Dance-a-thon

Both yesterday and today I did a 3 hour dance workshop. I could have done 2 each day, but 12 hours of dancing within 30 hours is too much for my brain, if not my body. I was away for about 4-5 hours each day, which is actually the longest I've gone Yelena-less in the past 10 months, except when she's sleeping at night. Neither Yelena nor Daddy seemed to miss me.

Magda and Atef Farag, members of Cairo's Reda Troupe, were in town. Saturday I took a Saidi and Nubian workshop and today a Melaya and Ghawazee workshop. My butt was kicked so hard. Atef led both workshops with Magda, thankfully, helping out with the more feminine versions of the steps. They went crazy fast. The dances in and of themselves weren't necessarily difficult -- if they were learned over a 4-6 week class, instead of in an hour-and-a-half. The classes were also very full, which made it difficult to see the steps at all times, and Atef didn't really call out the steps (bump - camel walk - cross - 3 step turn) and when he did he didn't always use the terms with which I'm familiar. I fared ok yesterday with the Saidi dance. (The Nubian wasn't as much as a challenge for me since it's a lot like West African dance -- I wouldn't mind doing more of it, but it is very different even from most folkloric belly dance, let alone classical Oriental.) Today I was lost. After a half-hour, I put down my veil and just concentrated on the foot work. Even then it was too much too fast, and then my brain couldn't remember the order of the choreography. I talked to Jasmin afterwards, saying I felt out of my depth, and she reassured me that it was very difficult and that they took on way too much for the amount of time. I left feeling intimidated and invigorated.

Bambina is up from her nap and trying to type, which is my cue to go play with my 10 monther.