Cairo, the 12th March, 2011

WHY I AM NOT GOING TO VENICE S ORIENTAL DANCE CONVENTION THIS MARCH!

First of all, my word of apology goes directly to all the students who were waiting for my arrival to Venice.
Many of them sent me wonderful messages of appreciation through the Facebook and I know they were waiting for my workshops and performances with much joy and expectations.
I am deeply sorry I will not be able to share my ART with you all this time around but there will be other RIGHTFUL occasions for that.

Second, I must say that my intention is not to offend anyone but simply say the truth (that is comproved by the several emails and messages I have kept from this event s organizer

Vidhi Bogdanovska) and try to denounce any dishonesty that other dancers may be victims of.

My participation in the Festival was cancelled today by the organization itself because I demanded someone from their side to pick me from Venice airport and a written message to be sent to me confirming the coverage of my accomodation and meals expenses regarding the days of my stay in Venice.
This was already agreed between me and the Organization of the event, as I have documentation to comprove, but I had a bad feeling about the way the Organization was dealing with me and wanted to assure myself that I would not arrive to Venice and would pay all my expenses from my own pocket.

I was also offering my services, as requested by the organization and a friend that made the contact between me and them, to teach and perform totally free of charge which is something I NEVER do unless it is for charity purposes.

The Venice Oriental Dance Convention is not for charity purposes so they would use my ART and CONTRIBUTION in three full workshops I would teach and two performances for their own profit AND now I see they must have been expecting me to also pay for my hotel and meals during the stay in Venice for the event.

I have no words to describe the Organization s behaviour but all I want to say is:

I WISH DANCERS, ARTISTS AND PROFESSIONALS IN GENERAL WERE RESPECTED IN THEIR JOBS AND HUMANITY.
I also wish more HONESTY dominated the Oriental Dance scene and ARTISTS would appreciate other artists.

The behaviour of the Venice Convention Organization is, in my opinion, dishonest and

anti-professional and I only wish to apologize to the students who were counting on my presence.
It was not my decision to cancel my participation at the last minute. I would never do something so irresponsible because I honour my public, my students and my NAME in the world market.

I NEVER fail to do what I promise to do - with or without contracts envolved - and I have my own word of honour, as everybody who knows me is aware of.

I never compromised with anyone for professional purposes and failed that commitment and

I never would. That s is just who I am in my personal and professional life.

I even mentioned this to the event s organizer, Ms. Vidhi.
Although I felt I was not being respected and appreciated for my participation, I was ready to do my job and learn from the experience, not repeating it with the same people.

The decision of cancellation arrived today from the organization s side because I was demanding something they could not satisfy:
An email confirming the payment of accomodation and meals for the days of my stay in Venice and someone to pick me from the Venice airport. These were the "DIVA" requests I seem to have made and this was the reason why they thought we could not work together.

Such a shame that Oriental Dance is full of incredible people but also dishonest, shameful individuals who make you wonder why you trust other human beings in the first place.

To all the participants in this event, I wish the best time of all and I send an ATTENTION signal to all the teachers and dancers invited. Be careful!