Bellydance in the Black Country: a Hafla in the heart of Quarry Bank

” A fun -filled night, with lots of varied and interesting dancing, with some truly talented artists..”

.1.

15th May was ‘the’ Sunday for the Black Country Hafla, organised by Roze Hadley.

Held at Quarry Bank Community Centre ( not far from Cradley Heath, near Dudley/Stourbridge, in the West Midlands), it was an extremely  a fun-filled night with lots of varied and interesting dancing, with some truly talented artists, good humour and laughter,  and an  appreciation of the dances, themselves.

Many of the styles included Traditional Egyptian style Cabaret, Tribal Fusion, Dark Tribal Fusion, ATS, Belly/Bollywood Fusion , amongst other styles.

The hall size, furnished with a stage, was more than adequate to accommodate all of this. It was a friendly, lively and supportive atmosphere. There was food , tea and drinks to share, supervised by Di and her troupe, friends and supporters.

In the course of writing up this small review, there may be dancers I have missed out. I apologise for this, in part, due to my having to get dressed for some of the performances. I danced with Khalgani, for example, so I couldn’t have possibly danced and watched us/myself at the same time: that magic trick hasn’t been perfected as yet! Many dancers there, were dancing for the first time, too.

2.

The hafla was divided into two parts.

The first part:

Bex’s Dark Fusion student troupe had an excellent debut at Quarry Bank, with some powerfully brooding, dark, sullen and deep expression and movement. The troupe did their dark mistress proud, with sound technique, flexibility, strength and menace.

Di’s troupe had a mix of more older dancers, who were great to watch: kudos to those women for getting up, dressing up (many of whom had made some very beautiful costumes of their own ) as well as dancing and gaining immense pleasure and joy from it. Their enjoyment in participating in both  Bollywood and Greek style pieces was evident.  Hopefully, many of us will be dancing, as we become older.

Kudos to Di, for encouraging the dancers and putting together choreographies. It shows immense commitment.

I enjoyed watching Sambelina Kelly’s Bollywood/Bellydance fusion. I was impressed by the variety of dance vocabulary, the strong and confident projections, expressing the song, with great femininity , grace and exuberance. The two styles married well together.

Bex’s Tribal Fusion group danced exquisitely to Mermaid’s Tears. The dance had strong self controlled and contained moves, sinewy curves,  “gooey” undulations . There was a dignified, solemn facade and  contained, yet soulful, sad emotion, with  everyone moving in unison and  lifted presence (  each with their own personality) .

Jan gave us a sassy, and ultra bold/smooth tribal fusion with burlesque nuances. It was strong and cool, with her hat taking on a mysterious and intriguing aspect of the dance’s persona. Very expansive in projection, it was cool and nonchalant, not giving too much away, so she remained in control.  The moves were sharp, and decisive and  very feminine. I hope we get to see you do more solos, Jan!

Gemma’s troupe presented a Balkan inspired choreography, infectious and catchy,  with beautiful lines and swirls, vocal calls, hints of Turkish Roman gestures,  sensuous inside mayas , feminine boldness and effrontery.

Dawn’s beautiful Cabaret was literally “golden” to watch, with matching smile, cheekiness and costume to match. Dawn’s beautiful  performance was not only sensuous and sleek, but full of power and strength, articulating small, intricate and unexpected movements. Dawn is extremely versatile as a dancer, and this, as a foundation,  in turn powers her other dance forms and the experimental styles for which she is known. It is also a reminder that Cabaret style is meant to be done well, and with great panache and skill as Dawn clearly shows.

 

Rozie delighted everyone with her tribal fusion inspired “Tribal burglar, with eye mask, stripey t-shirt and swag bag and big hair intact. Yes, she was aptly dancing to “Breaking the Law”, and with her excellent comic timing and infectious sense of humour, she combined both cleverly thought tribal movement to accentuate breaking the law, even letting us into a secret, as she “nicked” a few choice objects..!

I loved the fact that Rozie danced quite close to the audience, so in effect, she was letting us into her little world of crime.

A great juxtaposition of style, humour and song. It was well done, Rozie- style. And  not to forget, Rozie was a competent and relaxing hostess, with a very careful eye on the evening’s progress…

3.

