Crazy Busy Weekend!

A bit late in blogging but better late than never. On Friday Troupe Zanubiyah finished off their latest choreography and it's going to look spectacular. Can't wait to get the routine polished and it's always most fun when we see the routine done in costume for the first time. Two months until our first BellyUp Student Recital so everyone is hard at work learning new choreographies. Barb has been fantastic helping to coordinate many of the recital plans and she's always there Saturday mornings to get the coffee on and assist with the choreographies so she may help out as rehearsal coach. Troupe Lotus - a group of students who have volunteered to perform in the recital are learning a fun Cane routine. Cane is new to all of them and they're really getting the hang of it well. Aliyah volunteered to teach a beginner level routine to a Shakira song. We've got five girls enlisted to learn this routine which will be very funky and contemporary. Aliyah is doing a great job already in getting the girls up and running with the first part of the routine. It's great to see the studio so buzzing with activity on Saturdays and I'm so impressed with the number of students that have stepped up with interest and commitment to be part of our first recital. Kudos to all of you!! Not only is it a big commitment of time, but for most people it's a step outside the comfort zone. I guarantee you'll enjoy the experience of performing and you'll most definitely impress your family and friends who hopefully will be attending. After rehearsal it was off to gear up for an evening gig ... an Egyptian Wedding I was hired to do and I invited Samra from Troupe Tarab to join me for the experience. Samra had never performed at a wedding before let alone a real Egyptian one. I met Sammy and his lovely wife Maria (Mom and Dad of the Bride) at Tarboosh a few weeks ago. They came to see our show and meet me in person to discuss the details of their daughter's wedding. They asked if I would lead the Zeffah procession and I offered to do that with the help of my handy dandy Shamadan which would literally brighten the occasion. They were also very particular about costume colours so I assured them that Samra and I would compliment the bride's colour scheme. They were more than delighted to see us appear, me in my new Egyptian dress in royal blue, turquoise and gold adorned with lavish bead work and Samra looking totally radiant in Tarab's gold animal print costume and, her headpiece with peacock feathers (of course) Annette had made these costumes for Troupe Tarab. Samra walked in first before me, I followed with the lovely bride and groom right behind me. The crowd went wild. Cheering for the new couple and probably waiting to see if my Shamadan with 8 burning candles would fall off my head. Fortunately it's so tight it feels as though it's bolted on. We did several laps around the dance floor together and all 200+ guests were on their feet, smiling, clapping, and snapping pics. Walking slowing and balancing the Shamadan trying not to spill wax on my costume or my back....naturally I'm still pulling wax out of my hair today. lol The night was a clear success. We had everyone dancing from the moment we entered the reception to the time we left. What a warm, wonderful appreciative audience that participated in all 30 minutes of the show. As we were leaving, we had lots of requests for BellyUp information and many compliments on how much fun we made the first part of their big night. I'm sure that bash went until the wee hours. And finally, today I entertained a group of 13 lovely bellydancers at the studio. Some students of BellyUp and others were dancers and students from Mississauga and Toronto who were visiting us for the very first time. All came to attend my Star Power Workshop and all were eager relatively new performers looking to learn all they could about developing their stage presence and their performance goals. I'm looking forward to seeing them all dance some time in the near future. After 4 hours in the workshop, my day was far from over. Troupe Tarab along with our two new troupe members were arriving at 4pm. and I was really excited about that. Zaynah also was due to arrive with our newest 7.5 pound addition "Ezra" her new, beautiful baby boy! It was so nice to have Zaynah back with us and to grow our troupe with two exceptional additions, Pearl and Veronica. It felt as though they'd been with us for much longer. The fit is definitely good and we're all chomping at the bit to get out there and perform together. The music was cranked and Ezra slept soundly pretty much throughout the rehearsal while Mommy wanted to get up and join the chorus line. Sarah was our DJ which is such a huge help to me during rehearsal. The girls worked hard for the next 2.5 hours as we revised a previous routine and taught it to the newer girls. And now the new routine looks WOW particularly with the size of of the group. And with Zaynah and Sarah hopefully rejoining us real soon we'll be a troupe of 10. Our weekly rehearsals are one of my most rewarding times each week. To see the girls get into the choreography, work so hard and enjoy themselves is what it's all about. All for now. I'll try to update more regularly so as to avoid the massive blog entry. Either that or I'll have to stop having so many fun things happen at Bellyup! NOT.