The workshops
We started the workshops from the fifth day, we have up to 9 hours' workshop in some of the days, it was very tiring. You know, we were not only working on body, but on the brain as well, to absorb, undertsand and remember what we have been taught. Well, to me, l am very used to this situation, as when l was training for my Chinese dance, it was longer hours and more difficult and tiring.
Among all the workshops, l like Youssry Sherif's Oriental dance the most, can you imagine an old man with big belly doing a nice piece of belly dancing? Difficult to imagine right? I am sure when you see him dancing, you cannot close your mouth, he is such great in all his moves, very feminine [ha ha], soft yet energetic, smooth and his expression was-WOW! I learnt a lot from him of how to express myself in the dance. One thing bad is, he is too popular and the class was too crowded, l could not see him at all at the end of the dance, was blocked by those big size and aggressive participants, what a waste.......
Besides, l took Ashraf Hosny's melaya, Virginia's baladi build up, Ahmed Pekry and professor Hassan's saidi, Dawlat's Ghawazee, Tito's veil and cane, Farida Fahmy's folklore and Mansour's tabla. Most of the teachers were quite good in teaching comparing to my first experience there, may be, because l dare not expect too much this time after my first experience of Egyptian style's teaching. Basically, they don't teach, they just show, so the participants must be smart enough to absorb and digest whatever have seen by ourselves, in another words, the workshops are for those with strong experience in belly dancing, or l would say it is a waste to participate. Among all the workshops, Virginia one is the most difficult to me, as l was having my first day menstruation that day, my body was tired enough to move and my brain was just empty, so l did not dance till the end but just watching.
We did not take photos with all teachers, no chance sometimes as too many people wanted to take photos with them.
Hmm....if you ask me what l have learnt in this festival, honestly, steps wise there is not much, l learnt more on the word 'attitude', like Yousssry and Virginia's dance, the dance only looks beautiful on them, other people cannot interpret the dance well as the dance is designed under their own attitude. To learn technique in dance is not difficult, but to create own attitude in dance is the most challenging, also the final and most important stage of studying a dance.
Most of all, what is the reason to dance? Are you dancing with your heart and soul? Or you just move your body?
