JoY’s 5th birthday October 2009
by Trish Champion
Just for a change I ended up going by myself this time. No satnav, but lesson learned for next time as Tomtom does know what he’s talking about: Googlemaps sent me round the (non-existent) bypass and I got lost. Twice. So do as Tom says and go through the middle of Bradford both ways. There are roadsigns there!
I’d been sensible (stop laughing at the back) and my first workshop didn’t start till 11:30. Isis Wings with Ava Fleming. A lovely dancer, a lovely teacher, a lovely woman, so kind and sharing. I’d not done much with my wings before, but now I know where to start! (In a big room with no furniture, ha!) I was amazed at the variety of wings in the room: silver, gold, bright blue, green, iridescent green, purple, a lovely tie-dyed pink, sheer black, grey camouflage, all sorts of colours. A fabulous sight once we all got spinning! Then downstairs for a 400 Roses Choreo. I’ve done some workshops with Chris before so knew what to expect; fast and fun. A very lively piece of afro/celt music and some new uktribal moves as well as some I’d learned before.
Then it was time for food and shopping. And meeting up with old friends and sitting chatting. All the normal things we’ve come to expect from a happy weekend at JoY. Apparently some (nameless) bellydance festivals don’t have their souk and café in a big room so people can chat and rest between classes. Some festivals don’t even have a proper café, or gaps between the workshops to allow festival goers to change rooms. Stephen was telling me last time that they pay the teachers more, and charge the students less than most other UK festivals. So there you have all the true Yorkshire ethics in one room, value for money and an excellent cuppa. I know I keep saying this, but it continues to be true; everyone is so nice! You can talk to anyone and because we all share the same passion there’s always something to talk about. This weekend, I’ve talked to new dancers, experienced dancers, dancers from Scotland, headline teachers and performers, drummers, all sorts. (Especially the drummers!) We’ve talked about the perils of outdoor gigs, and shared teaching tips and music ideas with each other as well as the ongoing comment about what a lovely atmosphere there is at JoY. Complete strangers (and old friends too!) have admired my tattoo and told me I had to buy that dress from Mandy as it looked great on. So of course I did. I hadn’t intended to, but there wasn’t a practice skirt I liked, and I had to buy something! The food at the café was wonderful as usual. Good tea (very important that) and a truly amazing selection of homemade cakes. Yum. There didn’t seem to be so many people there this time, Chris said bookings were a bit down and they assumed it was the credit crunch. I did notice that there seemed to be mostly experienced bellydance nuts in the workshops I took. Maybe it was our newer dance sisters who struggled to justify spending money on what is for most of us a hobby (gasp at the heresy here). Anyway, I’d encourage anyone, whatever level, to go. Even for one workshop. It may seem like a long way, but the trip is worth it for the atmosphere. One thing I always admire is the variety of workshops that Mandy and Chris organise, there’s something for everyone there!
Speaking of which: Upstairs for my final Saturday class; feline fusion with Christine Emery. A good choice I thought. Nothing taxing, just think like a kitty and have some fun. Knowing Christine I was half expecting a modern or western musical choice, but we had a classic piece to be cats to: El Leilet Hob (Night of Love), which fitted perfectly.
There was time to get changed, find some (more) food and chill out a little before the highlight of the weekend; the show. It’s billed as a hafla, but normally it is really “just” a show put on by the teachers. This time was a bit different. Because it was JoY’s 5th birthday and 10th anniversary there was a band to play for us during the breaks. The show is always amazing, we had Candi looking lovely, 400Roses (how do they all fit on the stage!), Kay Taylor and her negilgee, some nice Lebanese from Emma Pyke, Tracey Gibbs, Ozgen (you pronounce it “uursjen” apparently) dancing Egyptian style especially for us, the Tarab company and Desiree, some very attractive tribal from both Deirde and her girls and Moirai tribal who will be teaching next time. So many lovely dancers including the lovely Khaled, who continues to be the King of JoY (saving Stephens presence of course!) and shares his spotlight with someone every time; this time with was the very lively Nawarra, who didn’t stop moving even to climb the stairs onto the stage. The tail shaking was fabulous! We all thought that was amazing and couldn’t believe we’d see anyone who could move faster till we saw Camellia. Our headliner, all the way from Cairo (via hours and hours in immigration on the way here) stunned us all with her gorgeous costumes and ultra-lively dancing. She did 2 sets for us, and the in second one just got faster and faster. She has a very modern, very wild style, just as advertised, and it’s not to everyone’s taste, but you cannot deny her talent or stamina. She clearly loves Khaleegi, has an amazing amount of strength in her neck, and no problems with her inner ear at all. No wobbling when she straightened up! Once all the bows were taken, and the cake cut (told you there’d be cake!) the band struck up again. They continued the Khaleegi theme and our headliners carried on dancing! A hafla indeed with Khaled and Camellia dancing with us till everyone got tired. Nawarra’s little daughter was there too clapping and dancing very well for someone who only comes up to my knee! It was great to have a bit of boogie time to round off another lovely day.
I’d booked 2 workshops for Sunday: a choreo with Tine Valois, which was loads and loads of fun, and a technique class with Tracey, which has given me a lot to take away and work with. There was a goodish gap between them giving me a chance for more chat and food and shopping for DVD’s and CD’s. No trousers this time, none I liked in my size. I’ll just have to order them off t’internet. And then it was time to go home. Followed the road signs this time, not the map, and the only delay was the roadworks at Bawtry.
Another lovely weekend, many grateful thanks to Chris and Mandy for all their hard work organising the event and booking the teachers, and to their loyal band of helpers who work so hard to ensure we all have an excellent time. A very well planned and executed weekend, looking forward to many more!
