Shiméa's Hollywood Hafla
A review by Siobhan Waring


There have been really great haflas in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire this year, and Shimea’s Halloween hafla on the 4^th July was no exception.  It was good to see familiar and new faces turn out on what was a very hot night.  Some guests had really got into the spirit of it and looked fabulous in Hollywood glam frocks & black tie! 

A big well done to the student groups who have evidently been practising and perfecting and put on some really good numbers for everyone;  Fay’s beginner group had only been dancing for 4 or 5 weeks and were marvellous with their dance to Haboussou - well done ladies.  I’m still in awe of groups being able to dance with sticks together without maiming each other (being lethal with a stick, personally), so well done the Shimea dancers for their Talakik number - it was lovely to watch.  Pretty Woman was new and loads of fun too (they were all pretty women too, coincidentally) and I hope we’ll be treated to that one again in the near future.  Some special dances from the Dans Satam ladies too including a lovely Hawaiian Meli Kaliki Maka, and the hilarious Dakota/Deadwood number (which we were introduced to at their wonderful hafla a couple of weeks earlier) that everyone just loved, not least the dancers themselves!  We were all entertained by another upbeat and fantastic piece, this time a Bollywood number from the amazing Shimmychics - their choreos are so well detailed and I always feel as though I never want to take my eyes of them for a second in case I miss something.

We were treated to some wonderful soloists - Anju with her lovely sensual gothic dance and awesome black isis wings (so cool);  Wynne (in an amazing fringed frock and 20’s bob) and Jack for their fantastic piece to He Had it Coming (Chicago), which was so infectious and funny, everybody sang along and cheered.  (I had that wonderful song in my head for the rest of the weekend!); Trish for her beautiful double veil solo to It’s You I have Loved (Shrek) (complete with Fiona-style plait and lovely green outfit) who looked confident and serene and was responsible for a few soggy eyes among the audience!  Unfortunately I missed the Blue Angel - Fay’s rendition of Marlene Dietrich, but I caught sight of her wonderfully glammed up as she went on, and heard her singing from the changing room and she sounded fab!  I missed the Shimea Dancers doing Ghostbusters too, but I understand there may be video footage somewhere, so I’ll be able to have another chance to see them before long I hope.

Donna’s Arab-esque souk, and blingy jewellery (I’ve forgotten the name of the company who brought that), kept everyone busy in the interludes when they weren’t bopping to music from Hollywood films!  I also have to mention the food. Barbara (caterer extraordinaire) didn’t let a recent poorly spell stop her from creating a wonderful buffet - the food was scrummy and there was heaps of it.  Thank you!  Oh yes, and a big thanks to Robert who gave me a quick Rumba lesson too. I just happened to remark that I found it strange that I could never really dance to Abba’s Dancing Queen (which was playing at the time) and he explained that it was just a basic 1-2-3 rumba - seeing the puzzled look on my face, he offered to show me what he meant.  What a star.

Well done to Fay and her dancers - a great night out was had by all!