Organized by Mosaic Arabic Dance Network
featuring Leila Haddad, with local dancers
Vashti & Heather Burby.
Waterman's Theatre, London 4th April, 1999

Having attended Leila's workshop at the Dance Attic the previous day I was really looking forward to seeing Leila in performance. I was not disappointed!

However, the afternoon started inauspiciously as the show commenced almost one hour late. This affected many of my students who had traveled up to London by public transport and as a result had to leave before the end to make sure of getting their train home - they were not impressed! To make matters worse, there was no announcement made to inform us of the reason for the delay; neither were we offered a proper apology when the Matinee finally got under way.  Things went from bad to worse when a very casually dressed Maggie Caffrey climbed onto the stage from the audience, to make what can only be described as an awful introduction for the show. She seemed totally unprepared - the whole thing being filled with 'uhms' & 'ers' as she seemed to struggle to find the right words. As Maggie is normally an excellent and well-prepared public speaker the only explanation I can think of is that she was unaware she would be announcing the show until she arrived at the theatre. I was unable to find Maggie afterwards to ask her about it and other MADN officials present were rather evasive when asked.

So on to the Matinee itself! Leila's opening number was in Oriental style, a homage to the Stars of the Golden Age.  She was wearing a beautiful Rhine-stone encrusted purple and orange bedlah in a 1940's design which perfectly suited the mood and the music. Leila was followed by Vashti dancing an Arabic/Persian Fantasy number, her tribute to Abdul Halim Hafiz. This perfectly showcased her lovely flowing style and her syncopated hands, arms head & eyes left us breathless.

Leila returned to present a performance version of the Moroccan Guedra.This is a ritual more than a dance, but Leila managed to give us a feeling of intimacy as she demonstrated the lovely quick, flicking actions of the hands and fingers perfectly. Heather followed with a lively Oriental number which really demonstrated her ability to capture the audience.  It would have been better presented though, if she had worn a professional costume as the one she chose looked suspiciously like it was home-made from lingerie. To finish the first half the stage went dark and then Leila appeared under a small spotlight in a fabulous blue assuit to perform Baladi Awadi to Tahtil Shibbak - this, for me, was the highlight of the show. Brilliant!

After the interval Leila's first number was a compilation of Bedouin dances from Southern Tunisia. The costuming was spot on and you could almost feel the heat of the desert as Leila depicted everything from applying her make-up, to collecting water from a well, and cooking.  There was a real feeling of exuberance about her dancing - Leila was very clearly really enjoying herself here. Vashti then returned in a lovely blue & silver bedlah to give us her interpretation of 'Joumana'. Vashti is always such a pleasure to watch, her dancing has a lovely intimate feel to it as though she is dancing for a group of her best friends, rather than a paying audience. 

Leila then performed a marvelously flirtatious Melaya Lef number which she followed up with an equally cheeky version of El Bamboutiya which included miming of pulling on ropes and a hornpipe!  Heather followed this with a contemporary Egyptian number, which for me, was nothing like as good as her earlier number. It certainly would have benefited from being at least 3 mins shorter as Heather appeared to run out of steam just over half way through.

After this everything went dark, except for a corridor of light across the stage. Leila appeared, and danced, in perfect silence to a song only she could hear. We sat spellbound as she moved across the stage as though in a dream, the only sounds you could hear in the auditorium was the faint tinkling of Leila's bracelets. It was breathtaking!

To close the show Leila gave us a performance of modern Raqs Sharqi which, like the opening number, demonstrated her complete mastery of the use of space, line and music on the stage. She is a truly wonderful dancer. If you get the chance to see her perform - make sure you don't miss it!

Afra al Kahira