One hot summer.....

It might be a truly miserable summer, but July is turning out to be a superb month so far! There’s been not one weekend where something dance related hasn't been going on. I began the month teaching a day intensive called Breaking Through the Layers, which consisted of two workshops – layering, followed by a complex choreography adding elements of musicality, performance quality and dynamics of choreography. I know I am not the greatest choreographer in the world, however I wanted to share with dancers the ideas that lie behind my choreographies when I create them, particularly with regards to musicality, which I feel is one of my strengths.  The workshops were well attended and I really enjoyed teaching the material – we covered layering from basic through to complex, trying to break muscle memory by combining movements that were not typically coupled together. The ATS dancers in the room were not happy with me!! It was great to see the girls working through the drills, having moments of breakthrough and pushing past the frustration, working past the muscle memory. The choreography was a new one that I have not yet performed – it involves fast and successive isolations, layered over hip work and a real focus on connecting with the music. I’m excited to share it and see what people think of it...

After that, the following weekend we performed at Ozlem Green’s hafla in Sutton Coldfield. Performing with Khalgani and solo, we had a great time at the hafla – Ozlem’s are always a good night.
Following the hafla it was Saturday rehearsals for Gothla UK – members of Khalgani were dancing for Heike Humphreys’ slot in the showcase and so we got together to rehearse the piece in time for this past weekend.

Arses!

Gothla UK is always a highlight in the UK fusion bellydance calendar. Every year it seems to get better and better. In previous years I had not been able to stay for the entire weekend for various reasons. Last year (2011) was my first full weekend at Gothla, and it really was full – I took so many workshops it was ridiculous! This year I took it a little easier – three workshops in total. Friday began with Ozgen’s Turkish Technique masterclass – three hours of choreography with the Turkish master. I picked up a lot of interesting moves and stylisations from the dance that I really liked, and enjoyed his teaching style. I have done workshops with Ozgen before, but this one was definitely the best so far. I shared the room with only three other people, so getting the individual attention was great. We spent at least half the class laughing at Ozgen’s use of description for each movement, ‘get into the shower with me’ being my personal favourite! You had to be there I guess...!

Following a quick bite to eat after the workshop and checking into the hotel, it was onwards to the showcase to get ready. Make up, costumes, and dancers sprawled across three dressing areas backstage, where we melted from the heat thanks to the heating which was stuck on and unable to be switched off... in July. Granted, we’re having a rubbish summer, but it’s not that cold! This is the first time I have performed at the Gothla main show. I performed on the open stage last year, and this year I got to perform solo and with Tribe of the Honeybadgers for the Moto GP Fusion. I was in the first act on both accounts, and so had a super fast costume change to do. I really enjoyed performing at the show, but I enjoyed watching the rest of the acts even more. I didn’t get to see the first act of course, but highlights in the rest of the show included Belladonna, Ozgen, Dud Muurmand and of course Morgana and her dance partner Javier Perez of Excalibur. Morgana did her own solo – The Ragdoll – which impressed me not only in her flawless technique, creativity and musicality but also the music editing job. She was my moment of tears that I have to have at each show – simply stunning. Excalibur performed Underworld – Vampires vs Werewolves. Each year they perform dance inspired by movies and video games. Last year we were treated to a large number of the company performing the Matrix. In a way we were spoiled last year by having them all. This year we only had the two of them, but it is a perfect duo. Their combination of bellydance, martial arts and impressive artistry never fails to blow people away.

