The British Museum part 3, posted by Noor

Standing on the steps of the British Museum with Aziza, I was starting to get worried. The minutes were ticking by, and there was no sign of the others. Fortunately just as the word "duet" was mentioned, they appeared.

Not all of the members of Ya Raqs have been able to come to the last few events we have attended, so it was great to get everyone together for this one. However even with all ten of us there, the Great Court is such a huge space that I thought we might be completely lost in it. Somehow when we came to dance, the area formed by the arc of the audience was just right.

After each performance there was a workshop, where Meroe taught some basic steps and then brought them all together in a simple dance. Judging from the enthusiastic (if not very Roman) conga which wound round our corner of the Great Court, our audience really enjoyed the opportunity to have a go themselves.

When I'm not dancing, I am one of the costume makers for the group, and I have not long finished our red and yellow Ghawazee coats. I was thrilled to see how good they looked when we danced, with the white sleeves and the scarlet skirts swirling around us.
Here are some photographs of the day:

The British Museum part 2, posted by Hebba

As we waited at the station for the train into London my nerves began to kick in. I think some of the others were nervous too because when you get more than seven women together you expect some noise and we were awfully quiet. I have not been in London for several years and it took me a little while to get used to the volume of people in a hurry to get to their destination immediately. I had a big bag over my shoulder and I definitely clipped a few heads (by accident) with my bag as I turned to get my bearings a few times. Sorry London folk.

I have never been to the British Museum, what a fantastic place. Apparently it's like an iceberg, it has so much more in storage underground. I like the thought of that. Inside the building it was incredibly light, I think that was due to the huge glass dome and the beautiful white stone from floor to ceiling, which I assume was a lot of marble, then there was the noise. So many voices talking quietly in so many different languages, all milling around the great court, brilliant. We were taken downstairs by a really kind person called Babs who was there to look after us for the day. We all got changed and went upstairs into "The Great Court", then milled around saying hello to the other re-enactors and to people wandering around, until it was time for us to perform. Words cannot come close to how scared and excited I was. In one of the dances, I had to dance with three other women with a stick balanced on my head and I did it. I thought I was going to explode with sheer joy, (how sad is that?) and the audience were so lovely they smiled clapped cheered us on and then asked lots of questions about what our lives might have been like as dancing girls following the Roman cohort around. We then spent a good few hours wandering around the British Museum adding colour and having our pictures taken by tourists and visitors. After a quick costume change into our Ghawazee coats we had our pictures taken outside in the sun by the Hadrian's Wall display and on the steps of the British Museum. I tend to take a really bad photo, I am either talking, pulling faces or have my eyes closed, so I hope there is at least a couple that have turned out okay with me looking relatively normal.

Before the second set, people were sitting down a good ten minutes before we were due to start, word had got round the dancing girls were in town. I thought the first crowd was big the second crowd was massive. People were holding cameras in the air to take photos, the audience seemed ten deep, people were standing behind us and watching us from the stairs it was incredible. We danced our best ever. We were in time, smiling; it was perfect. I felt so proud dancing with my friends. Then it was all over. We danced our last dance, took our bows and then answered more questions from interested people. I felt so happy that we had done it and sad that it was all over. We stayed in costume for another hour, then, when the Museum was closing, we went downstairs and got changed back into our twenty-first century clothes.

This has to date been one of the coolest things I have ever done.

British Museum, part 1

Wow! We had a fantastic time performing at the Roman world day held at the British Museum on 13 September. The day explored the art, culture and everyday life of the Roman Empire, and was part of the Hadrian: Empire and Conflict exhibition. Details and pictures coming soon, watch this space!

Henna Tattoos

This summer, as well as dancing, we have been able to offer henna tattoos to visitors at the events we have attended. The tattoos are drawn on to the skin, and then left to dry. Once dry, the henna will drop off or can be brushed off, leaving the skin beneath stained brown. The tattoo will then fade over a couple of weeks.
Note: We only use natural henna with no additives.
These are some of our designs

Harlow Show - 31 August

We have seen lot of rain at our last few events, but it stayed dry for most of the day (although when it finally rained, it was a downpour). Only Pheonece, Hebba, Mish-Mish, Aisha and Aziza made it down to Harlow, but they saw off competition from the World Wrestling Federation(!) to entertain the crowds.