A Hafla!

Last night I danced at our summer bellydance hafla. A hafla is a performance party, with food to share, drink, dancing, friends and lots of laughs - especially when the choreography doesn't go to plan! Our class's choreography was a particularly difficult dance, with lots of turns, hops and jumps in it. The final rehearsal went very badly, and one lady threatened to have her husband bring his video camera to the show, and then split the proceeds when the fiasco was shown on 'You've Been Framed'! It's fine though in actuality, because the audience is filled with family, friends and other dancers, so there is no way they would be unsympathetic to any mistakes or mishaps.

Here we are at the beginning of the dance, and so far so good. I'm in the middle of the picture with a red and black skirt on. At least I look to be doing the same as everyone else!

First turn, and we're all doing double hits together. You also get a good view of all the gorgeous, sparkly eye candy for sale in the souk. I just want to buy all of it!

Saidi hopping turns here, and although the photo is slightly blurred, it gives a good idea of the movement. (The lady at the back in red hasn't gone wrong. She found that hopping and turning at the same time made her feel ill, so just stayed in the same place. When you watched the whole thing, it was hardly noticeable.)

I'm not really a prima donna, just happened to be the last one off stage still doing the step lift and point movement.

The evening was great fun (especially the Arabic disco at the end) and raised over £800 for the Royal brompton Hospital. A super evening and a large charity donation too, what more could anyone want?