Summer 2010, posted by Kebi and Noor

It has been a while since we posted anything, mainly because we have been so busy. After the huge event that was the Roman Festival in Chester, we went on to perform at the Family Day at the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival. We danced in the garden of the Bluecoat to a very warm and appreciative audience. The festival is the only one of its kind in the UK, and attracts attention from local, national and international media. We even featured briefly in a piece about the Family Day on BBC Arabic TV! Look out for us at about at about 2 minutes 27 seconds into the clip.

Banafrit and Tameri at the Family Day

After that came the Chadkirk Festival, one of our favourites; and not just because of the wonderful cream teas! This year we set up camp with the Romans just down the lane from the Chapel grounds, and processed up to the main site to perform. Some of the girls also went to visit the well dressing, at St Chad's Well.

Processing (noisily) to the main site


St Chad's Well


Dancing at Chadkirk

The History Alive!! living history festival at Bersham outside Wrexham was a first for us. Dancing in a field is not unusual for us but in amongst vintage cars and old tractors, now that was unusual. Thanks to Ian Woodward for letting us use his photos of the event, you can see more of his pictures here.

Kebi


Meroe, plus some of the vintage vehicles in the background!

The English Heritage Gladiators and Warriors event at Beeston Castle was as well-attended as ever, with over 900 people in the two days. The feedback was very positive . The families loved the gladiator show and the opportunity for the children to dress as either a Roman soldier or a middle Eastern dancer and to join in. I think we hennaed or tattooed half the children of Cheshire.

Wigan didn’t know what had hit it when the Romans invaded. There were Romans all over the place, and we took over the Market Square. The weather was kind up to a point and only rained for the last hour we were there.

Hebba and Banafrit shelter from the rain

We have one more big event scheduled for this year, St Wilfrid’s Medieval Fair in Stockport, which will be a nice way to end the season.

Next year will I hope be even bigger and better. The Roman Festival in Chester on 4-5 June is shaping up to be the biggest in Europe. So watch out for more info in the spring.

Chester Roman Festival, posted by Kebi

The Roman Festival was the inaugural event of Chestival; a new month long festival to be held in July in Chester. Ya Raqs were proud to be part of a wonderful, event packed and brilliantly run weekend. A march through the city, of the largest number of Roman soldiers seen in Chester for hundreds of years, started off each day; with us bringing up the rear and making as much noise as possible. There then followed a hectic fun filled day of dancing to live musicians and talking to hundreds of people.


Meroe dances with the musicians

The highlight of each day was the Gladiator show in the amphitheatre, with an audience of a couple of thousand people. The girls performed the moving Dance of the Dead, and then performed again at the interval to a very warm reception.

On the Sunday, the Race for Life ran through Grosvenor Park where the main camp was situated. The soldiers gave the woman a Guard of Honour, and Tameri danced and cheered the whole time the women passed through. She might as well have run the race for the amount of enthusiasm she showed!


Aziza, Kebi and Tameri in the procession

It is estimated 7,500 people saw the event. As it was such a success we will be back next year, even bigger and better!

Postcards from Marrakesh - 2

To:

Ya Raqs
Grande Bretagne




It is quite difficult to pick just one highlight from our trip, particularly when there were so many, but the one that I think will stay with me the longest is the workshop we had with the Berber women. What amazing women they were, particular the main dancer. We had seen them both dancing in the Palais Chahramane restaurant the night before when they had pulled us all up to dance with them. The main dancer was only in her late 30s and yet she had been through so much in her life all in pursuit of her love of dance. What she shared with us on the morning of the workshop was so much more than just her knowledge of Berber dance, and her skill as a dancer – it was part of herself. Despite being divorced by her husband, who disapproved of her dance, and shunned not only by her family but by her entire village, she was determined to do what she does best – dance. It is very difficult for us in the western world to appreciate the stigma that is attached to this dance that we do, but all of a sudden it was very real when we heard this woman’s story. It wasn’t as if she was exposing any part of her body; dancing in a nightclub in a skimpy two-piece costume, or flirting with members of the audience – she was just a folk dancer, but that was enough!

Through a mixture of Berber, Arabic and French she was able to show, and explain, a range of Berber dance moves – all of which were very different to the Egyptian style we are used to. Despite the language barrier we managed to communicate the great warmth and pleasure that we all shared in the dance – there was a lot of laughter. Half way through the class we took a break and were told about the Mawaal – we didn’t understand the words, but the passion and the emotion that came pouring out as she sang needed no explanation – we were all moved to tears; it was incredible.

