethrough). This is where the irony, ambiguity and contrast theme comes into play. She was showing much more cleavage than I would consider tasteful in NZ. It is lucky that her breasts were (obviously) fake – or they would have escaped from the bra that barely covered them. In other shows, even dancers wearing galabeya seemed to have lots of cleavage on display when the rest of them was covered. At Camillia’s show, there was a Sheik-looking gentleman with his entourage of women all clad in black (except for the envelope-slot as my friend likes to call them) watching and obviously enjoying the show. To me, this demonstrates huge double-standards. I have been told that all of the cabaret dancers are from overseas as the local women (most of whom are Muslim) don’t dance in public. This would appear to be true from my experience. So although Egypt has become known as the “home” of bellydance, it is the foreigners who carry this on—well in public, anyway. And mostly they are dancing for tourists. In all the shops – from the poshest hotel ones, to the shops for locals, there are westernstyle clothes promoted everywhere – and yet if you look at the people actually shopping – they are all covered up in traditional garb. A lot of women wear western style clothes under their traditional outfits when in public and also in the privacy of their own homes. The fashion garments that were being displayed in the hotel shops (and we are talking up to 7 star hotels here!) were very skimpy evening dresses and bikinis. And yet – the dress code in these places is very strict .In the UAE, most of the guests are Emirates with the women in black abeyas and the men in white robes. My husband and his friend were turned away at the gate of the Emirates Palace because they were wearing long shorts. It just depends how much money you have: if you are a high-paying guest (and the only guests these places have are high paying ones!) you can pretty much do whatever you like. Just after our men had been turned away at the gate, my friend and I continued in to the Emirates Palace and saw young women in very short shorts with skimpy tops revealing a lot of cleavage and what appeared to be lovely all-over tans. Famously, Pamela Anderson frolicked in the fountains outside – and you can pretty much guarantee she wasn’t wearing much at the time! Anyway – I have been trying to write about the dancing: but you see, you can’t take just the dancing and leave the rest– the dancing is just a very small part of life in these countries and even then it is sort of hidden. In Cairo – the dancing pretty much only happens at night. And unless you are lucky enough to be staying at the hotel where it is happening, you have a whole adventure in front of you to get to the dancing, and then another adventure to get home again afterwards. Don’t start me on the taxi drivers that say “yes” they understand where you want to go: they say yes just to get you in their cab, but that is a whole other story… I realise that there seems to be a very negative tone to my writing—please don’t misunderstand: I enjoyed my trip immensely! I knew before I left that NZ was the best place in the world to live. I enjoyed these other countries, and I would like to visit again, but I’m also VERY pleased to be home :) Linley Duncan
December 2010 / January 2011
MEDANZ News
P age 13
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MEDANZ News
December 2010 / January 2011
December 2010 / January 2011
MEDANZ News
P age 15
WHAT’S ON? INTERNATIONAL NOTE YOUR DIARIES NOW!! WINTER WARM UP 2011 TEACHER: Dr Mo Geddawi 9—12 July—Dance Workshops 13—17 July—Teaching Bellydance 9am—9pm
For more details visit www.winterwarmup.com.au
WHAT’S ON? NEW ZEALAND
We’ve had the first instalment – Now we’re taking it to the next level Red Queen Pip E-Elysaah Hamilton June 25/26th 2011 Tribal & Dance Technique Workshops & Hafla WATCH THIS SPACE and/or contact: Shelley Dawson - 027 717 2699 or 07 8493328 a/h email: daw8son@xtra.co.nz
WHAT’S ON POLICY 1.
All MED related events are entitled to an entry in the WHAT’S ON CALENDAR
2.
Maximum entry is half a page.
3.
Brochures, registrations forms, etc may be included in the newsletter if sufficient copies are supplied in a timely manner. Limit of one full A4 sheet per person/event in any one newsletter. Membership numbers available on request.
4.
Information received after the cut off date may not be included.
5.
We attempt to have the newsletter out in the first week of the month but this is not always possible.
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MEDANZ News
December 2010 / January 2011