London it is, baby!

Me and Farah - The BellyDance Trophies organizer whom I thank for making my visit to London a reality - at Shakespeare´s Theatre "The Globe" at the bankside of London.

Falling in love.

From the snowy and grand Russia I landed on London: another discovery, another passion, another open mouth experience. Each place and its people is, indeed, UNIQUE and full of possibilities. Bless me and damn me - at the same time - for this endless and hungry CURIOSITY that makes me want to eat the whole world for breakfast (with a side of jam and tea, if you please).

These days I am falling in some very irritating - yet sweet - clichés; here´s one more of them:

Teaching is learning; giving is receiving. There is this hidden dynamic we´re not so familiar with, working underneath our ignorance and confirming that the more we give, the more we receive.

London was not so foggy, blue lighted and depressing after all. Is this a myth of some kind?! The sun was out - kind of ... - for a considerable time during the days, the sky of London is SUPERBLY beautiful and, although it was freezing and damp, the city is so EXCITING that it makes you forget everything.

"BellyDance Trophies" poster

 I had to run to a Theatre as soon as I arrived and so I did: "Billy Elliot" on Friday and "Top Hat" on Saturday (kind invitation of Melanie Norman, her husband and Prince Rafik). The first made me cry like a baby (the whole theme of Billy Elliot is very close to my heart for personal reasons so yeah: I was hysterical during the whole performance); "Top Hat" left me dreaming about gorgeous sets, cloths, music and that old classical Hollywood that considered Dance and Dancers as the crème de la crème of Pop Culture. Those good old days...:)


Me, excited, before crying like a baby over "Billy Elliot" Musical at Victoria Theatre.


Felt amazed at how extravagant, creative and yet conservative english people can be. Isn´t that a huge - and fascinating - contrast?! You can feel the conservative values and traditions through behaviour, moral standards and through language (I learnt that toilets are "facilities" and that you can call "negotiator of affection" to a prostitute - isn´t that delicious?!).
Then the COSMOPOLITE feeling of the whole place (with loads of pickpocket thieves - cute as they come) that allows you to be everywhere - from China to Ecuador, from India to Portugal - without leaving London. One can hear any language of the world in the streets of London and only a small amount of english: London belongs to the World (a world that fits inside the city´s pockets) as the World once belonged to London.

 

The "little" - BIG - actor, dancer, singer who played Billy Elliot in the brilliant Musical with the same name.

The Workshops I taught were stimulating, fun, challenging and DOOR OPENING to a lot of dancers who made it all worth it. There´s very few things more pleasureable than Dance lovers who are REALLY willing to LEARN, no matter how difficult that may be. The PASSION for LEARNING is one of the pillars that rises Oriental Dance standards in a country so I´m happily seeing english dancers growing - just becauuse they so well deserve it.

Browsing the streets of London (looking for "Victoria and Albert" Museum): observing people: learning from every single opportunity.

 The Competition - BellyDance Trophies - was another unexpected pleasure: lots of TALENT, willingness to IMPROVE and PERSONALITY. LOVED what I saw and felt the warmth and enthusiasm of people like an antidote to all lack of faith in the future of Oriental Dance.

This Art may be dying in Egypt, indeed; but is thriving in many places all over the world and maybe - just maybe- that´s how it´s supposed to be.

One falls in love with a place when that place is a Teacher (well, this one has always been fair and true for me). London is a great teacher!

Performing without my orchestra is the hardest thing I accept doing on stage - even when there is a local orchestra which performs with me. Still I deliver my soul on a platter simply because I know of no other way of Dancing.

No matter what: you give me eggs, I´m gonna do you the best omelette; you give me lemons, I´m gonna do you a pretty lemonade. There is always THE BEST you can do within any given circumstances so: no excuses for mediocrity or less than your best.
 One may always dance from the SOUL - in order to reach the audience´s soul.
Then again: London audiences seem to be AMAZING, despite the apparent self-restraint and less then explosive reactions to the artists on stage. Although the orchestra´s music was not the ideal, I guess I still managed to MOVE those sweet audiences and - all in all - we had a great time.

Dreams come true: you just have to DREAM them, BELIEVE in YOURSELF and take ACTUAL STEPS for their REALIZATION. Risks, faith, work, knowing that God helps the ones who help themselves. Amen*.

From a magestic stage in Barcelona to another gigantic theatre in Russia; then London with a show at a Bollywood venue (loved it!) and heading to Ireland - to perform at the enchanted castle of Charleville. Not so boring, is it?!