The Annual UK Abdomen Dance Congress. Randa Kamel and Heather Burby.

Last Updated on February 4, 2024

Historic previous of the UK Dance Congress

The Worldwide Bellydance Congress befell twice inside the UK.

The first model was held in Butlin in Bognor Regis in 2007 and the second in 2009, in Frimley, Surrey, inside the Lakeside Sophisticated.

The Congress was a weekend crammed with abdomen dance workshops, displays, competitions, and stalls selling abdomen dance objects.

It used to start out out on a Friday afternoon and it lasted until Sunday night time time.

The beauty of this event was that you simply simply paid a cost which included all the dance workshops you probably can deal with to do over the weekend, plus three displays (one on every night time time of the weekend) and leisure after the current (i.e. dwell stay efficiency or abdomen dance disco with DJ).

This made it such good value for money and an essential event.

The Congress was organised by Jo Wise and her sister Sophie, Charlotte Desorger, and Kay Taylor.

They did an essential job every cases; nonetheless, they decided to discontinue the group of these festivals as they’ve been very labor-intensive for them.

It was a shame for the abdomen dance neighborhood inside the UK, nonetheless, to be sincere, one cannot proceed with one factor if it is not sustainable.

Beneath I wrote a diary of my experiences and the workshops I attended in each model of the congress.

The primary Abdomen Dance Congress

In the middle of the primary Abdomen Dance Congress, I had the possibility to attend workshops with among the many most well-known abdomen dancers from across the globe.

The first workshop I attended on Saturday morning was two hours with Randa Kamel, on Randa’s style and strategy.

The workshop with Randa Kamel was jam-packed, as Randa is an internationally well-known and appreciated abdomen dancer from Egypt.

Fortunately, Randa managed very properly with the scarcity of home, by splitting the dancers into groups and dancing in a number of elements of the room, so all folks may even see and observe her.

The workshop with Randa Kamel was most likely essentially the most energetic workshop I attended by way of the Worldwide Abdomen Dance Congress.

It was pleasant, and bodily demanding and it was good to have an notion into the style of this energetic abdomen dancer.

Randa Kamel is a ravishing teacher, very approachable and the workshop was even nicer on account of a drummer was collaborating in dwell music for us.

Randa Kamel carried out on Sunday night time time on the Abdomen Dance Congress.

Her effectivity was good; I cherished her style, and so did the rest of the viewers, who cheered at her enthusiastically. Since then I attended additional workshops with Randa, as quickly as inside the second UK Congress and as quickly as in Leicester at Bellydance Mania.

Bellydance Manis was an event run by abdomen dancer Maria D’Silva, which run for a number of years after which was moreover sadly discontinued.

I moreover seen Randa dance dwell as soon as extra on the Nile Maxim Cruise boat in Cairo, the place she typically performs. Every time I seen Randa and I noticed from her I found her an growing variety of very good.

Rapidly after the abdomen dance workshop with Randa Kamel, I attended a three-hour workshop with Tunisian/French abdomen dancer Leila Haddad.

The workshop with Leila Haddad was very fascinating and tough, as her instructing style was totally new to me.

There’s so much to be realized from this terribly expert artist, who has fought moderately so much for the rehabilitation of Raqs el Sharqi, an art work sort that has been often misunderstood and underestimated.

Persona-wise, Leila struck me for her sturdy character and witty humorousness.

After Leila Haddad’s workshop, a quick break, and a much-needed chocolate muffin, I headed in route of 1 different workshop.

This time the workshop was a one-hour strategy with German abdomen dancer Beata Cifuentes, who relies in Berlin.

On Sunday morning I moreover attended one different one-hour workshop with Beata. Altogether I favored Beata’s instructing strategy, which can be very clear.

Moreover, I favored her humorousness and the humorous names she offers to completely totally different strikes, which make the actions easier to remember: I will at all times keep in mind  Micky Mouse numbers 1, 2, and three.

Heather Burby was an English abdomen dancer based in Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire (I’ve heard, since I wrote this textual content, that sadly she handed away in 2012, an essential loss for the abdomen dance neighborhood).

Sooner than the 2007 Congress, I had not at all heard about her, nonetheless as I was knowledgeable that she was an essential teacher I decided to attend one amongst her abdomen dance workshops.

The workshop was about dancers’ footwork and patterning and it lasted two hours. I utterly cherished Heather’s workshop.

Not solely on account of I found the content material materials very useful (it is on a regular basis good, even for a abdomen dancer, to have some information of basic steps widespread to many sorts of dance).

I truly favored Heather Burby’s instructing style and readability and I was very impressed by her energy and good humorousness.

I consider it was attending her workshop so a number of years prior to now, that made me actually really feel like desirous to apply in numerous sorts of dance as properly, with a objective to enhance my differ of steps and actions and apply them to abdomen dance.

On Sunday morning I started the day with a extraordinarily energetic Caribbean/African abdomen dance workshop, run by Shafeek Ibrahim.

The workshop was basic by means of strategy and choreography, however it certainly was good pleasant. I truly favored the music and Shafeek’s perspective was of somebody who was having good pleasant instructing, which made us all actually really feel constructive.