The second half:

The second half revealed more of the teachers , who work the Black Country Bellydance circuit.

Di danced to one of my favourite Classical Egyptian 1940’s pieces: Zeina . Di covered both stage and floor. Her veil was used to good, crisp effect( playing with it, spinning with it and  allowing it to fall,  Leaving the veil  behind, she used a range of hip movements, space and angles, topped with a confident smile, exploring the Classical side of Egyptian dance.

Alexis is always a joy to watch- and I never tire of watching her “Agnus Dei” (Lamb of God), and that combined with the delicious music, produced full extensions, poses, carefully placed locks and pops ( not too much and not too little), controlled/precise shimmies.Again, these moves matched the music, perfectly.   Alexis is an extremely feminine, confident dancer, who shows a real love of performing : evidenced by generous smiles, eye contact and lifted torso and also” being there, in the moment “. All this  engages the audience , totally.

Bex as always, was fascinating to watch, with that hint of edginess- that unexpectedness or unpredictibility of what she was going to do next. The glances and side twists of the head, the oblique smile,the stalking walk,  fused with the great , strong technique all add to a strong stage presence and deep dramatic expression. Her little slinky hand wave, at the end of the performance suggested perhaps, she was just playing with the audience, and not meaning to be “dark” at all!

Gem’s piece was a beautiful fusion of tribal and contemporary. The expression was very soulful, articulately  slow and sensuous, often haunting, with very clean, clear technique, showing strength and skill.

No one could take their eyes off Dawn’s continous shimmy isolations/layers, as she did her final solo. Dawn’s  fusion solo had echoes of an ancient dark goddess, somewhere in Sumer or Babylon, with the dark costuming and ornate headress- a very unique and different look. It all possessed a very powerful feminine archetypal character: very strong and free-spirited, but also dark and mischevious, as the dance progressed.

There were isolations, tremendous strength, flexible angles, impish eye contact and smiles, using a range of space and locked/juicy movement to keep the audience absorbed and on their toes. Sliding back into a sudden Turkish fold, you were suddenly aware, she had just quickly side wined her way to the stage- a perfect place to finish.

4.

All in all, a beautiful time to be out to sample of night of dance, music, humour and unique personalities. Thanks to all involved, all who organised , all who danced and all who came, watched and supported.

Rozie promises to do another one  soon, very soon….. Visit http://www.bamba.org.uk/classes_events.htm for Belly dancing classes across the Birmingham and Midlands area including details of bellydance events near you….

About Maureen_Pemberton@BAMBA

I am a Middle Eastern/bellydancer and a Flamenco dancer, and have been studying both since 1998. I also love to write about these dances, their cultures, contexts, performances, technique and presentation, themes and histories. I want to be able to share these beautiful art forms and raise their profiles. Within the styles of dancing, I have been exploring Egyptian and Turkish Oriental, Saidi and Ghawazee ( see below), Turkish Rom (See below) Moroccan, Tunisian, ATS ( American Tribal Style Bellydance), Tribal Fusion, Zambra Mora, with floor work and zill work, basic veil work. I am currently studying, in addition, Kathak and Ballet., in order to strengthen my appreciation of classical dances, and give structure and a classical underpinning to my dance work. I am also studying many Romany dances: such as the Ghawazee, Turkish Rom, with some introduction to Kalbelyia (Indian "Gypsy") and hope to explore related styles such as Balkan Rom styles. I am constantly studying, both styles, with private teachers and workshops, here and abroad, including flamenco study when I can, in Spain and teach my own monthly classes. I enjoy art, painting, the arts: music,language and languages,literature, film( (especially foreign films) films noirs, great conversation, great friendships, travelling, anthropology and sociology, histories, women's issues, current affairs. I love writing and am trying my hand at experienting with both non-fiction/journalling,/article writing/prose, and fiction: short stories and poetry. I also teach English for Speakers of Other Languages and Language to adult learners from literally all over the world. I feel that I have travelled the world with all the various fascinating and interesting, enriching contacts, from Europe, Asia, North and South America ( Canada, Brazil,Peru for example) Africa.........
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