I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room with so many beautiful women and so many beads and sparkles! It was dazzling walking into an event made up mainly of performers. It was the lovely venue of The Sheikh’s Palace, and felt like a big girls’ night out (although there was a smattering of a few brave male friends and family present).

The three organizers of the event, all belly dance performers and teachers of very different styles did a silk fan choreography together which I really loved, the way they interpreted the beats was so good it looked like at times the music moved the silk. It was captivating. They did their solos as well with a drum solo, Isis wings and tribal. I have to say it was the first time I really ‘got’ tribal dancing. It’s beautiful! I think I had mainly seen beginners perform it in the past so never really felt it was as good as it could be.

I think there were 7 schools participating in this event so there was a lovely mix of performances by Dancing Divinty, Gypsy Rhythms, Dancers of the Desert, Tarryn and the Hizi Hizi girls and Oriental Fire (whoop whoop!) . We did our Bollywood thang and because some of the kids from Reach for a Dream were there we decided to go with ‘Jai Ho’ which they really seemed to enjoy. I was so proud of my girls, I could feel the energy bounding off stage! We’re at the stage where I don’t worry about making mistakes so much and we just have fun. That’s when it gets good! 🙂

After all the shows we had the ‘shimmython’ which was all of us dancing together and I got to teach the kids some belly dance moves. They were great dancers and very fast learners! It was so nice to see the belly dance community as a whole doing something like this and I felt very proud to know so many great ladies who share a passion for dance and for doing something positive with their talents. I hope it’s the start of many more wonderful collaborations! Thanks Natalie, Bhana and Marion for all you put into it, I know the positive effects will go a lot farther than you realize.