The workshop I had been making an attempt forward to most likely essentially the most, was the workshop with legendary Egyptian teacher and abdomen dancer Raqia Hassan.

Raqia Hassan has taught many abdomen dancers in her life, along with among the many biggest abdomen dance stars, equal to Randa Kamel, Dandash, Dina, and Soraya. Raqia Hassan moreover organizes the Ahlan wa Sahlan Pageant in Cairo, Egypt, which is known worldwide.

I had heard so much about Raqia Hassan and I wanted to see it alone.

Often, with a objective to check from Raqia Hassan, you would wish to journey to Egypt, so the Worldwide Abdomen Dance Congress was a singular different to check from this good teacher whereas staying inside the UK.

Raqia Hassan’s instructing style was exactly as I anticipated. You probably can inform that Raqia owns abdomen dance; she is conscious of all of the issues, every step and switch, from the inside and has a whole understanding of Egyptian dance.

Raqia Hassan manages to talk all this very properly and to make clear all the strikes and the spirit of abdomen dance with extreme readability.

On Sunday afternoon, after two days of dancing, I was too drained and I wished to take a seat down down just a bit.

So I opted for Chas Whittaker’s workshop on Heart Jap rhythms. I’ve to say that I cherished Chas’ workshop very so much.

Chas Whittaker’s workshop gave me a chance to boost my understanding of Arabic Rhythms, by attempting to play drums myself.

I consider it’s vitally very important for a dancer to know the music she dances to, and the deeper the understanding the upper.

I truly cherished collaborating in some rhythms together with the other people attending the class; collaborating in as in an orchestra gave me a method of satisfaction that I did not anticipate.

Performances and Night time time Leisure

The congress included three nights of displays that started at 8 pm and accomplished at 11 pm.

These positioned on present some giant expertise inside the abdomen dance scene, which reached the very best with Randa Kamel’s effectivity on Sunday night time time.

Randa was good, her shimmies have been like earthquakes, and her energetic dance style impressed all folks (that was the first time I ever seen Randa perform).

I was impressed moreover with the male abdomen dancers, Jim Boz and Khaled Mahmoud significantly.

People typically assume that abdomen dancers are solely girls and the majority are.

Nonetheless, there is a minority of male abdomen dancers and some of them are good.

On Saturday night time time the abdomen dance performances have been adopted by dwell Arabic music carried out by a normal band; whereas on Sunday night time time we listened to Natacha Atlas and her band in stay efficiency.

After the performances, it was good having the possibility to boogie to abdomen dance music, one factor which very rarely happens in another case.

The Worldwide Abdomen Dance Congress had its private theatre and nightclub, which have been precluded to all the people inside the resort who weren’t attending the abdomen dance congress.

The Venue

Holding the event in Butlins was a superb idea on the organizers’ half.

I chosen the half-board silver selection, which was wonderful value at £134.00 per particular person, which included three nights’ lodging and 6 meals (three breakfasts and three night time meals).

The meals as properly was pretty good, as long as you did not anticipate five-star Michelin top quality.

There was a great deal of choice, with healthful decisions obtainable and wonderful desserts (of which hungry abdomen dancers, along with myself, devoured two components a night after a full day of dancing).

In Butlins, not all of the issues was good, actually. Some people complained, with motive, in regards to the noise at night time time.

Out of season, the resort hosts quite a few stag and hen occasions, with people getting drunk and being noisy at night time time. Moreover, the dance studios weren’t good.

Some have been too small, or had carpet on the bottom, which is not good for dancing, or have been a bit grubby.

Earlier Congress

In 2009 I moreover cherished the event very so much. In terms of venue, I most popular Butlins in 2007 comparatively than Lakeside, as the price for money was greater and the meals was included.

Nonetheless, totally different people most popular Lakeside as a result of it was quieter.

In terms of workshops, I attended additional workshops with Randa, which could not be missed.

I moreover went to 2 workshops with Khaled Mahmoud, whose workshops I had not been able to attend in 2007.

They’ve been about veil work and about Shaabi they often have been every wonderful.

The star of this model though, was Fifi Abdo, an icon of Egyptian abdomen dancing, who could also be very cherished in her private nation and who was in quite a few movement footage inside the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties.

Moreover, I attended a workshop with American dancer Sadie, who’s technically superb.

I’ve one amongst her DVDs, which are good for drills and muscle conditioning.

Though I needn’t imitate her style, I consider you possibly can not at all go unsuitable with drilling actions and making your thoughts get used to layering completely totally different actions, as this may occasionally make it easier to hold out any style of dance.

Moreover, I attended a workshop with Italian dancer Paola Ziliotto Boudress from Turin, in Italy.

She has been dancing for lots of some years and he or she could also be very educated about oriental dance.

I’ve solely talked about to date primarily oriental style performers, as I was on this style and, subsequently, theirs are the workshops I can discuss.

Nonetheless, in every congresses, many a number of varieties of abdomen dance have been represented, along with tribal and fusion.

Talking about which, in 2009 I notably favored the performances by Les Soeurs Tribales, from Milan, Italy, and Anasma from the USA.

Heather Burby Dancing Reside