The workshop ended with the chance to buy her own Berber dance costume. I agonised for a very long time but decided that this was a chance of a lifetime. These were real Berber dancers with a real story to tell. Every coin on the hip belt had been lovingly sewn on by the dancer herself. What I was buying was not just a costume, but a piece of living history. The cynics among you may say, “Oh it was just a sale, that she was after”, but no it was so much more than that. When I agreed to take the costume she hugged me to the point where I thought she would crack my ribs and despite the fact there was no common language between us, we were able to communicate our mutual appreciation, understanding and love of the dance and all that it meant to each other. What an incredibly emotional moment – I didn’t think it was possible to top it, but she did. Just as we were about to leave she came up to me and held out her hands – she was holding the head-dress that went with the costume – the only word she said to me was “gift”.

It may sound dramatic to say it, but I truly believe that this was not just a highlight of our Moroccan trip, but for me a highlight of my dance career so far. We were lucky enough to meet many amazing women during our time in Morocco but this particular Berber dancer is in a class all her own. I don’t know if we will ever meet again but I would like to think that our paths will cross again some day.

Meroe


Meroe and Berber dancers at the restaurant

Dance workshop - the dancer singing the Mawaal

Postcards from Marrakesh - 1

To:

Ya Raqs
Grande Bretagne



Marrakesh: even the name conjurers up exotic images, and the city did not disappoint. The sounds, smells and colours will stay with me forever. Even our arrival made an impression: walking down a dark quiet alley was a bit scary. Then bending to get through the door into a dark hallway and then around the corner into a piece of heaven was amazing. Riad el Faran was all you could hope for. A central atrium, lit with candles with a central pool and the rooms leading off. All the bedrooms were large and beautiful. The upstairs sitting area quickly became a favourite hang out, and the roof terrace wonderful for breakfast and sun bathing.

It didn't take too long to get our bearings. However I would not recommend walking through a souk with eight women if you are in a hurry. By the end of the week we were all expert hagglers, or else we turned Aisha or Hebba loose on the shopkeepers. I am sure one or two were in tears when the ladies left their shops!

The central square has to be experienced to be believed. No matter what time of day or night you visit there is the sound of drums and music. There are snake charmers, belly dancers, orange stalls and fruit sellers. It is fabulous.

We did so much it would take too long to write it all down. For me the highlights were meeting the Berber women. The way the light went on behind their eyes when they realised how much we appreciated their dancing was priceless. The wonderful smell of spices, the colours, the dancing and the laughter are things I will always remember.

Kebi

Lancaster, posted by Meroe

Ya Raqs finally started their 2010 season of events on Easter Saturday with a super day out in Lancaster. Over the winter the girls had clearly been praying to all the right gods because, despite the weather forecast, the sun shone on the dancers for both their sets.

The girls teamed up with Deva Victrix again to take part in a tubilustrium. In ancient times, this usually took place in March marking the start of the campaign season and was the ceremony to make the army fit for war. The trumpets sounded just as in Roman times and rose petals were scattered before the marching column (courtesy of Kebi and myself who doubled as Roman flower girls). The procession, wound its way down from the castle to the museum remembering not only the soldiers from almost 2000 years ago, but also those men and women of the armed forces who put their lives on the line for us every day in order to maintain our peace and security.


Meroe and Kebi lead the procession

As soon as the procession arrived at the museum we went in to our first set – it was so nice to have an enthusiastic audience. The dancers and the Romans then moved in to the museum and were on hand to speak to members of the public. The girls set themselves up just inside the main door and did some impromptu performances to try and encourage people to dance with them. I have to say that the people of Lancaster were a bit shy – we could only persuade one or two youngsters to dance with us – maybe next time we can encourage a few more people to join in.

All too soon it was our final set of the day. The sun came out again, right on cue, and we were able to dance in the market place in front of the museum. Our second set included a chance for the audience to join in. Then, it was all over; time certainly flies when you are having fun.

After a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday, for our Centurion Gittus, we processed back up to the castle, marking the end of our day. Thanks to all those in Lancaster who came out to support us – as always the people of Lancaster made us feel very welcome – and a special thank you to the staff at the museum who, once again, looked after us so well.

Chester Roman Festival

The Chester Roman Festival starts on the evening of Friday 11 June with this event

Trip to Morocco

Several members of Ya Raqs recently went on a dance holiday to Marrakesh, to learn about Moroccan music, dance and culture. More details coming soon. Thanks to Nawarra for organising a fantastic trip for us.

Heroes and Kings

On Friday 30 April Ya Raqs will be performing at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. Click on the pictures below for more details.

Saturnalia

Once again Ya Raqs joined Roman Tours and Deva Victrix on the Saturnalia parade though Chester, on a cold (but thankfully snow-free) evening before Christmas. This year the parade concluded in the Grosvenor Museum; where members of the public who had followed the parade from the city centre could look round the Roman exhibits, thaw out with the hot drinks on offer, and watch dancing in the Stones Gallery.


In the Stones Gallery


Meroe