Workshop and Haflah Review
Yasmina of Cairo
July 9 2005
by Emma Pyke & Kathryn Dawes

The workshops hosted by Afra Al Kahira and Sara Shrapnell took place on a sunny Saturday in Tadley and were both very well attended. The workshops that she taught were Signature Moves of the Stars in the morning session and Combinations in the afternoon. We were lucky enough to be able to attend both and also to perform and watch in the haflah that evening. Unfortunately things did not get off to a great start as Yasmina was late as she got incredibly lost in the country lanes around Tadley – but Afra asked me to start the warm up at around 10.30 so I subjected everyone to some of my BellyRobics workouts! Yasmina arrived not long after and we got going. Luckily there had been a long lunch break and so we could run over without disrupting the afternoon workshop. But we needn’t have worried there was enough material to keep everyone happy and a fellow attendee commented that she thought she knew how to do basic moves until now – Yasmina taught us how to really stretch into vertical figure eight’s which did feel odd until you really got the hang of it. Luckily Kathryn takes excellent notes and so it meant we could really concentrate on the actual workshop without rushing off after every combination to write it down!

Vertical / Maya figure 8:
Flat foot, really stretch the muscles push into the move (clear distinction between straight and bent leg*).

*One leg is straight while the other is really bent – at all times.

To involve upper body with figure 8 = R knee bent, raise same side upper body (creates a stretch), L leg straight, upper body lower than R side. This can be applied to both 8’s. Be careful not to lose emphasis on the hip work – so upper body is very subtle.

We learnt moves from Samia Gamal, Tahia Karioka, Suhair Zaki and Dina and found out once again that the Stars can make everything look so easy but when you try and do it – you realise just how much is involved in even the shortest combination.

SAMIA GAMAL Move (walking forward or on spot) R leg – (body is facing left dia.), big deep circle round to back. L, R, L small circles – so body faces front. REPEAT You can also change sides – so L starts the move too. Very sinewy move – must be extremely fluid!

Arms: arms are Russian style under eyes, open out at same time as first big, deep circle back. With the 3 small circles bring arms down and behind hips to frame. Then sweep up to continue the move.

Taiha Karioka posture: Lifted rib cage, arms above head (push arms back as much as possible, shoulders remain low) back of hands touch, chest out slightly.

Combo 1: Vertical/Maya figure 8 followed by arabesque. Combo 2: 1,2 step – followed by arabesque lift.

Tiny Side Hits (quick accents) – on toes. Arms can be up high, back of hips (as far back as possible), or infront of hips. NB this isn’t a choo choo move! Also move can be done in ANY direction.

In the afternoon session we learnt how add in transitions between moves, add layers and different combinations – with cheeky ways of swapping the weight so that the movements can be repeated easily on the other side.

Shimmies:
Egyptian shimmies – leg driven (F&B motion), both legs or single.
Layering shimmy over hip circle (hip rotation) – use the single leg shimmy idea for when the weight changes take place. Layering shimmy over single hip (horizontal) – use the single leg shimmy idea. Weight on L leg as circle comes to centre, R leg will join in with shimmy, at back of circle L leg shimmy takes over.
Walking shimmy – leg (F&B motion) on balls of feet – quick and relaxed. Drive comes from the ball of foot, As you step forward this motion will kick start the shimmy.

Although this workshop did start on time it did overrun and energy levels were flagging for most by the end of the time. Yasmina however looked like she could have taught us all over again and she admitted that she normally rehearses in +40’C so a warm July day was just fine for her! On reflection there was so much information in these two workshops that it would be easy to take them and still learn so much more. Unlike some workshops where you can walk away wondering why you wasted your money, for these you just felt that there was a world still left to discover out there!

The evening haflah was also well attending and great fun. Sara Shrapnell hosts her bi-annual Day of Dances’ here and so the venue is well known and adaptable to most sizes. DJ Fez played the music and John Hancock was the MC – doing his stuff with his usual aplomb. There were a variety of invited performers many of whom had been at one or the other of the workshops during the day. Afra had organised the performance slots into 4 bitesize sessions, with food (by Betty Reed) and general dancing in between. Sara opened the evening for us with a Turkish Rom number – a happy and joyous dance, in her red choli and enormous flowing skirt followed by Beatrice dancing baladi to Ala Rimsh Ayounha in a bright pink dress. Lily closed this first session with Inta Omri – danced with beautiful isolations on her petite frame.

Mersin had the second session to themselves. Mersin at the Oasis is a selection of pieces from their repertoire which is a medley of numbers from Eddie “the Sheik” Kochak and George Abdo They represented dancing travellers from all over the Middle East coming together at an oasis and performing dances for each other.

The third session opened with Charlotte Desorgher dancing to a drum solo by Hossam Ramzy in her blue bedlah – I was backstage and unfortunately missed this one but there was enough clapping to tell me that the audience really enjoyed it! Dallal (Nadine) danced Shaabi to A Fatme Serhan number in her white and gold outfit, and I ended this section with a modern Egyptian number – Habibi Yaeni.

The fourth session started with much anticipation as both Afra and Yasmina were finally to perform. Afra opened with an amazing experimental number –she was painted from head to foot in gold and enacted the goddess Hathor coming to life, and experiencing loss and pain (with the added expertise of double Isis Wings thrown in).Then Yasmina performed 2 numbers from her latest CD for us back to back. As she wanted to go and do a costume change, Mersin were asked to perform to provide time – they danced to Chaiyya Chaiyya from Bombay Dreams. John rushed off to find Yasmina as there was a slight delay (it always takes longer than you think to change doesn’t it!) and Yasmina closed the evening performances for us with 2 more numbers – a Saidi number included.

On the whole the day was exhausting but worth everything. The workshops provided enough material for a substantial amount of study, the evening haflah provided a vast range of styles and music for everyone to enjoy some part of it.

Emma Pyke and Kathryn Dawes.