Trish Champion
by Trish Champion
Just for a change I ended up going by myself this time. No satnav, but lesson learned for next time as Tomtom does know what he’s talking about: Googlemaps sent me round the (non-existent) bypass and I got lost. Twice. So do as Tom says and go through the middle of Bradford both ways. There are roadsigns there!
I’d been sensible (stop laughing at the back) and my first workshop didn’t start till 11:30. Isis Wings with Ava Fleming. A lovely dancer, a lovely teacher, a lovely woman, so kind and sharing. I’d not done much with my wings before, but now I know where to start! (In a big room with no furniture, ha!) I was amazed at the variety of wings in the room: silver, gold, bright blue, green, iridescent green, purple, a lovely tie-dyed pink, sheer black, grey camouflage, all sorts of colours. A fabulous sight once we all got spinning! Then downstairs for a 400 Roses Choreo. I’ve done some workshops with Chris before so knew what to expect; fast and fun. A very lively piece of afro/celt music and some new uktribal moves as well as some I’d learned before.
Then it was time for food and shopping. And meeting up with old friends and sitting chatting. All the normal things we’ve come to expect from a happy weekend at JoY. Apparently some (nameless) bellydance festivals don’t have their souk and café in a big room so people can chat and rest between classes. Some festivals don’t even have a proper café, or gaps between the workshops to allow festival goers to change rooms. Stephen was telling me last time that they pay the teachers more, and charge the students less than most other UK festivals. So there you have all the true Yorkshire ethics in one room, value for money and an excellent cuppa. I know I keep saying this, but it continues to be true; everyone is so nice! You can talk to anyone and because we all share the same passion there’s always something to talk about. This weekend, I’ve talked to new dancers, experienced dancers, dancers from Scotland, headline teachers and performers, drummers, all sorts. (Especially the drummers!) We’ve talked about the perils of outdoor gigs, and shared teaching tips and music ideas with each other as well as the ongoing comment about what a lovely atmosphere there is at JoY. Complete strangers (and old friends too!) have admired my tattoo and told me I had to buy that dress from Mandy as it looked great on. So of course I did. I hadn’t intended to, but there wasn’t a practice skirt I liked, and I had to buy something! The food at the café was wonderful as usual. Good tea (very important that) and a truly amazing selection of homemade cakes. Yum. There didn’t seem to be so many people there this time, Chris said bookings were a bit down and they assumed it was the credit crunch. I did notice that there seemed to be mostly experienced bellydance nuts in the workshops I took. Maybe it was our newer dance sisters who struggled to justify spending money on what is for most of us a hobby (gasp at the heresy here). Anyway, I’d encourage anyone, whatever level, to go. Even for one workshop. It may seem like a long way, but the trip is worth it for the atmosphere. One thing I always admire is the variety of workshops that Mandy and Chris organise, there’s something for everyone there!
Speaking of which: Upstairs for my final Saturday class; feline fusion with Christine Emery. A good choice I thought. Nothing taxing, just think like a kitty and have some fun. Knowing Christine I was half expecting a modern or western musical choice, but we had a classic piece to be cats to: El Leilet Hob (Night of Love), which fitted perfectly.
There was time to get changed, find some (more) food and chill out a little before the highlight of the weekend; the show. It’s billed as a hafla, but normally it is really “just” a show put on by the teachers. This time was a bit different. Because it was JoY’s 5th birthday and 10th anniversary there was a band to play for us during the breaks. The show is always amazing, we had Candi looking lovely, 400Roses (how do they all fit on the stage!), Kay Taylor and her negilgee, some nice Lebanese from Emma Pyke, Tracey Gibbs, Ozgen (you pronounce it “uursjen” apparently) dancing Egyptian style especially for us, the Tarab company and Desiree, some very attractive tribal from both Deirde and her girls and Moirai tribal who will be teaching next time. So many lovely dancers including the lovely Khaled, who continues to be the King of JoY (saving Stephens presence of course!) and shares his spotlight with someone every time; this time with was the very lively Nawarra, who didn’t stop moving even to climb the stairs onto the stage. The tail shaking was fabulous! We all thought that was amazing and couldn’t believe we’d see anyone who could move faster till we saw Camellia. Our headliner, all the way from Cairo (via hours and hours in immigration on the way here) stunned us all with her gorgeous costumes and ultra-lively dancing. She did 2 sets for us, and the in second one just got faster and faster. She has a very modern, very wild style, just as advertised, and it’s not to everyone’s taste, but you cannot deny her talent or stamina. She clearly loves Khaleegi, has an amazing amount of strength in her neck, and no problems with her inner ear at all. No wobbling when she straightened up! Once all the bows were taken, and the cake cut (told you there’d be cake!) the band struck up again. They continued the Khaleegi theme and our headliners carried on dancing! A hafla indeed with Khaled and Camellia dancing with us till everyone got tired. Nawarra’s little daughter was there too clapping and dancing very well for someone who only comes up to my knee! It was great to have a bit of boogie time to round off another lovely day.
I’d booked 2 workshops for Sunday: a choreo with Tine Valois, which was loads and loads of fun, and a technique class with Tracey, which has given me a lot to take away and work with. There was a goodish gap between them giving me a chance for more chat and food and shopping for DVD’s and CD’s. No trousers this time, none I liked in my size. I’ll just have to order them off t’internet. And then it was time to go home. Followed the road signs this time, not the map, and the only delay was the roadworks at Bawtry.
Another lovely weekend, many grateful thanks to Chris and Mandy for all their hard work organising the event and booking the teachers, and to their loyal band of helpers who work so hard to ensure we all have an excellent time. A very well planned and executed weekend, looking forward to many more!
Trish Champion