Morgana & Javier - Underworld.
Photo: Julie Chapman

On Saturday I helped my husband Dan out with his workshop on how to edit your music using Audacity. It seemed to go well, and hopefully there will be a few more performances now where music is suitably faded out and put together, with no abrupt endings (unless intentional of course!) and seamless transitions between tracks! In the afternoon I took Morgana’s Turn Technique workshop. I’m already pretty adept at spinning and turning, but I know Morgana has a very rich and varied background in dance so I knew I wouldn’t leave disappointed. I came out with a selection of new turns and interesting adaptations for my existing knowledge. Spinning for two hours was great fun, though my feet were feeling a little sore afterwards! In taking this workshop with her, I could see how much her English has improved in the 12 months since the last Gothla, and so it’s interesting to hear her talk about the movements more fluently than in workshops I’ve taken in the past. It really helped to add to the depth of the quality information we got. The same went for Javier – his English has clearly improved – though we had great fun with him last year as he used inventive ways to get around the language barriers (though they were really irrelevant then, proving that dance is a language in itself).

Helping to get Javier into the corset - lucky me!!

The open stage night was a blast. Always great fun, we got to see some really inventive and beautiful performances. Gothla is the one place you can really go over the top with the theatrics, and there was a great performance of drunk, drug taking little piggies that murdered their mother, complete with curly tails and revealing basques! It was certainly a sight to see – one of my favourites of the night! The evening was finished off by a duet from Elin Kaven and Dud Muurmand – these two were made to dance together! And the finale – Belladonna and Ken Vegas. A superb end to the night. Though the best part was probably dressing up the boys in Bex’s corset!! How many bellydancers does it take to get a super muscley Spanish man into a corset... at least three!

Morgana
Photo: Heather Hughes

Sunday, after a late night, several drinks and an epic allergy attack, I ran from our hotel to the workshop for Morgana & Javier – Vampires vs Werewolves. I made it just before they started, having found it incredibly hard to drag myself out of bed. It was worth getting up for though – the best workshop of the weekend. The class split off into groups of Vampires (with Javier) and Werewolves (Morgana). I opted to be a werewolf and really managed to find my inner wolf, complete with howling – awoooooooooooooo!! When learning our section of the choreography, I was disheartened to see the floorwork. Thinking my knee would be in agony by the end of class, I was so worried I would be completely screwing it up, and I didn’t have any knee pads with me for the class. However, I was absolutely fine, and have had no pain today either, so it’s obviously stronger than I continue to give it credit for. Dancing together, I teamed up with a vampire, having to jump on her back and be thrown off, and have her jump over my head! It was such a fun workshop, I continued raving about it all weekend and beyond! A perfect balance of stuff that I could do, and stuff that was challenging yet achievable even by non-professional dancers. And getting to howl and growl at other dancers in class was fun! Today however, I’m feeling unsurprisingly sore!!

Hearsing it up!

Most of all, my favourite part of the weekend was spending time with my friends and meeting dancers for the first time, like Mavi and Belladonna. Being with people who share my passion for dance and community. Piling into HRH Lucretia’s hearse was quite fun too! Gothla is always a great event for coming together and having an amazing time both in terms of dance and in terms of friendship. I’m really honoured to announce that as Rosie Hutton departs from Gothla, I have accepted the offer to be her replacement in the role of Marketing and Venue Liaison officer – this means I will be responsible for making sure you all have places to take workshops at, and organising the two shows with over 70 performers.... I’m getting hot sweats just thinking about it! After 6 years of brilliant Gothla’s, I know I have some big shoes to fill – hopefully I will hear people returning from Gothla next year with equal amounts of praise and love for the event that they’ve had this year. Then I will know I did Rosie justice!! I’m looking forward to being part of the team next year at one of my favourite festivals, and seeing what will be in store for 2013.

Next weekend I’m performing in Liverpool and then down to London for workshops with Colleena Shakti followed by a performance at FireWater, which I’m super excited to be dancing at. After that I’m teaching and performing at Barefoot Festival before a busy summer of European festivals in August.

We’re also getting really excited for Infusion Emporium, as we continue to announce a new performer for the show each day on our Facebook page, and have just added a group meal on Friday at Bilash restaurant in Wolverhampton, and the Glitterball Shakedown after party on the Sunday with even more dance, music and fun. See my website for more details, and don’t forget to book your tickets for the magnificent show!

Hope to see you somewhere on the road this summer!

Alexis x